mitsukuni

IF this is your turtle tank, and IF its a female, she might've laid eggs - my girls laid eggs a few times when I did a water change or changed something around drastically - the eggs broke up quickly in the water, but made it very cloudy... yours is a musk turtle, wasn't it? Mine are red-eared sliders, so I can't speak to the color of the eggs, or if this is even the problem - look for bits of shell in the substrate, if you use any. (Personally, I did away with substrate in my turtle tank to keep the tank cleaner....) If not, the food advice above applies to turtles too... Keep us updated. And don't worry, you'll be a great turtle mom before you know it!

Two of my three festivums went into mega-coloration mode last week, and this evening when I looked in the tank all the other fish were crowded on one side of the 55, and the proud parents were guarding their eggs, laid on a fake sword plant. Rather large eggs (I'm used to looking at Ram eggs), and so far Mama in particular is quite attentive. Not sure if I should intervene or not at this point - it is their first spawning...? Either way, its cool to see. Here's Mama, tending the *nest*:

HD in Country Hills had it along the back wall, slightly towards the left when looking at the back wall from the front door. Right next to the acrylic diffuser. Long ways from the flourescent lights, where I was expecting to find it. (They sell it in 4'x4' pieces, and its easy to cut with lineman's pliers) I'd imagine other locations are the same - aren't all those big box stores mirror images?

Matthew, as soon as I get it shaped up (its a bit of a mess, since I hauled the rams out the other day when they laid eggs) I'll do some pic-takin'.... stay tuned... :thumbs:

Thanks for the advice above... duly noted. I thought I would update this thread, since I *finally* got my dream discus - 2 tangerine dream discus. I moved the little blue turqs to another tank, and will stick with 6 discus in this 60g. I'll put up some pics when I get a chance - love their colors, and real nice contrast with the 2 blue diamonds and the 2 red-turqs. Unless I add a few dithers, this tank is stocked. I promise... :shifty: Phil

Eggs have disappeared again. Guess we'll move em back upstairs with the Discus and wait till next time...

Another vote for target sand here - I now have it in three tanks, and the only major change is that I don't plunge the python all the way to the bottom glass anymore, I just kind of hover over the substrate, and the detritus floats up. To rinse mine, I put it in a bucket about halfway filled, then put it down in the sink, and filled the bucket with lukewarm water, stirrring the sand in the bucket and letting it run over till the runover is clear. Takes about 5minutes or so per bucket.

what does Mrs Mitsu. think of this? Heh.. she has her own tank, plus "her own" fish in almost every other tank, so she's okay... (good to have a wife who likes plecos!)

Jason makes some great points - IMHO, they are the most adapable, easy to keep ciclid available. I've kept them with just about everything, from semi-agressive CA's such as firemouths, green terrors, etc, to really small juvie angels and festivums - they are very adaptable - they can hold their own against most, but don't go out of their way to bother others, unless you are a plant. For some reason, they are offended by plants, in my experience: plastic ones get uprooted and eventually taken apart, real ones get shredded. They also like to move gravel, and do their own aquascaping. But great personalities, great eaters, and they will be among the first to greet you when you come home. Here's a link on cichlid forums to the different varieties available these days, to get you started: Search for "severum" They get pretty big after a while but you probably know that. Possibly my favorite overall fish? I do notice that there are a lot more varieties available these days, from red-headed, to turquoise, etc. Gold Sevs are cool too. The little ones you see 50 in a tank in LFS's don't do them justice - they really get nice as they get bigger, greens and golds alike. HTH, Phil

Depends on your setup: an Aquaclear300 is great if you have the water all the way up, with a basking area above the tank, but if not, then the marineland HOT magnum (also at Walmart under a diff name but same thing and priced at $100)) is a good choice. I used it for years on my turtles, but recently switched back to an AC since its so much easier to haul apart... as Mike said though, when the turtles shed those large scutes, they can block things in a hurry, depending on their size... Just for clarification, we are talking red-eared sliders or something similar?

Just found some more eggs, this time on the biggest piece of driftwood in the tank. We decided that this time maybe we'd move em, so I did a water change on the 60, but siphoned the water directly into a 10 downstairs. Moved the driftwood in there (it just fit, by laying it diagonally), moved a powerhead with foam prefilter from the 60 as well, and finally moved ma and pa ram down there. Temp is levelled off at 83* (remember they came out of a discus tank), and they're now watching the eggs again, after milling about for a bit wondering what happened. Any suggestions as to how to proceed? From what I've read, Calgary water may be too hard for hatching, and I don't have a RO unit... what if I threw a little HOB filter on there with some peat pellets in the box? And I wonder how often I should change the water in the 10? Hmmm.... I'll keep this thread updated. Phil

Yesterday was a good fish shopping day! I finally setup my redhump breeding tank, 27g with 3f and 1m. Here is the hopeful patriarch, though my wife suggests he's wearing lipstick! :kiss: And here is my handsome gymnogeophagus balzani - some might say he's got a funny nose, but my severum (far left) doesn't seem to mind him...

Took this shot this afternoon: Festies were pale when there was two, but I added a third, and two of them immediately paired off and went super bold colored...also pictured are my two juvie discus, geo surinamensis, and two juvie angels if you look real close. Very peaceful tank, but lots of action - its a fun one to have in my office, but hard to get any work done... :shifty:

Valerie, if you don't mind my asking, what did you use to puncture the cap and seal the airline to it? I've seen some plans on the net for simply siliconing an anti-drainback valve through a hole in the cover, but I'm not sure how good a seal one would get... My BIL got the newest yeast-driven system that uses a powerhead-like pump instead of a matrix, and the plants in his 20 are out of control! I'm using the hagen bubble-through-the-grid setup, and have been less than happy with the results... I may take away some of the collective wisdom from here and go DIY - thanks folks!

-roll- C'mon, I'm sure he can squeeze a few more GPH out of his filters if he puts a high flow intake strainer on there... :rofl:

Hey Sam, Ditto what Mike said... RE compatibility, Tanya has has had her Convict and Severum with her GT for a while now, and they've all gotten along fine... I kept a Severum and a GT in a 48 back home for 5 years, before selling the whole setup to move out here. Firemouth is another good companion with a GT, IMHO... others will have other suggestions I'm sure... Maybe blue acara, or even salvini if you want some color? Clowns would probably be okay for now, but remember that the GT and the clowns, as well as the others I've mentioned (except maybe the firemouth and the convict) will outgrow your 55 in time. You might also look into some bottom feeders as well, such as pimelodus pictus? As for a dither... maybe some giant danios (remember Morhua's in his bowfront?), some rainbows, or even some larger tetras like the bleeding heart tetra?

I know, I know, Vortex Diatom is old school, but I still like it - you think your tank is crystal clear, then you stick the old diatom filter on there for an hour and it looks like there's no water in there, its that clear! In any event, I've been using an old box of powder that I brought with me when I moved here from the east coast 6 years ago - ran out a month ago, and can't find it anywhere... the LFS off McKnight has an empty bulk bin, but I've never seen it refilled, and they're out of prepackaged boxes. Can anyone point me to where to find it locally, or can I go into UFA and buy "diatomeceous earth"? Is it the same, or no? Thanks all, Phil

He's in Cowtown... and yes, "clown loaches" would suit his personality perfectly... -roll- Welcome dude. Hang around here for a bit and you'll realize that aquariums are like Lays potato chips... "betcha can't have just one..." But start with one. And we'll go from there.

Well, I had a good day geo shopping.... I got my wildcaught redhumps: 3 females and a male; they are in a planted 27 with sandy bottom and driftwood - hopefully the harem meets with his approval... :shifty: Also got the last Balzani from a NE LFS... he's way cool. He's in the 77 with my Sev. Almost bought a "g.leucostica" as well, but I decided to practice some restraint... That puts geos in three tanks now. Oh boy... Sounds like you guys/gals have some great setups as well... We really should start a Geophagus picture thread, don't ya think?

Surprised you're the first to ask that one... it was always advertised showing huge containers of water on it, and a rating was given, though I can't recall what it was now - in any event, I started with one tank on it, and before I knew it, I had four... after I added the 33s up top I bought some angle brackets, and screwed in about 10 or so to give the system a little more stability in case my cat ever decides to do some acrobatics on it... Its was quite sturdy before, now its rigid. Thanks for all the feedback - I think the "neatness" is due to the fact that its a small area, so if things get disorganized, I can't really get in there. Anyways, I guess it is "the fishroom" now... "phase one". Don't tell my wife about my eventual plans for phase two, eh? Phil

Thanks folks, see you there. Phil

I was wondering what was planned in terms of speaker, etc? Also, if I have some fish for auction, should I just bag em and bring em, or is there a procedure to follow? Oh, and p'raps a reminder of the jar show theme might be helpful to those who couldn't make the last one? Phil

That's too bad - sorry to hear it. :cry:

Thought I would update this topic a little... Severum is now moved into his 77g, along with a large pleco... we now have 3 angels, 3 festivums, the silly pekoltia (he still hangs out in his truck), wifey bought a royal pleco, a g.surinamensis, a g.tapajos, and I just moved over my two juvie discus. I know, I know, wierd (some might say "wrong") combination, but its working great! Everyone's happy, healthy, and they're loving the sandy bottom. Some will have to be moved eventually, but for now its a great tank to watch when I should be doing work in here (like now)... here's one side of the tank...

I've been dusting off some old equipment of late, and acquiring some new - Apart from the two tanks on the main, I've now got a few setup in the basement, in what is becoming my little fishroom. While I have a ways to go to catch some of you (and do I want to? :shock: heheh...), it is coming along... Here's a peek: Clockwise from top left: 20 (empty), with two 10s below that you can't see, also empty for now; the one facing you with the blue background is my Malawi 33 with some mbunas and two synos; below that are my two RES's with their above water basking area, screened with wire racking; next to that on top is my wife's 33 with juvie SA's, and below that is a newly setup 27, with some chewed plants (thanks severum!), and currently housing two johanii's that were getting bullied. Finally, on the adjacent wall, a 77 with my DIY sump running, and a couple of plastic plants to keep the severum from getting too edgy while he waits for real aquascaping. Along with the 55 and the 60 upstairs, I'm starting to feel like I'm getting back into the zone... now I need to work on expansion plans... :hey: