Danzig

Ive been using the Rena Xp's for the past 6 yrs and have had no problems. I've never owned an Eheim or Fluval but have read alot of negative feedback about Fluval which prevents me from buying one. I hear nothing but good things about Eheim except the price tag. I myself will continue to buy the Rena Filstar XP's whenever i need canisters because theyve always been good to me and the prices are near dirt cheap in comparison to the other good brands. I still have my first rena xp3 which is 6 yrs old and has never broken down or caused me any greif. I would suggest them, unless of course money is no object in which case you could spring for an Eheim.

I have only ever owned the Rena series canisters so i cannot compare to Eheim or Fluval. But seeing as how ive never had any problems with them, and the price is very affordable the next canister i buy will be a Rena. I cant justify paying alot more $$ for an Eheim if my XP's are doing their job for a fraction of the price.

Thats what im using it for.

i have a 10g planted tank which houses about 6 ghost shrimp and an otto. i dose my tank with excel every 3 days and have never had a problem.

That sounds like an interesting idea, ill have to look around Lethbridge and see if we have any leaf fish available,i better also get a backup tank up and running heh. As always, thanks for your suggestions guys, i think itll make for an interesting tank :thumbs:

Hello, i have a Senegal Bichir who is about 7-8" and living on his own in a 55g. I had a 9" needlenose gar in with him for about 5 months before giving it to a friend which a much larger tank. So now im looking into getting him a tankmate. Im open to suggestions on 1 maybe 2 more additions and would prefer to keep it somewhat of an oddball tank or at least unique. So far im kind of leaning towards a couple Pantodon buchholzi's. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Beetles are the only thing in this world that creep me out. I think i was traumatized when my mother had bought a house with a small corn garden in the back.While i was removing the garden and corn stalks one of those 2" "antlered beetles" (excuse my ignorance dont know the proper name) ran up my arm into my shirt lol. Ever since then the only beetle i can handle is a lady bug hehe. Very nice pictures though

Hello, my Senegal bichir has recently begun accepting (gobbling down) hikari sinking carnivoir pellets. Before then he was living off prepared fish shrimp and beefheart. Hes at about 7 - 1/2" and fairly thick now and i am currently feeding him once per day. I was wondering how many of these pellets should be sufficient. as of current im giving 3-4 but i thought i would try to see if that was enough, i got to 7 and he was still gobbling them up. That seemed high to me so any advice on how many per day would be healthy will be greatly appreciated. I still do however offer beef heart, shrimp and fish now but only as weekly treats because i would like him to staple on the pellets.

LOL, tks i needed that.

Since you already have it in your tank i would wash it in there. take out all your fish decor/plants etc, do repeated water changes while stirring the sand up gently when draining. Its alot of work but will clean it up better than waiting for it settle, which wont really clean it at all anyways. Just devote a day for your tank and hopefully you have a python hehe

Depending on your tank size they can co-exist with common pleco's, and other large semi aggressive C/A, S/A fish. But it will always be hit or miss depending on the fish temperment towards eachother. I have seen them with jack dempsey's, convicts, firemouths, GT's etc etc, best to have a backup tank just in case.

i use pool filter sand in 3 of my tanks, 2 of which are planted. I find it looks way better, vaccums easy and some of the fish enjoy it more than gravel. I have only used PFS as far as sand goes but i highly reccomend it. Its heavy enough that it doesnt stir up easily and when vaccuming it doesnt get sucked out.

:bow: Simply amazing

I think the biggest factor would be the footprint of the stand, hopefully not legged type of stand. Personally i would put some floor jacks underneath just for peace of mind. Ive heard of people putting up to 180g tanks on their mainfloors without supports, but it isnt something i would try. I have a 90g with a 4-1/2 ft x 2ft footprint stand on my mainfloor with no signs of floor stress.

2 Lutino Oscars.

Im using a Rena XP3 that i bought about a year ago, and no problems so far. Its very quiet, has plenty of media space, easy to maintain and its very affordable. The self priming feature is nice too.

If your going to use a resevoir for clean water like the garbage can, you can buy a cheap sump pump to fill your tank from the can, but be cautious if you use it with your python to drain a tank as most sump pumps will suck that water out pretty fast. I use my DIY python to refill my tanks, i just get the tap temp to match the tank temp, then i use 1 5g pail with enough treatment for the water going back in, and top it off with water. Then i add the 5g water/treatment solution first, then turn on the python and add tap water. Just make sure to add the all the treatment to the tank before you add the tapwater when using your python. Also if your refilling your tanks with a python, make sure you turn your filters off (if you dont already) just to ensure no chlorine goes into your media before the neutralizer has a chance to work.

I wouldnt add anything, but if i had to recommend, ide say 1 smaller convict with a good hiding spot. Maybe when your oscars are 6"-8" you could add a mating pair of convicts provided there are caves for them. While oscars grow quite large, they generally arent as aggressive as most other cichlids just hungrier lol.If you do add any other cichlids to their tank, make sure the oscars are larger and make sure the other fish isnt bite sized. the rest will be territorial/fish temperment dependant. Oscars are prone to Hole In The Head disease which is why i suggest optimum filtration, HITH diesease is due to poor water conditions, hard to fix, and often fatal.

IMO, 2 oscars in a 75 alone. i have 2 oscars in a 90g (most likely same footprint as your 75), and consider that a bare minimum size for 2 full grown oscars (with optimum filtration). also as oscars grow older their attitudes towards eachother change. the 2 i purchased were of the same size 2" and got along great, as they grew to about 5" one of them started to establish dominance. They both get along but now have territories to which they seem to respect. I have read multiple posts about 2 oscars having to be seperated or divided due to aggression increase as they become juvies. One more thing is that oscars are very messy and heavy on the bio load so a strict water maintenence routine is a must. Opt for a good HOB + canister combo or 2 good HOB's and be ready to do a min 50% PWC's weekly. If you do house oscars with tankmates try to keep it to similar sized c/a chichlids. It would mainly be tank size/ fish temperment dependant. Also ID sharks grow well over 2ft in length. For Oscars specifically i have found this site very helpfull http://www.theoscarspot.com/

I use HOB's/Canisters but ifi did have a large tank 125g + i would definately use a sump system.

Ty for sharing, thats very good to know

i personally wouldnt add cory's to a convict tank. Im surprised the zebra still alive with breeding convicts since they turn awfully bitter towards tankmates when spawning. the shrimp im unsure.

personally i would not go with convicts, i know it depends on the individual temperment, but from my experiences with convicts their one of the more aggressive fish in the hobby, and i think thats why alot of people can successfully keep them with larger cichlids. I have heard jewel cichlids can be ok for community tanks, but have no experience with them myself.

put a dense sponge on the end of the intake, itll reduce flow. denser the sponge the more reduction

i think you could do a pair of rams/apistogrammas cichlid wise. a male dwarf gourami would look nice also