RD.

IMHO the min tank size info provided in the link posted by Rahim isn't any better than the CC's on C-F. Min tank size can mean a lot of things depending on the 'mix' of fish, as well as the numbers kept.

Spader ...... Your best bet would be to use that tank as a 'grow out' tank, and save up for a tank that's at least 55 gallons. In that case you would have approx 6 months before the juvies would have to be moved to a larger set up.

Ditto to what Rahim said, except I take any extras back to the LFS for a healthy sized store credit.

I agree with Val, kind of a small tank to keep *any* Mbuna in long term, even the smaller less aggressive species. Keep in mind that even the 'small' Mbuna can grow to 4-5" in an aquarium, so 20 1/2 " doesn't leave much room to move. The 18 1/2" depth helps, but even still, I wouldn't suggest anything past a 1 male, and 4 females, from the smaller, less aggressive, non territorial species, such as yellow labs. IMO, the cookie cutters on C-F are funged up, and in need of some serious tweaking. You can read my suggestions for some of the CC sizes in this thread: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=50888

I'm thinking those C. moorii & N. venustus will get a tad bit bigger than 5-7". Hey Tom, just my 2 cents worth, but if I had a 185 sitting around (uh yeah, don't I wish) I'd fill it with 20 C. moori juvies (and remove any extra males as they mature, keeping perhaps 3 males and the rest females), and 20 of the best yellow lab juvies I could find. Great color, lots of action with the labs (yet no serious aggression), and in a larger tank of that size the moori will school, just like in the wild. Also, both of those groups have females that show great color. IMO the perfect blue/yellow combo for a larger tank of that size. Cyrtocara moorii juvies are easy to find, but good quality yellow labs are a bit more difficult to locate.

Good topic Smokey. A constant thing I hear from my wife is ..... "didn't you just do that a few days ago" My response .. yep, and now I'm doing it again. I've kept a log book from day 1. I know exactly when I performed my last water change, when the filters were last cleaned, when I purchased a new fish, when a female started holding, etc-etc-etc. IMO water changes are the best thing one can do to keep their fish healthy. I perform a 50% water change every 5 days (on a relatively understocked overfiltered tank), sometimes more if I feel the need. My goal is to keep the nitrates under 10 ppm, and although that may seem like overkill to some people, I can tell you that it is the single most important thing one can do for the overall health of their fish. My PH stays constant, as do all other water parameters, and my fish 'glow' from the constant supply of fresh water. Overfiltration, massive weekly water changes, IMO there's nothing better you can do to promote growth, breeding, and overall healthy & colorful fish. Here's a comment from a person I know that was posted on another forum, and is worth repeating here. "A good friend of mine breeds F1 L. Calvus 'Black'. A notoriously slow growing, fussy fish to raise out as fry. For years, he struggled with those water changes. Desperately trying to clean his fry tanks of growth retarding waste, nitrate and hormone buildup. But - the water changes seemed to be killing his baby fish...... What to do... What to do....... - Spend Money! Yeah..... But, he looked at what Jack Wattley was doing with Discus. Then went in a completely unexpected direction. - Four - 200 gallon, plastic reservoirs. Two - 40 gallon, clear, fry 'tubs'. With each baby grow out tank, supported by a constant feed, balanced water flow system. A small diameter grate panel on the floor of each fry tank, permits passage of waste and uneaten food. But, keeps baby fish from draining out of the tank. He 'dials-in' 100 gallons plus of water for feed into/thru each 40 gallon tub - DAILY. And, get this: There Is NO Filtration! Just a 24 hour, continuous, constant flow of carefully treated and heated water through each 'tub'. - He doesn't lose any more baby fish - and those slow growers? Reach juvenile size faster than just about anyone I've heard of, that raises these comparatively delicate fish. Water changes WORK man. You can do without ANY filtration in an aquarium - but you can NEVER do without those Water Changes!"

Hi Don, good to see another member from Red Deer. Have you ever bred WC Labidochromis caeruleus?

Ditto Other than the Ps. "snow white" scolofi, and maybe the N. venustus, the rest are anyones guess, and if sold in an "assorted cichlids" tank, there's a good chance they're of 'mixed heritage'. (ie hybrids) Sorry, but most times you get what you pay for. I'd suggest a trip to Gold & talk to Albert about some stock for that bigger tank once it's set up.

Great article, thanks for posting all that info! Once again, I'm totally confused. :blink: My understanding has always been that the Bristlenose Catfish was the Ancistrus temminickii. I took a look at the info posted on planet catfish, and according to their info the the Ancistrus dolichopterus (Kner, 1854) is ...... Common Name L183, Starlight Bristlenose Catfish http://www.planetcatfish.com/core/index.htm Now that cat is definitely not what I have in my tank? No white fin stripes on my cat. Under Bristlenose Catfish, Common Bristlenose Catfish .... they state: "The common Bristlenose is captive bred and almost impossible to identify to species. It is not assigned to species here for that reason."

I honestly have no idea? My guess it wouldn't adhere to the food.

Either way you should buy the Eheim I have listed in the For Sale folder. FYI - I have 2 AC 500's on my 55 gallon tank or I'd be keeping it for myself.

I can't seem to get the PM deal to 'send' so here's my response to you, Albert. Hey Albert, just send me your address (or the stores) and I'll send you down a sample. I'll even send some extra for Dennis. tell him to try it on any rubenscens he has. You don't need to mix in much, and the Naturose should be kept frozen as it expires in approx 6 months from now. (it's already 6 months old) tc51 ... ditto to above.

Check your E.

Nice fish!

I'm not sure about salt build up? As far as vinegar/water and newspaper, that's the beauty of the Oil Soap, no need for any elbow grease. You simply wipe it down, then walk away. Maybe I'm just to anal about cleaning glass, but I hate streaks and/or water marks, and I really hate work!

IMO you should leave the Venustus out of the mix. In order for your mix to work in a tank that size, you're going to need a lot of rock work. Your tank 'footprint' equals a 75 gallon tank (48 x 18) so the extra height doesn't help much with Mbuna, unless you take the rock work higher. Metriaclima lombardoi can be a handful in a 4 ft tank (including the females) and if you load the tank with some serious rock work your Venustus will be VERY cramped as he matures. (I'm assuming you want a male?) If so, I hope you realize the males can reach 8-10" in an aquarium. Also, the majority of your species on that list are herbivores, Venustus are omnivores, and will require more protein in their diet. Here's one that's nearly 11 inches long. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_venustus.php

I would remove the dom krib. Kribs aren't usually overly aggressive, but like all fish, some individuals can have personalities outside of the norm. IMO your stocking level seems about right for a 77 and those species. Some interesting comments about krib aggression near the bottom of this page: http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/ghaplokrib.html

Line breeding shouldn't affect the overall health & vigor of your fish, as long as you don't 'inbreed' the line too much. Inbreeding too many generations in a row can sometimes cause some serious defects, but line breeding is commonly used by advanced breeders to fix certain traits. Line breeding, which is breeding the same strain but not brother to sister, simply fixes the desirable traits, and slowly eliminates the nondesirable traits. Here's an interesting read on genetics, and inbreeding. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=25161

I recently stumbled upon a cleaning product that in short is simply amazing. It does contain some surfactants (soap) so you don't want to get any in to the tank itself, but for cleaning the outside of the tank it works like charm. You can even use it to clean the stand & canopy if you feel the need. If you click on the following link, then click on "Quality Cleaners", the product I'm referring to is the Oil Soap. (Action 1 Oil Soap) http://www.usherswholesale.com/cleaners.html I know, you're thinking Oil Soap to clean glass? :blink: ... but trust me, in a previous life I spent 15 years cleaning glass, and I have never seen anything that works as slick as this product does. You pour a small amount of the Oil Soap into a 2-4 liter bowl, then add lukewarm water. It's a very gentle/mild cleaner with no harsh ingredients such as ammonia. (which is what most glass cleaners are). You simply take a cloth, soak it, wring it out, wipe the glass down, then repeat. The glass is left lightly damp, but when it dries it has absolutely no film on it, and the glass is left crystal clear. It's sold in a number of stores, including "loonie stores", and here in Red Deer cost $1. Unless you have numerous tanks, one container should last you a year or more.

IMO mixing strains is fine, as long as those fry never leave your personal tanks. I'll admit I know squat about Discus, but once a strain is mixed it takes some serious effort (and a number of tanks) to 'fix' the features you want in the successive hatches of fry via line breeding. As an example, breeding an electric yellow lab to a half white/half yellow lab wouldn't throw hybrids, but you would never know what kind of fry the parents would have down the road. Someone could end up with some of the 'normal' looking yellow labs, breed them, and end up with a number of half white/half yellow labs. Personally I don't think it's a good idea to mix strains when breeding.

Sounds like Harley may have some? http://s6.invisionfree.com/AlbertaAquatica...hp?showtopic=44

Rahim - I just sent you an email. Just like any other type of supplement (including vitamins), yes, you can use too much Naturose. I'm not sure what would happen if one fed an extreme amount as I don't believe any long term studies on over supplementation have been conducted with Naturose? It might just be expelled via their feces, or it might build up in their organs? BTW - if you go to page 7 of the thread below, and read Ben805's comments, and view his pics, you can see the results of what using a high amount of this supplement can do in as little as 1 week. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=39981 IMO he's using way too much, but nevertheless .......

Hmmmm, very strange indeed. Any chance that the city is flushing the sewers at your end of town?

Nothing in that report seems 'nasty' to me. What do you use as a dechlorinator?

Val - I have a surplus of Naturose on hand, that was sent to me directly from the company in Hawaii that makes it. (Cyanotech) Kensfish charges $7.00 US plus shipping. (for 2 ounces) I'll send you some for free. Just drop me a line with your addy. BTW - here's how I mix mine. (you don't need much!) I take a small amount of the Naturose & distribute it in a plastic baggie. Then I add approx 2 months worth of New Life Spectrum pellets & do a kind of shake & bake until the Naturose is mixed fairly evenly with the pellets. You really only need a small pinch of astaxanthin for a 'sandwich' size baggie full of pellets. Approx 1/4 teaspoon for an entire 10.6 oz container of NLS pellets. (don't get carried away, this stuff goes a long ways!) The astaxanthin powder adheres rather well to the surface of the pellets. I then store my main containers of NLS food & the Naturose in a cool dry location. (cold storage such as a freezer) If stored this way in a freezer type baggie (to keep excess moisture out) both the pellets & the Naturose should last for approx 1 year without losing any of their nutritional contents.