@sir_keith, looks good!
What did you do with your tank(s) today?
- Thread starter DMD123
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FishBeast
Well-Known Member
Nice!! Instant cycling is the best. I imagine the little bacteria colonies driving a U-Haul and setting up residence in the new real estate! Beautiful tank and fish. Your anubias also look nice and healthy! Do you fertilize at all?
I'm really a novice at the aquatic plant game, but the Anubias have been doing great in all three of my big tanks. Here's a pic of the other 125 setup, in my TV room. This one has my adult colony of Enantiopus sp. 'Kilesa' along with some Ophthalmotilapia nasuta 'Magara' and Cyprichromis leptostoma.
My favorite Anubia is this one, which has really beautiful roots-
But the best tank IMO is this 100, which houses my Ophthalmotilapia nasuta 'Kipili Gold' colony as well as X. bathyphilus. I'm still in the process of tethering these Anubias to the rocks-
I haven't done anything with regard to plant supplements and/or fertilizers for the simple reason that I am very reluctant to add anything at all to a Xeno tank: they're just too sensitive to chance it. And so far so good. I do think it makes a big difference if you start out with quality plants, and all these all come from the Aquarium Plants Factory in CA. Been very happy with them.
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fishguy1978
Legendary Member
While I was maintaining aquariums in NY I had an African cichlid tank. I think it was a 90g. The tank had just a few pieces of lace rock and crushed coral substrate. I was able to add more lace rock to raise a wall the full height of the aquarium. The filtration was a fluval canister and an under gravel with 2 power heads on uplift tubes. Lighting was a 48in double fluorescent fixture. When I added the new rock I also added Anubius. Nana, Barterii, Frazerii, maybe Coffeola(guessing some of these.) I did not furtilize or add any extras. I crowded the tank with cichlids and only provided monthly 90% water changes. The Anubius flourished. The tank continued to be one of my favorite clients because of how simple it was and how wall it did. I wish I had pictures still.
Interesting. I wonder if all the trace minerals and carbonates in hard 'African cichlid' water is what makes Anubias so happy under these conditions. Certainly mine are growing like crazy without much input from me.
Tank
Well-Known Member
No problem Keith! I'm glad you like it! Your aquariums are looking great!
Getting ready to receive my shipment of wild-caught Xenotilapia singularis 'Kalya.' They were originally scheduled to be shipped late last night, arriving at SEA this evening, but a cold front delayed shipment, so they were not shipped until this afternoon. I was told d that they would arrive here at 5 a. m., which would have made for an interesting trip from Poulsbo to the airport in the wee hours of the morning- first ferry from Bainbridge to Seattle is at 4:45 a. m.- but now they are scheduled to arrive at 9 a. m., which will be much easier.
I have a 55 quarantine tank ready for them with the following water parameters- NH3 undetectable; NO2 undetectable; NO3 ~10 ppm; Cl- undetectable; GH ~300 ppm; KH ~300 ppm; pH 8.8; T 78F. All good.
I will be watching them carefully in the 55 over the next 10-14 days, not only for any health issues, but also to see whether 8 of these fishes, at ~3" each, will need more space; you never know how wild fishes are going to adapt to captivity. Not sure where they will eventually end up, but I have a 100 and a 125 that can be made available. Fingers crossed all goes well.
I have a 55 quarantine tank ready for them with the following water parameters- NH3 undetectable; NO2 undetectable; NO3 ~10 ppm; Cl- undetectable; GH ~300 ppm; KH ~300 ppm; pH 8.8; T 78F. All good.
I will be watching them carefully in the 55 over the next 10-14 days, not only for any health issues, but also to see whether 8 of these fishes, at ~3" each, will need more space; you never know how wild fishes are going to adapt to captivity. Not sure where they will eventually end up, but I have a 100 and a 125 that can be made available. Fingers crossed all goes well.
fishguy1978
Legendary Member
Interesting. I wonder if all the trace minerals and carbonates in hard 'African cichlid' water is what makes Anubias so happy under these conditions. Certainly mine are growing like crazy without much input from me.
It could be. I had a second client in the same building with Africans that I tried Anubius with and it was a dismal failure. Same lighting, different filter, and gravel. If I remember correctly.
Just morning water changes in the 300 gallon and the 20L. A lot is to be said for under stocking a tank. My puffers tanks stay so much cleaner with solo little fish getting 65B’s to themselves.
Added more shelves in garage yesterday as I continue organizing for a stack rack of tanks to go in.
Added more shelves in garage yesterday as I continue organizing for a stack rack of tanks to go in.
fishguy1978
Legendary Member
I have been dosing Aquari-sol because of potential ich in the 90g. I am now draining the tank to do a water change because of sores on several Silver Dollars. I don’t see any signs of distress in the other fish. I am going to do a dose of meth blue to see if the spot on the silvers clears up. I have moved the filter media to another empty tank so that I can add it back when I am done running the medicine.
fishguy1978
Legendary Member
Feeding time at the ol’ fish tank includes:
The Multies really like the small tropical fish formula as do the guppies and the 55g. 1mm maybe
All the larger fish go after the bottom feeder formula as the granules sink. 2-5+mm
The Silver Dollars go crazy for the pleco formula. Sticks are 2mm diameter and vary in length.
These aren’t all I feed. I have a variety of hikari products and Tetra flakes and crisps.
I was feeding and have a slew of new Multie fry.
The Multies really like the small tropical fish formula as do the guppies and the 55g. 1mm maybe
All the larger fish go after the bottom feeder formula as the granules sink. 2-5+mm
The Silver Dollars go crazy for the pleco formula. Sticks are 2mm diameter and vary in length.
These aren’t all I feed. I have a variety of hikari products and Tetra flakes and crisps.
I was feeding and have a slew of new Multie fry.
I used the bug bites when it first came out and was amazed at how well all my fish accepted it. All the formulas seemed to be readily taken. I think it's a great product for getting new fish to start eating.
Im a bit of a mixed food feeder myself. For my 300 I do a mix of floating and sinking pellets in a variety of sizes. This is to spread the food and makes sure all the fish can eat. Im not brand loyal but do try and pick what I feel have good nutrition for the money.
Im a bit of a mixed food feeder myself. For my 300 I do a mix of floating and sinking pellets in a variety of sizes. This is to spread the food and makes sure all the fish can eat. Im not brand loyal but do try and pick what I feel have good nutrition for the money.
Speaking of food... I had got som Hikari Cichlid Gold floating pellets and fed my baby Red Devils, or I should say overfed since they didnt eat it all. And wow talk about tank stink! This was a main reason I stopped using some Hikari products like Massivore, Carnivore pellets and Cichlid Gold in the past. I had bought the Cichlid Gold because it came in ‘baby’ size pellets but soon realized it was just too small for the red devils, plus hard to gauge how much to feed them. I just ordered some small floating Omega One for the devils.
Had the first spawning of my wild-caught Ophthalmotilapia nasuta 'Kipili Gold' yesterday! I didn't see it happen, even though I had spent several hours in the fish room, but last night one of the females looked like this-
Her buccal pouch is extended, and clearly she is holding eggs. Pretty amazing when you consider that fact that 8 months ago this fish was swimming in Lake Tanganyika!
Maternal mouthbrooders generally need a few tries before learning to hold the clutch to term, which in this case is 3-4 weeks, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but still, an important milestone. I won't feed this tank today, so as not to tempt her to eat: usually, the first 24-48 hours are critical. If she is still holding after 2 weeks or so, I will move her to a 40L brooding tank.
There is anecdotal evidence that female mouthbrooders who have been raised naturally are much more likely to hold to term than fishes who were stripped from their mothers prematurely. As this is a wild-caught fish, it will be interesting to see how long she holds on her first try. She's robust, and in nice shape, so I'm sure she'd be fine, if hungry, holding to term.
Her buccal pouch is extended, and clearly she is holding eggs. Pretty amazing when you consider that fact that 8 months ago this fish was swimming in Lake Tanganyika!
Maternal mouthbrooders generally need a few tries before learning to hold the clutch to term, which in this case is 3-4 weeks, so I'm not getting my hopes up, but still, an important milestone. I won't feed this tank today, so as not to tempt her to eat: usually, the first 24-48 hours are critical. If she is still holding after 2 weeks or so, I will move her to a 40L brooding tank.
There is anecdotal evidence that female mouthbrooders who have been raised naturally are much more likely to hold to term than fishes who were stripped from their mothers prematurely. As this is a wild-caught fish, it will be interesting to see how long she holds on her first try. She's robust, and in nice shape, so I'm sure she'd be fine, if hungry, holding to term.
fishguy1978
Legendary Member
90% water change on the 90g after 5 days of a dose of methyl blue. One silver dollar still looks like it has some fuzzy on one side.
Found my large common pleco dried out on the floor. Need to make some better tips for that tank.
Found my large common pleco dried out on the floor
. Need to make some better tips for that tank.
Have you tried SeaChem Paraguard? I've had really good results with this formulation for external parasites...
Sorry to hear about the pleco.90% water change on the 90g after 5 days of a dose of methyl blue. One silver dollar still looks like it has some fuzzy on one side.
Found my large common pleco dried out on the floor
Having had silver dollars in the past, they are pretty hardy, but when they do get sick it usually is something external like that. Almost everyone of the red hooks I got seemed to get stressed and get fin rot. Some responded well to Melafix and Pimafix treatment but it’s something I dont really like to do because it isnt real ‘medicine’ so to speak and it reduces oxygen in the water. Ive seen fish struggle to breath using this treatment. Could add air stones to help counteract.
When I have actually used Medication, I found Seachem Kanaplex to be very effective since it can be absorbed through the skin. Or it can be mixed into food with Seachem Focus which is a binding agent. The feeding method can be super effective because of the aggressive feeding nature of silver dollars. If they are still eating, then the kanaplex food mix gets inside them and seems to work even more effectively.
The blue dye treatment is also something Ive done but usually only as a bath. I know you pulled your biological out to treat since the dye will kill that. Im surprised that the dye treatment did not help... there is another treatment that involves the use of hydrogen peroxide used in a bath. That would be more last resort. I would say the Kanaplex route would be the method I would take first.