dredd0606

Thanks cuz, I'll check him out!

Hi Guys, I'm going to be putting together a Red Sea Max 130D in the next month or so, and I'm wonder what the best (least expensive, best deal) place to buy it is? I live in Lethbridge, and I've already checked out Homes Alive, TFI, and PetLand, but to me their prices are a little steep, especially considering none of them are giving any credit for live rock or anything. I'd be willing to drive as far as Calgary (about 2.5 hours). I COULD always get it from bigals or drsforsterandsmith in the US, and have it shipped to the UPS store in Sweet Grass MT, but I'd rather buy in Canada. Thanks in advance for any help! Dredd

Thanks everyone. In this particular tank, I think going with all males is going to give me the best coloration. Should I go with 1 male per species, or 2? Also, is there a list somewhere of dwarf cichlids with pictures? Thanks again! Dredd

Patrick, Would these fish that you mentioned do well with plants, or are they plant eaters? I have java fern and jungle val in the tank right now. Also, could I do an all male tank to get the most color, or will the sub-dominant males color like females? - Dredd

So, my wife saw my beautiful mbuna tank at work (12 demasonis, 8 yellow labs), and she wants me to do out 29G at home with cichlids. She wants a lot of color though. I am at a total loss...29G is so small! Any ideas? - Dredd

EowynJane, I personally would go with your first choice, the demasonis and yellow labs. So what if the labs are popular, the got their popularity by being great looking, hardy fish that breed easily. I just got this exact mix from Fairdeal today, 12 demasonis and 8 yellow labs. The demasonis are an aggressive fish, but keeping them in numbers 12 or greater is supposed to help spread this aggression out greatly. As far as Salousis go, in a 50G tank I would put 12-16 of them, and at the ratio of 3f to 1m, that means only 4 males max. Also, the sub-dominant males have the yellow coloring, which means you will have 1-2 blue fish and 10-14 yellows (depends what you want, but I would go for more of a mix). Just my $0.02 - Dredd

Hey guys, I'm thinking of evolving my DIY 'Python' water changer/gravel vacuum. Currently I have a venturi pump (waterbed fill/drain kit) hooked up to a 50' garden hose. Then through the miracle of my local plumbing store, I have converted that to a 5/8" flexible plastic hose with a gravel vacuum. As my sink is lower than the water level in my tank, I use the venturi pump to start the siphon action (I would NEVER waste so much water as to leave the sink on for the entire drain). What I am thinking of doing is shortening the plastic tubing on the gravel vac and hooking it up directly to the intake on a submerged powerhead. The the outlet would be connected to the hose somehow, which would still connect to the venturi pump as a good way to fill and hold the hose in place during a drain. Am I nuts? Have any of you done this before? I think the largest expense of this entire setup is going to be the powerhead...I was thinking of using a 400GPH powerhead (25% drain on the 55G in about 3mins). This would also give me some decent suction for gravel vacuuming. What do you guys think? Possible, impossible, ideas? I am planing on leaving the powerhead in the tank during the entire drain BTW. - Dredd

Ok, so we decided to go with 6 Neon Tetras (my wife thinks they are "pretty"). Strange thing was, when I put them in, the large dominant zebra danio decided he didn't like them, and was being extremely aggressive to them. After watching him chase them around and stress them out for about 45 mins, I decided to scoop the danios and take em back to my LFS. So now I have 6 Neons, and my wife has pretty much decided on a tetra tank. Next is 6 Black Phantoms, then I think 6 Serpaes, and maybe 6 Black Neons. Including the Bristlenose Pleco, that will be 25 fish in a 29G planted tank, which is a lot, so I might cut the Black Neons. What do you guys think? Can this tank handle 25 fish? My val and hygrophylia is growing like crazy, but my java fern hasn't really changed in the month and a half I have had it in...is this normal for Java Fern? - Dredd

jvision: do you know how much ammonia I need to put in daily to simulate 20 juvenile mbuna cichlids? Trabby: The tank is already cycled, but the bioload is only 2 comets right now...I need to increase to bioload to be ok for 21 fish by Feb 19.

Is that a good idea? I have about 2 weeks before I go to get my fish, and I wouldn't want to lose my bacteria now... If I do go this way, what dose of Ammonia should I start with? - Dredd

Hi everyone, I currently have a 55G tank that has been cycled with 2 fancy comets (not feeders) on the advice of my LFS. Now that I know about "fishless" cycling, I wish I hadn't used the comets, but oh well, live and learn. This tank is destined to be home to some 21 fish (8 x L. caeruleus, 12 x Ps. demasoni, 1 x Ancistrus spp.) My question is, how can I raise my bioload to take all 21 fish at once? (I live in Lethbridge, and Calgary trips do not happen often) Should I add 6 more comets (I have read that since comets are such dirty fish they represent 2-3 cichlids for bioload)? Should I pull the comets and start dosing with ammonia? Or should I just put all 21 fish in, and dose with stability? The tank is fully cycled, here are the numbers: NH3 - 0, NO2 - 0, NO3 - 5, pH - 7.8

Aside from cleaning up any uneaten food, what function would the corydoras have? I have no experience with this fish, so I don't really know what they could offer. I was planning on going with a bristlenose pleco (maybe albino), and 2-3 Siamese Algae Eaters (I recently found some blackbeard algae in the tank, from one of the plants) for a CUC. My wife was in at our LFS, and checked out the guppies, mollies and platys...we might run with guppies and platys. I would be wanting to run an all male tank, or have a fry predator of some kind as well. I really don't want to end up with a pile of guppies that I need to find homes for... - Dredd

We just finished cycling our 29G planted tank at home with 4 zebra danios, and are looking at what fish to put in it now. My wife wants colorful, but not cichlids...she likes angels. We don't really care if we keep the danios, and my LFS said that they would take them back. Any ideas? I was thinking tetras myself, or maybe fancy guppies, as they would make for nice looking fish for my 1 yr old son to watch. - Dredd

Hey Guys, Not sure if this counts as equipment, but has anyone here used any of the aquarium logging software? Specifically, I am looking for one in which I can log such things as: pH, KH, NH3, NO2, NO3, water changes, livestock, equipment, expenses. Something with a fairly decent database of livestock and plants, preferably with pictures. I'm willing to pay for the software, but only if it meets all requirements, and has a demo or trial. I'm not really interested in something that needs an ongoing subscription. If anyone could help out, that would be great! - Dredd

Hi Everyone! I was recently directed to this site by someone in Calgary...it looks great! Anyways, a little about myself... I'm 26, married to my beautiful wife for 3 years, with 2 kids (12 year old stepson, 1 year old son). I have kept a variety of fish in the past (tropical community, micro reef, guppys), and then put the hobby on hold when I was about 17 to go to the U of C. I am now getting back into the hobby (9 year later), and have started a 29G planted tropical community tank, a 55G Mbuna tank, and a 20G nano-reef. The two freshwater tanks are currently cycling, the nano-reef is in planning right now. Anyways, hi everyone for Lethbridge! :smokey: - Dredd