jvision

My wife was looking over my shoulder when I first read the thread last night. We're talking about converting my 29 into SW, and the frogspawn really helped! She likes the way it looks.

I'm looking forward to my 1st foray into SW tanks! :beer:

If they're brand new, they may not eat for a day or so while they get used to your tank. If there are some good places for them to hide and feel comfortable, they should be eating in no time.

Basically, the L# refers to fish in the Family Lorricididae (or however you spell it!) - Suckermouth cats. They're assigned a number before they're officially described.

And Wild Caught fish are F0, so F1 is first generation captive bread.

If you're using DIY CO2, the biprduct would eventually clog your bubble wall - there was a recent thread about that white stuff.

Just remember that the Best Lab Deals budle is w/o the tank - you'd still need to pick up a CO2 tank. A 5lb tank should be good enough for at least 6 mos.

Dosing KNO3, KH2PO4, MgSO4+7H2O, and trace

Aquanerd, I've been dosing the EI method with the same nutrients, sans Epsom salts, for over a year, and have been having some great results.

Garhan, I am unfamiliar w. PPS - what's that stand for?

BAs fish are definitely different colors. They look similar to the fish I have (but less than 1/2 the size). It seems that one sex is blue, the other is more of a yellow (tho drab & colorless would be a better description).

Well, the more things change at my place, the closer I'm getting to setting up a couple of species tanks, and a display tank. Thinking these guys will be on display.

The lighter colored one, is turning yellow, I do believe. The edges of the dorsal and caudal fin are yellowing up, and, if in the right light (I've really gotta change to whiter lights) it looks a bit more yellow than pink.

Both were blue when I got them. And both are getting lighter.

BTW, I've got a few fish that BAs have, which are twice the size but aren't colored up as much as theirs. I'm feeding mine NLS. It got me wondering if they're doing something to their fish to cause them to color up sooner/younger - or perhaps they're stunted. Their "P. lombardoi" look that way, as their eyes are disproportionately large.

I stopped by BAs again, today to check out what they've labeled as P. lombardoi. I'm inclined to say these aren't the same fish (but is that the tank you picked them up from??)

BA's lombardoi seem to have quite a bit fewer vertical bars....

When I post pics, I use Picasa, and host them on blogger. Could that be why they don't show up sometimes?

Thanks Val for helping out.

Got these two from Pop Eye (thanks, Gina!), and we've been trying to figure out what fish they are.

Pic. 1

Pic. 2

Pic. 3

Damn, you bred Betta's?! Seems like a tough task. I've heard stories of having to use a jar for the female in the tank, waiting for the male to display etc.

It's a good thing I heard all those crazy tricks after I started breeding them; otherwise, I don't think I would have started!

It's a lot easier than what most people think - just like almost everything else in this hobby... :bang1:

I used to breed Betta splendens. MP, you are right that they are much more active in something heated that is larger than a vase. I raised mine 20 gal tanks 'til you could tell who was a male - then they got a 5 gal, or 1 was put in a tank with the Apistos.

They are a surface fish, and I believe they feel more comfortable when they can hang out at the surface. Yours is probably sticking to the bottom b/c of the current at the top. I think it's the fancy fins that give the Betta a hard time swimming. I always used a small corner box filter and lots of plants in the tank.

I think I'm with HOSStile in moving him. Get a 5 gal tank and either a small 25W heater, or a heating pad from the drug store (a 5 gal tank would max out at 50lbs, not too heavy for the heating pad). Add some floating plants, some Java fern and a Crypt. or two, and you've got a happy fish!

Now you don't have to worry about his fins being nipped by the other fish - which tends to happen more than a Betta being a bully, IMO.

Those starter kits are generally OK. You should be good with what it comes with - unless you're doing plants.

The main thing is to start slow. Your latest list should be fine for your 33.

There are some obvious mixes of fish that cannot work

Kinda like an Oilers fan and a Flames fan!! Go Oilers!!! :guns:

Are you talking about a pressurized tank with regulator, etc? If so, just open it up a bit more.

If you're talking yeast + sugar, then it might take a bit for it to get going. Having it closer to the water level will eleviate a lot of the pressure. I've got a Hagen CO2 unit hanging on the back of my tank - fits the same bracket as the Hagen powerheads.

I also am hoping that since the plants are in thie 25g with a ton of light(i used 2 of those screw in compact fluorescent bulbs) they will grow quickly and i'll have enough to put in other tanks.

Yep, you'll soon have more Hygro and Pennywort than you know what to do with!

 

QUOTE (jvision)

Maybe mount it under your AC, so it can send the mist throughout the tank.

I would advice against this. Do not combine your filtration with CO2 diffusion! Bringing enough gas into impeller chamber can stall the water flow, and you end up with two failures, no filtration being the worse one.

Yes, I should have been more clear. I was not advocating that you have the reactor near the AC intake. Instead, to have the AC output help circulate the CO2 rich water throughout the tank.

Back when I used to breed Apistos, the fry always grew out faster in planted tanks. I think it's b/c they could keep eating all day long. You could see them nipping at the plants - they were eating the microscopic thingies that live on and around the plants.

So, in your fry tanks, since your probably aren't going for show quality, let those stem-roots grow!

It's not much to look at. It's just 1 discus in w. a bunch of Hygro. polysperma "sunset" and a piece of drifwood. This guy has not beem faring well in the 55 gal, so I gave him a tank of his own.

I'll post a pic in the Pics section when I get home, tho.

If he doesn't make it, I'll be converting the tank into my first ever SW!!

If you're changing water so often, the plants probably won't have much impact on NO3, since there shouldn't be much!!

But, they're a great place for little critters to hide and live. The fry will appreciate that!

Do you use tap water for your WCs? If so, and you're doing so many WCs, these plants will grow quite fast given enough light - no CO2 necessary!

Circulating CO2 mist throughout the tank has done wonders! Plants are pearling all week long (if I keep the ferts up). With your new reactor set-up, make a loop of airline tubing from the side of the gravel tube (at the top where the CO2 accumulates) and run it into the venturi or intake of your powerhead. Maybe mount it under your AC, so it can send the mist throughout the tank.

Just some ideas based on my own experience.

Just FYI, in my 55 gal, I have an HOT filter rated for 90gal, which provides some great circulation. When the lights are on, I have 2 powerheads that shoot CO2 mist into the tank.

So, if you do add a powerhead, either put it right by your CO2 reactor, of feed the CO2 into the powerhead to mist it throughout the tank.

That's a whole lot easier than what I did to one of my ACs - I actually cut the little lip off, so the water drops strait into the tank.

If you're adding CO2, you'll want to make sure the tank is filled as close to the output of the filter as possible. ACs can cause enough surface agitation to drive off most of your CO2. However, if you keep the tank full, I've had great experience with them.

Just make sure you're picking up driftwood. That means, it's been drifting for a while. It shouldn't have any sap left, and all bark will be polished off.

There may be some bugs on it, which is why I opt for a strong salt bath. That should kill anything that lives in fresh water, and probably most things that live in the ocean. You could use bleach, but I'd be afraid it'd wreck the color.