catshanon

anubias varieties, vallisneria, java fern, sagitaria, echinodorus tennellus might be tolerated by cichlids. However, if you are creating a biotope tank, its best to have just rocks with lots of hiding places, and no plants. African cichlids live in rocky areas where no plants grow. Take a look at these videos if you haven't done so already. Plants are not necessary for african cichlid tanks. I have just set up one, with sand and slate and rocks..I also don't have an air pump, I just let the flow from the AC110 aerate the water. Raj

I also had that question in my mind. I grew HC emmersed (on a small plastic container and had it hanging very close to the aquarium lights). I wrapped up the container using clear plastic to maintain a high humidity and the HC grew well. When I transplanted it back to the tank, growth has become very very slow and the plants are just about surviving. Maybe my lighting is not high enough ( 192 W over 55 G, 3 feet deep), or maybe I have too much light dispersion and scattering. Hopefully Devon will have a lush growth and then I can take some trimmings.. :thumbs:

Looks awesome Devon, really really good... Now you need your school of rathbuni tetras to bring it to life..Or have you changed your idea of schooling fish? Raj.

That is HC "cuba" or HC = Hemianthus Callitrichoides. Its a carpet forming plant and needs high light and CO2. Devon grew it emmersed (not fully underwater, but the soil was drenched with water). Since the plant wasn't submerged completely in water, it got a lot of CO2 from the air and Devon provided the high lighting as shown in the picture.

Ohhhh... so its the MTS that is buggering you, eh... don't worry..You will get it soon if you haven't already... MTS stands for Multiple tank syndrome.. a wallet emptying trait that a lot of people succumb to.. For a list of the other acronyms, please see this pinned article in this section. Popular Internet and Aquarium-Related Acronyms, FYI, HOB, RO....what do they mean???? Raj

Monterrey Bay Aquarium shots Kelp Forest Giant sea bass Close up of bass Ghostly urchin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Moray eel Not too friendly !!!! Nice colors. Cardinal tank Personal Tank shots: 33G peacock tank.. Setup for peacock tank Close up of rockwork Thanks for looking. Raj

Thanks to everyone for their comments, I will have to get some earthworms now and see what I can do. Hopefully he will recover up.. I will hate to lose him.

So I watched him today morning when I gave the food. He takes the NLS pellets but spits out the food and is not eating at all and not pooping. His belly is really flat so I am getting a bit worried now. How do I know if he has worms or parasites ? He is swimming around normally and comes upto the front when he sees me approaching. Is he going through a mood swing ? I am thinking of giving him some live food to see if that will help .. So, the next question is where can I get live food, at "The Fishing Hole " ?? Thanks, Raj

I was guilty of not watching him diligently. I just used to put the food in the tank and walk away and then watch my bigger tank.. Today I looked closely and saw that his body is thin and kind of shrivelled. The female (his partner) is healthy and has a shine and sheen on her scales, but the male is looking pale and anorexic... I will watch him tomorrow to see if he is pooping..

My black male angel is looking thin and is spitting out food. I give them NLS pellets...There is only one pair with a albino bristlenose pleco in a 25G planted, so he is not getting bullied or anything like that. I give them frozen mysis shrimp once a week.. What should I change in the diet to prompt him to eat again ? Thanks, Raj

Vallisneria, Hygrophilia polysperma are the easy and hardy ones that come to my mind. How much light do you have and at what spectrum? 6700K bulbs work the best (IMO) Also, your substrate will play a factor. Vals and Hygros will grow in sand or fine gravel and without the addition of CO2.. Just with ample light and fertilisers, I think you can get them growing like weeds.

Please take a look at these links. They describe very clearly how to handle plants and do scaping...

I had bought a heating cable when I was a noob and was all excited to start out with the most high tech gadgetry. I bought the cable and then went home and saw that you also had to buy the thermostat as the thermostat was strongly recommended . The thermostat was pricey, so I returned the cable itself. I am sure the cable will have beneficial effects as it simulates the undergravel current that brings nutrients to the roots. I think under gravel jets , as described here under gravel jets will also keep the substrate porous for gas exchange. Plus there's the added excitement of a DIY project.. :thumbs:

Jerry, Coralife bulbs come in square pin and straight pin arrangements. The square pin (2 pins on 2 rows) is the Japanese version and the straight pin (4 pins in 1 row) is the European version. I have the 4 pin version and am looking to get the same kind. Let me know if you are interested. Raj

I am looking for some coralife 6700K compact fluorescent bulbs.. J&L has them for pretty cheap. 6 bulbs can be got for the shipping price of one, so if people are interested, we can put together an order... Let me know.. Raj

You might have to empty and fill the tank numerous times with water to make the pH stable..People do this when they use cement, so I am not sure if you will still need to do this..

If you are not adding CO2, then you don't have to worry, otherwise its beneficial to keep the surface as calm as possible. Vallisneria is a fast growing plant and will reproduce by sending out runners, so thats a good choice. I bet you can get loads of hardy fast growing plants at the Calgary auction.

How much is "some" ??? If you have only one or two stems, then you might want to increase the number of plants. If you have rapidly growing stem plants, they will absorb the nutrients and algae won't be able to get a foothold. Try to put a siesta period during the 12 hours... 6 hrs of light in the morning, 2 hrs dark and then 6 hrs again..I have found that this helps to keep algae at bay.

Thankks for the reply, We were not planning on adding CO2, should we be if using a HOB? You add CO2 for the plants and only for demanding and difficult to keep plants. I don't know what kind of cichlids you will be keeping as not all plants can be kept with cichlids. Angels and apistos will not harm plants, but African cichlids will destroy some plants. So, depending on the type of plants and the lighting, you can add CO2. You need to have a balance between lighting and CO2. Too much of either one and you will have an algae breakout. Raj

The amount of filtration will depend on your stocking level. I have always run my tanks with AquaClears and I have found them very easy to clean. I have a Magnum250 HOB that is time consuming. Aquaclears are plain and simple so a lot of people in this forum use them. I haven't used canisters at all, so I cannot say anything about them. I would suggest you go with a HOB (maybe 2) instead of a single Fluval 404 or the higher end Eheim brands. If your tank is heavily planted, you might not need over filtration. One of my tanks ran for 10 days without a filter and there wasn't any casualties since I had it densely planted. Raj

Nice, I will build one after you complete yours and put the remaining instructions on the forum.... :thumbs:

wow, they are unique... they must be very protective of their fry...My angels start waving their fins when I approach the tank and they are hungry, otherwise not... :tongue:

I think you have to pick out each of the plants very carefully and then transfer the plants again to the main tank. I know its a PITA, but thats the only way I see it. It will be very difficult to scoop out the gravel and the plants together and putting them down onto the main tank.

What kind of angels are you keeping? the commonly found scalare or the altums? The altums are almost always wild caught and so are challenging to keep. It will be good if the tank is planted with Vallisneria as angels like to swim through the reedy leaves. Also, they spawn on vertical/slanted surfaces, so broad leaved amazon swords or slates are fine and they prefer acidic water. Tank mates must be big enough that they won't fit into the angels' mouths. I have had white clouds eaten by my angels. Cardinals and neons will also get eaten. Some people say that if angels and cardinals/neons are raised together from babies, then they can coexist happily. Others have said that over a period of nine months, they have lost 50 cardinals to angels. I think good tankmates are the bigger tetras or the apisto cichlids. I will be keeping some altums and cardinals together very soon.(depending on the size of the altums..) Here are some links: Age of aquariums MongaBay Altum display tank Description of altums

I saw your picture of the DIY in your 90G journal. There are a lot of junctions, so more chances of leaks. Check this out, and see if you can do this. I did the connection by drilling a hole and didnot use any bulkheads and silicone and I was getting CO2 within an hour.. Connection without bulkheads and silicone