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July 11th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| African Cichlid Tank Setup
Here are the pics of the new 55 gallon African Cichlid Aquarium. I lucked out and got all 5 cichlids in one shot.
I had to include the picture of the flower pot decoration because it just turned out really well and it's the favorite place for them to hang out.
I'm guessing I need more caves, but since I have to move everything around when I add the next 5, I figured I could add them then. It'll help confuse the current inhabitants so the aggression stays down.
Please let me know your thoughts and anything I can do to make this a fish happy and fish friendly African Cichlid aquarium.
Thanks, you guys are great! | 
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Beautiful!  Thanks for sharing! | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Addict
| Very nice tank! I love the wood accents on your hoods! Lucky fish  | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Very nice set up. Good luck with it.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| Thank you all | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| nice cichlids and great setup! | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Somethig I noticed with your Labidochromis caeruleus, elec yellows, most that you see these days have some black barring on them. Nice to see that yours do not at this point, at least from the pictures I can't see any.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| Brian,
The black bar on their dorsal fin or on their bodies?
Only one of mine has (more grey than) black on his body.
Where do those bars come from? Is it poor breeding? | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| bolivianbaby you have done a great job!!!!! the tank is coming along fast and your fishy look so happy...what else are you stocking with ? Quote:
Originally Posted by btate617  Somethig I noticed with your Labidochromis caeruleus, elec yellows, most that you see these days have some black barring on them. Nice to see that yours do not at this point, at least from the pictures I can't see any.
Brian | hey brian im new to africans but none of my fem labs have the black...is that a coincidence? (2 were holding and spit before I figured out what they were doing   ) | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by bolivianbaby Brian,
The black bar on their dorsal fin or on their bodies?
Only one of mine has (more grey than) black on his body.
Where do those bars come from? Is it poor breeding? | Exactly. I have seen some lately at LFS that have black bars on their body, some very faint some not so faint. Just takes away from the striking colors of the fish to me.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnie bolivianbaby you have done a great job!!!!! the tank is coming along fast and your fishy look so happy...what else are you stocking with ?
hey brian im new to africans but none of my fem labs have the black...is that a coincidence? (2 were holding and spit before I figured out what they were doing ) | They shouldn't have the black barring......
Congrats on the spawn also, did any survive?
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| Thank you  I'll be adding more caves when I add more fish.
I'm going to be stocking with two more red zebras, 4 albino socolofis, and 4 of the cynotilapia species for my blue coloration, but I haven't gotten that narrowed down yet. I was advised to put them in 5 at a time by a fellow african cichlid fishlorian, which is great. I'll have this tank totally stocked a week from this Thursday as long as my water parameters stay on target, which they have. No spikes or nothing.
I was told that 15 would be best, so I may add one more red zebra instead of two and pop in another yellow lab, but I'm still making that decision, too.
I am SSSSSOOOOOO GLAD you posted that video about these guys! They're so much fun to watch. We eat at least two meals a day in our kitchen, so it's really cool to be able to enjoy them. They're so fun to feed and watch. Some have picked out "their" caves, so I'll be interested to see if that changes as I increase the stocking and re-arrange the tank. | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by btate617 Exactly. I have seen some lately at LFS that have black bars on their body, some very faint some not so faint. Just takes away from the striking colors of the fish to me.
Brian |
Gotcha! I'll be keeping an eye on that in my future hunt. Thanks for the information and advice  | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Can't wait to see it fully stocked.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by btate617 They shouldn't have the black barring......
Congrats on the spawn also, did any survive?
Brian | from what ive read , the males will have the barring and fems wont ..again im still learning and no way none made it with the amount of pigs in that tank... | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Here are some photos I just pulled off the net.
Males shouldn't have stripes/barring. This is one of those species that by looking at them you can not tell gender. You have to witness spawning or vent them to be 100% sure.
The barring is from poor breeding stock, ie breeding the adults back to off spring time and time again. Same thing has happened to convicts with their washed out colors. Notice we all go wow what a great looking convict when someone post pictures of one with blues and yellows and reds on it. We are so used to seeing black and grey convicts with a bit of orange on the females, but all these other colors should be on them we just aren't used to seeing it. If you ever get the chance to buy some wild cons do it, you will be amazed as they grow out.
This is a great example of why I try to only aquire wilds and F1's for fish I want to breed.
Brian     | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Where did the pics go? | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Sorry about that. | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by btate617 Here are some photos I just pulled off the net.
Males shouldn't have stripes/barring. This is one of those species that by looking at them you can not tell gender. You have to witness spawning or vent them to be 100% sure.
The barring is from poor breeding stock, ie breeding the adults back to off spring time and time again. Same thing has happened to convicts with their washed out colors. Notice we all go wow what a great looking convict when someone post pictures of one with blues and yellows and reds on it. We are so used to seeing black and grey convicts with a bit of orange on the females, but all these other colors should be on them we just aren't used to seeing it. If you ever get the chance to buy some wild cons do it, you will be amazed as they grow out.
This is a great example of why I try to only aquire wilds and F1's for fish I want to breed.
Brian |
Im going to totally respectfully disagree  I have an amazing african breeder whose been doing this for over 20 years.....again im still learning but I do NOT agree that labs with barring are from poor breeding stock....nor am I sure its a male female thing either..but I do know my two yels that have spit, do not have the black ...the others do....none of mine had the black as juvies tho female lab.jpg <--female DSC03914.JPG<--male
not that cons have anything to do with africans (although my cons are in with africans LOL) I have all the colors you can imagine and my stock is great.(bought from a petstore even)..heres a baby from a pink mom and a striped dad that is just showing some unreal colors ...they do not need to be wild to not be blah..diet and housing IMO , plays total effects on fish and their growth/color morphs... DSC03902.JPG<---baby about 2 inches DSC01054.jpg<---mom about 4 inches DSC03239.jpg<--dad 6 inches
Last edited by Shawnie; July 13th, 2009 at 02:10 PM.
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| So THAT'S what a baby con is supposed to look like 
Those are some great looking fish Shawnie! | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnie Im going to totally respectfully disagree I have an amazing african breeder whose been doing this for over 20 years.....again im still learning but I do NOT agree that labs with barring are from poor breeding stock....nor am I sure its a male female thing either..but I do know my two yels that have spit, do not have the black ...the others do....none of mine had the black as juvies tho Attachment 30195 <--female Attachment 30196<--male
not that cons have anything to do with africans (although my cons are in with africans LOL) I have all the colors you can imagine and my stock is great.(bought from a petstore even)..heres a baby from a pink mom and a striped dad that is just showing some unreal colors ...they do not need to be wild to not be blah..diet and housing IMO , plays total effects on fish and their growth/color morphs... Attachment 30192<---baby about 2 inches Attachment 30193<---mom about 4 inches Attachment 30194<--dad 6 inches | I am not saying they have to be wild to be great looking fish. I am sure you have noticed MOST LFS cons show hardly no color other than black/grey. I am making the point a lot of the common fish you see today their colors have faded away over time by not introducing new stock into the mix.
By poor breeding stock I by no means am bad mouthing any breeder. It comes from breeding the same fish back to eachother for many generations and/or starting with a poor quality fish. A perfect specimen of Labidochromis Caeruleus will have NO black barring/stripes. It doesn't mean it is of poor stock, bad choice of words on my part I suppose, nor does it mean it is an unhealthy fish, but when you see the barring sorry to say it is a poor coloring of this specific fish. It doesn't mean it isn't a true Labidochromis Caeruleus or anything like that, it simply means it has poor coloring.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| BTW your cons and yellows look great.
That is how they should look, my whole point to this was many fish these days do not have the colors that yours do. I didn't say you couldn't find them, I just said most don't.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by btate617 BTW your cons and yellows look great.
That is how they should look, my whole point to this was many fish these days do not have the colors that yours do. I didn't say you couldn't find them, I just said most don't.
Brian | ty for the comment on my fish ok maybe I need you to explain what "barring" is(I thought it was the black along the fins ) ...im not doubting you either just want clarification as im as new to them as bolivian is and we like to learn daily... Quote:
Originally Posted by bolivianbaby So THAT'S what a baby con is supposed to look like | ty bolivi!!! cons can have a ton of different colors depending on their parents..but ive just never seen one with the spots yours has..even as juvies so thats why I questioned it....would be a first for me but im always learning daily about all kinds of new things
Last edited by Shawnie; July 13th, 2009 at 02:41 PM.
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| No not at all.
Barring/stripes I am remferring to black stripes running vertical on the body of the fish.
Look at the photos I pulled from the net to give examples with. Two have barring two do not. The black on the fins SHOULD be there.
Brian | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by btate617 No not at all.
Barring/stripes I am remferring to black stripes running vertical on the body of the fish.
Look at the photos I pulled from the net to give examples with. Two have barring two do not. The black on the fins SHOULD be there.
Brian |  the photos wernt there when I commented....I Had to go back to see the second post....I learned something new...barring!!! LOL I thought it was the black on the finnage not the body 
are all those pics labs? ive never seen labs with bars(now that I know what they are ) | |
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July 13th, 2009
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| | Fish Mentor
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawnie the photos wernt there when I commented....I Had to go back to see the second post....I learned something new...barring!!! LOL I thought it was the black on the finnage not the body
are all those pics labs? ive never seen labs with bars(now that I know what they are ) | And you don't want too in your tanks lol.
Google pics of Labidochromis caeruleus and have a look, many will have the barring.
Brian | |
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July 15th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| great fish and tank | |
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