mitsukuni

Tank is smallish for what's in there, its a 33g. But I'm planning to set up a bigger tang tank down the road, really like these guys. Not much agression yet. Julis are still pretty small. Calvus are surprisingly easy-going. Most agressive one so far is the brevis...

Here's a shot of one of my new multi's: \ Already claimed a home! Here's an Ocellatus, daring someone to come and try and take his favorite shell: Here are the other inhabitants, some white Calvus, and some Juli Transcriptus:

Well, action abounds with the red-humper! One female is now holding eggs!! :thumbs: Soon as I get her abode setup she shall be moving to the nursery!

My g.steindachneri male has been in with some other geo's and a big severum in my 77 for a few weeks now, waiting till the females were ready again for his love demonstrations but today the 27g red-hump breeding tank started leaking, so I had to move the females out of there. I decided to throw two into the 77 to see what the male would do, now that he's had some time away from them... OMG he's so funny! He immediately starting shimmying side to side in between the two females as he went back and forth between them, puckering his lips and making trumpeting motions. I don't know if they're ready for action yet, but he was displaying almost as soon as they hit the water! I may leave them in there for a while, and then separate a female if I see her holding. In the mean time, the entertainment is priceless!

Well, the last batch disappeared, but love is in the air again - bigger clutch of eggs this time, on an inside branch of driftwood and they might've been there a few days, but I didn't notice till tonight. Female Festivum is all colored up and chasing away intruders. I'm gonna leave things alone, since I'm going away for a few days: maybe that's the best thing?

Been running my fluidized bed filter for a few weeks now via a prefiltered powerhead, and apart from dumping some sand in at the beginning when I was trying to adjust the flow, its been working perfectly. :thumbs:

Glad to hear they're faring well so far Sammy! You're gonna have to post up a pic soon to show off your first fishy friends!

I won! :thumbs: Raffle tickets are cool! Good meeting. Pam, I agree about the "U" format - seemed to work good. (still can't believe Tammy & Dave have 32 discus! )

I didn't see any, but it was starting to rain, so I didn't do too much digging- there were some boxes that I didn't look too closely at. If we are there tomorrow, I'll have another looksie....

Was leaving the LFS today when I ran into their sidewalk sale... was going through the bins when I found a Quicksand Fluidized Bed Filter. Opened the box and everything was there. It was marked "Final Sale: $5"!!! So I bought it. I'm already running a power head with prefilter on my discus tank, so I figure I'll just pump it through the FBF, and increase my bio-capacity! Love these kinds of finds! :thumbs:

I've had my python for <gulp> 20 years or so. At one point I had to change hoses, and have been using a non-toxic garden hose for the long end ever since.

Wow.

I've been using a python for years and couldn't go without... it is best attached to a sink a level below the tanks... Example: I have two tanks on the main floor, and so as soon as the siphon starts, I turn off the water. The laundry sink attached to the python is in the basement, so I simply turn on the water (in pull mode on the faucet pump), go up and put the gravel cleaner down in the tank, then go back down and turn off the water. Then I go back up and vacuum my gravel with the siphon giving enough pull to adequately rid the substrate of gunk. To refill, I fill my "dosing pump" (square 2l water conainer with a hole on the side) with water and a capful of Prime, and then set it on one side to let the dechlor pour out in a tiny stream . I set the temp to the tank temp at the faucet, and then refill the tank. I do it with the water pressure low for the refill, and the gravel cleaner tied to the center bar of the tank with an elastic so the water falls onto the surface, theoretically aerating a little more. Been using this method on my mainfloor discus tank with good results so far. The downstairs tanks are on the same level as the laundry sink, but the higher tanks can still siphon when I put the shorter hose through a hook in a beam. The lower tanks need water pulling on them all the time, but they are the smaller tanks, so it doesn't use much water. Phil

What is the footprint of the tank? Is it a 4' by 18" wide? I guess it really depends on how much maintenance you wanna do... the higher the bioload, the more filtration and water changes you should do, if you want to keep the discus healthy. Sounds like you have a pretty light load so far... I guess the other big q is whether you want max growth in min time, or if this is just a display tank that you want to enjoy watching? I have a 60g high, and I've decided that with good maintenance, 6 is my limit. This after posting a similar post to yours. I've only been keeping them since February, so I am not the voice of experience (nor reason, some might argue :hey: ). You'll hear different answers on this one for sure but I suggest listening to what others have done with good results, then weigh that against your own maint and filtration, and do what will work for you. P

No chloramines... not yet at least. When you get a chance, go into your profile and update your location, otherwise every time you ask a question, someone will ask where you are (apparently there's quite a few enthusiasts *north* of Calgary! Who knew? ) I moved here from the east coast 6 years ago, and sold quite a bit of what I had as well... you'll slowly build it up again. You may even end up with more than you started with... :hey:

Welcome to AA and Alberta! What are the particulars on your setup? Is this your first? Phil

Of course you're right Jay, and I guess I knew, but I still can't help but thinking of them all as geo's. :thumbs: I did find a really good article on the "juruparoids" which has a great pic table that clears some of the confusion on those guys - for me anyways: http://cichlidae.com/article.php?id=115 . I still get jurupari, daemon, auticeps, and leucostica mixed up... He seems to be fitting in well though - the surinamensis that's currently sharing the sand with him seems indifferent to his presence, and the angels, festies and discus that share the "wimp tank" with him are simply waiting for more food to drop in.

Been working on stuff for a conference my school division is hosting in a few weeks (I'm on the committee), so this afternoon I had to geta break and get out and about for a bit - we ended up doing a few LFS's, and came home with some treasures... -1 beautiful geophagus leucostica -2 happy pimelodus pictus -2 elodea something something... Great break from work. And I managed to leave Christian's WITHOUT any driftwood. Lucky day indeed. :shifty: Also saw more Calvus, and wifey decided we have to get some soon. She really is hooked now. :thumbs: But I got off easy. Ask Morhua what he brought home today!!! :hey: Phil

:welcome: So what kind of monsters do you keep? :boxer:

All that REEF(er) is starting to affect Matthew's fishbrain! -roll- Hmmm... Matt, they're legal to keep, you just can't sell em on the street!?! :thumbs:

Welcome! I see you're on the exponential track of Multiple Tank Syndrome. It can only end in a room full of tanks, for you and your family. We'll be here for support along the way... :shifty: Phil

Agreed, should be fine. While you're at IKEA, pick up one of those metal diagonal shelf reinforcements, and you should be good to go - they're with the "GORM" shelves. That would give it good side to side strength. Here is the shelving system I'm referring to - the metal "X" across the back would give your stand some extra insurance...

Finally Sammie! Good job. I did the same as the rest - vinegar, a blade, and lots of scrub/rinse. If you didn't get a top with it, we'll take a run to River and they can make you a nice glass top. They made Morhua a nice one, which you can check next time you're up this way. So is it a 3 foot tank, or a taller 30", like the one that I hadn't filled up last time you were up? (its got fish in it now) You really have to see Tanya's 33 now... it'll be right up your alley. :thumbs: What have you decided on for substrate? Remembering back to first tanks - shudder... I won't even tell you what I had in a ten gallon. Then I got a 27 and thought it was so BIG... heheh. Then I got even bigger fish. We'll help you not to make the same mistakes we did! Phil

Sorry buddy... You are not the only one - I had to euthanize my largest emperor last night - he'd been hanging at the surface for five days, not eating, and slowly bloating... last night he looked so miserable that I netted him (he didn't even try to get away) and lowered him into an inch of icy water and ice cubes, where he quickly went to sleep. At least I know he'll meet up with some other newcomers in fishy heaven... Here's to hoping for new babies all over to take their place! :beer:

Atta girl Connie! Finally a start on the big-geo-condo! Love those thread-fins! Way cool! :thumbs: :thumbs: