Senroc

I refound my fish passion again with the Cichlids. I was perusing the isles at Picses this morning making a list of the fish I'd like to add into the tank, once I'm able to fire up the larger tank later this year. My question is about sexing the fish. What should I be looking for when buying the fish?

That's a cool trick! I'll have to remember that when I setup my next tank

LOL..agreed

Yeah I hear ya. Add things slow and you'll be fine. Hard to not jump at everything you see though...lol. I liked the Emerald Crabs. They're a cool addition.

They won't bury themselves so deep that a sudden release of nasty gasses will come out. They're smart enough not to bury themselves into something that would kill them before a gas pocket was to be released to begin with. They're fairly small after all and only move so much sand at a time anyway. Even the snorkel snails only bury themselves just deep enough to disappear. Your far better off loading up on snails and crabs, than worrying about the potential for any gasses to be released.

I agree Aquarium Illusions is a great store. Definitely my go to place when I was living in Edmonton for salt water. I've even sold coral frags back to them and they gave me a pretty decent store credit for them as well. I've never had any sick fish or inverts from there. I also agree that Big Al's is a terrible store, and it seems to be across the board. I recently lost my entire stock of fish after I bought some from there, so I won't be taking my business there anymore. Plenty of other places to go to. But anyway..I'm sure I've seen Discus at AI before so you should be good to go there.

That'll be a very cool tank! I'm jealous

If your looking for a fun addition to the tank, I always had a strong affinity for the Coral Banded Shrimp. I've had 4 different sizes of tank ranging from 10gal up to about 120gal and they were always a staple addition. Until they get bigger they're a bit shy and you may only see his long feelers at first but once he gets comfortable enough he's absolutely hilarious at feeding time. Filling every one of his hands with whatever food your feeding. I typically fed mysis shrimp, which was kind of ironic I also had a concontion of shrimp and clam that seemed to go over well. Plus they also graze on algae so they're somewhat helpful in the tank too. However I'm not sure if you can have multiple shrimp in the tank. As far as the sand goes I always felt that a thicker layer of sand was better to be able to give the live rock a better chance of getting down inside it snuggly so it wouldn't fall over. I was always paranoid of those bigger pieces not having a strong enough base to hold them and falling against the tank and breaking it. Wasn't such an issue when I had my 10gal, but as my tanks grew, so did the size of the rock, and my sand base as well. I think I would agree about potential funk being released if the sand gets really disturbed. My last forray into a salt tank ended pretty badly when I cheaped out on a suction powerhead. I woke up one morning to find that it had come off the side of the glass and dug a massive hole in the sand and I lost everything. But I suppose as with everything you get what you pay for. If you do add a powerhead, be sure to find one that can hook securely to the tank. With a 30gal I'm not sure you'd need one, I didn't on my 25gal, since the filter might be able to create enough current to keep everything happy. The guys at AI should be able to guide you better on that one. Another suggestion that my Dad was given for his tank was to make a frame with some mosquito netting across it. Once it's covered with the sand it creates a cavity that apparently makes a zone for bacteria to break down whatever waste ends up filtering through the sand. Not sure if it was a benefit, but it didn't have any adverse effects on my Dad's tank. Good luck! When I had the right balance in my salt water tank there was nothing like it. The fish looked like they were swimming through air

I have my first on his way in a couple of months so I'm hoping that he'll be attracted to the hobby as much as I am. Plus we have a couple of cats and a dog so hopefully he'll bond with all the animals in the house

Great...thanks.

Whereabouts is it being held and when does it start??

Very nice. Just firing up my cichlid tank today

Of everything you have the rock will be fine doing things your doing. The fun part will be when you get it all set up and whatever is living inside the rock starts coming out of it. My first crack at a SW tank was a little 10gal. A couple of days after I got it going I saw this tiny little crab claw stick out of a little pore. It wasn't moving so I figured he didn't make it. But as the months wore on I noticed this claw appear every so often cleaning around it's little home. Eventually he got big enough that he emerged as an Emerald Crab. It was pretty cool.

Well that explains why I can't find him on a map...lol. What a noob

Fairdeal is a Calgary store correct? If so could someone pass along an address..I can't seem to find it on Google.

My only experience with sectioning off tanks was when I had my very first 25gal tank some 20 years ago. I had an extremely territorial female swordtail who had it in for my betta for some reason. I didn't find any particular issues with the sectioning itself except that I didn't have a proper divider between the two areas and the female managed to squeeze herself through the smallest openings she could find. So I suppose that would be my only advice..lol.

Huh..who'd a thunk. Cool. I'm often in the area taking the dog to Dogaholics. Next time I take her I'll have to make a stop into Francos.

Whereabouts is Francos?

It's not quite the same but Pisces has one (or had one) as you enter the store. It was all square but you could pop your head up inside the center of it. Seemed more geared for kids though since it was kinda short..lol.

When my wife and I were looking at houses we went into one home where the owners were very fish friendly. They had a custom built tank that had to have been 12'x2'x3' full of Arawana, Gar, baby rays, and a mulitude of other expensive fish. Very well kept and was being sold with the house. I have ot admit it was extremely tempting to try and sway my wife on the house But for my dream tank I always wanted to have I shallow tank that wrapped around the basement (set into the wall) around 4-5' off the floor with a massive community friendly fish component, with of course lots of rocky shelves and plants. But I'd also like to have a 'back hallway' behind the tank to allow access to the necessary plumbing. Ah to have money....

That would be nice. They have a decent fish section.

I have no idea why we don't have anything. There is at least three of us here in Airdrie so I don't know what the issue is Maybe if a store opened with at least a moderate fish section it would probably do fairly well.

The fish force is growing strong in Airdrie I'm on the west side.

I don't see why not. They're used for potable water all the time. The only issue I could see is if your planning to use them in a salt water rig. Good chance they'll corrode pretty quickly and start leaking.

@ GrandmasBoy...hilarious But yeah I would agree with everyone else. Reminds me of when I was a kid playing in puddles and down at the local pond. When your 10 it's fascinating stuff to poke at with sticks...lol. Mom thought less so.