desol

Thanks CK. After some research...I think I picked up snail eggs from one of the shops. I'm very (highlighted) irritated at the thought of this. I think that is what the globuals are, snail eggs. After all the hard work, I may have a snail infestation now. I'm not sure where I picked them up from, but I will be going back to the stores where I got the fish to investigate. I'm really bummed at this idea because of how difficult they are to remove once they're in the tank. If they are snail eggs, it will literally be a massive project to remove them. The store will hear about it...I paid them good money for fish, not snails. After reading about what a nuiscance they can become, I'm a little overwhelmed. I knew I should've quarentined/treated things first before going into the tank. I may have to start this whole thing over, except the filter media.

Hey guys. Yes...my middle rack on the FX6 has as much of the pourous fluval biomedia that I could fit in there. There also seems to be a significant amount of surface culture starting to form on the back and sides of the tank which I'm assmuming is good (ammonia eating) Nitrobacter...and ammonia levels are pretty much zero. They're little clear globual like balls that are attached to the glass, and they bob and weave in the current. Here's a pic in macro: Almost positive that it isn't algae. Phosphate levels aren't very high and I keep the lights off most of the day. I've learned to curb the things I don't want from the tank. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the slow growing Nitrospira (Nitrite eating) bateria to grow. Did a 40 percent water change last night but levels are still a little too high. It's almost impossible to rid the tank of Nitrites without the proper culture in place. I don't feed much (I use New Life Cichlid pellets and the odd time they get some Krill) and I'm going to give it a day or two till I feed again. I want to give the Nitrospira some headway....

Yes...PH stability is important. Significant swings will hurt the fish more than a lower, stable PH. 7.8 is fine for rift lake cichlids. I use API Proper PH (8.2) and it works great. With each water change, every 5 gallon bucket gets the same treatment and things remain pretty stable. Some Prime, Some Stability and some Proper PH...mix and let it sit for a bit and in it goes. One time for kicks I added a bucket without any Proper PH...and it dropped from 8.5ish to 8.2...just a single 5 gal bucket in a 90 gal tank! So every bucket gets the same treatment from now on...and it stays at 8.2. For high PH settings and rift lake cichlids, I prefer not to use any plants or wood...even tho they do look nice.

I did add some water from the store aquariums, not sure what their cultures are like. Thanks for the reply CK. I'm not in any rush...just concerned about things. The fish...

Hey Pete. It doesn't look like that site works. I just went to have a look and it's one of those for sale domains.

There's also Captain Cichlids who always seems to have Wild caught Fish. Never ordered but i'm sure it's probably pretty good... http://www.captaincichlids.com

Thanks folks! Good to be here.

Here's a top shot guys. I'm really diggin on these rocks! I picked 'em up from Burnco for a very reasonable price. Anybody got any tips on building up the second stage bacteria that handle Nitrites?

I hear ya Dean, and you're right. I just couldn't sit and look at an empty tank for a month (or two). But you're absolutely right. I'm waiting till Nitrates are produced (and I basically get zero on the others) till I add the Buescheri. Also, I've found that I need quite a bit more of the prime and stability (like, double or triple the prime) to keep things comfortable, in the meantime.

I know, it's just bizarre, and I paid $50 ea! I am at a loss here Jaywho. Sorry to hear about your Cyp's. I think it may have been due to the fact that I didn't create that many under lying houses at first (over-hanging ledges) and hiding spots, cause Multi's like to hide. So they were forced, pretty much, to hide together...which wasn't good. I'll add another I think at a later date. I'm stoked about the Buescheri (and the cycle completing).

Hi guys and girls So, I decided to setup my tank again, instead of selling it. Had to pooch my Fluval 404 cause it was starting to cost me money, and picked up a new FX6, which seems great thus far. For my new tank I pretty much decided to go with the fish I had before (like 6 years ago). Kigoma Frontosa, Multipuntactus, Zaire Buescheri and newly, Black Calvus. Didn't want to do any wood or plants(like i did before) to keep PH predictable and high. Currently have the PH at ~ 8.2 and water temp is @ 25 degrees. Only had the tank running for about 2.5 weeks. Here's a pic so far: It's a 90 gallon tank and with media, I think the filter is probably putting out around 540gal per hour (it's rated at 563 without anything added like Bio media)....which sets my goal of 5 turnovers per hour. Still waiting for everything to cycle...ammonia seems ok, but nitrites are still high so I'm diligent with the Prime/Stability. Everyone seems happy so far but I lost 2 of my Multi's (originally had three). I noticed I hadn't seen two in a while and I only got them about a week ago, so I removed all the rocks from the tank just to see, and they were nowhere to be found!!? My only guess is that two ate one (cause only one was missing originally) and then the bigger one ate the smaller one. Now there's only one left. I have NO idea how or why this happened, and I feed the fish twice a day, but they are not in the tank. No fins, no nothing... I was pretty upset about it at first cause I really liked the little guys, and they were pricey. Anyways, things seems to be going ok but I'm still waiting on the Nitrites to fall, before adding more rocks and the Buescheri. Hope you guys like! Cheers.

Introducing myself here! Name's Darrick and I'm into Tanganyikans...