trevorich

This is exactly why i posted this here, thx for the tips/info all! I've also been doing some research on the nuts n bolts of owning a LFS online....

Hi all, I'm thinking of buying aquarium enthusiasts. What I am thinking is a store that caters to people with MTS in that I buy fish from YOU more than local wholesalers, and supply you with what you're really looking for. I don't know yet, i'm working with a limited budget so we'll see what transpires. And no, I'm not looking to go into competition with Natures Corner. I plan on swinging in there this week for coffee (yes, i'll bring timmies :thumbs: ) Anyways. I'd really like to see your opinions on: 1) what you would like to see in an edmonton fish store. I'd really like to set it up for the advanced fish keeper if i do buy it. 2) what sorts of fish are you breeding that you'd like to sell? 3) what sorts of livestock would you like to see? I know for a fact that i won't be carrying garbage. Only quality equipment, chem's, food, etc. I also know that I would like to see a wider variety of live foods (sometimes raising your own is a pain in the caudal fin). My initial thoughts are to have fish from local breeders on a commission basis for the rare/expensive ones, a store credit for average fish or outright purchase for cash, something along those lines. As some of you know, I'm a single parent currently on wcb but need a new career so I'm still deciding if i'm going to do this, please let me know your thoughts. THX Trev

So I have my FINAL stock list lol In this 300 gallon tank (8'x2'x30") I have: 1 clown knife 1 fancy finned goldfish 1 black moor 1 senegal Bichir 5 electric blue geophagus 3 f1 tin foil barbs (red fins with black tips and irredescent colouring of blue and pink through the scales) 2 red-speckled gold severums 1 green severum 1 mango pleco 1 chocolate pleco 1 eel 1 tiger datnoid 1 albino clawed african frog right now they are all young and i will be monitoring behaviour for quite awhile as they all grow together. Hopefully this generally peaceful make up will ensure a happy tank but we'll see. These fish can grow!! So i may be facing some territorial issues later. I feed a mixture of floating pellets, shrimp, minnows every 2 weeks, and occasionally insects. When I have my breeding program in the basement set up properly I am moving to feeder platies/guppies/swords. I am really suprised at the tiger dat. I seem to have gotten a timid one. We'll see what he's like after his surgery (waiting for him to grow a bit more to make surgery easier)

beautiful fish

not if you want your tank to live for long I didn't do a water change for 9 months. Monitored all levels and replaced missing water with ro water. I bred sterbai in the water. Also kept blue rams. I've also been reading a lot on the walstad method of keeping an aquarium that describes how to do it without filters, and even bacteria. I was considering buying a $400 eheim for my tank, but might be trading that idea in for black dirt. nice!!

probably the best idea to avoid construction lol. I even had to reinforce the floor under my 120 gallon in this place.

you'll need a beam in the basement properly supported. 2x8 have a low sheer rate. You won't need to go quite to the extreme i did but it will need to be done. Do you have construction experience? if not, i would recommend asking a carpenter or if you're doing it yourself you could consult a structural engineer....though they can be pricey...without plans, just a consult about 150.00. You are welcome to come and see what I did here if you're in the edmonton area. I put a 300gal in a similar situation. trev

not assuming any responsibility....what size are your floor joists? are you putting the tank against the outside wall? what direction do your joists go in relation to where you're placing the tank? trev

not if you want your tank to live for long

here's the link to the pics http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=1153...mp;l=5d916f7166

IMO, no, but I guess it all boils down to what you personally prefer for lighting. As far as the sodium thiosulfate, I don't know of any suppliers here in AB. Keep in mind that if/when dealing with chloramine treated tap water, and larger water changes, products such as Seachem Prime are still the safest way to fly. seachem makes the best chemicals by far.

In these pics, I have "Burp" the comet. He has been in the tropical tank with the same/same type of fish for four years. he was 7" when i sold him a few weeks ago. He was my experiment fish. The black moor is named "lumpy" (yes, i have kids) and has been in that tank for 3 years. He's currently 5". I have had good experiences with mixing goldfish and tropicals. Yes the slightly higher temperatures causes a faster metabolic rate, however with proper feeding and tank maintenance I haven't had an issue. As for compatibility, the fish I have in this tank may be cichlids/predators, they are pretty benign with tankmates that are too big to eat. Though the jury is still out on the jack dempsey. In my experience, if a pleco doesn't have enough to eat, plecos will go after the slime coat on any fish. The key is to maintain a proper diet with pleco's to prevent this from occuring at all. Over the years I've had many people look in my tank and tell me "you can't do that" I just smile. because of the colouration of the clown loaches being too similar to the tiger dat, i'm not putting them in the tank. I also opted for gravel instead of sand so passed on the elephant nose. Wierd that I can add pics of fish but any attempt to add pics of the construction doesn't work. I'm going to put these pics into an album on facebook. My facebook profile is under my name "Trevor Roehr".

In these pics, I have "Burp" the comet. He has been in the tropical tank with the same/same type of fish for four years. he was 7" when i sold him a few weeks ago. He was my experiment fish. The black moor is named "lumpy" (yes, i have kids) and has been in that tank for 3 years. He's currently 5". I have had good experiences with mixing goldfish and tropicals. Yes the slightly higher temperatures causes a faster metabolic rate, however with proper feeding and tank maintenance I haven't had an issue. As for compatibility, the fish I have in this tank may be cichlids/predators, they are pretty benign with tankmates that are too big to eat. Though the jury is still out on the jack dempsey. In my experience, if a pleco doesn't have enough to eat, plecos will go after the slime coat on any fish. The key is to maintain a proper diet with pleco's to prevent this from occuring at all. Over the years I've had many people look in my tank and tell me "you can't do that" I just smile.

for some strange reason i am getting "file too large" messages when i try to upload the pictures for this construction. the pics are around 2.5mb each

I think I have tried almost every fl. tube on the market, and IMO none of the hardware store fl. tubes come close to the natural color spectrum found in some of the lights made for the aquatic industry. Most of the standard hardware store lights give off a green or yellow color (at least to my eyes) and look quite sad compared to say a power glo/aqua-glo combo. BTW - many of the fl. tubes sold for freshwater aquariums run $20-25, not $40, and IMO are well worth the extra cost, especially when in fish only systems you can run those $20 fl. lights for 4-5 years. YMMV With regards to water changes, if you live in a city that doesn't use chloramine to treat the tap water (chlorine only) by far the most cost effective way to treat your water is via sodium thiosulfate. http://www.syndel.com/Sodium-Thiosulfate-P51C9.aspx 18.18 kg's (40 pounds) for $125 CAD is by far the best price I have found for this product in Canada. Even if you run a few thousand gallons in your fish room, most of your current fish would be dead from old age before you used 40 pounds up. There are a number of formulas posted online, such as DOSAGE: Mix 4 ounces (113.4 grams) of crystals per 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of water. Then use 1 drop per gallon. My advice would be to purchase a chlorine test kit, and then experiment as to how much it takes for your own personal water supply. Also, remember to dose for max chlorine amounts, such as in the spring & after heavy rainfall when bacteria numbers are high, and water treatment plants typically increase the amount of chlorine. Why hobbyists that reside in non chloramine areas don't use this product is beyond me. Even with chloramine treated tap water, sodium thiosulfate could be safely used if one kept their water changes at smaller amounts. (15-20%) I read that article, do you know of any suppliers of this product in alberta?