RDFISHGUY

The funny part is : that picture is ten times better than any I've taken with my own camera . So with a good camera and a little practice I'm pretty sure I can do better than my first attempt.

Thanks for the compliments on the fish but the photographer deserves the credit . And the fish eats NLS. The third picture looks like it might be one of the ones I took. I must say that the quality of camera makes a huge difference. The real trick , however , is to know how to use it. Well done Sean. I'd use it as my avatar but I don't know how to get it on there. I'm basically computer illiterate. Did you get any of the other fish Sean? If there are any good ones you should post them. What kind of camera is that Sean? I think thats the next big fish purchase.But if the wife asks its to capture memories of the kids.

I added 7 plants to my hap tank and so far all are still rooted. Thanks a million Kyle . Those vals are frickin' enormous one of them was over 5' long. I hope 4 - 55watt compacts will provide enough light for them. Do you use fertilizer Kyle? If so what kind ? I don't want these babies to die. So any advice would be geat. I've never kept plants in a tank this big so I'm not sure what to expect. At least the fish don't bother them too much. Adding lots of large plants at the same time is definitely the answer.

I thought the auction was well organized but most of the stuff i was interested in was selling fairly high. Plants were outrageous. I ended up buying some at Pisces along with an FX5. I also got a W/C borleyi Liuli, hemitilapia oxyrhynchus, and one of the protomelas ornatus from the show tank at Gold's. I've got to thank Sean for the outstanding fryeri and Kyle for the monster load of Vallisneria. My tank is starting to look pretty wicked. Sean got some pics so hopefully he'll post them on here for all to see. Nice to see everyone again.

Nice pics , I like the selection in your all-male tank. Plants look great but could be arranged a bit better. But at least yours are growing better than mine. Great fish selections and set-ups. Keep the pics coming.

How big? Looks like an afra of some kind. Much too lightly colored to be an adult cobue but does resemble an immature male. A better head shot would help rule out any tropheops species

Your flake food is like candy to your fish. As long as you feed them that they are less likely to take to the NLS. When I switched over I cut them off other foods completely. My fish are now happy and healthy. I feed once or twice a day about what they'll eat in a minute. I would say that growth depends on the environment and food that fish eat. Two years is about right for smaller haps and Mbuna. Larger haps take longer.

If you go to cichlidforum.com and go into their library you can find cookie cutter tanks that are great for beginners. You can also view most of the fish so you know if you like them or not.

IMHO such massive water changes are, at the very least, a last ditch effort . To keep your fish in breeding form you must avoid the urge to feed your fish every time you go past the tank. When's the last time you caught a rainbow trout with an obesity problem? Water changes are something that if done on regular basis will result in good water quality and happy fish . Exactly how much water you should change depends on your tanks inhabitants. I do weekly WC of 30%. The few times that I have had problems with my tanks have been after large water changes . It may work for some people but its as trivial as leaving the lights on longer or raising the temperature . Sure it works but with a good maintenance schedule its unnecessary. My lights are on 12 hrs / day and my temp is 80 F . I currently have over 6 females holding that weren't informed of the moons cycle. Just haphazard fish sex which I encourage through regular maintenance. My advice is to keep a journal of when you do water changes, clean filters , add fish ,etc . When your fish do spawn : What are the water parameters? ie: temp,ph, hardness. Once you find out what the key to success is ,all you have to do is replicate it . Different fish will have different requirements. There are many different websites, books, and other resources out there . Talk to successful breeders and find out their methods. Not just one either. Gather as much info from as many sources as possible . This way you can sort out the good advice from the bad. I'm not saying anyone is giving bad advice but a little research never hurt anyone.

I too like the cardinal tetras, rummy nosed teras,a fancy pleco and maybe a gourami or paradise fish as long as they aren't too big to eat the tetras.

I do have a tattoo of a fish , but its a brook trout. I was thinking of a collage of some of my favorite cichlids. protomelas steveni "taiwon reef", copidichromis azureus, pseudotropheus perspicax aka- redtop "ndumbi", cynotilapia afra "cobue". I think i'll stay away from skeleton snakes eating naked ladies. My grandparents are pretty old :I'd hate to give them a heart attack. I liked the koi pictures you posted so if you can do that sort of a design with cichlids employing the same distinct outlines and vibrant colors I'd love to see it. PM me if you have time to come up with something. Thanks ,Ryan.

Yeah, I'm feeling pretty stupid about now. Thanks Matt.

Great art! I'd be interested in a cichlid one as a tattoo.

My mom's boyfriend has my old group of fronts in a 48" - 110 gal with clown loaches and they are breeding like crazy . Personally I'd keep the tangs in the longer tank and the malawis in the other 150 but they may have some compatibility issues so keep an eye on them. Put the rest into your other tanks or sell off any you no longer want or aren't compatible. The GT's will require their own tank and the peacocks probably shouldn't be mixed together. You could have a nice community tank (75 gal) angels , loaches , botias , sharks, depending on the size compatibility and loaches can be a bit nippy. The smaller guys in another community tank. Eventually you are going to have to part with something or get more tank space . The other option is to put them all in one tank and keep those that survive. LOL.

I agree with Kyle . Keeping a small group until you can pick uot the sexes you want is the way to go. Neil and I were looking at my moori the other day and one is larger and has longer fins so you'd think he was the male . I came home today to find him packing eggs. Even with 15 yrs experience I still get it wrong sometimes. Here are a few things to look for but there are no guarantees just generalizations: Males usually have color faster , grow faster,have longer finnage,and in some cases more egg spots. The only other way is to vent and I don't know how to do it so ask Kyle. Happy hunting whatever you decide. Whoopps I just said that in my last post . Guess I have an idiot echo.

I generally buy 4-6 fish and as they grow I can usually figure out which ones are male and which are female after a couple of weeks to a month. Some species are more difficult than others but if you watch your tank enough you can pick it up fairly quickly. Some tips: males usually color up faster than females, males grow faster , males generally have longer dorsal and anal fins. Males have more egg spots generally speaking ( I don't put a lot of faith in this but it is usually correct though I've had females with more egg spots than males before). These are all generalizations and even so-called experts still get sexes confused so be prepared to experiment a little.

If you want to keep Africans in a tank that small ,and breed them, then you have a choice to make : either one breeding group of peacocks with only one nice male or a mbuna tank with a couple or 3 small breeding groups . Haps are out of the question as mine fight even in a 228 gal. If you go with mbuna 3 groups 1m 2f : idiotropheus sperengerae, labidochromis caruleus, pseudotropheus acei. Set the tank up with 3 seperate rock formations and always overfilter. PS. Not all fish will fit into any game plan so be prepared to change things around especially if you want an all male peacock tank. They do get fairly large and some species are more agressive than others . If you are prepared to swap a bunch of fish around then this is a good avenue to explore. I'd add them all as juvies to ensure a better rate of success / tolerance. Good luck , Ryan

Just to put it in perspective for you, I bought 14 african cichlids and 2 A/C 110 filters at Gold's for the price you paid for 3 fish. If I were you I wouldn't get all caught up in the hype about W/C fish . Many of them aren't as nice as tank or farm bred stock. Put it this way : if someone shows you 2 fish ,1 wild 1 tank raised,and 1 is really nice and one is not as nice. Which one do you pick if you don't know which is the wild and which is tank raised? Obviously the nicer fish is the one you pick.I'm not saying you should go out and buy a bunch of really pretty hybrids or anything like that. But a lot of tank raised fish are bred to be really nice or to carry the esthetically pleasing traits. If you are trying to start a breeding group its a different story because you want fish that are not likely to be brother and sister. Often times the easiest way to do this is to mix WC stock from different sources or to mix quality tank raised stock from different sources. Something you probably don't want to hear- I got 6 Ndumbi (pseudotropheus perspicax) from Golds 2 weeks ago for less than $50. If you post the fish you are looking for chances are someone on this site has them or knows where you can get them.

Can you get someone to set the correct time please?

My experience with fronts is that big males that have led a solitary existace don't do well with their own kind but flourish with other species . I had one male when I first started with africans ,15 yrs ago,that did very well in a 77gal with a large jack dempsey, a salvini and 2 oscars. when I put him ina 90 with some girlfriends he killed all 3 inside 3 days. Perhaps 3 wasn't enough but that was my experience. They should probably be kept in six foot tank anyway and with a lot more females so he can't single any fish out . The old lost in the crowd theory. It works well with most Africans.

Some fronts are just bad to the bone.I had one male that just kicked the crap out of anything in sight until I got another male large enough to take him over. The new dominant male was much less agressive overall and kept the agressive male in check. My mom's boyfriend has that group now and its gone from 6 fish to 13 . They even spawn with clown loaches in the tank. Bottom line is to get another male with a more accepting personality. If he's been the boss for a while he may never accept females or another male until he gets put in his place. If you're going to try it you're going about it the right way. Let another male or 2 get established then rearrange the tank and add the bad boy. Watch closely for a few hrs. Good luck.

If you know what you want let me know asap . I'm going to Calgary this afternoon and Gina is already coming here on Sun to pick up her fish so it probably wouldn't be a problem to take you back some as well.

Its also possible that you've got a couple of runts. I had 2 runts out of my last batch of rostratus,and 1 out of my last batch of taiwon reefs. Not just a little smaller but significantly smaller. If they were the same size as the others when you got them then its probably as Val said :just stress or slower maturing fish.

Hey , Tom sorry about your luck. Often times there's nothing you can do about it.Recently I nearly lost all of my fry/new tank stock last week. Neil and I somehow saved the the day through water changes and pure luck. Lesson learned : don't ever give up. I had a venustus that was stuck to a filter intake that is somehow still alive despite a major catastrophe.By the way how's you're azureus group?I could use a new male as mine has deformed uppper jaw from an injury received when I was at work a few months ago. What did you end up with?Let me know , because Mitch is coming up on Sundayto deliver the new tank. Thanks , Ryan