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No I'm good still, says I got 100% perfect score, yee haw.

Yeah thanks the media did look a little sad. What I liked about AC is it is so versatile, You can stuff it full of lava rock for biological filtration or stuff it full of poly for a cheap polisher. this doesn't work well with alot of filters. I am guessing that the carbon would be hard to duplicate for the DIYers then for the eheim? Any cool features on it at all? Power and quietness are always good but You can't beat a canister for quiet. What people hated about aquaclears is the media gets full and lifts up. I like this better than slow flow or over flow that we get with cartridges. It is hard to believe that eheim would build anything sub-par seeing that it has been so dominant for so many years in the industry. Their motto should have been, "If You have too much money, buy an eheim" though as they topped the market price for canisters. It was a relief to see they made a filter even I could afford, but the question remains, is affordable worth it.

They look good and sound like a good model but how do they work? Their cannisters are astounding but being quite new to the HOB I am wondering if they can perfect it right away. I have always felt they have made the better of the cannister filters although Hagen is slowly climbing the ladder with their newest changes. Damn I broke alot of those clips off rendering the filter useless, not to mention flooding the livingroom and the fight to prime them. I have always loved Hagen's Aquaclear line and am a big fan of mechanical filtration especially working with a reverse flow UG filter. As a constant experimentor I have found tetra-tec to be moving fast in the right direction although I never bought the filter heater that goes with it I think it could be perfect in time and developement for nasty heater busters." Enter My A-hole Red devil and Dovii who find the little red light on a heater to be quite annoying. I will probably order a smaller eheim but was curious as to what the users think.

Good to know about the 7.5mm pellet What is it listed under? the biggest I saw was the Jumbo fish pellet. even if I had to stuff one inside a feeder it may be an interesting addition to My dovii's diet. Although now as You said, he may be a creature of habit and reject pellet alone altogether. You are absolutely right about added useless ingredients. Added fats and proteins for no reason. Many foods are non digestable. NLS certainly meets this standard and I find the feces breaks down better, not so stringy that is to say. It is a really good food for fish that like it, they really do go nuts for it...... Nevermind, I just saw the extra large fish formula.

The perfect light is the battery ones from walmart that is shaped like a dome and you push the dome off and on. They are not too bright and I use them alot when cleaning My killi tanks which I like to keep dark. Nothing worse than catching a killi 40 feet into a 50 foot python during water changes. Anyways these light are easy to move and don't need to be on all the time. If the light annoys them they will just move their fry. Congratulations on the hatch and best of luck with the fry.

I don't know if having an NLS conversation is a good choice or not, but I can only say some of my fish do and some don't. The ones that do eat it and the ones that don't eat other stuff. Hey not all people love steak and lobster. It seems like a good food but I see little difference in My NLS tank than in My Kensfish food tank. The higher protein and fat content in Kensfish food seems to work great for growth for a fraction of the price, with a mixture of frozen foods and live foods like red wrigglers I get good results, now if I can only get photography down and someone to clean My glass wouldn't hurt, at what age can a baby be trained to clean glass and do water changes? It must be good for building mechanical skills. so it will show. As for RD this is not a shot at You or NLS just a simple statement that quality fish food is a good idea for all fish regardless of brand name. This is only My opinion. My Iceberg eats Mysis, red wrigglers, gammarus and Kensfish food, I don't think he's hurting in color too much. The important thing is they eat. I do though find alot of fish go crazy for the stuff so it will work great for them. For the few that don't Try Omega maybe or NLS garlic flavor. Pellet food is easier to feed and less sloppy than some live foods or frozen stuff. Though a feeding of gammarus will make Your fish go cuckoo for coco puffs 10 times out of 10. Maybe mixing a little crazy live in with NLS will help or feed some red wrigglers or whiteworms on NLS first, maybe then they will adapt to the taste when it is just the pellet. Good luck!!! I may try making a frozen food with NLS as well, this may be easier accepted with the jumbo fish. My Dovii quit trying to eat the small Jumbo fish pellets because they just slip out his gills but food compacted into mini ice cube trays is just the right meaty size. Even just NLS and gelatin might work for bigger critters. It beats the hassle of stuffing feeders which is messy and takes forever.

Wow that is strange, I don't have a warn on My page, no one else seems to either, maybe Your just a bad @$$!!! JK hahahaha

You'll have to get more of a look at the female, the males often change to a more dull inconspicuous color except for the orange it gets brighter and you may not notice the change. Your fish seem a slight bit on the small side but it is still possible. By day 7 You should have a good clue as she will likely come out. Quite often even a domestic dispute between the two can create this hiding effect. Reaching in and lifting the cave generally doesn't bother kribs, just be slow so if wrigglers are on the cave roof they don't scatter. She may even give You a shot or two. If they did eat their fry they would go again in about a month anyways. Or do it natures way and just wait. How many days has she been hiding now?

