FrogFan23

:welcome:

Some vendors have lifetime warranties. They usually replace them by an RMA process. You need to check the packaging for your brand. Personally, I like Marineland's Visi-Therm Deluxe line of heaters. I've found them to be very reliable. Don't have any experience with Eheim Jager (Eheim bought the Ebo Jager line recently). I've also used PetSmart's Topfin line, but they usually only work best at tropical temperatures (I keep a lot of cool water tanks). PetSmart replaces their heaters over the counter (with receipt). That being said, I don't use a heater in my cherry shrimp tank. I keep my colony in a 5.5 gallon tank and found that there was absolutely no brand of heater I could rely on to keep a stable temperature in the tank. My colony has thrived without a heater - at room temperature - for over a year now.

All the recommended LFS are good. Although it is a chain store, I would also suggest visiting the PJ's Pets on Calgary Trail. It is not far from Big Al's. There is also Family Pet Supercentre in Sherwood Park. The Aquagiant West location should still be open this Saturday. When I was there a couple days ago, I could have sworn I heard them tell another customer that they would still be open for at least another two weeks. I could be wrong though. You might want to call first.

:welcome:

:welcome:

:welcome: to the addiction!!

I agree. I've done this myself. However, most incandescent fixtures will only accept up to 25W bulbs ...

:welcome:

Striped Raphaels are pretty common. You can find them almost anywhere. I don't know the Calgary stores all that well but I know that PetSmart, PJ's and BA carries them up here in Edmonton. In addition to striped, I've also seen the spotted and marbled species too. If you need care info, check out PlanetCatfish.

If you've got one near you, try a hydroponics shop (or go online). My wife picked up two high-output (HO) T5 light strips for considerably less than an equivalent aquarium fixture. http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=18485 The fixtures are small & slimline, the bulbs are replaceable, and the manufacturer even produces a 10K bulb. The one negative is that the smallest fixture available is 24" long. Additional bonus: The fixtures came from a Canadian company, SunBlaster Lighting. As to protecting them from water, why not just install a glass panel at the bottom of your wooden canopy, between the bulbs and the water? You could even make it removable, if desired, by cutting sliding grooves into the edges of the canopy to hold the glass in place.

Some of the Aussie species can get as big as a saltwater lobster, if not bigger. Cherax quadricarinatus is very common in the commercial trade due to its size. Some say that it tastes better than saltwater lobster. The largest freshwater crayfish in the world is Astacopsis gouldi, the Giant Tasmanian Freshwater Lobster. This bruisers can grow to a wopping 40 cm (16") carapace length (excluding tail and claws) and can weigh between 4 - 6 kg. They are an endangered species. Here are some pictures: Astacopsis gouldi Mercury - Astacopsis gouldi Recovery Plan Here is a shot of someone holding the second largest crayfish, the Murray Crayfish. It can reach a carapace length of 15 - 20 cm (6" - 8"), excluding tail and claws. They can weigh up to 2 kg. The Murray Crayfish is also considered to be good eating. Crayfishworld - Big Crayfish

You've basically done everything I did when I got a surprise breeding of the danios I used to cycle my cherry shrimp tank. By the way, as I discovered, you will likely find that you will not get any cherry shrimp babies until the danio fry is removed from the tank. It won't bother the adults, however. Congrats!

It's always been my understanding that you do not include the claws. I got the length from CanadianCray's website but there is no indication of whether the tail is included in that measurement. The government of Western Australia does not include the claws or tail when they measure crays (i.e., they measure from the tip of the rostrum to the back of the carapace). However, based on what I read in the Bluecrayfish forum, the hobbyist standard for measurement is nose/rostrum to tail. I wasn't able to find any clear information from Aussie sources to confirm the length of the Quad, either. But, if you check out this page, it will show the size relative to the human hand: Queensland Crayfish Farmer's Association - About the Redclaw

It is generally not a good idea to keep Australian species (cherax) in the same tank with North American species (electric blue). The North Am species can carry a disease to which the aussies have no immunity (the "crayfish plague"). Also, some of the cherax species get significantly larger than North Am species. A few of the aussie species get larger than one foot in length (the quad typically gets to about 10 inches). Here's a link that tells about the disease: http://grannyshouse.biz/page9.html

:welcome:

:welcome:

:welcome:

:welcome:

:welcome:

Yes, I have. I ordered from them last year. Based on a search of the forum, so have a number of the other members. Everybody has had their own experiences with them, for good or bad. As I responded to you in another thread, I have no complaints about dealing with them as a company. For me, shipping was prompt and on time. Everything was well packaged. They have great prices on strand/bunch plants. I very much liked the quality of the anubias I got from them but didn't have a lot of luck with their swords (perhaps because most of my tanks tend to be in the 20 C range). The java ferns I ordered are growing like bad weeds in my axy tank (oddly, he absolutely decimated his anubias but the ferns survived). Most of the plants I ordered are still alive today. The anacharis and hornwort I gave my wife had grown so well that she finally got frustrated and removed it from her tank during the last "renovation." The only negative that came with my order was a severe problem with pond snails. That being said, if you are into loaches like my wife, pond snails aren't all that much of a problem after all ...

Just be careful with mixing species. From what I've read, the dwarf varieties are related and will interbreed. If you're looking for pure strains, keeping them together could become a problem. Congrats, though. Your tigers are really beautiful.

:welcome:

:welcome:

Can I interject a word of warning here? I just recently got rid of three yo-yo loaches from a 23 gallon tank. While they definitely dealt with the snail population somewhat, they overwhelmed my bio-filter and caused tremendous spikes in my nitrATE levels. It was so bad that it killed my electric blue crayfish. They are also voracious fry eaters, as I discovered when my dwarf platy population literally exploded after I donated the loaches to a pet store. The crayfish was much more effective at eliminating my snail problem than the loaches. The negative was that it was also very effective at eliminating all my plants and any platies that were dumb enough to get in its grasp. I agree with my wife, if you want loaches, your best option is Y. sidthimunki.

You're right. Burt's claw should grow back after a few molts. I have read about this happening on other invertebrate forums. My condolences for your loss of Cricket, Terrie Lee. Crays are amazing pets.