wandj

Dimensions 96"L x 24"D x 30"H. The biggest reason why I pulled this one is because his gash was bothering him. He would go to a piece of decor and rub his face on it. (Like fish do when they have Ick and they scratch on things) I thought it was bothering him so chose him to take out. He looks ok today. Just want to know if 3 JD's are ok in a tank this size or should I just have 2.

Hi. I had 3 x 5" JD's in my new big tank (300gal), and they were just put there about 3 days ago. Yesterday, I saw a couple of them scrapping under a pile of decor, and today, 2 of them have welts or gashes on their noses. The third one, which is slightly smaller, is not affected at all. Perhaps it found a different spot and the other 2 were fighting for the same one, OR is it a female? I caught one of the fighters and put it in another tank for now. It had a bigger gash. Maybe it was the loser. I just pared down from 5 JD's, should I find a new home for the one I just pulled out? Should I let it recover for awhile and put it back in the big tank? What should I do? There are LOTS of decor around, so don't know why they wanted the same spot.

Here is my new Discus. I just put him in his final home today. (55gal)

Last pic. Within 10 min, the Scarlet found its new home. I think this will be the most I'll see of it from now on.

Here is that beautiful Scarlet.

Here it is about an hour later. See the much nicer color? I think it's happy. BTY, can anyone tell if it's a male or female?

Oh, and ignore that ugly orange plastic plant floating there, I replaced it with an 8 foot long light blue moss-plant that looks really nice. But those pics didn't turn out. Here is the Firehead still in the pail. I am showing it to provide scale because everyone knows how big the bottom of a 5gal pail is. The bottom pic is the fish right after release. You can see he is a bit pale. Stressed out.

Got my pics. On dial-up, so it's gonna be slow. First, here is the tank bare and on the stand. You won't see the canopy for awhile, till all the tinkering is done.

I told my friend about the eye thing. He's pretty smart, because he told me that he was probably looking down because of the tank lights being turned on. (I do know that you have to turn lights on slowly because fish don't have eyelids and no one likes some door-knob turning the light on when you're sleeping). This morning, I had turned the hallway light on and opened the basement door. Then I turned a basement light on. Later, I turned on the tank lights. The fish did not dash around as I knew I had turned the lights on nicely, but he still was not used to the tank lights, which is why he was "looking down", hence the appearance of bulging eyes at the top. But I must admit, I have never seen that before.

I don't mean to change the topic, but I need to ask....how can a banned member be able to post? What does banned mean? Like, what can you do or not do? (Looks like you can post)

I just looked at him again. (I'm gonna lose weight going up and down the stairs all the time). I think I'm just hallucinating. He looks fine again. Maybe he/she was just a little "sleepy" when I checked earlier because he/she looks fine now. GOOD! Strange things happen to your mind when you just lost a fish....you think everthing is sick and gonna die.

Good morning Niel...you're up early on a Sunday. What's wrong with you? Oh yeah, I was up at 5:30am. Ok, I just checked on them and all the fish are fine except, if my eyes don't deceive me, I think I see that the Firehead's eyes are slightly bulging from the top, so he looks like he is looking down a little. He was not like this last night and he has only been in the tank for 7 hrs when I noticed it, so do you think this is pop-eye starting? The tank is clean, so I can't figure out why it is happenig, unless he is just falling ill due to the move. I sure don't want it to get worse and it's pretty hard to treat a 300gal tank. My question, should I do anything? Anyone familiar with this species? I don't want to be having trouble now. I already lost a Peacock that didn't even make it out of his q tank. (Moving is so stressful) What should I do?

Hi Christian. I was at BA, and they had a few different types of those Polypterus's, but they told me they are noturnal predators and would eat my fish. So, I passed. However, I visited a very dear friend of mine later that day, and since he is trying to reduce his fish, he GAVE me a beautiful Firehead Cichlid! This thing is gorgeous! He said the coloring is very impressive (I agree) and it is easily a foot long. He/she was a little upset with me after I put it in its new home as he was a bit pale, but whithin an hour, the colors were starting to shine. He looked HAPPY! He is not shy! It constantly swam around and explored the tank and picked up gravel, etc. It was even hungry as I put in some food and it ate. (My friend said he was not feeding much) I also purchased his gorgeous Scarlet pleco. My God this thing is gorgeous! I have been eyeing it for a year. About a foot long. I talked with him about when to introduce my regular JD's, they are only about 5"?, and we agreed that it's not a good idea to give any of the Cichlids a chance to establish a territory. So I added the JD's the same time as the big Firehead. It was clear right away the Firehead is boss, but he was not chasing the JD's around. I don't want any scrapping. Now, besides an Aro someday, dare I add another Cichlid? I would be tempted by another Firehead too (of the same sex). I would be tempted by a "Black-banded" Chilclasoma maculicauda, but I might be maxed out already on Cichlids. Once these guys put stakes in the ground, I don't want to rock the boat adding anything else. Opinions? I showed my beau, and he liked the Firehead, but the Scarlet already found a home to hide in. And I could see how unimpressed he was. (Is that thing going to hide in there all the time?). So no more plecos I guess. I have finished my roll of film and will post pics ASAP. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR ADVICE! As you can see, I have taken bits and pc's of what you said....I still might get a Silver Salmon Aro (I have talked to many ppl and a friend who keeps many, and says he has never seen them get more than 2 feet). AND, Neil I did make the tank a CA set up. So, any more advice? Tell me senseis! PS, I plan on doing lots of water changes cuz I am worried the filters are not mature enough for the fish load. Total inches fish in there right now: about 36". Oh ya, I added about 15 little Otto's to keep the algae in check and "yucky" stuff off my decor.

