BigA

So i just had a look at my tank and I noticed that one of my platys is currently in the process of giving birth. Is there anything I can do to help her along? Should I leave her alone? It kinda looks like one of the fry is stuck coming out of her. Can I help it along at all? How long will she be birthing for? Thanks for your input.

That would be a cool idea. I would maybe add a couple of dwarf snakeheads or maybe a spiny eel.

I wouldn't. Both will get too aggressive when breeding and someone will end up dead. I would say 33 gal min for keeping a breeding pair of each in the same tank. Would go with a 45 preferably. I had one pair of kribs in a 29 and they killed everything else in the tank.

You're selling? How much, and do you ship to Edmonton? Gorgeous fish, btw!!!

I don't see anything

How many fronts did you pick up? 75gal may be enough for 1 fish, but if you have a small shoal, you are going to need something much larger in the future. Probably inthe 200gal range. Frontosa's get larger than 1 foot and are pelagic deep water fish. As far as mates, larger Syno cats will work. Multi's are what I would use. And/Or a big pleco. Not sure about the peacocks though. If the fronts decide to breed, you may have some issues.

Best of luck. Sorry to hear that it happened.

That is a shame. I know that when I kept my senegals, they were amazing fish. So much character. I'm going to have to pick some more up before they are either not available here or too expensive for me to afford.

Do you know why that is Christian? Are those species captive bred or WC? I know that most senegals are raised in captivity now, but am not sure of the other species. Are there problems bringing them in from africa now? Or just not enough consumer demand maybe?

Also. check out the ropefish. It's in the polypteride family but is a different genus. Make sure though that for any of these, the tank is sealed as they are great escape artists. As for the bichirs, I would recommend Polypterus palmas polli or Polypterus delhezi. Both are medium sized and have a lot more patterning and colouration than the senegal. More info: http://www.polypterus.info/

From what I have read, the do not get along well with others of the same species, unless the tank is sufficiently large enough and has enough landscaping to provide each fish with it's own territory. However, everytime I go to any one of the LFS that carries bichirs here, I see that they tend to have so many in one tank that they are stacked on top of each other. Not sure why that happens. Christian, do you know?

Probably mislabelled. Should have been labeled as Cuvier's Bichir, or Senegal Bichir. Polypterus senegalus. A primitive lobe-finned fish from west africa. I kep a couple a few years ago and am looking to get some more. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breedi...gal_Bichir.html They are an amazing fish. Very prehistoric looking. Have some unique characteristics. The scales are whats called ganoid scales. They are very hard, and uniquely shaped, providing the fish with a very tough skin for if they get out of water and crawl to the next water hole. They also have a kind of lung. They developed this as they live in shallow pools that have a very low oxygen concentration, and as the pools dry up they crawl from pool to pool trying to stay wet. They are not aggressive. Can be kept with any similarly sized fish, but any fish that can fit into it's mouth WILL BE EATEN. Many neon tetras have gone missing that way. Usually get to about 10-12 inch's and will live for about 7 years. Watching them feed is amazing too. I had no issues with mine. It was my first fish, I kept it in a 10 gal to start (don't do that) moved him up from medicine hat to barrhead in -30 weather in the middle of January. Survived the trip magnifigantly. Moved him into a 29 gal and eventually into a 44 gal. Very hardy fish. This is just what I have picked up over the years of having one. Christian (tortis) is the real expert on bichirs. Hopefully he can fill in anything I left out. Enjoy!!

I'm sure part of the paperwork is also to confirm that you will not resell the fish(s) in areas where they are restricted (most of the US I believe. Christian is that correct?). Little side note: Whenever I am in calgary I always make sure to check out riverfront to have a look at the aros they have in stock. I wish there was more of a market for them or a place that sells them at that size in edmonton. (not that I can afford one, but a guy can dream!)

I would go with the mollies, but the SAE work weel too. 1 quick question. Why are you trying to avoid plecos? They as a group are almost as diverse as can be. They come in all different sizes, shapes and colours. They also come in different temperments. There is a right pleco for almost any freshwater aquarium situation.

Welcome!!

Welcome!! I hope this forum can help you grow as an aquarist!

I thought fugu puffers were brackish water fish. Can they survive in marine as well?

What kind of fish are they?

I would say put the new filter (and keep the old one on too) on the old tank for a couple of weeks before setting up the new tank. This will prime the filter and make things go even more smoothly when you transfer everything over to the new tank.

I have another possibility. I had the same issue in my 65 gal tank about a month ago. Very cloudy water. Kinda greenish tinge. I was doing 20-30 gal water changes once a week, and the tank had been up since february. XP2 filter. I found out that my tank had not yet completed cycling, and as I was changing almost half of the water once a week, I was slowing the cycle down immensely. I fixed it by not doing a water change for about 3 weeks. This allowed the nitrifying bacteria to build up to a point where they could handle the bioload. Once the water cleared itself up, I resumed my water changes again. I'm sure that the options that were proposed by werner and jorg will work as well, as the same solutions were suggested in my thread, but I found that had the same reservations about those methods. The UV sterilizer is on the expensive side and was not sure about wrapping the tank in plastic. Anyway, just food for thought.

Discus would definitely NOT work. On average, a discus should have about 10gals of water per fish and be kept in a group of 5 or 6 min. Also they get to be in the 6-8 inch size if properly cared for. In a 22gal tank I would try some sort of Dwarf cichlid, A. cacutoide (triple red) maybe, or some rams (both approx $15). Throw in a small pleco, bristlenose ($10) or queen arabesque ($50), and some tetras, cardinals or serpae (both approx $5), and you will have a nice looking full tank. Definitely no to the discus though.

I like that idea. I'm in! And no I didn't go to the ACE BBQ either. Was in Vancouver for the weekend.

Does this apply to platies as well? I'm having the same issue with my 3 females.

We have a couple breeders here in edmonton too. Michael Pham of ACE is having a lot of success. At the last ACE auction, there were a couple lots of his F1 galaxy's for sale. Went for about $30 per bag if I remember correctly.

It's called a Cigar Shark or Red Finned Shark. Leptobarbus hoevenii http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.c...;view_records=1