Cheese

I'm looking at getting a 48" metal halide for my planted Freshwater tank, and was wondering if anyone could help me with some advice on what I should be looking for...? I do have Flourite as well as Excel. My co2 is running, but not very strong.

It's a 29g, the only thing in there other than the angels is a few ramhorn snails (aside from the four krib babies in a breeding trap hanging in the tank). I have a very large amazon sword that they keep spawning on, as well as a few other types of swords, all live plants. There is a few small pieces of driftwood and several pieces of slate propped up at angles to create lots of flat spots. Gravel is natural coloured pebbles. I keep the temp around 80 deg F, and run two filters, a topfin 30 and a aquaclear 150. I do 25% water changes weekly. Other than API Stress Coat for my water conditioner, I don't add anything else...

The female is gathering up the ones that are free swimming, and spitting them out onto the same leaf where the new eggs are...and the male is swimming around with most of the fry following him... Last time they spawned, I had to take the parents out before those babies were the age of these ones...my female was tearing chunks out of the male. This time she's not...obviously...

How often do angels normally spawn?? My breeding pair laid a batch of eggs on Christmas Eve...that batch (about 2 dozen fry) have been free swimming for not quite a week, and the parents just laid another batch today! They are still in the breeding tank with the fry that are only a week old! Batches two weeks apart, WITHOUT moving the parents away from the babies seems really quick to me...! Shouldn't there be a rule against making more babies while the ones you have are swimming around your head?! :eh:

For me, it is the convience of doing it at home with stuff I already have, rather than going out to the store to buy a refill pack. This is a recipie that I was given by a friend... • 6 oz pack of Jello • 2 cups sugar • 2 cups boiling water Dissolve sugar & Jello, then add • 1 cup cold water Let set overnight, then add • 1/2 cup lukewarm water • 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast I'll see how long it works for my tank.

I'm making a DIY CO2 reactor using a pop bottle, and was wondering if anyone has a really good recipie for it? I've tried the Jello one before, and it worked good, but not for long. Perhaps there was something not right with my recipie...?

It's been entertaining, that's for sure!

Thank you!! I was starting to look elsewhere for my brine shrimp question... I did order the ones from the source in England...so we'll see how long it takes to get here. Should be good for my next batch of fry. That's because Cheese has been sitting in shock...hoping that everyone will start playing nice again! I"ve tried to change the subject away from the bickering a few times. I do enjoy hearing what each experienced person feels best for their fish. Where I come from there was only an occasional store that sold fish, and they really didn't know much tell us much about the ones we had, and there wasn't many resources available at the time. It is great to be able to learn from other people who've had better resources over the years so others can learn from their experiences, good and bad. I'm not fond of accelerated growth formulas...as much as I like to see them grow quick, I'd rather they grow at what is natural for them.

Is that in Red Deer?

Wow. Pretty impressive. Where did you get your zebra pleco from? I'd love to have one...but have a hard time thinking about the price they usually are...rarely see them under $200...and my husband complains when I spend $10 on a fish! There are a few breeds I really enjoy, but my favourite 'groups' are probably catfish and loaches. I have several types of them, and never get tired of watching their quirky behaviour (my kuhlii loaches like to swim with my weather loaches). I have three children, and they all have their own tanks in their room. My youngest has been addicted to the fish since he was only 2 1/2.

Out of curiousity, what kind of food do you use Ich, and for what kind of fish?

Not at all! I'm definately going to recommend this forum to others. It'll be nice to be able to send people to a site that is locally based too. I only found it myself this summer, recommended by another member. I do enjoy hearing what different foods/techniques people use for their fish...that way I can know different alternatives to try if I run into problems with anything. I am going to try the NLS this week coming as well. I've been using the Omega One for a while...but I've seen a lot of raving about the NLS.

I was thinking about that earlier too. The developments over the last decade show us how much less we knew then...and tell us we'll probably look back ten years from now and think the same thing about what we consider good right now. I try to learn as much as I can about all the different species I have and how to make them healthier, which is why I look to forums...you can draw on the experiences of other people who've been doing it far longer than I. I recomend forums a lot to people. I also (please don't hate me now... :cry: ) work at a petstore and try to learn as much as I can on subjects I don't have much experience on & to build on the experience I already have, so that I can help steer people onto the right track. I've saved many fishy lives by working where I do.

I've always used prepared fry foods before for my livebearer or Jellybean Cichlid fry, and they've always done very well...my last Jellybean batch I let them have was close to 100 that survived...but with feeding only the prepared to my angels, they never lasted much more than a day. Could it have something to do with the way the parents themselves were raised? I'm also enjoying watching how well my pair is doing with the fry themselves...I just wish they would let me get close enough to the tank to take a picture. I'm worried my male is going to knock himself unconscious by cranking himself off the glass when he sees anyone too close.

Exactly! I think of it like new information in the last couple decades or so on breastfeeding your children. When my mother had me, is was practically unheard of to do that since formula came with all the nutrients babies were thought to need. With more research, it was found that those first few days after birth are sooooo important because of stuff that couldn't be duplicated in a lab. What's wrong with having the best of both worlds? Feeding the live AND prepared?

I agree with vitamins & other nutrients being added to the prepared food being more beneficial...making sure they get all the things they need out of a food...but I do enjoy giving my fish their 'treats' as well and believe that they can be beneficial too. I had a goldfish that was prone to swim bladder problems, no matter how good the food was or how good the water conditions were...but it was amazing how quickly he would be swimming properly after eating raw peas! I'm not planning on feeding JUST bbs to my fry...but I am concerned about other aspects they might be missing by ONLY having the prepared foods. I've read so many times about the bbs helping to instill the hunting instinct in the angel babies, etc, etc... Plus...this is the first time my fry have lived this long...five days free-swimming now, which is four days longer than any other batch.

I'm trying...and learning as I go. I will say that the look on my husband's face is priceless when I bring home lettuce or zuccini (spelling?) and tell him it's for the fish!

That is why I'm wondering about going totally to a dry food... This is the first time I've fed the brine shrimp...and it's also the first time my angel babies have made it past a day and a half of free swimming. I've had baby fry before, but never ones as touchy as angels. I'm trying to be a good fish mommy

What can I do to raise the brine shrimp to adult stage to give to my bigger fish? They love the frozen or dried brine shrimp...I'd love to give them a treat.

What about feeding the brine shrimp AND the NLS? I've read so many beneficial things for both...one thing being that the swimming action of the brine shrimp helps develop the hunting for food instinct in the cichlids...

Does the NLS have a fry food then?

I've only seen 6gram bottles of the unmixed stuff at the petstores so far. I prefer to use the unmixed, so that I can just make up as much at a time as I want, and not waste. I have a friend that is from England, and she said it only takes 2-3 weeks for her to get small packages from her family still there...and sending stuff to my husband on tour overseas only takes three weeks as well...so I should have it by the next batch if I order it from eBay. It works out to approx. $40, including shipping, for 500grams of decapsulated cysts.

I posted a message there a few days ago actually...no luck yet. As much of a pain in the...bottom...hatching the brine shrimp is, I enjoy watching the fry go nuts over them, until my male sees me peeking and comes flying at me to tell me off of course. I have enough to last a week or two until this batch gets big enough to be totally off them. I've had a few recomendations on what else to feed so I'm going to try a few things as well. This week coming (unfortunately I will have to wait for payday) I'll pick up some of the NLS, and someone else suggested something called Better Than Brine, so I'll try that too. They've spawned probably 10 times so far, and this is the first batch to last past a day of free swimming...so I guess this is my trial batch. What do you think of Omega One foods? I have some pellets that my other fish love...my big catfish used to go BALISTIC over. :w00t: I could grind some of them up for the fry...?

BSD is still going to cost me $20 more than the person in England because of their shipping methods. I'm going to grab my phone book and start calling store after store and see if I can find anything around here. It's the shipping costs that's the killer. I did like the site, lots of good information. Do you have the nutrient breakdown of the NLS?

Wow...all I did was ask about brine shrimp eggs... :shock: Anyone ever try the decapsulated brine shrimp eggs?