jvision

I always just do a big WC with much cooler water. A 10F drop isn't too much

In a 135 gal, I had Geos w. Corys, wild angels and Congo tetras... maybe a group of bleeding-heart tetras, too. It was a while ago - might be in my journal on this forum...

Back when I was trying to get a black substrate for a 135gal that would house Geos, I ended up going about 50-50 with a black aquarium sand (managed to find 'no name' Tahitian Moon) and Play Sand. There's black stuff at sandblasting places that's WAY cheaper, but there were too many stories out there about it being too sharp for sifting cichlids and cats.

Make sure, make sure, make sure that if you are selling hybrids that you are clear that they're hybrids. There are people who'll charge top dollar calling their hybrid by one of the parent fish's name; that's pretty shameful, IMO. In the African cichlid world, the most commonly available hybrid is the Orange Blotch Peacock, which I've read is a cross between a peacock and an mbuna. However, you can also expect that the "mixed mbuna/Africans" tank at the LFS is most likely a bunch of mutts.

Often the parents will chew up their food and let it sit through their guess to feed the fry. NLS Grow is a good food, or just crush up what you already have. I've been feeding NLS for around 10yrs, I recently dug out some Repashy gel I had sitting around, it breaks down pretty fine, and the fry can just pick at it

I think I got most of my shells at Dollarama or Michaels or something like that - check the craft isle at most department stores

They'll be fine all together. Lots of people raise colonies of over 100 in set ups similar to what you have... maybe just get a few more shells

You could probably get away with some smaller Tangs. I'd stay away from the rock-dwellers (Neolamprologus, Julidochroms) and Altolamprologus spp. But the smaller shell dwellers (L. similis - I know where you can get some - L. brevis, L. mulitfaciatus) could work out, but stay away from bigger guys like L. ocellatus or larger. Tho they're quite a bit smaller than your Acara, they are quite aggressive and could overpower their larger tankmates.. You could also go with some of the open-water spp. like Cyprichromis or Paracyprichromis spp. They get a little boisterous when spawning, but otherwise they stick tho themselves - Paracyps seem to be quite passive IME. Do your best to get tank-raised fish. Unless you are doing regular large WCs, lots of driftwood in the tank can leach tannic acid, which will lower the pH and soften the water; wild Tangs may not adjust to that. However, if you're doing large regular WCs (I do 30-50% every 4-7 days), your tank water will stay pretty close to what comes out of the tap, which is pretty good for African cichlids. That all being said, the best thing for all of your fish would be to pick fish that thrive in similar environments. African cichlids like hard water w. high pH, while South American cichlids prefer softer water and pH at or below neutral... not really a good match. It would be better to pick one group and go with them. If you want Africans, sell the Acara, replace the driftwood w. more rocks, and try something new.

For stacking, head to the Member Journal forum and check out what I've done in the past - lots of tanks w. stacked stone... even resting against the glass. If you do the fishless cycle right, your filter should be able to handle all the fish at once; however, if you don't add many at first, the large BB colony will shrink to handle just what you have in there, and you'll have to add just a few at a time. For mixing spp. I usually go with 4-6 of each sp. if I'm wanting them to breed (which I almost always do), and tend to try not to mix genera to avoid hybridization. If it were my tank, I'd try to add 10-20 young fish right off the get-go - basically 2 or 3 species. If you add them all at once, they'll set up territories and you won't have to worry about new fish being kept away from established territories down the road.

Ps. socolfli are quite a bit more aggressive than Yellow labs and Ps. acei, so if you're going to add them, add them AFTER the others have been established. Rusty's are pretty docile (by mbuna standards), Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (they may have moved them to the Pseudotropheus genus, if you're having trouble finding them) are another nice fish that isn't overly aggressive - different body shape and color pattern than most mbuna. Touch base with Fairdeal on this forum - he always has excellent quality and his prices are fantastic - he's in the Sponsor Forum. Also, check out Cichlaholic.com, Spencer Jack has a great selection of Malawi cichlids. I've done well over $10,000 of orders through him and have never been disappointed. As for your aquarium - sounds like you have a pretty good set up. Use a larger return pump than you think you'll need - Piper is right, you'll want a lot of flow, as it'll help keep crud from building up on the bottom and push it down your overflow. If the return seems too much, T it off and return some back to the start of the sump. A powerhead is a good idea if you can't get the flow you want from your return. 50% weekly WCs are what I do on my tanks. Most weeks, it's just a hose and strait WC, no vacuuming or any other maintenance. Put the water from your tank into your houseplants and garden, I get plants to flower that don't normally flower, and lots of my flowering plants are always in bloom! If you notice mulm piling up in a corner, suck it out once a month or so, and maintain your mechanical filtration in your sump as often as you need (don't want it too clogged and cause bypass or overflow). Have fun!!

Can't say that I've ever come across seeds. Aquatic plants seem to be propogated via runner, clone, cel culture and trimming. I've seen Aponogeton and Nymphea bulbs quite often, as well.

Upload pics to a sharing site like photobucket.com, then copy and paste the link

Cherry shrimp and MTS do very well in canister filters. I once thought I sold all of my cherry shrimp only to find 100+ next time I cleaned the filter.

I bought the Princess Auto set once... the largest bit was just too small for a 3/4" bulkhead (had to widen the hole a bit w. a Dremel). Home Depot is handy b/c you can pick it up right away, but I always went online to save some money.

When I drill, I usually try to do it somewhere that I can run a hose on the cut. And I made a jig, which made starting the holes WAY easier.

I always end up having to get everything online, as I can't find what I need locally.

Elodea

I've never done a DSM, bit have grown lots of plants. From what I've read about DSM, you need LOTS of CO2 to start. I would put the diffuser right below the filter return to hopefully get those tiny bubbles dispersed a bit better, and maybe up the bubble rate a bit. If you're dosing EI per instructions, then chances are your CO2 is too low. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I would run the lights 10-12hrs, giving the plants EVERYTHING they need. IME, if your plants are happy, algae doesn't become an issue.

Feed less. Change at least 50% of the water 2x per week.

If you kill them all, watch out for a spike in ammonia from all of the corpses. Also, if you're trying to manipulate your pH, all of those empty shells will buffer it up. An overpopulation of snails is pretty indicative of overfeeding. The easiest population control for snails is to reduce the amount of food.

Talk to cjerrom or fairdeal on this site. Both guys bring in great quality plecos

Are you running off a well, or does the Pelican work on city water also?

If you dig through the archives, you'll see a set-up with a Black Pirahna - the guy had a bunch of tetras in there. They lasted a while, but I think the BP eventually ate them all. If I remember correctly, it was one of our Red Deer members

I've bought dry goods from Ted before, but never livestock.

While I've never been a fan of letting aquarium-bred hybrids live, it seem to be all the rage now. Typically for Central American cichlids, if you want to raise the fry, you remove them once they're free swimming if you want to raise them artificially (w/o their parents). If you decide to sell them, make sure that you inform your buyers of what they are... the parrot is already an hybrid, so you've just Frankensteined a Frankenstein! LOL