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Thanks for the ideas. Blink do you know what they are called in a vet supply store?

I'm looking for a pair of long cuved scissors for trimming plants. Anyone have a good recommendation on a brand or type to get and where to get them? I've looked at ADA but they are too much for me. Something comparable maybe around $30-50?

I'd be interested in the Aru II's as well. I had about 6 of them about 5 years ago and they were awesome looking and active little fish. I've tried to find them since them but it seems very few people are even keeping them anymore. I'd love to try to get more out in the general population!

I'm trying to get a few fish into breeding shape and I want to get some live food into their diet. I already am feeding them microworms but that doesn't seem likes its enough (the are Ps. Gertrudae rainbows). Since there isn't a good supply of live blackworms in Edmonton I'm looking for another option. Are there another type of worms that are bigger than micoworms yet smaller than white worms that I could be feeding? And are they easy to cultivate and where could I get some?

I have a few fish I want to breed by starting up a 10 gallon breeding tank with a sponge filter and bare bottom no plants. What I'm wondering about is maintaining water quality. Are water changes enough to keep it clean enough for fry? And if I have a seeded sponge filter will there we enough waste products for the bacteria to survive and clean the water of ammonia, nitrates etc or is it just there to keep physical debris clear? I guess I wondering how the filter works for a breeding/fry tank.

I have a Hydor for my tank as well. Keeps it the temperature you set too and stays steady. No problems at all with mine.

The only thing I'd suggest is making sure the inside diameter (ID) and outside diameter (OD) are as close a match to the original as possible. Even if you have to get a bit smaller you can always dip the end in hot water and stretch it over the barbs or connectors. If you like black and that's what you're looking for then get that stuff but I do know most hardware stores also have clear vinyl tubing as well that fit nicely as filter hoses.

The Rex Grigg reactor is excellent. I made one for my 20 gallon long and it works perfectly, no bubbles or mist whatsoever and great diffusion of co2. I got all the parts I needed at Rona, jvision is right HD is very hit or miss for pvc parts. I had to get a little creative with how I put it together as they didn't have the exact parts rex suggests but it was pretty easy to figue out how to adapt it.

Where did you get yours filled, I have a 5lb that I need filled in Edmonton. I don't want to trade it in at Oxypro because its a nice new aluminum tank.

I'd say they ate the eggs you can't see, they aren't known for hiding eggs after they lay them, only protecting them. As for the fanning and protecting that is normal, she is just carrying out the parental instinct even though the eggs were eaten. She should give up in short time, a couple days maybe. I think with determining how long to wait until you take out the rock depends on your patience. If you can wait, they might go through a number of spawns (maybe even up to 4-5) before getting it right, which could take months. This being said sometimes they don't ever really become great parents and you will have to.

Anyone have any tips for breeding CPDs? I've had them for a about 2 and a half weeks now with no signs of spawning or breeding behavior.

I recently got 9 of them a few weeks ago and I hope to breed them. So far no spawn but it might take a few weeks for them to get used to the new conditions and feel comfortable. If so I might have some ready in a few months or earlier. Depends on how it goes. I'm doing some reading on the best parameters etc to get the best numbers of eggs and fry to live. I think they are an awesome little fish, and yes, very hard to get ahold of.

I worked for the City of Edmonton over the summer and I;m quite familiar with the pond you are talking about. There are fish and ducks that live in that pond but the pond is still a stormwater management area. This means in a rain storm water runs from the streets and surrounding area into the water. There is a lot of salt, hydrocarbons, and fertilizers that get into the water. This will eventually get into the food chain and the shrimp that you are feeding. While it may not cause immediate death or sickness over a period of months or years it could build up and cause problems. If it were my fish I wouldn't risk it.

I would agree with getting a couple more cories, either more Pandas which I think would look pretty good in a school or maybe sterbai cories, or a large group of pygmy cories could look really good in such a large tank.

