patrick

Here are some mixed photos from the fishroom.

Paralabidochromis sp. "redfin piebald", WB young male 1.5"

Xystichromis sp. "Kyoga flameback" fry 1"

A tiny Pyxichromis orthostoma "largemouth uganda" only about 3/4"

A holding female Lipochromis sp. "Matumbi hunter" about 3"

And finally a couple betta's

Looks great Lana

Man, I want a jointer. I can spend a couple of hours digging through the wood to find the straightest ones and also make sure they are as light as possible to ensure they are dry and wont warp once they start to dry. It is so annoying when you think you have a straight board and then after a couple of days in the garage they are warped...

One question; when you run them through the jointer, do you do it equal with all boards no matter how much is actually needed to make sure they all have the same thickness once you are done?

but as dave has said, they are pretty expensive.

is thier any chance on a price break if we do a group buy?

Alberta Aquatica members get a 10% discount

Do it I love these kind of threads!

I have an old bag of marine live sand that has a good colour for a rift lake tank. The sand (crushed coral) is definitely no longer "live" since it is well over 2 years since the bag was opened. Is it safe to use in freshwater?

I used a mix of aragonite and chrushed coral for my Tanganyika tank. Worked just fine

Brilliant Patrick! It's great to see these hunters packing up as in nature. I am interested in an FTS too.

Here it is Taylor

Would like to throw out a big thank you to Patrick. Bought some Vic's off of him on the weekend, and very relaxed to deal with. Very nice fish btw, look great in the tank.

I am looking forward to dealing with him again..

Thanks

Dal.

Thanks Dal. You looked pretty relaxed yourself sitting on the floor watching me net the fish Maybe next time I'll put on some music and bring out some beer

I am looking for a good quality nitrate that is easy to read. I have been using API's test but I find it really difficult to read once you reach 20ppm. Does anyone know of anything better?

I really like the picture of the Raibow Shark. Very natural looking.

I want one.

Where can I get some of these?

I'm starting a 33 gallon African tank again, and I love these.

I have fry 3/4" that should be 1"+ and ready to go at the end of the month

I took this picture yesterday. He is growing very fast and is now almost 3 inches.

Nice job! I'll be hitting the F5 key for more he he

I ended up filling it...

...Water will be added tomorrow

Won't it be hard for me to get it home if you fill it with water...or is that the whole point :shifty:

He he, maybe I should fill some water taday already I am getting worried...

How is your own project coming along?

Extremely well done Patrick, truly awesome! I hope mine turn out half as well.

Thanks Taylor, I am sure yours will out great as well

Okay, time for an update.

I have placed the pump on a sponge sheet since I don't want any vibrations.

Two pieces of media sheets have been placed in the back to hold the sponge cylinders that I will use as biomedia.

Now this may look a bit like arts and crafts class but what I am doing is threading the sponge cylinders on a fishing line. I do this becasue I don't have enough room to reach down and grab them once everything is in place. This way I just pull the line and up they come.

The first 2 gallon on sponges are done.

The back is now filled with a total of 4 gallon sponge cylinders.

I have started to decorate the tank. Water will be added tomorrow

Where can you buy Clout?

You can get it at Big Al's. They don't have it out in the store, you have to ask for it at the front desk.

I have used clout mixed with the food in cases were some fish did not eat and some did, to prevent it from spreading. I have also had a couple of cases where the fish would spit most of the food but still ate his favourite food. For example I had a fish that promptly would spit everything out except for krill. I soaked the krill with clout and garlic guard (the fish does not like the clout flavor). This particular fish was in very bad condition but recovered after about a week of treatment. I have also had a group of Cyprichromis leptosoma that contracted a condition that is commonly referred to as "wasting". Not all fish would spit so the treatment worked on the ones still eating. Unfortuntely I did not start this treatment until the end so I lost most of the fish.

I have noticed that when I dose my 20gallon hospital tank with clout most of the fish I have treated looked stressed immediately after, and a few hours into the treatment. I appears to me that different species, and different size fish, do not all react the same way. Also, I am sure that the water chemistry play a role here as well.

According to the fish that I've seen being fed, their medicated food tastes like crap. lol

Here's a link to Jungle Parasite Clear, it comes in tabs that dissolve in the water, not liquid.

http://www.junglelabs.com/pages/details.asp?item=TB636

I've tried plenty of meds over the years, and IMO this is one of the best broad spectrum anti-parasite meds on the market.

I have never tried Jungle Parasite Clear but I will definately give it a shot the next time I need to fill up my supplies.

I always keep a good supply of clout in the cabinet. There is no doubt that it is very effective. It is my belief however that the main reason newly arrived fish become sick is because they are stressed from the shipping, with a weekend immune system, not because they were sick when they left the breeder.

Clout does stress the fish quite a bit, so I prefer something milder. After all the fish may not even become sick, and it's a preventative we are talking about, so why bring out the big cannon (clout) right away?

Pimafix and Melafix are also great products that does not stress the fish.

For fish with serious issues I use clout, and 9 times out of 10 it have worked, but sometimes lead to secondary milder diseases such as fungus and finrot.

Clout does works great mixed with food, and this way the filter bakteria is not affected either. I have even mixed clout with metronidazole in the food with no noticable side effects.

I am getting some really cool WC fish from Spencer Jack and was wondering if, while they are in quarantine, if I should treat them for parasites, etc. or if it would be better to just acclimate them and then watch them for a couple of weeks before adding them to the main tank.

I always treat newly aquired fish, WC or not, with a mild medication such as Seachem Paraguard in a separate tank just to be safe. Usually for a few days and if they look good I keep them quarantined for 2-3 weeks minimum. With the amount of tanks that I have, introducing some nasty parasites or bakteria can turn into a real nightmare...

Looks great Patrick. I may have to do this with my 90 or 50 as well, that way I won't have to waste as much money on filtration.

What victorians are going in this one?

Thanks. Yes you can definaltely save some money on filtration. The RIO 6HF was less than $40 and pumps 350 gallon/hour. The plumbing was around $10 and then it's just the media. I am going to use media sheets and sponge cylinders which will cost around $15-$20 in total.

I have not decided yet what to put in it. Rock dwelling vic's from the Mbipi group would make most sense, 2-3 species.

Tiime to get it siliconed in place. Once I have the background where I want it I outline it with a marker pen.

I then apply silicone behind the line.

The background is being inserted into the tank.

I fill silicone into the 1/8 - 1/4 inch gap on each side.

The silicone has been smeared out and sand has been tossed onto it.

Side view of the left and right side. As you can see I could have glued the background closer to the back if I had chosen to go with the canister filter only, but I still have an average of 13-14 inches available in the tank.

The background is in place, sorry about the reflections on the glass...