ABwildrose

ok, thank you

I was wondering when the spring CAS auction will be so I can try and arrange time off to attend. Does anyone know when it is?

Hi from Bow Island and welcome to the site!!

Their prices on items as well as their service does tend to be very reasonable. (my apologies if this infringes on any vendor review policy)

The only store in Lethbridge I go to is Tropical Fish Imports. I haven't been there in a long time, but I like going to see his tanks. It is a very small store, but his fish are very healthy looking and well cared for. Most of the display tanks are well planted and look good. He has some A. cichlids, but not a lot. It is out of the way in the Industrial area on the North side. Address is 3805 9 ave N. Phone number is 380-4506. I would call before You go because I think the hours are wierd. Hopefully someone from Lethbridge has more info.

Welcome to Alberta!!

I had lots of fun. Great job everyone. Looking at all those plants makes me want to go back to a planted tank....maybe some day. I got a used 404 that looks to be in great shape, some beautiful kuhli loaches, tetras and a few plants for my sister. For me I got 3 nice looking F2 yellow labs. I always have to buy at least 1 impulse buy that I later have to make adjustments to fit in....that was about 10 little yellow labs. It was nice meeting you Frank.

I think I am going to be there too, I can't wait!

Me too, I have lost 2 of them. The first after a thunderstorm and the replacement lasted only a few months....sounds almost the same as Kevin's situation. It probably was a bad batch, but I definitely won't risk buying them again.

very nice!!

Thanks for the info. I thought it strange that my 2 biggest fish died, but that kind of explains it. I don't have anything extra bubbling to break the surface tension for aeration. I do have a sump system, the water drains from the top and the water sprays through a spray bar across the media and then back into the tank through a spray bar set just under the surface. The water at the bottom of the tank really doesn't circulate well, I used to have an airstone down there to help circulate to water from the bottom, but the bubbles made the sump gurgle more so I stopped doing that. Maybe I will fish out an old pump and try moving the water around with that.

very nice :thumbs:

Well, I came home this afternoon and saw my 2 large male acei dead on the bottom. ( I wish RDfishguy still had his and I would snap them up in a heartbeat to replace them). My big melanochromis cyanerhabdos (?sp) was also missing and I eventually found him dead as well. He was such a beautiful fish. I even had compliments on "that pretty blue fish" from people walking by that could see him from the sidewalk When I went to fish them out, I noticed the water was very hot. It was about 36 C. My heater was set at 22C and it was still heating. The power went off 3 times yesterday and once earlier in the afternoon. I wonder if that fried my heater or something. When I got the temp down to about 30C the other fish seemed to perk up and the ones that were practically laying on the bottom started acting normal again. The synodontis I have didn't really seem unusually stressed throughout the ordeal. I only have 1 dwarf bristlenose unaccounted for but I think he is probably OK. I always have trouble located all those guys during head counts. Out of curiousity, how long can cichlids usually stand the high temps and how hot can the tank get without causing problems? I am kind of wondering how long the tank was that hot. I am sure they seemed normal yesterday.

The guy at the lfs gave me a box that had been made to mount the T5 lights in. I am not sure of the dimension or wood, but it was a pretty basic design. I took it to a place that works with metals, I think sheet metals and stuff. He charged me $5 and used a piece of scrap that he bent and mounted inside the box for a reflector. Then my husband mounted the lights inside. I painted the box flat black and it worked well for many years. It just sat on top of the glass.

was yours the 48" ones as well? I think it is likely that both mine came from the same batch. The second one I bought was in use on a display tank and he said they had been using it for a few months. If no one else has had problems, it is likely that they are a good product otherwise. Just be sure to keep your receipt. My husband couldn't figure out how to get at the ballast either.

I had trouble with my coralife T5 48" fixtures. I bought one last Sept or so and about 5 months later it didn't work. I thought that either the bulbs were dead or a recent power outage had caused damage. I bought new bulbs and they still didn't work, so it must be the ballast or whatever. I then bought a whole new unit because I now had a couple of brand new bulbs. That one lasted barely 2 months when I noticed flickering of the lights and then they went out. I changed to use new bulbs and it still didn't work. So, 2 of those units kicked the bucket within 8 months. Needless to say, I bought myself a different type of fixture at a hardware store. I wonder if there isn't a problem with a batch of those fixtures.

I wish I had seen this a few days ago. I was looking for a cheaper T5 fixture than what the lfs sells. I have about 4 perfectly good bulbs but the fixture doesn't work for some reason. I finally broke down and bought one at the lfs.

Maybe try asking someone in the underground sprinkler industry. I bet they would be intrigued and look into it and give you some advice.

How can a person detirmine if an ornament is safe to use in the aquarium? My sister has a table water fountain thing that doesn't work anymore and wants to put it in the tank. Would the paint on that be safe? She also found what looks like it might be an old aquarium ornament but I am not sure. Is there any way to tell if it would be safe? Thanks, Shelley

beautiful!!! You should make a calender or something.

Eagle Butte road is hard surface (narrow, windy without center lines) most of the way and then is suddenly turns to gravel at the end. I think it comes out just south of Cypress Hills. I only travel it as far as the hard top is so I am not positive where it comes out. It is the kind of road that you drive on for about 45 minutes and suddenly changes to gravel and you think "OMG, Where am I". The entire road is very scenic, I love the drive. It goes from the transcanada just East of Medicine Hat, heads South and takes a curving round about way back East to Cypress. There isn't much traffic on it usually. Last time I was on it there was an unusual amount of traffic. It turns out west going traffic was being detoured around Medicine Hat off the transcanada onto the Eagle Butte road. Rather than immediately turning west about 1/2 mile down the road to bypass the city, I think they continued on the Eagle Butte road. There was long groups of trafffic. I can just imagine their surprise when they came out probably 50 miles Southeast rather than West.

very nice, thanks for showing us

wow, beautiful pics!!!! That one you took on the way to Cypress almost looks like you took it along the Eagle Butte road. That road has amazing scenery.

very nice, are those live plants? and what kind of fish do you have hiding in there?

I bought a few pieces to use a while back. I eventually decided against using them because I was afraid of the cichlids cutting themselves while chasing around the rocks and trying to hide etc. I don't really know if that was a valid concern or not tho. I do know it did a number on my hands while I was carving out caves in the rock.