They are either breeding or getting ready to. The female is the nest guardian and the male is typically the area guardian. He will make frequent trips to check in on her. I have had males bring food to the female as well and spit it into the cave. I have also had wild P.Pulchers that the female buried herself in the cave and didn't open the doorway till the young fry started spinning out of the cave. Kribensis are awesome parents yet prone to mistakes in the beginning. Eating eggs, eating fry, etc... but they mature and grow out of this. Even if they fail, keep letting them do what they do, in most cases they can raise fry better than we ever could. Good luck and enjoy. How big are the fish? If the fish are truly spawning You should notice a deeper color, in the females belly and the males orange. Get ready for fun once the fry are ready to swim around. That male should be teaching a few fish in Your tank a valuable lesson. If You have nocturnal fish, leaving a night light on beside or close to the tank should let the parents quickly react to intruders. A catfish can clear a nest out in just a few minutes in the dark.

The key to a healthy aquarium is cosistant water changes. Most people will suggest overstocking an african tank just to spread out aggression. Filtration, feeding and waterchanges. Filtering a tank up to 10 times the water volume is what I go on unless using canister or wet dry. I also prefer mechanical filtration on a heavy stocked tank. Aqua clear is a big hit in this department. Feeding, feeding quality foods that get consumed helps with water quality and nutrients that fish absorb rather than just make bottom waste with. Water Changes, there can be too much but seldomly ever to many. One is adding crucial minerals and necessities to the fish's overall growth and health. Within time a fish will use all of these crucial compounds leaving the water lifeless. The trick is not to do such big water changes that Your fish suffer from a lack of anerobic bacteria that breaks down waste in the tank causing nitrates to explode as with new tank syndrome. If one did a 2 gallon a day water change on their 55 gallon tank is changing is changing 21 gallons weekly yet this is much safer than changing 21 gallons once a week. Small fluctuations in tap water are always harmless in small doses hardly effecting the tank at all, yet changing 50% of the water at once of much different properties can have an ill effect on fish Much like when we release them into our tanks. Doing small frequent waterchanges also adds small trace elements to the tank as they deplete, where as weekly, bi-weekly and monthly changes as some people do means they are only replenishing these much needed compounds long after the fish have gone without for some time. I had raised two identical sets of fry, 10 in a 10 gallon and 10 in a 30 gallon. The food was the same, the water changes were different. The 10 gallons got 1 gallon fresh water a day and the 30 gallon got 6 gallons per week. the fry in the 30 gallon had way more space but grew at half the pace nearly. In one month the fry in the 10 gallon were still growing well but were very overstocked. they looked like two generations. Simply put, more fish, more maintenance. 1" of fish per gallon of water is only a basic rule of thumb.would You put a 10" red devil in a 10 gallon tank? Often grouping shoaling fish together relaxes them and they do better just for that purpose, it would be much more beneficial to all to do maintenance on a larger tank more often but in this case, more fish is less stressful, less stress equals health and less chance of disease. Do water changes more often, feed less more often and filter more water. Syno's are fairly undemanding fish, I find that even though they come out for food during the day, nothing helps more than an after lights out feeding as they often can't compete for food with surface fish. Food would have to be lead based to get to the bottom past livebearers so the cats could eat. they will get a little during regular feeding but often not enough for good growth in a community tank. Adding ramshorn snails could help here as I have seen My multis consume little snails off the glass as they go crazy at night or pellets to big for the livebearers to eat such as shrimp pellets to make sure the food hits the bottom. Once on the bottom the cats will ravage the food eagerly. Hopefully something here helps You, this is just based on My experience with them. 5-6 syno petricola would be the minimum I'd stock, if you feel it may be too much, maybe You could trade it for something less social. I have My syno multi's 6 at 1 1/2" in a 30 gallon with 4 S. Fryeri about 4" they get night feedings and twice daily as well as snails. I change 3 gallons every two days vaccuming the bottom well. I filter with 2 filters an AC 300 and an AC 200. All is very good and growth is amazing. the goal is to spawn them so I use only enough sand to cover the bottom for ease of cleaning.

Cute pups, looks like the top one may need to be watched closely for cherry though are You treating it? As I thought, a lot more mastiff in them, they must've tried to add some size as they are very wrinkly for fila. I would be guessing though that it would take some of the bad habits out of them too which is a great idea. My bud dragged me almost a mile and a half down the middle of a train track following deer tracks and almost never gave up, I almost coughed up My one good lung. Hard to smoke while running behind a dog, lol. Too bad they have been removed from the AKC and CKC though. I think they should be re-instated. Thanks for sharing. Great pics.

PS buy Ken and Christian beer and pizza and let them sell those ramshorn snails that are one of a kind for the big bucks, it will be well worth the investment...lol

There are many varieties most look like this, they are very small but can be seen by the human eye quite easily. their tentacles are known to stun small fry, after they do they feed off of them in hordes. Larger fish wont be hurt by them but they are somewhat of a nuisance parasite.

Just feed the folks as though there were no fry until You see the fry following the folks around then add fry food whatever Your choice is. With SA's and CA's I find micro's are seldomly needed and they will often just eat from the parents gills. Growth seems much faster though with the addition of bbs and it seems the tank stays much cleaner in there with live food. If You are feeding the parents pellet, feel free to crush down a bunch so it creates some powder food for the fry although this is much messier so stay on the water changes. The addition of light may bother some fish but seldomly SA's they are the best parents ever. Put Your hand in the nest if You don't believe Me. It would take much more than light to make them turn on their nest. Soon You will have pits all over your tank or atleast should have. Often the folks still will make new pits as the fry are free swimming as they need a clean place to put the fry to bed at night. Placing a light on the tank is alot less stressful than a flashlight shining in on them at random, if You are still not sure. Put the light over 1/4 of the tank then gradually move it so it's centered, day by day they will adjust fine.

No nonono noooo, no more snails... I was just trying some reverse snailology. I have plenty. thanks for the offer though. Yet I do remember a time when I had clown loaches and puffers and couldn't find enough. A guy down the street is breeding apple snails, he has like 200-300 of them and even they just won't stop. They do come in handy in the killi fry tanks at times though. I wouldn't be upset with whiteworms slipping into that box though, lol. Actually I'd even pay ya for some if You are still growing them.

Actually the ACE auction is coming up. Look for plants from Michelle the betta queen, that is where I last got mine from maybe You will get lucky. Problem is, I didn't want it back then... If You get lucky and get some, remember to save some for me. The stuff is pretty cool I must admit.

I've tried both, it seems when You want the stuff it is never found. Man I want some snails>>>>> okay maybe snails don't follow that same guide.

I want some hydra as part of a school experiment but need it alive, hydra often comes in on plants grown in the outdoors. I have a cool an easy solution that rids You of it forever which is the oldtimer solution of hooking up wires to a 9volt battery and placing each wire across the tank from one another. It takes about three days on a mid sized tank but larger tanks may need more batteries. Anyways I wanted to present the kids with something cool to do and hydra is pretty awesome looking. I use to get it alot from collecting pond plants but haven't seen any for awhile. If You have some, PM me. I will pay for shipping and if You need, send You a diagram on exactly how to rid Yourself of these pests.

Ramshorns are so prolific that they are more of a parasite than a friend. Add some convict fry or a clown loach to Your tank and let them control the snails. Some suggest washing the plants in a potassium permanganate solution. I have had no luck ridding snails this way. I have had many passengers on bought plants, rainbows were one fish that I got from hornwort, as a matter of fact, if a store is keeping fish in their planted tank especially rainbows or killies, buy the plants especially hornwort or cambomba and hatch them out. A $2.00 plant can go a long way. I bought some Rotala at the Saskatoon auction and since then have gotten Sag subulata, java moss, java fern and a nice collection of riccia yet there was no riccia sold at the auction, in My books this was the best deal of the auction, the rotala is doing great too. As for snails, I have a pile. Pond snails and ramshorns. If there is no other life in Your tank, blast it with heavy CO2 during the day. This may even choke out the eggs. I found that with the heavy CO2 and picking out the larger snail that after 2 weeks now, I see nothing but shells and the plants are fine, but maybe thats just luck.

The best way to advoid flooding as You call it is to simply bring no more than 1 item of each. There can be 8 of the same items at an auction and I will find the best one and bid on that. Better quality equals better price. Originality is not always the key. I have seen newly imported fish sell at tiny prices due to lack of knowledge. Also, a good auctioneer can sell anything high, I learned this well at the Regina auction. Tiger val sold for $8.00 and over per bag and there was over 20 bags. My best advice is don't make Eugene mad before the auction or You might be selling a bag of 5 orange lazer cories for $6.00 because he talked crud about them before selling them.

Some of the eggs always turn white, no worries. Providing a fungus egg doesn't spread to healthy eggs they'll be fine and even so the mothers constant fanning should stop this, if not she may move the good eggs a little. Just sit back and enjoy, Your only job is to be a good Grandparent..

I finally hatched out more killies, so here is a spawning report for the few people interested. Fundulopanchax Gardneri "Akure" Location: West Africa Size: Max2.5" pH: 6.5-7.5 Temp 72-78F I started off with a trio MFF and conditioned them well on grindals and daphnia along with a little frozen bloodworms. Crumble was untouched or barely eaten and always fell to the bottom along with flake. After 2 weeks of trying to condition them on commercial food with 0 egg production I was forced to go back to live foods. After one week of live only 3-4 times daily the females were very heavy. These are not an old pair so I felt the 20 eggs were quite a deal. Adult Gardneri often produce over 30 eggs though. I entered the male into the females side of the tank which was a 10 gallon and dropped in both a bottom and top mop. Once I removed the bottom mop egg production increased as the females would hide too deep in the bottom mop. A majority of the eggs were in the "crotch" of the mop and even a couple attached to the fine roots of duckweed floating on the surface. As the trio finished spawning I separated them once again although they show very little aggression towards each other, mostly just a puffy warning. This is a gorgeous killi and I would say maybe nicer than Joes plateau. Females though are once again quite plain. On a side note: the suggestions for better breeding would be once again to go into a 1 gallon jar with all three fish and spawn them in there, afterwards removing the parents and adding blue to the jar. No need for filtration with daily or every other day water changes of up to 50%, I prefer 25%. Apon collecting the eggs I used film containers as usual and kept them a little above room temp. The back of a lit aquarium works good as the light fixture heats them slightly. I used the usual mix of 1 cup of water to 1 drop of meth blue, acriflavin could be used here. Fill the container half way and close. Open the container every couple of days to air the batch. The eggs hatched exactly in 14 days but this could vary, temps too cool may even stop the eggs from hatching and too warm could do the same. Also You could allow alot of plants in Your tank and just remove the parents after 4 or 5 days and let the fry hatch on their own. After hatching I transfered the fry to a small container of about 2 cups that had java moss soaking in it for a few days, this gives the fry something to eat as soon as the egg sac wears off. Green water could also be added. I will add more as the fry progress but over all, another 100% hatch out. This is a very easy killi to keep and breed with amazing colors to boot. The activeness of this killi is pretty good so I would refrain from keeping this gem in a tank smaller than 5 gallons but that is just My choice as all My killies live in 10's.

Congrats!!! SA's are awesome parents and will stand up to even You when their nest is concerned. The males duty generally consists of guarding the territory so having a tank next to their breeding tank or having a dither fish or two is often important in Young couples. The female will guard the fry, her ability to chew food up and pass it through the gill rakes onto her fry is generally enough food for them. You can feed bbs or micros using a turkey baster and shooting them down to the nest but with the amount of fry they have, You will find that survival of the fittest is often the best way. Removing the fry after 2-3 weeks will encourage an early next spawn if You wish. On average mid sized Sa's 4-5 days is the norm for egg sac depletion but it can vary with temp and species, Watch the fry, when they start free swimming rather than spinning around they are ready to eat. If Your pair eats their fry leave them together, practice makes perfect. I have even found mirrors to make excellent dither fish that keep the male busy. Note this that the male who has nothing to chase away will often get bored and want to spawn again, in order to spawn again he must get rid of the nest already present. Very seldom is it the female who eats the eggs and if she does the eggs are usually infertile. You will soon find that the excess male is no longer needed as You have a pair now. I am positive You will enjoy the change from typical African mouthbrooders. There is a strong family bond in an SA tank, but there will come a time when the fry are no longer welcome and Daddy got lovin on his mind again. At this point, remove all fry You want to another tank and rid yourself of the rest. SA's are hardy so frequent large water changes wont hurt them but only help them in growth and developement. If You are breeding in lowered water values, I would suggest weaning the fry over to tap water for better growth and hardiness. I'm glad to hear You got them to breed, now the big question is??? how do You get them to stop????

Dremel is number one, then you can use the grit to smooth them up. A little water on the doesn't hurt though, just dry Your dremel bit well after.

Tanks Man, just waitin to see how to get it all done. Would love to just go pick them up but it's too close to the baby being born so I'd lose a nut for even mentioning it. I am even amazed we spent last Sunday in regina at the auction. That was likely pretty pushin it. I have heat pack coming in a day or two so I want them to travel with the fish. My 180 gallon is on it's 5th day of curing so it's almost ready just gotta add cycled water. I put 6 coats on it so a leak is pretty damn slim. The test fish are still doing awesome in the test tank so I see no problems there. I have had great success shipping via greyhound but the heat packs are necessary now. Especially for the" Fragile - Glass" inside the box... I'll let ya know thanks. It's about a 12.5 hour ride on express so atleast it's a short trip. I'll let You know, thanks again for the offer :beer: