outlaw

Looking for ideas and any tips.

We still have our Male/Female Red Fins (1M 2F) and 1 yellow lab in a 46Gal.

I am going to be changing the gravel/rocks in the tank from a marble (black/white with more white) to all black. Should I change the background also to an all black or blue? or just leave it with the plant/rock background that is on it. Also I have a UGJ (under gravel jets) that I use to keep the crap off the bottom, is there a cheap and easy way to color/die them black or something a little darker that won't harm the fish.

Here is how it looks now.


Thanks in advance!

Shawnie

IMO, id keep the background cause its awesome!! and with the lighting off the black it would really bring out that background even more...as far as coloring the ugj's, there is aquarium paint but not sure if that would block up the holes...how bout some crazy bottom feeders? pictus catfish are a hoot!!! and totally physcho all the time till the lights are out LOL

outlaw

Won't they get attacked by the cichlids?

outlaw

I bought 60lbs of black gravel and it is in and looks good. Will get pics posted soon. They are in the camera, just need to get onto pc.

Allie

How are they getting along with just 4 in the tank? You could have a few more fish like some more labs. You could add about 5 yellow labs in with the red fins. Red fins get so big 8-9" for a dominant male. BUT so pretty. I wish we still had ours, I love they way they school.
Black backgrounds are best with africans..so their colors pop out.

outlaw

They get along fine. The male will get mean around the time of spawning or just randomly probably because he can. And the male Red Fin is about that 8" mark. When we put in the black gravel it made a night and day difference. If we did the labs, would it just be another male and 4 females (2 for each)? If you are looking for Red Fins, we still have all the babies, lol But I read about your worms. Sry to hear about that.

Allie

I would just have 1 male to 4-5 females. You don't want too many male labs in that size tank with an aggressive red fin twice their size, lol.
Ah the worms are not fun at all.
Who knew fish keeping could be stressful as well as relaxing.

outlaw

Ok, next is to find females large enough not to get eaten in the adult tank. The Males don't really bother each other. The little tree stump we have in the tank is hollow and the yellow lab goes inside it from the top/bottom and hangs out in there. He also goes into the tan stone thing in the tank. If the lab is under the stump and the lab is there, he just politely swims out and lets the red fin have it.

We all know it can be stressful, mostly from reading experiences like your having. ::knock on wood:: I have been lucky so far. Probably because the only new thinks we have introduced to the fish is fake plants and filters/pumps. I don't think any of that would carry such a thing like that.

outlaw

Here are some pics.

Emptied


Added 1/3 of the bag

20lbs of rocks and UGJ


Finished


Finished pic 2

Shawnie

WOWOWOWOW! great job..and I love the before and along they way pics!!

sorry I never saw this thread pop back up about the pictus...pictus are pretty big but im not familiar with redfins...so I best not give you advice on bottom feeders

outlaw

Thanks. From looking at the pictus, it does look like a cool fish but is from S. America and the Cichlids we have are from Africa (L. Malawi). And now we have had our large Male attacked by I'm assuming it was the Lab. I don't want to put any fish in right now.

Slug

One idea would be to cover the PVC in something like epoxy or silicone and roll it in some of the black gravel so it sticks to it.

FishFolk

Looks awesome! If your guys keep fighting, think about adding more rocks and hiding places. You may have to move stuff around to redefine territories. You may even have to put the bad boy in time out for a day or two. Who is spawning?( Iguess that is increasing the aggression?)

outlaw

I put them all back in the 46G today. So far they are just kinda hanging out. I'll have to get a pic of how it looks now. I want to get more rocks but they are so expensive. I'll have to see what the smaller LFS here has.

Thanks

Slug- Thanks. I did do that with some slate for another tank but didn't think of it for the PVC for some reason.