patrick

So my new 75G tank has been up for a while now. Water is stable at: Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5ppm PH: 8.8 GH: 12 KH: 24 Temp: 26C Last week I added 4 Julidochromis marlieri. They were sold to me as two pairs but typically julies they broke up. About one week later two of the larger ones (3"-3.5") have paired up and is spending a lot of time cleaning out the caves that they have taken possesion of. The two remaining ones are having a tough time but it's not at the point where I am worried about their survival -yet. They are also showing some indications of forming a second pair. With a bit of luck I might end up with one pair in each end of the tank. Yesterday I got my hands on a group of 5 Xenotilapia ornatipinnis. They are tiny, ranging between 1"-1¼". They were expensive too, but I could not resist.... they are soo cool when they school across the bottom looking for food. Here is a pretty cool video - I have them in a 10G quarantine tank and they look very healthy. I'll probably keep them there for a week or so before I let them in the main tank.

Are both of them flickering or just one? If you're lucky just one of the T5's are damaged and you don't need to replaced the ballast. Just try both of them seperately on both sides. If both are flickering then you are probably out of luck. ps. You don't need to get a Coralife ballast. Just check the specs and pick one up at the local hardware store. Just make sure the size is the same so that it fits.

I tried 3 spotted nerite snails but they did not seem to like the water at all. I lost all three within 2 days. I used the drip method for one hour to get them used to the water. I have no idea why they died. The water quality is great with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate, PH 8.8, GH 12, KH 24, and the temp is at 26C. I added 4 Julidochromis marlieri last week and they are very healthy. Two of them have already paired up. I think I will try a BN and see how it works out since I already got lots of green algae. If it works out I'll add a second one. From what I have heard the BN is not as dirty as regular plecos and also much better at controlling algae, I suppose the reason for that could be because they don't grow so darn big.

When I was at Rona the other day I noticed that they had plain styrofoam boxes with lids there. I did not inspect them for durability but it may be worth looking into.

Could those be young Neolamprologus tetracanthus?

I'm used to the rambling... welcome hun

Welcome Adam :welcome:

Welcome Greg!

I did a quick checkup on www.tropica.com and it looks like it would work great: Ceratophyllum demersum Family: Ceratophyllaceae Continent: Cosmopolitan Region: Cosmopolitan Height: 5-80+ cm Width: 5-15+ cm Light requirements: very low-very high Temperature: 10-28 °C Hardness tolerance: soft-very hard pH tolerance: 6-9 Growth: fast Demands: easy Have you seen it in any LFS?

Yes the water is very soft - <1 dGH from the tap. I guess the only way to find out is to try and see what happens. It would probably require quite a bit of RO to lower the PH since the buffer is so high - 38 KH. The sodium level is also high - 385mg/L but I don't think that should be a problem.

My wife would like to try and breed Betta's. Is it even possible to do this in the very alkaline water that we have (PH8.8)?

Welcome!

About half of the fry are still alive and about twice the size. Not too bad considering they are only eating whatever food they can find. The only thing I have been adding is some crushed flakes and pellets. The parents are spoiled with live mosquito larvae and daphnia since I have an unlimited supply of those. Couldn't get a picture of any fry, but they are behind the wood. You can see that she is getting ready to defend her babies. Look at that belly, loaded with daphnia and mosquito larvae.

Hi Cole, I am assuming that you had your female together with a male at some point so that the eggs are fertilized. I am a big fan of crayfish as you can see on my avatar... I grew up fishing crayfish in Sweden where it's tradition to have crayfish feasts at the end of the summer. The largest one I catched must have been close to 8 inches (not including the claws). I have had crayfish spawning before but never raised any fry to adult size. I had them in a smaller tank and the fry got eaten. If you have your female alone in a 75 gallong tank there should be no problem. The female will look after the fry during the first little while but after that she'll see them as food and you may want to remove her if you want to keep the fry. The fry will eat any decayed leftover they find on the bottom. Bigger fry will also kill and eat smaller fry if they get the chance so lots of hiding places is a must. You can boil some lettuce or spinach and let it decay on the bottom. Just keep an eye on the water quality and make water changes. This is general crayfish information based on native species but it should apply to the electic blue as well.

I'm waiting to see the pictures, tic tac tic tac ... :smokey:

As for the netting, you could buy mosquito net on the roll that is meant for gazebos etc.

Awesome, I will try those. Thanks!

Is that the same as Ruby Nerite Snail? They do not eat plants and do not reproduce easily correct?

I'm on well water and that's how it is right from the tap. I'm setting up a Tanganyika tank so I don't mind the high PH. The water is also very soft however so I have added Seachems Equilibrium to bring the GH up to 15 (it's at <1 from the tap). I didn't want to use marine salt or cichlid salt since it adds more sodium and I already have tons of sodium in the water. Equilibrium only adds calcium, magnesium and potassium. Anyway, I was hoping to be able to keep 1-2 bristlenose to maintain the algea.

Does anyone know how tolerant Bristlenose plecos are to high PH? Mine is 8.8.

I recall an article in The Edmonton Sun a few months ago about faulty meters, I think it was onTV even. If it turns out to be a faulty meter then you should be able to get a good chunk of money back.

Thanks. It's wierd, that slime or algae or whatever it is, only grows on that particular root on certain spots. It's been like that since I set up the tank. It appears that there is something in the wood that causes it to grow.

When I arrived at my office this morning there was a pleasant surprise waiting for me. I knew she had eggs but I was certain that I would loose them since she laid them only 2 inches from the filter intake. I guess I was wrong There's about 20 of them and they seem very healthy. They must have been free swimming for a couple of days. It looks like they are eating that slime on the wood. Surprisingly, the female is not aggressive at all and the male is allowed to get close to the fry. He does not seem interested in having them for supper even though they have not been fed since Friday. Too bad my camera sucks... time for a new one... Mother in the background The father.

Welcome :welcome: Patrick.

Thanks for the info. I contacted the seller in regards to the shipping. I have ordered quite frequently from the US lately without having to pay any extra fees, but I think it was via USPS. Having to pay an extra $50 would really suck!