Boom

OK, as promised, (is anybody even reading this anymore???), new pics of the fish. ....

And a few general shots of the tank. Boom :boom:

So as, promised, here are the pics of my new fish! Boom :boom:

I think you guys are all on crack. (JK) A 35 gallon mbuna tank is just asking for trouble, especially when you want to start mixing species. They WILL all kill each other, just a matter of time. My red zebra killed everything but the two toughest cichlids in my 55 gallon. Once he realized he was big enough to do so. Any mbuna who decides he wants to be dominant will likely do the same. Yes, even the "peaceful" electric yellows. My dominant male electric yellow used to chase and pester other smaller mbuna as well. Remember, an electric yellow is only relatively peaceful, ie. compared to most other mbuna, not compared to most other fish. Do yourself a favor from a guy who's "been there, done that" stick with small fish that can actually comfortably live in a small tank. I just got a group of Rock Kribs (Victorian cichlids) for my 55, and I think a smaller group would do fine in a 35 as well, they stay smaller, and really are less aggressive. The bonus is they are really pretty fish. I'm about to post pics in my folder, so keep an eye out. Boom :boom:

I got the Rock Kribs today and WOW! They are awesome little fish! Thanks Patrick. I swapped out the substrate and added new rocks as well. I think the tank looks great and I'm gonna try to get some good pics tomorrow. I decided NOT to add the peacocks as well, so this will be just a rock krib and syno's tank. Turns out I have 10 of the little petricolas, not 8 like I thought. And I got 12 of the kribs today, I think 4 possiby 5 males, and the rest females. And as a bonus, 2 of the females are already holding! Will add pics soon. Boom :boom:

Nick is correct, in Edmonton, all we have are Manitoba Maple's also known as soft maple. On the hardwood scale, it is relatively soft. I have worked with it quite a bit in my woodworking. I'm not sure I would recommend it to put in a fish tank though. First, it will just float, as it's not drift wood. Second, you have no idea what type of critters, chemicals, and / or other harmful stuff that might be in the wood. You could boil it, which will help with that and tannins, although maple isn't very high in tannins to start with. Baking it will likely just dry it out too much and it will crack and splinter on you if it gets too dry. If you decide to go for it, let us know how it works out for you. Boom :boom:

Awesome. Thanks Jason. I will keep all this in mind for if / when I eventually do switch over to saltwater. Boom :boom:

Well after realizing that I haven't updated the thread on my 55 gallon for over a year, I figured I better check this thread too, which has also been grossly neglected for over 8 months! All 11 of my fronts are still doing well, they are groing but slowly. Some of the tankmates I added with them dissapeared over time. I only have 1 of the 2 calvus left that really bummed me out, I loved those fish. I lost 10 of the 12 Firecracker Leleupi's, and have lost a few of the Julidichromis that I had added as well. I never saw any aggression or active hunting by the fronts, and I never found any remains of any of the fish. I have to assume that they were "sniped" by the fronts in the dark of night. Thats apparently how fronts "hunt" in nature, so that is my best guess. With that said, I won't be adding any more of anything to this tank, whats there will stay, if it survives, and the fronts will hopefully leave the rest alone. I did have to add an OB peacock and 2 victorians (1 Astatotilapia latifasciata, and 1 unknown) that were in my 55. 3 of the mbuna in that tank decided to take everything else out. I really wanted to save those 3 fish, so moved them to the 180 out of pure need. I kind of like them in there for color contrast, and althought the Astato took a beating from the other Vic when I first put them in there, they all seem to be doing fine for the last week or two. I'll likely leave them there pending any future changeing of my mind. I'm going to be trying to get some nice photo's of this tank and the fish in the next few days. I will update with the pics. Boom :boom:

