Boom

fleshgear, your gonna want to do some reading about keeping africans. That'll help you make some decisions on where to start. Most african cichlids prefer a sand bottom to gravel. The fish don't really care about the background, so just choose what looks nice. I have one 3D background, and one painted black. I prefer the more natural looking rock 3D background and plan to make one myself. As for cichlid selection goes, your possibilities are so huge, getting an idea of what you want first is helpful. You could certainly do both electric yellows and a small group of peacocks (1 m, 2 or 3 females). Keep in mind the female peacocks are rather drab looking. Boom :boom:

Last night I drained half the tank, removed the top trim, scraped all the old silicone and other crap off with a razor blade, being carful not to let it go in the tank. Then I put a new bead of silicone on top of the glass edge, stuck the black trim back on, put another bead of silicone along the trim on the inside, and it has now been drying for about 20 hrs. Later tonight I'll fill the tank back up and see if I have any leaks again. I'll monitor the fish closely for any signs of ill effects too. Boom :boom:

For the record, I wasn't saying that Yellow labs are not nice fish to have or keep, nor was I saying anything about the quality of fish that are or aren't available. I was simply saying that they are very common, and it seems that every store has them, and everytime I turn around, someone is trying to get rid of some. For some people that's fine, other people may be interested in having something slightly less common, or interested in a single species that has both colors. I was just making a suggestion (which turns out many of you agree with anyway!) My recommendation was (and still is) either a single species like salousi's where you have both colors. OR some yellow labs and either a single, or large group (12+) of demasoni's. There are many many other combinations and variations you could try, but few have the color and appeal that those options do. Boom :boom:

I may be interested in selling some fish there. I'm not a member yet, can I just pay for my membership there in the morning when I bring the fish? Do I keep the money for the fish I sell? Boom :boom:

Seems like it's a go. I'll see when I can get to it this weekend and let you all know how it goes. Pending and further elaboration from Nandopsis on why it's not a good idea. Boom :boom:

Ok some real mixed opinions now. I don't need to "fix the entire tank properly", just a quick patch job on the top trim is all I'm looking to do. I'd imagine that because the silicone there isn't always submerged it's probably dried out a bit. The rest of the silicone in the tank is fine. Why do I need to try to match the factory silicone job. Again, just looking for a quick patch. Any other thoughts on this? Have people actually done it or are dark angle and geleen just guessing that it would be ok? Boom :boom:

Uh... what size is the tank? I have lakes mixed. In fact right now in my 55 I have representatives from lake Malawi, Tanganyika, and Victoria. It's not perfect but it works better than alot of other peoples set-ups, so I think you should be fine as long as the tank is big enough. Be aware tho that if you have males and females, your brichardi's can get quite aggressive when they breed. Boom :boom:

Excellent. That is good news for me. Saves alot of work. I'll be careful with the silicone for sure. Thanks for the reply's guys. Boom :boom:

Why not do something less slightly less common than Yellow labs. They are nice fish but they're a dime a dozen, everyone has 'em and half the people are getting rid of them all the time. Have you though of a group of salousi's? The males are blue similar to demasoni's, and the females are a very nice yellow. Just a thought. Harold (Fairdeal) has demasoni's if you do want those, but make sure you get either only 1 or 12 or more. In small groups the dominant male apparently kills everyone else off till he's alone. A larger group will prevent that. (So I've read, never kept them myself). Boom :boom:

Double up on your Prime as well as it's the season for using extra Chloramine in the water treatement process. That'll hurt their gills for sure. Boom :boom:

2 of my tanks (the 10 and 33 gallon) both have slight leakage happening from the top trim. I'm assuming that the silocone has just let go a bit. Is this possible to repair if I drain the tank half way and just re-silicone the top trim area, while the fish are still in the tank. Or will the odor of the silicone be harmful? I would leave it for a godd 48 hrs before re-filling the tank. Can that be done? Boom :boom:

I recently replaced the hood on my 10 gallon community tank. It used to be an old dual incandescent hood but one of the fixtures was broken and I didn't like the light put out from a single incandescent, despite trying several differnt bulbs. So I bought a new eclipse hood with an 18" T8 florescent bulb in it. But every time I turn the light on in that tank, the fish loose all their color and do nothing but hide! I added some floating plants (fake) to try to "shade" them a bit, but it doesn't really help much. So what do I do? I like the look of lots of light, and it's my 23 month old son's tank and he likes seeing the fish out and about, not hiding. Can I get a different bulb that the fish won't be so scared of? Recommendations? I thought they might just get used to it but it's been 2 weeks and they haven't. It is not a planted tank. The fish are: 4 Cardinal tetras, 9 Harlequin rasboras, 5 Rummy nose tetras, and 2 unidentified Cory's. Boom :boom:

