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In the fish department my grand acomplishment was checking on my gold rams eggs (last time they were eaten after 1 day today they are wriggling so hopefully they won't eat them tonight) and to take these two pictures:
What are you doing to your tank today?
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Well i'm sobbing for my poor gold rams; they ate their wriggling eggs last night - not sure if the power outage spooked them or they are just crappy parents but they can try again in 10 days or 2 weeks so not all is lost.
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While yesterday was water change day today i decided to take pictures of one of the aquariums - these are from the same aquarium though it is hard to tell sometime:
The motivation for blackwater aquariums have nothing to do with keeping fishes it is all about growing plants
The motivation for blackwater aquariums have nothing to do with keeping fishes it is all about growing plants
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Usual weekly water change on this tank along with the usual weekly trimming. I started a few months ago with a bit of pearl weed i had designs to grow a carpet along the front. Then a couple months ago I bought one pot of Monte carlo. Now thats starting to run along the left, I'm gradually ripping up the pearl weed to make way for the MC lol. Although I actually don't mind the pearl weed as a carpet when trimmed but up close the MC does look better.
The rotala wallichii always looks the worst after a haircut, although I admit I still haven't got close to working out what makes that plant tick.
Also started my DIY ferts a few weeks ago with the various chemical salts. So I think the tank is still adjusting/balancing to that change too.
The rotala wallichii always looks the worst after a haircut, although I admit I still haven't got close to working out what makes that plant tick.
Also started my DIY ferts a few weeks ago with the various chemical salts. So I think the tank is still adjusting/balancing to that change too.
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Lots of water changes - took a few pictures:
one aquarium has n. marylin, b. dorsicolata, some common oto and 2 a. sp ladisalo.
Another aquarium:
close up of s. repen which seems to grow ok without much of anything:
This aquarium has 5 a. elizabeth, some morse code tetra and t. ornatus though you have to enlarge the picture to see them hummingbirds buzzing around.
one aquarium has n. marylin, b. dorsicolata, some common oto and 2 a. sp ladisalo.
Another aquarium:
close up of s. repen which seems to grow ok without much of anything:
This aquarium has 5 a. elizabeth, some morse code tetra and t. ornatus though you have to enlarge the picture to see them hummingbirds buzzing around.
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Alternanthera Reineckii mini, otherwise known as AR Mini
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The baby pineapple swordtails are doing well, all 10 of them. I’ve been feeding them 2-3 times a day and have them in the breeder box since the parents seem to be very interested in them. I’ll release them in the tank when they get a little bigger and am holding off on putting any of the cichlids in here. I’m eventually going to out the firemouths and either the convict or Salvini in here to free up space in the 125 and cut down aggression if needed.
The yellow calvus has healed and everyone in the tangayikan tank seem to be doing great, although no multifaciatus babies yet.
The yellow calvus has healed and everyone in the tangayikan tank seem to be doing great, although no multifaciatus babies yet.
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Did a 90% water change on Sunday, dosed with 0.75ml ammonia to get to 3-ish PPM
You can also see Monday's numbers
Thinking I should blind feed an algae wafer
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Moving some killifish around.
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I Changed up how I do my water changes slightly and got the whole process down to 1:15 for 8 tanks and pretty happy with that amount of work for how many tanks I can enjoy.
Today I noticed a few growth spurts in 3 of the tanks. The first was the bamboo shrimp has grown and is still doing well in the 10g column as well as the celestial pearl danios. There isn’t much activity in that tank so I might consider a centerpiece fish to go in there with them soon. Maybe another betta?
The South American community tank is also doing very well with the EBA, blood parrot and angelfish all putting on size and cohabitating very well.
And I was shocked at how much size the south East Asian fish have gotten. It’s time for a plant trim with many of them swimming among the leaves and I hadn’t noticed. The pearl gourami are very colored up and the the snakeskin barbs and Harliquin Rasbora have tripled in size. Even though all of the fish in this tank are the same colors, I love how they look against the greenery from the plants with the slight variation of color, bitty shapes and patterns between the species.
Today I noticed a few growth spurts in 3 of the tanks. The first was the bamboo shrimp has grown and is still doing well in the 10g column as well as the celestial pearl danios. There isn’t much activity in that tank so I might consider a centerpiece fish to go in there with them soon. Maybe another betta?
The South American community tank is also doing very well with the EBA, blood parrot and angelfish all putting on size and cohabitating very well.
And I was shocked at how much size the south East Asian fish have gotten. It’s time for a plant trim with many of them swimming among the leaves and I hadn’t noticed. The pearl gourami are very colored up and the the snakeskin barbs and Harliquin Rasbora have tripled in size. Even though all of the fish in this tank are the same colors, I love how they look against the greenery from the plants with the slight variation of color, bitty shapes and patterns between the species.
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That is great you are trying to breed them. Very interested in how it goes. If you could post a few updates on your progress would much apprecate.Thanks! I am new to killifish and these are my first pair. They are known to be good breeders and live for several years. I am attempting to breed them and have learned much from this site as well as others on the internet. Check out these sources and good luck
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I had gotten off early from work and didn’t have anything else to do, so I figured I’d head down to the local fish store to check out what they have and talk to the owner. It ended up turning into almost 3 hours worth of work. Lol!
First I found an adult male pineapple swordtail so I picked him up to add to the 1 male/ 5 females (2 are holding) and 9 fry that are in the 40 gallon central American tank. Then I found a brown bushynose pleco that I thought would be a good tank mate for that same group so I picked him up, and then he told me he had a breeding pair of Kribensis cichlids…. While they are lake Victorian, I’ve previously read and he told me they should be fine in a Tanganyikan tank. So of course, I picked them up too. My hope is that they start to breed soon since they’re already a mated pair and their fry being born in that tank can give the multi fry a better chance of survival from predation from the calvus and leilupi cichlids.
After I got them all into their respective tanks, I decided it was a good time to move the two firsmouths and the smaller female Salvini from the 125 into the 40 so as they mature, they are already familiar with the swordtails and hopefully give that tank a better chance of working out. I got frustrated trying to catch them in the 125 because I put a lot of hiding places for them to get away from each other so I had to take everything out of the tank and put it back.
I ended up throwing the convict in the 40 as well and I will be monitoring that tank very closely and if the Salvini and convict end up being too aggressive I’ll put them back in the 125. I’ve seen firemouths and swordtails work so fingers crossed the other two end up being okay as well. The 125 now has the Texas, green terror, Jack Dempsey, male salvini silver dollars, pictus catfish and pleco. I’ll probably be constantly switching cichlids around between these tanks as they mature and get more aggressive but that’s why I got the 40 in the first place.
First I found an adult male pineapple swordtail so I picked him up to add to the 1 male/ 5 females (2 are holding) and 9 fry that are in the 40 gallon central American tank. Then I found a brown bushynose pleco that I thought would be a good tank mate for that same group so I picked him up, and then he told me he had a breeding pair of Kribensis cichlids…. While they are lake Victorian, I’ve previously read and he told me they should be fine in a Tanganyikan tank. So of course, I picked them up too. My hope is that they start to breed soon since they’re already a mated pair and their fry being born in that tank can give the multi fry a better chance of survival from predation from the calvus and leilupi cichlids.
After I got them all into their respective tanks, I decided it was a good time to move the two firsmouths and the smaller female Salvini from the 125 into the 40 so as they mature, they are already familiar with the swordtails and hopefully give that tank a better chance of working out. I got frustrated trying to catch them in the 125 because I put a lot of hiding places for them to get away from each other so I had to take everything out of the tank and put it back.
I ended up throwing the convict in the 40 as well and I will be monitoring that tank very closely and if the Salvini and convict end up being too aggressive I’ll put them back in the 125. I’ve seen firemouths and swordtails work so fingers crossed the other two end up being okay as well. The 125 now has the Texas, green terror, Jack Dempsey, male salvini silver dollars, pictus catfish and pleco. I’ll probably be constantly switching cichlids around between these tanks as they mature and get more aggressive but that’s why I got the 40 in the first place.
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Kribensis are not from Lake Victoria, they are from West Africa with completely different water parameters.
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Well crud…. Wonder what I got it mixed up with, I asked if it was from lake Victoria and could go in my Tanganyikan tank and named all the fish I have in it…. I can’t get my water below 7.2 in any of my tanks. Need to figure out if I’m taking them back or setting up yet another tank and seeing how they do in 7.2 ph
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Moving my corys and got some kuhli loaches from lfs today!
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There is a victorian cichlid called a rock kribensis. Completely different fish to the west african kribensis most of us think of...the rock kribensis is a polygamous, maternal mouthbrooder like most rift lake cichlids.
EDIT; Here is the aforementioned rock kribensis...very different fish to the real kribensis for sure; Yellow Rock Kribensis (Paralabidochromis sauvagei) - shop Imperial Tropicals
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Thank you! I might have came across that species when searching the internet for Tanganyikan and Victorian fish that could go in my setup and not realizing the Rock Kribensis was a different species than the regular Kribensis... Or I could have just completely screwed up and misremembered what was what. Either way, I appreciate the info!
I'm stopping at the LFS on my way home today to see if they know or can find out where these fish originated from. I'm reading that Kribensis Cichlids in the hobby are rarely wild caught and almost always tank bred. My LFS receives shipments almost exclusively from the Los Angeles area, where most municipalities have hard water (7.5-8.5 PH, Hard-Very Hard GH, Moderately Hard-Very Hard KH, 150-300 TDS). If they were bred at his distributor in LA or a local farm, I'll feel much better about keeping them and seeing how they do. If not, I'll take them back and hopefully someone who is willing to use RO water will purchase them next.
On a positive note, the Central American cichlids I moved to the 40-gallon are working out their hierarchy, but not interested in the swordtails in the slightest so far. They seem to be enjoying this tank more than the 125, where the Green Terror kept them on high alert constantly. Moving around the hiding caves in the 125 also reset the hierarchy in that tank slightly. The GT is still the most boisterous cichlid in the tank, but the larger salvini isn't hiding as much and the pictus catfish are out and about more.
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My experience with kribs is that they are flexible but a very hard gh is really pushing the limits. Not sure they can breed in such hard water but if they can then even if they only last a few months you will still end up with too many. My personal experience was to keep them in tap which is gh 6 (tds 120 or so); which is still on the soft side of the scale.
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My tap is 7.4, 5 degrees GH, 3 degrees KH, around 120 TDS. I have aragonite in this tank and I occasionally treat with fritz cichlid salt. This paticular tank is at 8.0 ph, 10-12 degrees hardness GH and KH on average, and 300-400 TDS between right after a water change and right before the next. My hope is if they were tank bred in LA, they may have came from harder water than what I actually have in this tank now.
If not they'll be going back to the store, or I could get them another tank too... Lots of used tanks in my area for cheap and I have extra substrate/ decor/ filters etc. It'd be a good excuse to add another tank when I told myself I'd wait until next year before planning any more tanks lol. (I'm up to 8 now) Just running out of places to put them where I'd actually get to enjoy watching them. Already have them in the living room, dining room, bedroom and next to the bathtub. Anywhere else and it'd be the type of tank I occasionally stand in front of for a few minutes to check them out and then sit somewhere else.
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This past Saturday, I took 4 of my juvenile Apistogramma Borelli Opal in to the LFS. I gave them to them to see how they would sell with hopes of selling them the rest I have. The owner wasn't there. I stopped by on Sunday as I had a load of water lettuce to drop off. They already sold two of them and told me the owner would definitely be interested in more. I had left all my contact info. Crickets so far.
I need to move them out as they are outgrowing their tank and I don't have anywhere to put them. Another tank is not in the cards. I really don't want to mess with local sales for ones and twos. I also don't want to mess with shipping.
I need to move them out as they are outgrowing their tank and I don't have anywhere to put them. Another tank is not in the cards. I really don't want to mess with local sales for ones and twos. I also don't want to mess with shipping.
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Stopped at the LFS today to talk to the owner since he wasn’t working earlier this week. He said he’d happily take the Kribs back, but said he bought them as a breeding pair from his Los Angeles Distriburor, so they were in hard water from at least when they got them as juveniles and have bred in the hard Southern California water. I’m going to give them a little longer to see how they do before taking out all of the dragon stone to be able to net them. So far they are swimming about the tank when I’m not too close but haven’t gotten used to me and dart behind the rocks everytime I approach.
While I was there I came across an electric blue jack Dempsey. I brought it home and put it in the 40g with the firemouths as a grow out until it’s large bough to put in the big tank with the larger cichlids. Depending on its temperament and growth it may be a couple of months to several.
The swordtail fry are also doing well and have grown pretty significantly. Haven’t lost a single one so far so hoping they all make it to adulthood (although I’ll more than likely need to rehome a few of them).
After 2 hours the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey is swimming about the tank. The fitemouths and convict aren’t paying it much attention, and the only fish to try to nip at it was a male swordtail. So far so good. I’ll be moving the EBJD out as soon as it’s large enough to go in the 125, and the convict may or may not stay in here depending on temperament. It’s about 3.5”right now and spends most of its time in a fish hid le cowering away from the firemouths which is interesting as in the larger tank it was more confident and the firemouths were more reclusive.
While I was there I came across an electric blue jack Dempsey. I brought it home and put it in the 40g with the firemouths as a grow out until it’s large bough to put in the big tank with the larger cichlids. Depending on its temperament and growth it may be a couple of months to several.
The swordtail fry are also doing well and have grown pretty significantly. Haven’t lost a single one so far so hoping they all make it to adulthood (although I’ll more than likely need to rehome a few of them).
After 2 hours the Electric Blue Jack Dempsey is swimming about the tank. The fitemouths and convict aren’t paying it much attention, and the only fish to try to nip at it was a male swordtail. So far so good. I’ll be moving the EBJD out as soon as it’s large enough to go in the 125, and the convict may or may not stay in here depending on temperament. It’s about 3.5”right now and spends most of its time in a fish hid le cowering away from the firemouths which is interesting as in the larger tank it was more confident and the firemouths were more reclusive.
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Trimmed the plants in the 54 south East Asian community tank, and moved the anubius from the 5.5 betta and ADF tank to it as it was outgrowing the small tank. I’m enjoying how the larger tank looks but now the betta tank looks empty…. Maybe it’s time to go plant shopping =)
He bamboo shrimp in my daughters 10g column is also doing well and continues to grow. We’re so glad it is, as I’ve heard so many people say they haven’t kept them with success. The galaxy Rasbora are also coloring up.
He bamboo shrimp in my daughters 10g column is also doing well and continues to grow. We’re so glad it is, as I’ve heard so many people say they haven’t kept them with success. The galaxy Rasbora are also coloring up.
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Sounds like you got a bad batch. I’ve had that happen a few times. Most recent was I ordered snakeskin barbs from petco because they were the only place I could find them that didn’t want $70 for shipping. First batch of 7 had ich and only one survived, second batch I had 4 survive and it took me 3 ordered to get a full school. You may have just been unlucky this time unfortunately.
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Is the qt tank newly setup - i.e, could there be ammonia creeping in - i found kuhli to be very sensitive to bad conditions - on the other hand once settled in they live forever - i have some 7 and 8 year old ones in my blackwater aquarium.
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Got a few new plants for the Betta tank.
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Sadly had to give up most of my fish Moving cross country from Seattle to the middle of nowhere Michigan. Literally pretty much the middle of flatsville My goldfish and Betta genetics research is all gone. Technically can't even have an aquarium in the house we're renting for the next year But, I'm sneaking in a ten and 8 bowfront I can easily have in bedrooms. I'll have the male Betta I gave to the kiddo. He's a mess of genetics, but at least unique. Then I have my blonde colony along with males from the other strains.
I can and will rebuild! While I couldn't bring my few first successful selective breeding goldfish shubunkins and tanchos. I can start with fresh genetics that I have understanding of. Bigger future plans with goldfish, but I think I'm over Bettas for now. Hurts too much losing the sorority But I have the 20 long and the nice 20 std in storage for the day I can redo those tanks how I always wanted them in a permanent setting. Pond is going to be a lot larger and multiple. Breeding will be moving towards pond fish, ancestral food plants and smaller domesticated food animals.
Much like the endlers and Bettas, this will be chasing wild type early domesticates with suitable diets related to humans domesticated plants. But, that's gonna take some time to move and find property to buy out there.
Let Alex get some sun in the badlands yesterday. She's been loving laying on my shoulder in the sun when the wife is driving. Of course yesterday she pooped on my last clean clothes less than an hour after putting them on lol
In Sioux falls now and I think South Bend tomorrow night before the final leg to :checks notes: Perry.
Hey! Where's Perry?
lol
At least I know how to best rebuild multiple colonies of males with one colony of females thanks to the 'lore
Moving cross country from Seattle to the middle of nowhere Michigan. Literally pretty much the middle of flatsville My goldfish and Betta genetics research is all gone. Technically can't even have an aquarium in the house we're renting for the next year But, I'm sneaking in a ten and 8 bowfront I can easily have in bedrooms. I'll have the male Betta I gave to the kiddo. He's a mess of genetics, but at least unique. Then I have my blonde colony along with males from the other strains.I can and will rebuild! While I couldn't bring my few first successful selective breeding goldfish shubunkins and tanchos. I can start with fresh genetics that I have understanding of. Bigger future plans with goldfish, but I think I'm over Bettas for now. Hurts too much losing the sorority
But I have the 20 long and the nice 20 std in storage for the day I can redo those tanks how I always wanted them in a permanent setting. Pond is going to be a lot larger and multiple. Breeding will be moving towards pond fish, ancestral food plants and smaller domesticated food animals.Much like the endlers and Bettas, this will be chasing wild type early domesticates with suitable diets related to humans domesticated plants. But, that's gonna take some time to move and find property to buy out there.
Let Alex get some sun in the badlands yesterday. She's been loving laying on my shoulder in the sun when the wife is driving. Of course yesterday she pooped on my last clean clothes less than an hour after putting them on lol
In Sioux falls now and I think South Bend tomorrow night before the final leg to :checks notes: Perry.
Hey! Where's Perry?
lol
At least I know how to best rebuild multiple colonies of males with one colony of females thanks to the 'lore
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Power feeding the 125. The cichlids are getting bigger by the day and still all getting along. The green terror bullies the convict and Salvini occasionally but it’s happening less as time goes on and they are growing. The Jack Dempsey doesn’t bother anyone and is the largest in the tank and the Texas as the smallest is left alone.
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Over the past year I had been kicking around the idea of getting a wide mouth bass. I remember seeing them in stores and at one of my mom’s friend’s house growing up and always thought they were so cool and wanted one.
Earlier this week I finally decided to order one and found one online at a decent price.
Well it came in larger than I expected which was great but it doesn’t want to move unless i walk right in front of it or really push its buttons…. I wasn’t really sure what to do with a 12” bass that didn’t want to swim and wasn’t behaving normally, so I did the only thing I could think of and just mounted it on the wall.
Earlier this week I finally decided to order one and found one online at a decent price.
Well it came in larger than I expected which was great but it doesn’t want to move unless i walk right in front of it or really push its buttons…. I wasn’t really sure what to do with a 12” bass that didn’t want to swim and wasn’t behaving normally, so I did the only thing I could think of and just mounted it on the wall.
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Came home after a 5 day work trip to Lake Tahoe, and one of my angels has a bite taken out of his abdomen. It’s a sizable piece of flesh missing but it’s swimming around normally from what I can tell. I set aside zip lock bags of proportioned food for each tank for my sister to come by and feed all the tanks once at the halfway point (Friday) so they didn’t go a full 5-6 days without a feeding, but based on the size and shape of the bite my guess is either the electric blue acara or bumblebee catfish got too hungry and targeted the angelfish.
On the way back I stopped at a fish store and picked up a juvenile vieja cichlid that is in my 27 gallon quarantine tote. Do you guys think it’d be better to keep the Angel in its display tank since I’m back and able to feed regularly and know none of the fish in that tank have any illnesses, or would it be better to put him in the quarantine with the vieja incase it developed and illness it doesn’t put the rest of the display tank in jeapordy. New vieja and angelfish are both about 3” from mouth to the base of the tail, with the Angel being 3x taller.
My first thought is to leave it in the display tank as the vieja, even being a juvenile, may be too aggressive to be with an injured Angel.
On the way back I stopped at a fish store and picked up a juvenile vieja cichlid that is in my 27 gallon quarantine tote. Do you guys think it’d be better to keep the Angel in its display tank since I’m back and able to feed regularly and know none of the fish in that tank have any illnesses, or would it be better to put him in the quarantine with the vieja incase it developed and illness it doesn’t put the rest of the display tank in jeapordy. New vieja and angelfish are both about 3” from mouth to the base of the tail, with the Angel being 3x taller.
My first thought is to leave it in the display tank as the vieja, even being a juvenile, may be too aggressive to be with an injured Angel.
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