African_Fever

Cichlid formula.

Breeding motoros and some other rays actually isn't that difficult, it's just that there's not too many people with large enough tanks to keep rays for long enough. IME with motoros, good food and clean water (along with a large enough tank) is about all you need.

I need to agree with Neil on this one, I'd never in my life feed my rays (or any fish) beef heart . Most fish aren't physiologically able to fully process red meats in the same way that they're not all able to process vegetable matter. I know my silver dollars would probably continue to thrive on a diet of nothing but raw vegetables (lettuce, spinach, cucumber etc.), while my rays, african cichlids (mostly mbuna), and syno's would most likely whither away on the same diet. Red meat is a protein/food source that very few fish would be physiologically developed to process - piranha and a few other opportunistic predatory freshwater fish are among the few that are able to. Rays will be able to process the food to some degree, but with all the other more beneficial options out there, why bother with something that might cause premature death?

I'm a huge Eheim fan, and have always used the Classics. As pointed out above, priming can take a 'jiggle' of the canister in the classics, but that's about it. On a 90, I'd personally add an HOB (either an AC110 or AC70) as well as the canister. Canisters are great, but I've personally always preferred to run two filters on my tanks if possible (a canister and HOB).

Great score! Any chance of pics of the royal motoro?

RD sent me the link way back when, and I've always been around. Though I don't post much, I do usually check every couple days.

Awesome find! Congrats Mark!

Great choice of Tropheus! It's going to be a stunning display when they all mature. I bet a 'cube' that large really makes a great display tank. I've actually been considering a Tropheus setup lately, if it weren't for my planned move I'd probably have switched one of my tanks over already...

Definitely NOT demasoni. Looks to be a Pseudotropheus of some type, without better/more pictures I'm leaning towards something in the Ps. elongatus complex at this time.

Most definitely your shrimp will be a snack for the cats.

Awesome looking Aro Ryan! As far as the camera picking up colours that aren't there, Spencer Jack once told me that he'd use his camera to judge the potential of male cichlids, because the camera was able to pick up colours that aren't normally (or at all) visible.

Congrats! Any pics yet?

The safeway bags are only 1 lb, 2lb bags at Walmart are $8 every day. Other than the Asian markets (which we don't have here), I've yet to see prawns cheaper anywhere.

A long time coming for someone who has definitely paid their dues! Congrats!

How deep is your pond?

The Walmart down here has frozen, 2 lbs, shell on for about $9, and 2 lbs of squid rings for $8. I haven't been able to find any cheaper price for raw frozen ray food than that. My rays have been getting mostly squid lately, with shrimp once or twice a week. The squid is WAY easier to feed because I just break the rings into 4 pieces when they're frozen and drop them straight in the tank. They float until they thaw, so no worries about the rays eating food that's too frozen. Shrimp I thaw and then peel before chopping/feeding.

I think you'd be nuts replacing an FX5 with one of their new G-series filters. The large one, with a flow of 1000 lph, transates to roughly 250 gph. Not even close to a completely filled FX5 with media. And I'm sure having the pleated filters means they're not going to be easily cleaned, which means huge replacement costs because they don't look to me to be something that you can just do without or modify yourself to do the same job. It is only rated by Fluval to 600L, compared to 1500L for the FX5. IMO, the filter looks to be something that's for someone with money who wants minimal maintenance - great for doctor's and other offices, but I doubt it's something that'll catch on with the average hobbyist who has multiple tanks.

Looks great so far, especially for being all hand dug. Not too sure if you're planning on putting fish in or not, but a 'small bench for birds and wildlife' also means a 'small bench from which fish will disappear'. Just out of curiousity, but why are you still going with a separate liner for the bog?

Just wondering if anyone knows if Christian is still working at/managing the aquatics section of Big Al's in Calgary? Thanks

One thing to think about with the bog, is that if you don't go with EPDM, or the same liner as the rest, the bog might end up leaking more than you planned, and affecting the rest of your yard in ways that you didn't plan. There is also the long-term viability to be aware of as well. Poly might be ok for a couple years, but will begin breaking down and might only last 3-4 years. Do you want to be re-building something then if you could have done it initially for a little more money buy less work?

Ditch the beef heart and bloodworms for sure, and try to get him on pellets. Glad he's still doing great!

Biggest problem I have with them is the hose attachment clips and how the hoses are supposed to 'clip' to tanks. They don't work for large tanks, and I'm always worried that the hoses will pop out while I'm gone. They're supposed to be made for large tanks, but I haven't found the clips to fit anything (well) over 50 gallons without modifying them. Once I have them secured, I've been happy with them otherwise.

They need a certificate to bring fish into the US, but we don't need one to bring fish into Canada.

She looks awesome Tim, you've put your time in with her and you're about due for success with this litter!

Two pair of flowers/schroederi for now.