What did you do with your tank(s) today?

[DMD123]

Gravel vac on both 90’s and the 300 this morning. Had to pull out one of the Mopani pieces out of the 300 to boil because the water was getting that tea color to it. Hope is that some boiling will help. I do have an upcoming filter clean up soon and likely will add a big bag of carbon to help with the tannins.

Im at a point where I might rehome 2 RTM because the largest of the trio is really starting to get aggressive. It is double in size compared to its siblings. Still cant sex it but just based on growth rate going to say male. The female RTM are gorgeous but I really want a big solo male. I am trying to go a bit longer before rehoming the others so I can make sure I get the male but the large one is really getting dominant and mean.

My live plants are doing well but I need to add a few more to compete with the algae growth. Super bored with the 30 gallon. It needs a major rescape!

 

[fishguy1978]

90g had a corner seal fail. Fortunately, it was a slow leak. Unfortunately, the dry wall behind the tank absorbed most of the water. Thankfully, the planted 55g was empty of inhabitants so most of the fish went there. The BNPs are in the tub with all the plants, moved the striped rafael to the 120g, and a SAE to the 29g planted.

 

[DMD123]

Going to reseal or get another tank?

 

[FishBeast]

90g had a corner seal fail. Fortunately, it was a slow leak. Unfortunately, the dry wall behind the tank absorbed most of the water. Thankfully, the planted 55g was empty of inhabitants so most of the fish went there. The BNPs are in the tub with all the plants, moved the striped rafael to the 120g, and a SAE to the 29g planted.
View attachment 7413

It’s good you caught it!

 

[DMD123]

Hours of boiling a small piece of Mopani with multiple water changes to the pot should help the 300 with the tannins. I will have the piece in a bucket overnight then back into the tank tomorrow. Im loving the overall look with the ‘jumbo’ sized piece and the smaller branches. This has been what has been missing in the decor. Now I feel I need to think some rockwork and moving plants around. So close to what I had in mind.

 

[Madness]

90g had a corner seal fail. Fortunately, it was a slow leak. Unfortunately, the dry wall behind the tank absorbed most of the water. Thankfully, the planted 55g was empty of inhabitants so most of the fish went there. The BNPs are in the tub with all the plants, moved the striped rafael to the 120g, and a SAE to the 29g planted.
View attachment 7413

That really blows, at least you caught it early.

 

[Madness]

I did nothing in the fish room really or with the tanks. But I did dig up the gravel in front of the doors to prepare it for a wood deck, and while i was doing this I was also watching an entertaining Seahawk game out there.

 

[sir_keith]

I did nothing in the fish room really or with the tanks. But I did dig up the gravel in front of the doors to prepare it for a wood deck, and while i was doing this I was also watching an entertaining Seahawk game out there.

Same here, had the Seahawks game on whilst I did a water change in this 100. Need to move some fishes around tomorrow. Finally catching up...

 

[fishguy1978]

Ordered 4 tubes of GE SCS1200 Black silicone. Should be here by 16JAN.

 

[sir_keith]

Water change on another 125 today, accompanied by the Beatles and beer!

Before-



After-

 

[Madness]

First coat of stain on the new deck, and the gravel/dirt dug out and ready for it to be installed.

 

[DMD123]

Pre-spent stimulus money

Going to swap out the 30 gallon garage tank with this 46 gallon bowfront.

 

[sir_keith]

More water changes today on one bank of 55's. The 40L on the lower left has my Multi colony, a. k. a. the pyramid builders.

Have also been moving some Xeno's around; added some females from my young colony to my established group.

 

[lloyd378]

More water changes today on one bank of 55's. The 40L on the lower left has my Multi colony, a. k. a. the pyramid builders.

Have also been moving some Xeno's around; added some females from my young colony to my established group.

View attachment 7446

I spy some tropheus in there too.

another African I always thought about keeping but never pulled the trigger even though I love seeing them when I get the chance.

 

[Madness]

I spy some tropheus in there too.

another African I always thought about keeping but never pulled the trigger even though I love seeing them when I get the chance.

Would love a colony of some of the more rare types

 

[sir_keith]

...I spy some tropheus in there too, another African I always thought about keeping but never pulled the trigger even though I love seeing them when I get the chance...

Yes; I obtained my first Tropheus colony about 20 years ago, and they eventually took over my fish room, to the point that when I moved from Seattle to Poulsbo 9 years ago, all of my fishes were Tropheus. The tank on the left contains Tropheus sp. 'black' Bemba, descendants of my original colony, shown here in a pic from 2002-



As you can see, there are lots of fry happily living with their parents, waiting to be sold to APFP or other local stores.

The tank on the right contains Tropheus sp. 'red' Lunangwa Sud, a beautiful and rare Tropheus I obtained from @Elblin on this board a few years ago. I also keep T. moorii 'Kasakalawe (from @finray56), and a mixed colony of T. sp. 'Ikola' and T. annectens, shown below.



Tropheus are super cool fishes, and if you ever want to try them, let me know. There is a great deal of misinformation online about these fishes, which tends to discourage people, but any experienced cichlid keeper will have no problem keeping them healthy and happy.

 

[lloyd378]

Yes; I obtained my first Tropheus colony about 20 years ago, and they eventually took over my fish room, to the point that when I moved from Seattle to Poulsbo 9 years ago, all of my fishes were Tropheus. The tank on the left contains Tropheus sp. 'black' Bemba, descendants of my original colony, shown here in a pic from 2002-

View attachment 7450

As you can see, there are lots of fry happily living with their parents, waiting to be sold to APFP or other local stores.

The tank on the right contains Tropheus sp. 'red' Lunangwa Sud, a beautiful and rare Tropheus I obtained from @Elblin on this board a few years ago. I also keep T. moorii 'Kasakalawe (from @finray56), and a mixed colony of T. sp. 'Ikola' and T. annectens, shown below.

View attachment 7451

Tropheus are super cool fishes, and if you ever want to try them, let me know. There is a great deal of misinformation online about these fishes, which tends to discourage people, but any experienced cichlid keeper will have no problem keeping them healthy and happy.

I love that you keep them and yes, I’ve been warned away from them by many things I’ve read online! It’s the same reason I never jumped on the chance to own some of the cichlasoma beani , when they were imported in.
I think it may be time for another video from you. Hint hint. Haha

 

[sir_keith]

Would love a colony of some of the more rare types

Those are getting harder and harder to find. There are a handful of Tropheus populations that are very popular- either because they are very colorful or more mellow than most- and these are generally available, but in order to find the more rare variants you really have to seek them out in the hobbyist community. For example, I have a small colony of T. sp. 'red' Lunangwa Sud that you almost never see for sale from importers or commercial breeders. I got my stock from a hobbyist in Issaquah, which in turn came from another hobbyist in the Midwest. There are other 'red' variants that are more popular, and more red, but I think these are very handsome, and are one of my favourites.

 

[DMD123]

Worked on the tank upgrade stuff today. Going from a 30 to a 46 gallon bowfront.

Did some 'wood working' with my Mopani stump. This one likely for my hairy puffer home. This will be the front that you will see.

I cut the back out so that its a pass through. Dont like how it looks toward the left but thats why its in the back.

I need to start soaking to get tannins out of this

 

[sir_keith]

...Would love a colony of some of the more rare types...

Well, this is not Tropheus, but definitely fits the 'rare' bill- Benthochromis tricoti, a peaceful, deep-water Tanganyikan that grows to 8-10". I've only ever seen these once, freshly wild-caught, a long time ago. LFD has four little ones in stock; I would assume these are captive bred. Got a spare 240 lying around?