Toirtis

Much of this seems to apply to Manitoba...however, I would be less than surprised should Alberta adopt a very similar list.

Here is the link...bans sterlets, bowfin, and most gar, too: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2015-121/FullText.html

Build a separate mini-cabinet for it beside your aquarium one.

Ron's Ebiken group order has both those species on the list.

We use Oxygen Products....they are just south of Peigan and Barlow Trail SE...always been quick and reasonable (honestly, I cannot remember what they charge, but it was not much at all). For paintball cylinders (we use these on the shrimp tanks), I strongly suggest Badlands Paintball...great service and great pricing.

Just bear in mind that clowns like their water a bit warmer, so aim for 78º-80ºF, and add an airstone, just to ensure that you have plenty of dissolved oxygen. If you would like a slightly larger school of clown loaches, Gold Aquarium usually has lots of nice ones for a great price, and as the loaches outgrow the tank, you can always sell or trade them in, and get a new, young school (I do this myself)....there is plenty of demand for 5"+ clown loaches.

A number of options, like dwarf gouramis, but no guarantee that they will not snarf the occasional baby shrimp.

What kind of shrimp, and are yoou looking for a single, solitary fish, or some small asssortment or school?

The filter brand is "Aquatop", the model is the CAF-25.

Key thing I would recommend with shrimp is go for a couple of sponge filters so the babies survive. Riverfront sells some nice stackable sponge filters for cheep which can give you great filtration with lower flow as well which will make the shrimp happier and are super easy to maintain. The shrimp will eat off of the filters as well.

What are these stackable sponge filters of which ye speaketh!? I must know. Please.

Riverfront has them. You pull the top off one, and the base off another, and they click together, so you can create a double or triple-tall sponge filter of a particular diameter. The Sponge filters that Riverfront carries are very good quality, and about 1/2 to 1/3 the price of their counterparts carried by other local shops.

Lots of good suggestions here. I would avoid copper, as it is detrimental to far more than snails, and will certainly harm many plants and kill some number of fish species.

My suggestions:

1. If possible, feed more lightly....less excess food equals fewer snails.

2. Squash them every chance that you get.

3. Try the zuchinni method....you can put a serious dent in their population quickly this way.

4. If your tank and inhabitants will allow, loaches/botia can do some serious harm to a snail population....just be careful in which species you choose, as some are far better snail-eaters than others, and some loaches do not play well with some other fish.

5. Assassin snails. I have used these to supplement clown loaches in clearing up some introduced snails (and the clown loaches seem unable or unwilling to eat the assassins), as well as a small group of assassins to clean out pest snails in shrimp tanks, where they do a good job, but it takes some time.

There are dozens of threads in various shrimp-keeping forums on this subject. The opinion seems that the assassin snails will occasionally predate shrimp when there is not sufficient available of their typical food source, but that the behaviour is uncommon, and I have yet to see any claim that any hobbyist has suffered a noticeable drop in shrimp population from such activity.

I did read in a few places that maple/oak leaves would do the trick, which would be nice as I have a few bags of them.

They will, but before yoou use them, know that they are completely free of any potential residual pesticide, or have been chronically exposed to car exhaust.

Is it interchangeable for its effects on ph and water quality in the aquarium?

No, it is not. It does not break down as does peat, and will not release the tannic and humic acids that peat does.

Tortis if your going to post pics of my tanks post current ones as there have been many changes since this.

Fine...I will take new shots this weekend...:P

Welcome to the site! If yoou work hard, perhaps you will have a tank as nice as this someday.

This is how I hatch mine- http://www.ventralfins.com/diy_bbs_hatcher.html . A bit labour intensive at first, but it's easy to use and works.

I have done this one in the past, and it works very well.

Right now I use one of these:

I bought two online in an auction (I do not think that they have been made since about 1980), one for collecting, one to use....I think that they are fantastic hatcheries.

Nancy got some awesome choices from a place called Target in the industrial area just off Barlow and 72 St SE (I Think)

Target is good....I like Consolidated Compressor in the same area of town....great sandblasting sand, very clean, about $5/90lb.

Also many oak trees along the south side of 10 st NW/Cambrian Drive just north of Confederation Park.

Most likely a yoyo loach, it very much looks like one, and that is the most probable species, particularly considering the other fish he was with.

Our planted community tank usually houses about 5-9....we buy them at about 3cm and grow them out to around 12-15 cm (when they start disrupting plants and chasing smaller fish), then sell or trade them in and replace them with another batch of small ones.

My rule of thumb is if it will fit in it's mouth, it will be eaten. Frogs generally has a wide mouth.

Agreed. I am surprised that the frog has survived the adult cichild....they may be gluttons, but the dwarf frogs cannot defend themselves against much.

Tank is likely circa '45-'60, the filter was available i the 70's, but I would like to see more pics of the thermostat/heater.

Those are my old fish so i wish to answer 2 answers. You have to count the rays on the back. 9 is a female and 10-14 is a male. You can also tell by the anal fin. The anal fin of the male is larger and thicker than the female. But the female tends to be a little larger. Hope this helps as well.

Correct...and as an addition, they have not been spawned in captivity, except possibly artificially, using hormone injections.

A very important reminder to all those planning to attend the auction....auction day (Sunday) is the first day of daylight savings time this year, so set your clocks ahead one hour Saturday night so you will not be late.