Yes, the fuzz is normal. Might be a type of fungus, but like we eat mushrooms, it won't kill the fish. You can keep it in check by keeping fish that will constantly clean your decor. Ottos are perfect. Not all catfish are good. For ex, Zebra plecos (like how many ppl have those anyway?), will not even touch driftwood and I saw it growing in their tank. If you have L134, they are very active and constantly rasping around everything. But if you want a fish that is inconspicuous, get ottos. They keep the algae gone and clean the "yucky" stuff off your decor. And sorry about your loss. There have been a few ppl who just lost fish (me). Maybe there's something in the water....

I have 2 other males. There is one who is doing quite well. I like him because he is not very shy. The other is a little guy. He is eating, but he is very shy. He is obviously a sub. BUT, that's ok! I plan on expanding and mixing my stock with Fishy's some day.

Tried to delete, but can't. (Wrong thread) Oh well, have to put something down.

He he. No, I can't blame BA this time. These came from a private breeder who sent them to Riverfront who sent them to my LFS who sent them to me.

Now that it is clear that the tank is only 2 feet "wide", can I still try an Aro?. Are there small types? Any Aro experts out there? No Silvers, but are there a small species that would do ok? What are they?

I just checked on my new Rubys. On of the large males is dead. I'm not surprised. They travelled around a lot before they ended up with me (4 tanks in less than 2 days). They all got Ick, so I treated them for that. Very minor case and was not an issue. But about a week ago I noticed the one male not eating. (He had been after he came here). And then I noticed a couple of days ago jelly-like excretions from his butt. I figured he had a internal bacterial infection. There were no physical signs of illness at all. He just stopped eating and I saw that bad poop. I treated him but it's too late. He didn't even make it out of his q tank. Sigh. At least the others are doing fine.

So sorry to hear about your loss.

Ok, help me out with my spatial reasoning. A red Aro may reach 30". Its turn-around space in a tank like mine is only 24", probably less due to equipment, decor etc. Are you sure and Aro would be comfortable in this turn-around? Are you sure my tank is big enough? I don't want it to be crowded and unhappy. (I am tempted) Does anyone know if Aros change direction sometimes so they are not always swimming in the same circle all the time?

An aro would be cool, but believe it or not, my tank is still not big enough. They get to be about 3 feet long? It still won't be able to turn around. And I have rich taste, if I were to get an Aro, I would want those expensive red ones. And what is that thing in the second pic? A snakehead?

I couldn't find any pics. Buy/sell only goes back 8 pages.

Hi all. I have my 300 gal running and I need to know what all I can put in it. Kind of like a blank slate? The tank is 96"L x 24"D x 30"H. The tank builders built it funny whereas they put a top on the tank and there are only 2 x 11 square inch holes in the top. So, this means I can't put big decor in it and what fish go in, will probably never come out. So there goes my hopes of making it a big breeding tank. (And I don't want to cut the holes bigger). I had planned on putting my Blue JD's in it, but I'm sure you all heard how poor quality they are. I have 5 regular JD's and can still put them in it. I thought I could add some Rainbows to act as dithers and they are too fast to be bothered by aggressive Cichlids. Throw in some Ottos. Water parameters. pH 8.5-8.7. (Great African tank?) GH 220 pm (12 grains) KH 310 ppm (considered very high) Temp: Not set yet. (It's 25C right now, but that depends on the fish I get) 4 x large canister filters. 2 air stones. The background of this tank is blue, same color as the blue at the top where the fish silhouette is. SO, this means I don't want fish that will blend into the background. (Another reason to not have Blue JD's anymore). I will prefer fish with lots of red and or yellow. Or mixes of color. I have that small gravel substrate from Sil Industries, the silica stuff that is a tan color. Have lots of pcs of small driftwood. Some fake driftwood. As for other fish, I want them big and very colorful. Not big like an Aro, but between 5-12 inches. Very small amount of very big ones...like only one or two. Don't want warfare, so I don't want something nasty. I have already been looking into these fish via books: Lake Tang: Cyathopharynx furcifer (9") Lake Vic: Astatotilapia aeneocolor (5") A" " " " sp Redtail (5") A " " " " latifasciata Astatoreochromis allauadi Central Am: Cichlasoma Salvini (6") C" " " " synspilium (Firehead Cichlid 12") I also want to be able to feed them all the same diet, no veggie/algae eaters. So they must all have a meaty/omnivorous diet. I don't want my meat-eaters to be eating the algae wafers meant for other fish. Having had mostly plecos, I am getting tired of my fish hiding all the time, so I would give preference to fish that are not hiders. Fish that are mid swimmers or are not so shy. I want to SEE the fish in this tank. And, I might take/buy some fish off some of you if they appeal to me. No Oscars, my beau hates them. I am tempted by a Jag. Juvie? I heard they are mean though.... And hey, it's my Birthday today so give me an extra special big chunk of advice! Thanks everyone!

Hmmm....I am tempted to try a Jag in my big tank. The big guy will probably eat my JD's...they are only half the size. How tempermental is he? Maybe I might hunt down a juvie, but since we're talking about jags, tell me about the big one.