Fergy

I'm slowly raising salt content daily. I've been experimenting with the best way to do it, and I was trying with small amounts, placing the salt in the back of one of my HOB. Seems to dissolve at an acceptably slow rate that way. Any thoughts on that? Also... I'm concerned about the beaks over growing... Currently my F8s won't touch MTS, and the pond snails I've tossed in just get sucked out... Any secrets to get them to munch on something crunchy?

You don't think the puffers will bother them?

Ah, ok. Thank you very much the for the info and the link! Guess my research before buying was insufficient. Anyone know how well plecos do in brackish? And snails/clams for that matter? Might have to move some residents around... Already have to move plants for sure now.

I have them in pure fresh right now... There's conflicting accounts all over the place of what is really best for them. The stuff I personally read mostly seemed to say they would be just fine in either.. You disagree though I guess fatpuffer?

No luck on finding any pea puffers, but I picked up a trio of figure 8s instead.

Anyone know of any place in Edmonton, or any breeder perhaps, that keeps these in stock regularly? I know Big Als usually has some, but they're currently all sold out.

I know copper kills inverts....

I see. Thanks for the tip. I don't really need a filter that big at all right now, and had been planning on buying used if I ever did. Just thought I should make sure I wasn't passing up a really good deal, but I'd rather pay a little more and get more out of it I think. Thanks.

What could I expect to pay for one of these new at the LFS? I don't know much about canisters, but saw some fluvals at a LFS claiming they were almost 50% off.. Would 200$ be a good deal or no?

Well I don't know what I did differently but I've started and stopped it a few times and it works just fine now... Thanks for all the tips though everybody! Mine came with a bracket to hang it on the back of the tank and I used that and seems to work fine.. The hoses weren't really long enough for the tank I'm using it with. But yeah, works perfectly fine now, not a very high flow rate but I knew that already. We'll just see how well it works now I guess! Thanks again for the help.

Yeah a great big 'no returns, refunds, exchanges or adjustments' sign. I can hear the impeller working, but I will check and see if it's actually spinning. And no plunger. Also you mentioned a 'U' tube, what would that be? I basically have two flexible hoses going straight from the canister to the hard plastic intake tube and spray bar out.

I picked up a small canister for some extra filtration on my sliders tank. I got it at the .... going out of business sale for 75% off, I thought it might work decently. It's the .... brand, say biopower filter 33, says it self primes you just need to fill the canister with water. I tried for a couple hours today and it will only pump water until the level drops about an inch, then nothing... no forcing air out or anything. I put a bit of vaseline on the o-ring to try to get a better seal, still no success. I can get it to run for about 30 seconds if I use a submersible filter or power to get it started, but then it just loses vacuum I guess and quits. I guess the lesson is you get what you pay for... but any ideas? Also, through trial and error trying to start the siphon with my submersible fluval I could also see it would forced quite a bit of water out of the canister seal, as if it wasn't water tight at all. Edited for the store name.. Probably isn't allowed since I mentioned a sale and everything? I'm sure most people know the chain I'm referring to.

If you don't want to do a brackish tank but still want an invert you can try crayfish or some shrimp(there are larger species). I've also kept crayfish, red claw shrimp, and many of the smaller species of shrimp(cherries, greens, crystal reds, amanos). They were all really cool with my favorite being the crayfish. Yeah I already have an electric blue crayfish, I've had it for over 6 months and really enjoy him (when he comes out of hiding, anyways), that's why I was interested in other inverts.

Hmm thanks for the info all. The "basking" area would have been no problem for me to set up, but I suppose I'll have to wait until I set up a brackish tank before I can try out one of these inverts.

I assume you had it for quite some time? That's the most conflicting piece of information I've found.. Many sources say that they are fully aquatic, while others argue they won't survive without access to land.

Really, no one? Darn.

Thanks for the link, but she's selling red claw shrimp, I was more interested in the red claw crab. Like these. http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile101.html Thing is there's just a lot of conflicting information about them online. Just curious if anyone has any personal experience with them.

Saw some at a LFS, 10$ each seemed a little steep... But they sell electric blue crayfish there for 25$ too so I wasn't surprised. ANYWAYS Has anyone kept these 'aquatic' crabs? Are they truly fully aquatic? What's their temper like, do they hunt fish, or mainly scavenge? Obviously aggressive fish would go after them like they would shrimp as well I imagine. Lastly, has anyone seen them at a LFS consistently with a decent price? I'd like to maybe try a couple and see how they are... Any insight appreciated!

I think you're right! Thanks a bunch.

I have one of these powerheads I got as a gift and I'm not using it for anything right now. I saw on the box there's a 'water polishing filter' attachment, but I haven't been able to find them anywhere... Anyone know where I could find them? Or something else that would work?

From all the info you guys have unloaded I'd say some kind of yellow lab hybrid for sure. As for the the discoloration, I wouldn't say spots like in royparks pictures, but more like a yellow with a white tone in a defined vertical stripe patter (though not very noticeable). It's just the aggressiveness I'd rather do without, I've been looking at apistos potentially in the future, but I don't think the barbs would treat them very nicely.

I thought they could be electric yellows, but both lack the black dorsal stripe that seems to be present on all of them. Perhaps it's time I start trying to find somewhere for them to go...

The tank is a 33g, which I thought would be fine for two cichlids I was told get no larger than 4ish inches. Tank mates include 6 tiger barbs, a bn pleco, and a single dwarf gourami. There are occasional scuffles with the gourami, but nothing I would call serious. Tank is very lightly planted, black sand and mixed gravel/rock substrate. A few larger rocks/terra cotta pot for hiding spots. Both have been fed with NLS since I picked them up. I apologize for the picture quality, it's the best I can get out of my phone, and it's probably not useful at all.

All I can manage now is a description, I'll see if I can borrow a camera or something to get pictures. I got two of what were labeled bumblebee cichlids, which may certainly be what they are. Before anyone says anything as well I am new to this and was told at the LFS that bumblebees were fairly friendly and maxed out at about 5"... But anyways, onto it... They are both a solid yellow, with whiter fins, and slightly visible stripes of the same faint/whiter-yellow color. Both have a single egg spot. Is it normal for bumblebee cichlids to keep this yellow color for this long? Both are around 3-3.5" I would say, and show no signs of black barring. Thoughts? Just bumblebees that haven't developed yet, or maybe something else?

I've been doing a lot of reading and I think this might be the way to go.. Anyone seen these in Edmonton, by chance? Turtle ramp