WJC, welcome to the forum. You can look at fish stores in Calgary HERE. I don't live in Calgary, and certainly haven't been to all the shops there, but I have been to Gold's and highly recommend them for African Cichlids. They have a wide variety and what they don't have they can order in for you. As for your other questions, most africans will be fine for a while in a 55 gallon, some can stay permanently in that size tank. But if you want bigger, keep your eyes peeled on Kijiji and the Buy/sell equipment section on this forum. There is always good deals on larger tanks to be had. When you can, get the biggest tank that you can afford / have room for, you won't regret it. Good luck. Boom :boom:

Shelves are almost done and it's looking really good. Will post some pics soon. Also have to update the fish stock list and get some new pics. Boom :boom:

Why are you using alot of Prime? You need very little, like a few drops for a 10 gallon tank. "Dosing heavily" like you said, is probably killing your fish. And let me guess, every time you do a water change your adding more and more prime right? Take a 5 gallon bucket and add a few drops of Prime until you get a zero reading on your chlorine test. That's all you need! I believe it says right on the bottle not to averdose. Boom :boom:

Looks really nice. If it was mine, I'd loose the driftwood and add some more rocks, with mbuna your definitely gonna want some caves and places to hide. Boom :boom:

There is usually quite a few africans. Be sure to check out the Livestock section on the forum here too. There is always some for sale there too. Boom :boom:

Well that depends on what your definition of a disaster is. The "misc. cichlids" are most often left over unidentified species and hybrids (mix of two or more species) of peacocks and mbuna. You never know what your getting. That's ok if you like the look of the fish, have ABSOLUTELY no intention of breeding, and are willing to cull the babies if they do spawn. If you just want them to look at, thats fine. But if you want to breed or are not willing to "properly" get rid of babies from unidentified or hybrid fish, then don't bother getting them in the first place. If you keep your eyes open in the buy/sell livestock section of this site, there are always mbuna for sale. I'm even selling a few right now if your interested. My fish for sale (or free) Boom :boom:

A sub-dominant yellow lab can have the white undertone of barring that your describing. But I agree with Rd, if there is NO black on the dorsal then it's likely not a pure yellow lab. Even my smallest yellow labs have black on their dorsals. And hybrids are SO common. Boom :boom:

His colors may dull if he's not "showing off" to anyone, but once he's back in another tank where he can dress to impress, he will. Boom :boom:

Them latching on mouth to mouth is how they do battle. Happens all the time in my big tank. Have a look at Fishful Thinking's video of his tropheus under the freshwater photography section. Is that what you saw? The "time out" won't have any "negative impact" on him as far as I know. Why, what do you think might happen to him? Boom :boom:

Glad you got it figured out. Boom :boom:

rudy is absolutely correct. That will work to break the siphon without having to build an overflow. But with no more recent comments from the OP, I wonder if he's too busy cleaning up a big mess??? Boom :boom:

By the looks of your set-up you are headed for disaster. You don't have an overflow (we're talking about a portion of the display tank sectioned off where water can only enter from the top). It looks like you have a direct siphon, which means that if the power goes out or your pump fails, most of the main tank will be siphoned into your sump, which of coarse can't handle that volume of water and will flood. Have you tried unplugging the pump to see what happens? Boom :boom:

It is the size of the plumbing that will affect your flow rate, not the size of the sump. I have 1400 gph running thru my 33 gallon sump. To get you 2000 gph (real, after accounting for head hieght and other restrictions) your gonna want a pump that is rated at about 3000 gph. Then your gonna want a drain(s) that can handle that. So likely a single 2" or dual 1.25 or 1.5". There was a chart somewhere I linked to in my 180 project thread, I'll see if I can find it. Ah, here it is Drain size calculator. Have you thought about how your returns will be set up? Spray bars, etc? I remembered too when I saw this post that you had asked me to see my sump set up. If you still want to, PM me and we can set up a time. I'm still at home for another week with the new baby. Boom :boom: