Boom

I agree, but to non-breeders (ie just collectors like me) it's mostly just cool to say you have wild caught fish. I have 1 or 2 and when I tell my freinds or family that the fish was actually caught in Africa, they think thats pretty special, as do I. Be careful though, and get your WC fish from a reputable dealer who can explain exactly how they get their WC fish. It would be pretty easy to say a fish or group is WC and charge double when in fact the fish are not WC. I have seen "WC" fish for sale that I highly doubt were anything but tank bred and raised. Of coarse there is no way to tell. Boom :boom:

Thanks very much for the help Taylor, that fish is definitely a Banded Leporinus, about 3 years old by the number of bands he has! Looks like he may grow up to about 8 inches too. As for the tangs, I don't think they are firecrackers. My thought is possibly a leleupi (there are several varients from different areas of the lake) or maybe even a caudopunctatus? They are quite small (about 1.5") so hard to tell yet maybe. It's hard to tell with my crappy photos but the body does have a yellowish tinge, with a blueish highlight around the fins and tail outer edges. The nose area is darker, almost black. And the eyes have distinct yellow around them from about the 1 o'clock position around counterclockwise to the 5 o'clock (if your looking straight at the eye from the side). I got them from a store in Morinville. The owner said the fish were dumped off at the store as very small fry and have grown to this size over the past few months. He had NO clue what they are. I've thrown them in my tang tank and will see how they do. Boom :boom:

I bought these two fish under the impression that they are both tanganyikan cichlids. The first one I'm sure is some species of Lamprologine or Neolamprologine, can you tell me which one? This next guy I have no idea and looks more like some type of cyprinid rather than a cichlid at all! Can some one tell me what? Thanks. Boom :boom:

I think there are bigger algae wafers you can get that even those fish won't be able to eat. The problem I have is one fish grabbing it and swimming around with it all day long like a puppy with a chew toy. Have you tried zuchinni? Boom :boom:

Jason is correct. A bacteria colony capable of dealing with 5ppm ammonia can deal with a huge biolode of fish. So return the comets, and monitor your ammonia, which should be at zero if your cycled. After a day, add enough ammonia to get a 5ppm reading, then see how long it takes to get to zero (should only take a day). Keep doing that till you get your new fish. Then you'll be good to just add them without worry! Boom :boom:

Your very welcome! I find they are quite good as well and have no problem recommending them. Boom :boom:

Just wanted to update that I have started to build the shelving units to go on either side of the tank. I'm not gonna post a walkthrough of how I'm building them as it's not really aquarium related at this point. But rest assured I will post pics when they are all done. Boom :boom:

Looking great Greg! Another tip to see your syno's more is to drop in a few of the larger sinking algae wafers. They're too big for any fish to eat whole so they always sit on the bottom, then your multies will swarm them. I do this and it's quite the sight seeing my 10 petricolas devour a wafer in no time! Boom :boom:

Yes Home Depot has it. Boom :boom:

I assume your talking about an OB Peacock? There are also OB mbuna, which are naturally occuring in Lake Malawi. Several different species of mbuna are naturally found in the OB color varient. The OB peacock is not naturally occuring, it came to be by man breeding a peacock with an OB mbuna. Here is an article that explains it more. OB Peacock Naturally occuring OB mbuna include: Labeotropheus fuelleborni (OB) Metriaclima callainos (OB) Metriaclima estherea (OB) Metriaclima zebra (OB) Tropheops tropheops (OB) Hope that helps you. Boom :boom:

1) Plywood is by far better than particleboard. 2) No you don't. All you really need to do is add the verticle 2x4's and glue /screw then to the existing cabinet parts. Adding plywood to the top is optional to add rigidity. Just make sure you seal the edges of it with paint or whatever you plan to do, so that water can't get between the plys. Someone said that adding plywood to the bottom doesn't do anything, and I will politely disagree. A more solid rigid base will allow you to shim the stand for leveling more effectively, so I would add it. Boom :boom:

Ok here is another project I just completed. A few months ago, a friend at work told me that her beloved dog Ciga had passed away. She was quite upset about it, and being a dog lover myself, I felt her pain. Not more than another month had passed and she told me that her other dog Teak had also passed away. You could imagine her and her families sorrow. Teak was a former police dog and was the absolute best companion imagineable in her working life and retirement. Ciga was nicknamed "Miss faithful" and was equally as loved. My friends had both dogs cremated. I was honored when they asked me a short time after to build some memorial boxes to not only contain their ashes, but also display a photo and momento of each dog. We came up with a general idea of what they wanted it to look like, I did a few sketches, and then set out to work on them. I settled on using Teak (the wood) for the project, to, in part, pay hommage to the dogs. Here is the end results. Both boxes. Ciga's box has her paw print and dog tag inlayed into it. The name page on the front will be replaced by their favorite photo of her. Teak's box has her pawprint on the side as well as the photo on the front. They originally were considering having her police I.D card also inlayed in the front but I guess decided against it. I am very happy with the look of these boxes. Boom :boom:

Thanks everyone. Jane, the majority of my work is my own designs and ideas. I seldom do anything more then rough sketches, if anything at all, before I start to build. I often just envision how I want something to look, what type of wood and techniques I will use, and just do it. A few projects like the rocking motorcycle and the zebrawood / wenge mirror shelf combo are from plans. If someone shows me a picture of something and asks me to build it, I can do that too. Feel free to PM me if you have something in mind. I have 2 other people on this forum that have PM'd me and are waiting for me to get back to them. I've just been so busy. I just completed another project and will post pics very soon. Next is the shelving units to go on either side of the 180 gallon! After that will be a bedroom suite for my wife for her upcoming 30th birthday. So keep posted for my updates. And thanks again for the support. Boom :boom:

Nice fish Taylor. you"ll sure enjoy cichlids. many of us do. And as always, great pics. Boom :boom:

How do you know they are al males? You could definitely stick with the all male plan and just get some more males of different species. You have alot of (all) yellow / orange already there so you may want to get some blue fish, maybe electric blues, salousi's or something similar. You could also add female counterparts for the species you already have, but will need to keep a close eye on aggression. Your choices are really endless when it comes to africans. It all depends on what you want the tank to look like in the end. Are you going for maximum color, different fish shapes, or just a nice peaceful tank. Have you done some searches and looked at other african tanks to see what you want it to look like? That is really the key. And we can help you out more from there. Boom :boom:

Actually, it's the other way around. Typically most manufacturers will only honor a tanks warranty if the tank is on one of their stands. Your right. And I did know that. Duh! I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that. My bad. Boom :boom:

IME it's pretty hard to find stands that are much more well built than the regular stuff they sell at pet stores, until of coarse you get one custom built. I think generally the cheap store bought stands are OK. They will hold your tank. I do highly question the longevity of them however. I use a cheap Aquagiant stand for my 55 and another store bought particle board POS for my 33. The 33 has been on that stand for about 5 years with no issue, seeing it's fair share of water spills too. But I'm waiting for the day that it comes crashing down. That being said, do yourself a favor and find one that you need to assemble yourself, and use some carpenters glue on all the joints, this will make it stronger by 10 fold. If you still are worried about it, a few well placed 2x4's screwed in place will help garner further strength. Take into account the environment it will be in as well. For me, with 2 kids and 2 90 lb dogs, a flimsy stand is not an option, so I custom built mine for my 180. You should be fine with a store bought stand. I think most of the manufacturers won't warranty the tank thats on them, so consider that. Theres probably good reason they don't. Boom :boom:

I've been meaning to post this one for a while. It's a tank stand I was commisioned to built for Sloughshark (Taylor). He asked that it be able to hold a 90 gallon on top and a 55 gallon on the bottom, which it will. Taylor did a great job of painting it himself. I can't wait to see it once he has the tanks set up on it. Boom :boom:

On January 19th, my wife and I welcomed to this world our new baby girl, Kayla. I built her this box made of purpleheart with BE maple dyed pink butterflies inlayed into the lid. Hope you like it. I know she is too young to appreciate it, but maybe someday she will! The pics aren't the best quality, I was trying out the wife's new camera. Boom :boom:

Very cool vids Patrick. And awesome fish! Those backgrounds sure do make the tank. Hmmm. Boom :boom:

Very cool video Greg. Those troph's sure can be scrappers. Amazing how long they lock lips for. Boom :boom:

Aquagiant has a tank of them right now also. Boom :boom:

I need a new air pump for the 10g tank in my son's room. The one I have now is too LOUD! It's just a cheap Topfin brand. I need just a basic pump, single output, doesn't have to be powerful, but I would like one that is almost silent. Any recommendations? Thanks Boom :boom:

I posted them in my journal HERE Just thought I'd make a post here also for those who don't check people's journals regularly. Let me know what you think! Boom :boom:

You may be right about those ones Greg. But I'm actually wondering about the 2 I got from Aquagiant recently and are supposed to be nyererie's. I posted some pics of them HERE. Please let me know what you think they are? Boom :boom: