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

[sir_keith]

What tank size would you need for some colony action? Always wanted a brichardi species tank.

I've never kept N. maranguensis myself (because I've never seen them for sale before!), but the general view seems to be that they are less aggressive than N. brichardi. That said, a tank with a 36 x 18" or a 48 x 12" footprint would work for a small group; 48 x 18" would be even better. I think the general consensus is that a 20L or a 29 would be the minimum for a well-bonded pair. Either way you will need lots of rock work and caves.

I had a well-bonded pair of N. brichardi in a 29 many years ago and they raised abundant fry, which were very easy to sell. I would imagine that selling N. maranguensis fry would be even easier. All of the brichardi group make great species tanks, as the juveniles are so cute with their lyre tails, and of course the little ones look after their younger siblings. Very cool.

 

[sir_keith]

Received a shipment of Xenotilapia ochrogenys 'Ndole' (a. k. a. X. singularis) to add to my existing colony of young fishes. Very excited to have these, as this is one of the larger Xeno's at 5-6"TL, and their courtship displays, which can be relentless, are a thing to behold. Thinking that another 125 may be required...

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[cjag]

Water change on the shellies today and noticed my anubias is flowering!

 

[sir_keith]

Well, it looks like that project I mentioned in another thread- changing out my 55's for 75's- is going to happen. Today I picked up two Aqueon 75's at the Poulsbo Petco during their half-price sale ($105 each). Here they are in temporary storage in my garage. This is going to be a big project, as it involves dismantling my current stacks of aquaria, with 55's on top and 40L's down below, modifying the stands to hold the 75's, then putting everything back together. But it's always nice having brand new tanks, and this should be fun. The main goal will be to increase the capacity of my fish room without increasing the total number of tanks.

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[fishguy1978]

Well, it looks like that project I mentioned in another thread- changing out my 55's for 75's- is going to happen. Today I picked up two Aqueon 75's at the Poulsbo Petco during their half-price sale ($105 each). Here they are in temporary storage in my garage. This is going to be a big project, as it involves dismantling my current stacks of aquaria, with 55's on top and 40L's down below, modifying the stands to hold the 75's, then putting everything back together. But it's always nice having brand new tanks, and this should be fun. The main goal will be to increase the capacity of my fish room without increasing the total number of tanks.

View attachment 8163

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So, 55g below each?

 

[sir_keith]

So, 55g below each?

No, the stands are not tall enough for that, so the bottom row will still be 40L's, which are basically 55's with ~4-5" less height. This also means that I will have some 55's for sale.

 

[DMD123]

Awesome project in the works @sir_keith!

Got home from work and did water changes on my tanks that need my python. This is two 65B’s and a 30 gallon. The light on the 30 is giving me tons of algae growth with the Current Satellite plus fixture. The 24” fixture worked great on a larger 65B but too much for the little tank. It did better with the Beamswork light and timer. Im going to be cutting its run time down a couple hours to see if that helps.

 

[Madness]

Received a shipment of Xenotilapia ochrogenys 'Ndole' (a. k. a. X. singularis) to add to my existing colony of young fishes. Very excited to have these, as this is one of the larger Xeno's at 5-6"TL, and their courtship displays, which can be relentless, are a thing to behold. Thinking that another 125 may be required...

View attachment 8161
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More tanks, more tanks, more tanks

 

[DMD123]

More tanks, more tanks, more tanks

That always fixes things, lol

 

[Madness]

Water change day, whoop whoop.

 

[Madness]

Oh and picture day as well

 

[sir_keith]

Oh and picture day as well

Picture? Pictures? What pictures?

 

[Madness]

Picture? Pictures? What pictures?

I took about 100 and only got a couple, i had the settings incorrect.

Here's a couple

 

[DMD123]

TGIF, Friday is here! Yesterday was a easy day, no water changes or cleaning of any tank, just feeding, watching and taking a few pics. Started back to work this week after quite a few months off so my hard core tank routine and maintenance will be a lot more relaxed. The everyday cleaning will definitely stop, lol.

This weekend will involve some water changes but now that Im working, I also tend to feed less and tanks go longer before needing attention.

 

[sir_keith]

Joined GSAS! I should have done this years ago, but didn't know about the local Society.

 

[DMD123]

Yesterday began my weekend water change plans with the 300 and a 90 getting done. I wanted to do a light touch up on the big tank today but thats just some glass cleaning with the magnet. Then it’s time for garage tank maintenance which goes really quick.

Edit: just finished the morning water changes and got a pic of the tanks with the light just coming on.

The 30 gallon at the bottom middle needs a Beamswork and dimmer/timer. Just debating the upgrade. Been looking to do an expensive fish order so, we will see.

 

[lloyd378]

So today I was able to move my wild caught male umbee on to its new family ( and also a new member of the box)...... I then went to move all of my jewels and my bichirs to my 220, but as luck would have it, two of the jewels paired off and were actively spawning as Ron ( in not sure his forum name) was picking up the umbee.

so now I have 5 jewels and 3 bichirs in the 220 and a pair of jewels in the 75 ( which was slated as a growout tank for my Hoffa ( 1/2 Dovii 1/2 jag).

here are a couple of quick pics

 

[DMD123]

Stopped by Martin Henry’s to pick up some feeder guppies. Im not into feeding live foods but the arrowhead puffer decided to go on a hunger strike. It hasn’t responded to the normal night crawler so its guppies for a bit.

 

[sir_keith]

I've put up a couple of posts already as I was pondering changing out a couple of my 55s for 75s, and last week the project officially got underway with the purchase of two new 75s. So now I'm committed! I plan to put up a separate thread about this project, but at the moment it's still mostly in the thinking stage. Here is the bank of tanks that will be involved-



The overall plan is to move all these tanks off the stands, build extensions on the backs of the stands to accommodate the 75s, then put the whole thing back together. The two 20s on the lower right are just quarantine/isolation tanks, no fish at present, so that's easy. The 40L on the lower left has a few Tropheus grow-outs that are now big enough to go into the adult colony; again, no problem. The 55 on the upper left has three different spawns from my WC Ophthalmotilapia nasuta Kipili Gold colony, plus 8 small Xenotilapia flavipinnis Red Royal; these will be moved to one of my other 55s. The 55 on the upper right had no fishes until this morning; now it has a one of my O. nasuta Kipili Gold females in her 21st day of mouthbrooding; you can see her peeking out from behind the rocks. She should release her fry in about a week, and a few weeks later I can move them. So a bit of a fly in the ointment here, but I am not complaining about potentially having another batch of the Kipili Golds. More time for planning.

 

[DMD123]

Well my puffer does not seem very interested in guppies, lol. There was still 9 of them at last count. Will see if that changed when I get home from work. Im going to have to feed those guys now, ugh. Im thinking I should run down to the beach and try some shore crabs. That usually get the puffs pretty excited to hunt them down. Ive been treating everything else as pretty normal with its tank cleanings but I might try a new aquascape. I have some spiderwood that would work well in there and may create a bit more intricate hiding spots. Ive heard of this happening to other puffer owners and they just power through and one day the fish just starts eating again. My hairy puffer has never gone on a hunger strike... and it shows, lol