When picking out more rams I'd be really careful as well. A lot of the other rams need a higher temperature, 82F plus to be comfortable, which might not work well with what you already have. They are quite sensitive as well which might make it difficult to keep them. I'd go with more Bolivian rams because they fit well temperature wise with the rest of your stock.

As for tetras, you could go with the classic neon for red and blue, bleeding heart tetras for red, or it would be pretty cool a large school of lemon tetras for a splash of yellow.

Anyone know where I could get a couple 5g grow out tanks for cheap?

Thanks for the suggestions. For the left side at the back I was thinking of the cabomba or maybe something like rotalla wallichi for the red color. But the rear left does need some more work. That hygro does look a little weird in this picture and I think its because there is a stem of floating pennywort mixed in with it. It does look decent right now but I want to add a few things just to make it more interesting.

Another update! After letting the tank settle in and getting a bunch more plants they are finally starting to take off. I have to trim at least once a week if not more often for a couple of them. Since the plants I have are up and growing I was thinking of adding a few more to fill out the scape and add some variety. I'm looking at getting some pogostemon helferi to round out the forground scape and then I'm looking for some color and leaf shape variety for the back/midground. Any suggestions?

Here is what it looks like now:

On the subject, I've had a pair of GBR spawn a couple times but never gotten the eggs to hatch. They are either eaten up by the parents within a day or they get a fuzzy mold on them. The pair is in a well planted 20 gallon long with cardinals and a bristlenose pleco. I have a spare 10 that I could easily setup as a fry tank. Any suggestions or tips on how to increase the success of hatching and raising the fry?

Thanks

I'll try putting it in a shadier spot. I suspect the heat might be the cause, I currently have it at about 83F for my rams and cardinals.

Okay, its java moss and I'm running about 25-30ppm of CO2 with two to three 18w t5no bulbs that were new about 4 months ago. It is my 20 gallon long and the moss is about half way up the tank on a piece of driftwood. All the other plants in the tank have really started to grow nicely except the moss.

I'm having trouble getting my moss to grow or really do anything. Since I put it in my tank its been there but only turned a little browner over time. I have pressurized CO2, medium light, and I'm dosing ferts with the EI method. Any ideas on why its not taking off?

Thanks

Yah I should have mentioned that, I have a 20 gallon long tank and it has a pressurized co2 system on it.

Hey, I recently took the plunge into dry ferts as well. I went to All Seasons Garden Center at 10027 81st Ave. They were great and very helpful in getting me what I needed. It cost me about $35 bucks for enough ferts to last me probably a year or more. One note is that the potassium nitrate (KNO3)is now restricted in Alberta and they are only able to sell it premixed with water unless you have a explosives license so it doesn't come as a dry powder. I'm not sure if you can get dry KNO3 very easily anymore.

Does anyone know if there are brine shrimp egss or a starting colony availalbe anywhere in Edmonton?

Thanks

I have another update! Since the my lasthttp://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=reply_post&f=126&t=29553 post I've come a ways. I've updated my equipment list as I got a few new goodies. After picking up a sweet deal on Kijiji here I now have a stand, extra light,and glass top. Along with that came two quite large plants that I'm not too sure of the names, I think one is a sword of some kind and the other I have no idea.

I really wanted to have a clean looking tank with all the equipment very low profile and unobtrusive. In the spirit of this I was looking around on the forum and found information on making custom spraybars/intakes out of acrylic tubing. Here are the spraybar in the making and the finished products in my tank:

There are quite a few plants scattered around the tank now, mostly just the 2 mystery plants I got as part of the package deal. I have a package of plants on its way from another fourm member in my area packed with tons of different types, very exciting

I took a few pictures of the german rams, the plecos were camera shy. Heres a couple of them and the tank as a whole (what sexes do you think my rams are, I think both female but I'm not sure):

And finally my CO2 system is up and running, I haven't had the time to put in the hydor heater yet so that's why the jager heater is still visible in the shots of the tank: