halwake

So I picked up a male, put him in a breeder net for 1 week and he was eating frozen brine, did not seem interested in mysis too much. He escaped into the tank and went back into looking for copepods, he was not interested in the shrimp. I finally caught him again and put him back into the breeder net. To my surprise he started eating mysis. I got the small ones from Hikari so they are easier for him to eat. I started adding some flake and he would test that too. I kept him in there for just about 3 weeks the second time and released him into the tank. I got a long feeder tube or turkey baster and turned off circulation and blew some mysis into one corner each day when he was there. He started eating it and looking for the baster. The other fish caught on so I did the mandarin diner method. After a day or so he started going into the clear jar to eat in peace. Now he will eat frozen mysis, frozen brine, small bloodworms. He does not seem to interested in flake anymore, and I have not yet seen him eat any pellets. I have had him now for 2-3 months now and he is doing well. He's not fat but eats every time I put food in his diner. He even goes in there when there is nothing. Just have to be very patient and make sure they are eating well before releasing into the main tank or they seem to ignore what you are offering and keep looking for pods.

Thanks Jason, ideally I would like to get him on to frozen/commercial food but to get started would like to have some copepod culture just in case. I have heard of some eating frozen right from the LFS..

Coming to Edmonton next weekend and will get a Mandarin Dragonet. Does anyone know anywhere to get copepods and phytoplancton to grow my own culture for food for the mandarin?

Thanks everyone, it was just stuck in the sand at the shop. I moved it to the sand deeper in the tank and with lower current, all 5 heads are fully extended so it does not seem to be upset. Am careful where I put it, nothing really for it to sting in the area. Hopefully it stays healthy. It does look better on the live rock for more contrast with the purple coralline. Hal

Picked up a new Torch coral this weekend. Can their base be placed directly in the sand on the bottom or should I keep it above the sand on the live rock? Had it up on the live rock about half way up in the tank but it was just below the power head. Too much current. We are running 4 T5 HO bulbs, 2 regular and 2 Actinic. Thanks, Hal

I have been trying with no success to get my 2 Bangaii Cardinals to eat NLS pellets. I have seen them pull them into their mouths then spit it out. They don't seem to go after them at all once they hit bottom. I have tried some flake and they go after it more because it circulates around in the tank current but they spit it out. I have tried for three days pellets, 4th Mysis shrimp. They go for the frozen shrimp like crazy. They will have to get onto pellets for when we go on vacation this summer. Any ideas?

Yes live rock rubble is just smaller pieces of live rock. We broke them up a bit with a hammer so you can fit a bunch in your filter compartments Hal

We just converted to salt on a 36 gallon. I was told to ditch the Bio rings,floss, and replace all media with live rock rubble. In my Fluval 305 I have the long foam pieces, charcoal and the rest of the filter crammed with rubble. I was told the same thing that Fishtankboy said that all the other filter material can have a negative impact on water quality especially if you are going reef. We are running 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 5ppm nitrate. Water is crystal clear. Keep in mind though we are running an in tank skimmer, this helps pull the waste out of the tank. Just my opinion and what we have done, seems to be working. vitaminz is a good person to ask about questions you may have. Hal

I have a Hydor Slim Skim that I am fairly happy with. It is an in tank unit though. I do not have a sump or have the tank drilled. Running a Fluval 305 filter. It is on a 35 gallon tank. Paid $140. I think it is rated for up to 65 gallon Hal

Hey Mike, you have around a 60 gallon? We have a Malawi Peacock display tank. What we have is the following. Red top Lwanda is a must, New Yellow Regal (baenschi), Lemon Jake, German Red, Eureka red, Sunburst, Dragons Blood (growing out in smaller tank for now), Bi-color 500, Taiwan reef, Blue regal (Cobue), Tramitichromus Intermedius (not a peacock, 5 growing out in separate tank, will add 1 nice male to display tank), Neon Blue Chiwindi, Sulfur head, Flametail. Most are around 3 inches at this time. What I found best if you are patient is purchase 3-5 juvies of each species you want from local breeders, let them grow and keep 1 nice male. Sell off the rest. This will save you a ton of money. Any extras you could hand pick from Big Als (great selection, fish 3"> showing color can be pricey), Aquarium Central decent prices, Fair Deal has great fish as well. Like I said there are a couple people I know that may be able to help you out if you are looking for juvies. I got juvies of whatever I could and handpicked the rest. We still have a couple of some species left over. If you want I could get you the guys info to help you out. We paid $15-$50 for fish showing color from the LFS in Edmonton. $2-$5 for juvies. 60 gallon, some may disagree but you should be fine with 15 different peacocks. We have virtually no aggression in our tank. Peacocks have a great disposition, and look amazing as they mature as well. All the best, Hal

Hey, thanks again, any cost savings would be great. Salt water the tank is probably a very small cost in comparison to everything else I am quickly finding out. The skimmer is kinda neat, Hydor Slim Skim. Sits in the tank on the back wall looks like an overflow box. No way for it to leak out sitting in the tank. This was one thing I too wanted to be sure of. Had decent reviews for the price. Again ideally I would love to have the tank drilled and have a sump/refugium below, but just getting started I will have to take this route. If we decide we love salt water we may convert out 72 gallon bowfront and have the back drilled as you stated. I have small kids who love our fish and have their hearts set on a clownfish. I think Disney may have had something to do with this.... He, he. Thanks again for all the help, seems much more technical than a fresh water setup. Guess I will need to be patient... Would make thing much easier to have someone in town with a saltwater setup I could borrow from to seed the need tank. Thanks again, I am sure I will have many more questions for you as everything starts to show up for the new tank. Hal

Hey Jeff, thanks for the input, glad I found this out before throwing some fish in. So you feel I do not need to spend a ton on live rock, just seed the tank and wait? I know a few places in Edmonton want $8.00 per pound of live rock. So I would take out the bio rings and add rubble? Okay, this tank had a dose of Coppersafe quite a while ago. I am too far into this project to be able to pull the pin with lighting and items specifically for this tank. I have heard people being fine with tanks that had a copper treatment in the past, guess I could get a test kit for copper? Start with rubble to get the correct bacteria colony going, a chunk of clam or shrimp to feed the bacteria and add hermits and snails. The base rock would be half the price? It would eventually get covered with coraline algy as well anyways? Live sand from Caribsea is it any good? It is very expensive almost twice the price of regular Aragonite, is it worth it as well? Thanks, Hal

Okay, I am converting one of my established fresh water tanks to salt water. I assumed that the good bacteria in the filter and tank that I will be using would also work for salt water during the nitrogen cycle. Someone told me now that the good bacteria are different and I will still have to re- cycle the tank. I was hoping to add sand, get my salinity right and I would be good to add live rock and fish. Now I am told I will have to add live rock and sand, wait a week and add a clean up crew, wait a weeks and then add fish slowly. I am not new to aquariums, but am new to salt water. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I have purchased refractomer, T5 4 bulb HO lighting, Koralia circulation pump, Koralia Slim Skim skimmer. I will be re-using a Fluval 305 filter. This tank is a 36 gallon bowfront.

Nice pics Jay, The one with the three black spots looks very similar to the Tramitichromus Intermedius fry I picked up. If you know anyone with Aulonocara Chiwindi's let me know. Fair deal was out, need one male, still need one male Sulfur head as well. Have a great day Hal

Wow, that sucks, sorry to hear that Jay.

I am looking for 1 or 2 albino bristle nose plecos. And I am in Grande Prairie as well. Do you want to sell 1 or 2? Maybe trade? I have some African cichlids, Peacocks I could maybe spare.

Wow, what an ordeal. Had to take all the rock and plants out to catch her again, finally got her and took forever to get the toothpick into her mouth to open it. Was able to get a bunch of eggs out, but she is only 2.5-2.75 inches so I was having a tough time. Maybe should have let her spit into the main tank and then took her out. Is it easier with a bigger female? You just put the toothpick in the side of her mouth? Anyways, thanks Jayba

Does anyone have a picture of a juvenile blue gold. I have one in my tank that I am hoping is male but has not yet colored up. Top fringe on dorsal has a white/yellow line on the tips. In certain angles you can see a light blue shimmer on the side of the fish, and a couple of places on the head at certain angles it seems like you can see some irredessant (spelling) blue coming through barely. Tips of dorsal and anal fins are not yet getting points to them. Fish is 2.5-2.75 inches currently. Thanks Hal

If you can hold out until spring I'll let you know. I won't be able to bring in anything from this region before about April. You figure they would all become available in April? I am having a very tough time finding them in Canada anywhere.

I am looking for a few fish Lethrinops Albus Lethrinops Itungi (Red cap) Lethrinops Intermedius Taiwan Reef Prefer all males or small groups of juveniles.

Ya, I was hoping when I was trying to net it that she would spit or swallow the eggs. Didn't happen. I did not want to keep her in the tank and have this happen again. It would be easier to get rid of the eggs rather than wait until they are little fish. I have never stripped eggs. This is the first time this has happened. We have had these guys for just over 2 months.

I have removed the fish and placed it in the 36 gallon community tank with some tetras for now. I prefer not to kill the fry, guess I will keep the fish in there and see what happens. Guess I am in the market for a male Sulfur head... Thats disappointing. If they go to term I will give them away and keep her out of the male tank until I can sell her.

Have my tank set up with several juvenile peacocks and a couple 4" males. We have one Aulonocara Maylandi "sulfur head" that we purchased that appeared to be male that looks like it is now holding. ?? This fish has yellowish fringe on the dorsal and light yellow stripe on the top of the head, not down the tip of his nose though. I had read that they were late bloomers so I was hoping it would continue to develop. It is currently 3 inches or so. I'm guessing the fish is a female that was given hormone laced food to make them all appear to have male traits. This fish was purchased in Edmonton at one of the big name fish stores. I do not have any other male that looks close to a sulfur head so I am not really sure what happened. This tank is going to be a all male tank but we had to purchsse several unsexed juveniles and we will take out any females as the fish develop leaving us with only one nice male of each species. Now what?

Hello everyone, Hal from Grande Prairie. Currently running a 10 gallon, 36 gallon bowfront community tank, and a newly established 72 gallon bow front. I started stocking the 72 as a Malawi peacock/hap tank. I have several juveniles currently in there of several species. This tank will be an all male tank eventually, one of each species. I look forward to sharing ideas with everyone and building on my knowledge pool. Hal