Wow! I have certainly neglected updating this thread. Nothing for over a year! Well I've been aweful busy. The tank really hasn't changed all that much, some occupants have come and gone. I have only 3 mbuna left in there after they killed off all their bretheren. I emergency moved my OB peacock and 2 Vics I had in there to the 180 just to save their souls. I'm now ousting the last 3 mbuna and will be re-stocking. Getting some nice fish from Harold (Fairdeal) and from Patrick. So the new stock will be: 4 Aulonocara Sp. Lwanda "red top" (1 male, 3 female) These are F1 stock. 12 Paralabidochromis sp. rock kribensis "Mwanza Gulf" These are F2 stock. They will be joining the 8 little Synodontis petricola's (F1) I have had in there for quite a while. I'm going to see what happens as far as breeding goes. If I get some babies, great, if not, well no sweat really. Depending on what I get, I may see if there is interest in them to sell, or I may just use the fry as foor for my fronts. I have kept peacocks before, but only males. I have never kept rock kribs before but have always loved these little guys. I'm really looking forward to getting them and am praying that the mix and stock levels in the tank will be ok. I will be sure to post pictures when I can, with my new work camera.(Nikon D300) I'm also going to be once again changing out the substrate. A bit tired of the black sand, so I'm going to put in the natural sand, same as whats in the 180. I may swap out the one filter head as well and adjust some filter media to get more flow. Although with the 2 filters, filtration has never been an issue with this tank, even when grossly overstocked. I need some new bulbs for the lights on this tank, and am going to go for some quality ones, not the cheap Chinese ones from Aquagiant anymore. The only other thing I may do is put one of those in-line heaters in the cannister line to get the heater out of the tank. Keep an eye out for more updates to this tank. Boom :boom:

Well I've decided NOT to go saltwater. At least not right now. Thanks anyway. Boom :boom:

I also use the cheap digital ones from Crappy Tire and they work great. Boom :boom:

Gman, properly built, this is very possible. The weight can easily be supported easily by evem 2x4 construction. The key is assembling it correctly so that the wood supports the weight in verticle orientation. You don't want to be relying on screws or wood glue, use them only for adhering joints that are otherwise sound by themselves. If you have a sketch or two that you can share, I'd be happy to have a look and see how your doing / help where I can. Boom :boom:

Looks fantastic! Great work. Boom :boom:

Here is the latest box I made. I'm considering selling it, interested parties, please PM me. Would make a fantasic mothers day gift! It is made of very nicely figured maple and hawaiian koa. Koa is an extremely hard to get wood as the tree grows only in the upper mountains of Hawaii and it is illegal to harvest. Consequently, only small amounts of this beautiful wood can be obtained from already fallen trees and stumps. It is a very rare and valuable wood. This box measures 8 1/4" long, 5 1/2" wide, and 2 3/4" tall. The inside bottom is black velvet lined. Thanks for looking! Boom :boom:

Well, the time has come for me... Been pretty into fish keeping for a few years now.. and have had lots of fun with my African cichlids. Now, I'm seriously considering switching my 55 gallon over to a saltwater setup. I've read a few articles on various sites on the 'net, and think that so far I have a VERY basic understanding of what is needed. But I'd like to understand in more detail. So I though I'd see what info I could garner here. Fish only vs. Reef tank? What are the differences in requirements as far as live sand / live rock / lighting / filtration? Filtration requirements? Can I get away with whats already running on the tank? A Rena XP2 and a built in drip down system? Do I need more? What filter media should I use? Do I need a protein skimmer? Lighting? Again, can I get away with the built in lighting (just new bulbs)? What kind of bulbs do I need? The hood has 3 x 36" T5's. Substrate? Live sand? Crushed coral? How much? Where to get it without paying a fortune? Live rock? How much do I need? Where to get it without breaking the bank? Fish selection? What to keep in a 55? What's some good starters? I want a few clowns for sure... what goes with them? Water changes? How often? How much? Salinity? What salt to use? Where to get it? How to measure it? Water quality? Where to go from Edmonton tap water? Other than adding salt, what needs to be done to it? What else am I missing??? Thanks for your help. Boom :boom:

Nice work Chronic. That looks like it's plenty sturdy and should last you a long time. I really like the oak facing on the canopy too. hats a nice wide piece you found. Any plans on covering the stand with oak too? Boom :boom:

This table was made for a former co-worker that I have done several past projects for as well. He seems to like my work. He asked that a small side table be made for his bedroom, where he could have some storage space under the lid. He gave me some dimensions and left the wood choices with me. The past projects I have done for him have all been maple, including curly maple, and so I decided to use that again. I also had this sigle bubinga board in my wood collection that I had but but didn't use for a different project. This table is 40" long, 11 3/4" wide, and 23" tall. The inside space is 3" deep. It is a fairly straight forward design. I incorporated a taper to the bottom third of the two inside edges of each leg. The legs are all cut from a single piece of wood. The customer wanted the top to lock securely, and so that the lock didn't stick out sorely, I decided to add some bubinga inlayed around it. The finish on this table is numerous coats of wipe on gloss poly, sanded in to help fill the open grain of the quarter sawn bubinga. Thanks for looking. Boom :boom:

Here's a few more projects I just completed. Here is a simple project that the LOML asked me to make for her. She recently returned to work and wanted something to rest her feet on under her desk. Some of her co-workers had cheap plastic versions of this footrest, but we wanted something a little more special. I had a nice ash board in my stock pile that had this beautiful grain, and I used walnut to contrast. The height and angles were figured out for her comfort, and I decided to incorporate some simple inlay on the edges. The finish had to be durable so it is about 4 coats of professional poly. Thanks for looking. Boom :boom:

Looks really good Phil. Nice wallpaper too! Boom :boom:

As many people on this forum know, I do custom woodworking in my "spare" time. I would suggest that the pine shelving you are talking about would not be your best choice. 3/4" plywood is a better choice, just make sure you protect the edges with glued on banding or lots of primer and paint. You don't want moisture getting between the plys. Boom :boom:

I built this box for my neice for Christmas. She is 8 yrs old and I thought she could use it for her hair clips and those types of things. I was very happy to watch her face light up when she opened the present, she really liked it. It's called a bandsaw box, similar to the one I sold (see the link above). This one is made of Australian lacewood with bubinga handles. The insides of the drawers are flocked with soft suede. Boom :boom:

I was asked to build a small keepsake box for the sister of one of the boys I built a truck for. She's 5 yrs old. It was kind of a last minute request so I was a bit rushed. The box turned out well, but it could have been better. I decided to incorporate a "hidden" drawer for her (last picture). I think little girls like that kinda stuff. I also put her name on the front. This one is figured maple and purpleheart.

I decided to also try my hand at making some kids toys. There are 5 happy young boys including my own son and nephews, that received these trucks for Christmas. I only had a poor quality picture of a similar one made by another woodworker, to work off of. No plans. These are solid hardwood (maple, mahogany, walnut, pine, and oak) and finished with shellac. As you can see, I also personalized them with the boys' names on the back (in walnut). Oh, ya, and I made a few little "hot rod" cars to go to the younger boys.

Geez... I always seem to fall behind on posting my projects here on AA. I post them on several woodworking web sites, but always seem to forget about posting them here. Anyway, here are a few more completed projects. A ring box I made for my wife for our 5th wedding anniversary. Made of rare tulipwood. Tulipwood is a type of South American Rosewood, and one of the rarest and most expensive woods you can find, especially in any decent size. It's an extremely beautiful pinkish red color, has amazing grain, and the pictures just don't do it justice.

It's actually a diamond hole saw you want, not a drill bit. Home Depot does not carry them, never has AFAIK. House of Tools went out of business about 3 or 4 months ago. Lee Valley carries them, but only up to 1". Lee Valley I've been told that Princess Auto carries them as well, but haven't seen them there myself. Might be worth a call to them. Boom :boom: