firestorm

I probably wouldn't mix african cichlids with a BGK. I don't know what would be compatible with eels, but I have kept a BGK with cichlids like angels, bolivian rams, and other more peaceful new world cichlids. Have you thought about not going with cichlids but another type of fish?

Just be sure to remember that schooling fish such as tetras, and cories like to be in groups. Tetras, barbs, rainbows, danios etc all do better in groups of 6 or more, and cories and other catfish like groups of 3 or more. IMHO they don't show their true personalities when not kept in good sized groups. If you can get more, all the better. I would probably suggest a group of 6 small growing fish like small sized tetras, minnows, barbs, or rasboras, and maybe including a few pygmy cories, and even some cherry shrimp. I would also suggest trying to go with live plants, it always makes a tank look more beautiful especially with these fish. If you don't want that, even having some fake plants is better than nothing, all these fish love planted tanks. It definitely can be done though

bummer, they are probably gone already, especially since Blaine saw this post haha

Yes they are predators but will go fine with all the fish she bought, since they will all get to a size they can't be swallowed. A definite bacteria bloom and I would have to blame the fish store you bought the tank and fish from for not telling you to cycle your tank first. You can either do a fish cycle or a fishless cycle. With a fishless cycle you at least won't be risking the life of a fish to do it, but there are some fish that make hardy cycling fish, zebra danios were always one of my favs. http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php Do an immediate 50% water change if you can, and every day try to do a 25% water change until you get low readings on your nitrites and none on ammonia. I would suggest using aquarium salt as well to help when the nitrites do spike, as it helps to detoxify it's effects on fish. What size is your tank? What kind of filter do you have? With the combo of fish you have the minimum tank size I would do is 100 gallons. If you have an existing tank already might I suggest using some of the sponges or bio media from that filter in your new filter? It should help to speed up the cycling process and you should be able to add your fish back almost immediately.

It sure does make a difference with a new lens. Great photo's. Wish I had a better camera than my little sony with 6 megapixels lol. I have always loved tropheus species of fish, would love a colony of them someday How many are in your tank? And what size is the tank?

I guess that answers my question lol. I do use Prime in all of my tanks, I have no choice because with 20 tanks (some fairly large) I don't think I want to age my water :boxed: I don't mind having to do it with my shrimp tank, but it's only 15 gallons and I only take out about 3. I just wanted to know how true it was about not using it. With my work we only do about 10-20% water changes, and when we do larger ones we use the prime. I just wanted to know if the theory of the effects of not using them is true. Sorry about your losses T-man, that must really suck cause I can see you had a very nice collection of fish there. When it's spring runoff I would without a doubt use more prime. Thanks

I agree on the Renas. I have a client that has a tetra whisper pump, and it has been making alot of noise lately.

How many did they have? I know of someone including myself that have been on the search for badis.

Haha I know. I wouldn't spend that much on shrimp food either. How are you liking that stuff? If you ever want to try the ebita breed let me know and I can get some for you.

You should fill it up as far as it will go through the cap in the intake, then screw it back on. Val is right, when that cap isn't on it won't run because it needs pressure to run, and it won't be able to suck up the water. You shouldn't need to fill your canister after the first time unless you lower your water line below the intake and the water drains from the tubes. Once you push the aquastop back on it will fill up on it's own.

Just a question for all you chemistry lovers out there, and of course I am going to do further studies into the whole topic. I have been told now by a couple different people that because of the minerals and hardness of Calgary's water, that you don't absolutely have to use dechlorinators here, because the chlorine isn't as harmful for the fish in say a place that has softer water. Even my boss doesn't use dechlorinators at all with our tanks at work, and all the fish still seem to be healthy and thriving, which sort of tests this matter. I know that during spring run off it is probably a good idea to use it for sure, but otherwise, is it really necessary? I personally use them at home, but would like to find out more into the matter to see about saving money if we don't need it.

Very beautiful

I am sure NLS is probably great to use for shrimp, and I used the grow out for a while with mine like you suggested Neil. I actually just bought some ebita breed foods, 2 containers for $30. Apparently it is made by japanese shrimp breeders and hobbiests, and the guy I got the contact from told me it brought out the color in his crystal shrimp alot more than using even the shirakura shrimp food. I am just giving it a try, but need to finish off my shirakura first. The bags should last close to a year with about 20 shrimp. I only feed them every other day. I don't mind spending a little extra money on good quality products specialized for certain species. Which is why I buy NLS for all the rest of my fish Neil Mind you my cherry shrimp only get the NLS and algae wafers. Edit: I am not certain the ingredients in the other shrimp foods as most stuff written on the bags is in asian writing, never tried the one you listed for Neil so I can't say for sure what it does for them.

I found with my HC it died back a bit when I planted it, but it did start to grow back. I found the leaves on the original plant were alot larger than the new leaves that have grown in.

Have you ever seen your shrimp fight? I should take a vid of them tonight when I feed them the stuff. Shrimp food contains more of the nutrients shrimp require, especially specialty shrimp. It also gives them better color. I am sure regular NLS is fine for them too.

What kind of shrimp food does he carry? I know a few dealers for the shirakura and ebita breed right here in western Canada.

My anubias has never flowered but then again I don't dose my low light tanks with ferts or anything all the time. Looks great

I think it all depends on the looks you are going for. If you prefer the sandy substrate I say go for the garden soil and fluorite with the sand. Unless you want a black sand, you can either do that with black silica or moon sand, or try the fluorite black sand. I use 50/50 fluorite and small gravel, fluorite sand, eco complete as substrates. Either way if using sand you will probably want to use something under it, I find plants dont grow that well in just regular sand alone.

I can see it being a slightly bad idea as well. You don't know what guests (especially children or immature teens) might do to the fish while sitting out on the table. I think the idea of only having a few at the main table would probably be best, and then you don't have to worry about having to get rid of a bunch of bettas that many people most likely will have die on them anyways. It sounds neat but is probably not the safest, I can just picture my kids when they were toddlers, and something like that would fascinate them a little too much.......causing a disaster :boxed:

Cabomba does make a big mess, not sure though if barbs will eat the floating leaves though. I know barbs are great for eating certain types of algae though. How strong is the flow on your filter? It might be too strong for the cabomba, they seem to like slower moving water. For live microworms http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Live%20Food,%20Microworms.htm, daphnia http://www.caudata.org/daphnia/, and infusoria you can get from snails. Snails produce infusoria which the fry can eat, as far as I know certain snail species will produce more than others, apple snails I believe are a good one for it. Starter cultures are just small amounts, you can also usually find good sized cultures of these to buy as well. I can give you a starter culture for microworms, I just use regular oatmeal and put water in so it is moist. I then sprinkle some yeast on top then add a couple tbsp of micro worms, after about 5 days you should be able to start using it, once you see them starting to crawl up the sides. I keep mine in a warm slightly dark dry place.

You will be able to tell which ones are which before breeding maturity. Usually they start coloring up pretty early on. Babies always seem to escape to the other side, no matter how hard you try to seal the edges of the divider lol.

:rofl: That's what parents are for. My parents tried to tell me I have too many fish but I don't live at home and I just don't listen!!

Looks like a malaysian trumpet snail to me. Tank looks great as well. I agree that you could fit more plants in too . If your bettas nitrites were high a few medium sized water changes this week should bring them down, and some aquarium salt will help detoxify the nitrites. Our tap water contains some nitrates, which is why you got a reading above 0 with those. What size of container is your betta in? I have my bettas in with live plants, and they do really well with them. Careful with a betta with other fish though, I just found out from a friend that they will attack other fish's eyeballs sometimes leading to popeye (which my male GBR recently died from before I took out my male betta). Just be cautious is all I am saying, if you see any aggression from him I would put him back in his own tank.

I will look into them for sure, thanks for letting us know.

Or what you can do is take out most of the rocks from the tank for about 1/2 hr then put it back. Usually when I do a good tank cleaning and remove the rocks, any if not all the fry end up being eaten in not long at all