dunl

My advice is to buy for the 55, try out some Africans, and when you get something you like (or don't), then you can switch when you upgrade. There's no way to stuff enough fish for a 180 into a 55, so take some time to try some out and swap or sell later. By no means the "be all, end all" for cichlid set ups, but follow the link below for some ideas. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php Get some ideas, and come back for some fine-tweaking.....lots of good African keepers on here. You might even find some of the fish you are looking for right here.

It's also that we all specialize in very small niches of the animal kingdom/ hobby. I called a vet here in Red Deer, and aksed the secretary if they carried metrinadazole, which I was going to soak pellets in to treat bloat in some Africans. She put me on hold, and I immediately had a vet on the phone asking me why I was looking for this, and explaining that they don't usually sell it to the general public. Told her what I was doing, she asked me where I received the information on the technique from, asked how it worked, told me she had never heard of it but it made sense to her, and said come on in and get it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

It's okay. Calgary has tonnes of Africans.....post a wanted ad on here, or go to Gold Aquariums.

When it comes to Africans, it's a bad thing. Sorry.

30 x 12 x 12 I believe. And it's seriously not a big deal, as everyone should check their tank sizes before building anyway.

Looks great! Just want to point out that it will hold two 20 HIGH tanks, not 20 LONG tanks.

Because you'll need a 1.5 foot sand bed for it.

Okay, that helps. Unfortunately, the one that seems the most red appears to be a male now that it's in my tank....long anal finnage, mild hump showing.....slight agression.

There actually is quite a few brackish fish keepers on here.....but they're still a minority compared to others.

Okay, I now have two female red devils courtesy of Fishgeek who delivered them to Red Deer for me. I'm going to get a tank started this week in order to get this breeding program going. I'll keep you all updated as it goes. First of all I need to make sure that I'm putting the females in with the male, not with the other female. As my Green Texas were different sizes to begin with, I'll have to check them again. Any way to definitively sex them in breeding/parenting dress? Think I remember seeing something about a black spot on the dorsal?

Maybe a little more than that, but not much.

I find that is the typical scenario for most big box stores.

Are the stripes pointed? If they are, it is a sure fire way of telling any type of hybrid that has kenyii in it.

You should be in good hands then - good luck.

www.canreef.com will have more numbers of people with experience to help you out.

I would guess feeder fry.

Well, my Texas pair spawned sometime last week. Didn't notice until I saw the cloud of fry in the tank last night. Is it possible to now have one of them pair up with a Red Devil, or are they monogamous couples for life?

Time for new cats that actually earn their keep, eh?

I'm pretty sure I have a pair here, from the pics I have looked at.

When it comes down to poor specimens, or hybrids of two similar species like mbamba and hongi, it becomes impossible to tell. I would say it looks more like a L. mbamba than hongi, with the most likely scenario that they were interbred sometime a few generations back. Very common, as some pet stores will have a tank of mbamba, get in a shipment of hongi by mistake, and they get mixed by an unknowing employee. What exactly is it? A poor specimen, probably more mbamba blood than hongi.

Ignore the "chilly" temperatures for these fish. They will survive cold water unless it actually freezes solid, as some people overwinter their fish here in Alberta. I'm sure they'd enjoy it much more than the warm water the tank probably had for the last few weeks.

That's just sucking great.

Grab by the tail, whack top of the head on something hard, very quickly so it kills instantly.

Good to have you back home, hopefully all in one piece.

That is awesome.