firestorm

Haha

So we can put any plant in a jar? And how is it decided who wins a prize? Do we get to take the plants home after? If so I have a really nice plant that probably won't fit in a jar....it's way too long lol.

Even if you only see one egg, or none, I would still try to hatch them out and ya never know, there might be more than you thought.

With my killi's since they laid their eggs in the plants, I just moved the moss over to another tank and they hatched all on their own. I know with different types of killi's you need to use different processes to hatch them. Good luck on your next batch

My best suggestion if getting ottos is get at least 3 or more. I have 5 of them and it is very interesting being able to watch them play. They will mostly hide if you have only a couple. And they stay small enough that even in tanks as small as a 10 gallon you could have at least 3-4.

Don't feed the fish during the blackout. I probably wouldn't use the moon lights, don't worry they will be fine . I have had to do this before. Or you can get a medication that treats cyanobacteria, they sell one for red slime used in marine tanks, it is good for fresh water as well. It doesn't leave much of a mess but the dying bacteria uses alot of oxygen. This is why you will want to increase airation. Plants don't photosynthesis without the sun or light, and they too can release CO2 back into the water.

Edit: Your plants will be fine too

When I was making my DIY CO2, I just rinsed out a pop bottle w. hot water. No need to go to all the trouble since pop is mostly sugar, and you're going to be adding a bunch, anyway.

Making a hole smaller than the tubing will be good enough - just cut the tubing on a angle to poke thru the hole... makes getting it thru a lot easier. I'd use a couple 2L bottles, offset by a week. You could use 1L bottles, but I think you'd be replacing them every few days. Each 2L should last 7-10 days, so if you make one, then in 7 days make a second, you should be able to change out just 1 each week.

The reason for 2 bottles is that CO2 consistancy is what keeps algae down. With 2 bottles, you CO2 levels won't peak and dip as bad.

If you want, you can replace the bottles every few months. I've had some that lasted quite a long time. The tubing gets brittle after a few years, but the bottles never seemed to wear.

If you're talking about the yeast-gunk at the end of the tubing that is inside the tank, get an Otto or two - they love the stuff!

I didn't know otto's liked it, never thought to check in the tank they're in, thank Jason

I have had my DIY running for around 5 months now, never replaced anything yet. I rinse 2L bottles with hot water, and fill it with 1.5 cups of white sugar/2 tsp yeast (brewers or wine yeast last longer than those used for baking), and fill the bottle with luke warm water 3/4 full. You can attach the other end to the intake of a powerhead, it will spit the bubbles in a fine stream. I don't know about the baking soda doing that, I know that it helps the tank from having a pH crash with softer water.

Anne Marie knows many things about the meetings

You want plants, well I can give you plants lol. Maybe I will bring some along....don't know what yet.

Thanks and tell me about it. I didn't even know they had spawned until we were looking for the female. They didn't even act as though they had paired of either, the smaller one we just assumed was female. She disappeared and we couldn't find her, then I was wondering why the male was staying in one spot when he usually swims around the whole tank. The female is only around 2" and the male is about 3.5", didn't know they spawned at such a young age. I am happy about it though, I would have thought they would have been one of the last ones to breed. I guess taking out my pair of neo buescheri made them all very happy lol.

Yeah I know what you mean, probably one of my favorite CA cichlids I have kept.

You are very lucky, most sellers won't reimberse or resend eggs if that happens. They usually tell you the risk of that happening, and if it happens it's not their fault. Keep that single egg still, ya never know, they don't always hatch when you expect them to. I wonder why it took a month in shipping though, where were they located and how did they ship?

I ordered plants from malaysia and they are only supposed to take 5-10 days to get here by regular post

I had one of those little box setups with the cup on top, I placed it on top of my discus tank with the lights beaming down on it to keep it warm. Seemed to have a decent hatch rate.

For ones like the moorii a 90 for a good sized colony (20-30) should be sufficient. Certainly for the more aggressive species like duboisi a bigger tank should be used.

Welcome, so you love plecos eh? lol. Wow, I think I had about 10 tanks after a year haha. It's good to control the addiction to some degree SW is definitely a nice step up too.

Maybe they are trying to clean up after the pleco I think Blaine is right, doesn't sound like normal healthy behavior to me, and if there is enough waste you can actually see it building up in piles, it's definitely time to do a good vacuum.

I think a dwarf pleco like a clown pleco should do fine. Not sure how they would go with killifish, only had killi's as a species only tank, but I am sure it should be fine. Most of the fish will love and appreciate a planted tank as much as each other, and it depends on the type of fish you would like to try. Yes endlers and guppies are colorful, but you will probably want to only keep all males unless you want your tank to be full of fish within a few months.

IF it's apisto's you want just pm with what you are intrested in and I will see if it is available as I will be ordering in some from south america in the near future----Just in the process of setting up new tank's

I am very interested in apisto's, not much of anything else right now. I will go online and check some of the names of the apistos I liked and let you know. I would definitely be interested in getting in on the order if they have them. So would these be wild caughts then?

There is a type of bacteria that can get in and devour the eggs while in shipment. I have heard about it happening before. I haven't ordered any online myself, but have a friend who is literally a killi expert told me this. He said usually he has about a 40% chance that this happens with him. Many people don't find anything but peat in the package, I guess you got lucky to find 1 lol.

Nice red belly in her I paid $30 for my pair a couple years ago. They are not severely difficult to come by. I lost my male about 6 mths ago due to filter failure, and recently sold my 4" female. I find when they have a mate, their colors are so much better :thumbs:

Here is what my pair looked like

Female

Male

Google ebjd growth rate here and you can get an idea of how fast my ol' EBJD grew...I think 9 months? from one inch to 7+ inches. Not sure about the fire eel. With the price of EBJD...I would want to risk it if I was in your position. Get a 30 gallon tank and use it as a grow out for the EB.

Js

What were you feeding him for him to grow that fast? I have read that their growth rate is slower than that. Heck it took my 3" female JD about 9 months to grow to 6", but then again they only get fed once a day.

My regular JD's are in a large tank with my tiger oscar and some other fish, I find my JD to be more aggressive towards the oscar than he is with them. I would buy an oscar that is smaller than the JD, since they do tend to grow much quicker. I would say give it a try, you never know how well it will work. How wide in diameter is your eel? Remember that oscars have big mouths, and anything they can fit in their mouths they will try to eat.........and I mean width wise not lengthwise. I have seen plenty of fish eat long skinny fish.

It will work while the fish are young, but the firemouth get too large for a tank that size as well as the jewel. My firemouth has a nasty temperament and will fight with fish twice the size of him, he is also a good 5-6" big. The kribs will become aggressive while spawning, and will probably push all the other fish to the other half of the tank when they do.

Looks kind of like the Cynotilapia afra (Nkolongwe) http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1682. Unfortunately there are so many new species that have not been updated on this website, but is usually the best one to go to for cichlid ID. I would say they are further down the line, hence the uneven barring. Most likely are badly inbred, but as long as they are a pure species it is fine. My white top hara's also have uneven barring which is a sign of inbreeding. But in my wc afra chimates just perfect black bars

What is the average adult size for these fish....and what is the recommended tank size?

What species were you thinking of getting? I wouldn't go any less than a 90 for a colony of one species, I know some people who have 150's and larger that have a couple tropheus species. All I feed my tropheus are NLS 1mm pellets and some tropheus flakes that came from Kens fish www.kensfish.com. I have had my 2 tropheus duboisi for over a year in a 90 gallon with my lake malawi cichlids, I know it's not recommended but at the time I did it I didn't know, and they are thriving.

Sounds like cyanobacteria to me. If it is I would highly suggest cleaning as much out as you can, then doing a 4 day blackout period covering the entire tank with black garbage bags, and increase the airation in the tank. As the bacteria dies it will decrease oxygen levels, and it doesn't grow as well when you have sufficient oxygen going. Then after 4 days take everything off and do another good water change.

Thanks for the help. I decided now is not the time to get anymore apisto's, maybe eventually. But I will try and get them through a LFS first. I saw some of the canadian sellers on aquabid, but will order when the time is better.

Many of the smaller species of killifish will do well in even just a 2.5 gallon, you could easily have a pair in a 3. Make sure it has lot's of plants either fake or real, they love their plants. It is so simple to keep some java moss and java ferns or other low light plants in a small tank with minimal care.