fish selections.... 10 gal, going to 55 gal soon.

[Frosty]

If it's unsealed...sealed keeps it from leaching out. Also, somebody on another forum sent me a link that claims that limestone/rust/heavy metals do not leach out in alkaline waters(7+ pH). Here's the link he left me...

Suitability of Rocks in the Aquarium - A Practical Guide

thats a good read. It reminded me of the creeks and streams near staughnton, east of terre haute a little ways. There are strip pits everywhere out there, me and dad fished them a lot, but the streams are all dark rust red from all the iron in the water! What do you use to seal it?

 

[Frosty]

Your inbox is full caleb, if your interested (not fish related) https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ention-new-parents-baby-diapers-size-1-a.html

 

[Caleb]

thats a good read. It reminded me of the creeks and streams near staughnton, east of terre haute a little ways. There are strip pits everywhere out there, me and dad fished them a lot, but the streams are all dark rust red from all the iron in the water! What do you use to seal it?

From my readings, generally you don't want any stones/rocks that came from any mines due to heavy iron and other heavy metals concentrations.

 

[HeadlessRoland]

Good info...I'll be looking into it.


Short of going through creeks and finding bigger rocks, I'm thinking about building a structure made of foam board, quikcrete, and some sealent. Thoughts?

You'll need to cure homemade 'rocks' made with any sort of concrete for months before putting them in your tank, or the alkalinity will drive your pH sky-high.

 

[Caleb]

You'll need to cure homemade 'rocks' made with any sort of concrete for months before putting them in your tank, or the alkalinity will drive your pH sky-high.

Even after sealing it?

 

[Caleb]

How do you guys set your sumps up? What purpose do you guys use them for? Do you use a canister filter in conjunction with a sump?

 

[Frosty]

How do you guys set your sumps up? What purpose do you guys use them for? Do you use a canister filter in conjunction with a sump?

The sump for my 90 is 3 chambers, first is the protein skimmer, then a refugium(sp?) then a return pump, I'm not sure you would need more than 1 chamber for a freshwater tank?

 

[Michiana]

Short of going through creeks and finding bigger rocks, I'm thinking about building a structure made of foam board, quikcrete, and some sealent. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

Be VERY CAREFUL what you put into your fish tanks in the way of decorations, sand, rocks, etc. Some materials contain bi-products that can kill your fish. Best to buy those materials at a fish store or from a breeder who knows what he is talking about. Why save $20 by going cheap and lose a $100 or more in fish. Just be careful.

 

[DarkRose]

i always had good luck with visi therm heaters, they were a little more expensive, but always worked great,dont forget!!!!, put the heater in the tank for 15 mins before you plug it in!



try a local monument place, the big chunks that come off the headstones make great rocks, the first petstore i worked at would get a 50# box for about 10.00 and sell the rocks for 5.00 each!, they will have different sizes and colors

I've got a Fluval in my 29gallon, and an Aqueon in my 75gallon, both work great. Just remember to get a good thermometer, as the temp settings on heaters are known to be way off sometimes. I would NOT recommend AquaTop heaters (though I love their canister filter I'm running), their heater went bad on me in 6 months.

Also, don't forget to unplug the heater when doing a water change! Some of them now have a sensor to tell if it's submerged or not, but I still wouldn't trust them.

 

[Etorg]

lol, yes, heaters that malfunction will cook the fish...have kept aquariums 20 yrs straight through 5 moves Indiana to Florida and back...oscars will have you buying more feeder goldfish, couple times a week, in a matter of months from 1" babies...african cichlids ended up being my favorite...had frontosas breeding until I put the female back into the tank with the male too early...no drift wood in a cichlid tank (eons ago, cichlids were salt-water fish and don't like the water conditions of driftwood/backwood environments), rocks only (on a gravel base...and, no, not ANY of that stupid colored gravel...it just peels off over time and screws up everything...if bag says "natural" it's good...rinse anything/everything well), and don't stack rocks too high as most cichlids are "earth movers"...no one likes broken/cracked tanks...must keep at least half-dozen african cichlids in any tank, the constant battle for territory will keep all alive...too few fish, some will die...cut cube of sponge filter put on end of filter intake tube = keeps small fish from being sucked up...mostly lake tanganyika cichlids I had near end of my tropical fish keeping career...they are smaller than Victoria and Malawa cichlids (except for the frontosas)...flake cichlid food does just fine with some occasional treats of various types of pellets/discs food...stay away from live food because of possibility of introducing disease into tank...worst horror story? ...having to boil EVERYTHING from my 90gal high tank because of infestation of those stupid little thin pointy snails...omg

 

[Etorg]

What brand do you recommend?

from my experience with heaters...it can be kind of hit or miss with the less expensive ones...I still have a cheap'o that has worked for years...but, since my focus was on Lake Tanganyka (and other African) cichilids that tend to move rocks/etc around...I like the thicker glassed heaters, they can take a bit more banging around before breaking...can't remember brand name...but, they're green....not sure it was eheim though...but, as others have said...don't "scimp" on a heater, buy a good one...keep an eye on it for about...well...every day after you put it in your tank....ps: fully submersible heaters are nice for keeping tighter top on top of tank = reduce the need for another spot to cut away plastic strips 'n such that hang-on heaters require.

 

[Etorg]

The Africans usually don't grow over six or seven inches while the South and Central American Cichlids can reach a foot or more in length and can weight a couple pounds. They grow fast for the first year and then maybe an inch a year thereafter. I bought this Red Devil at four inches a year ago and now it is pushing 11. If you overcrowd your tank when the fish are small you will be selling or giving away fish in six months. I learned the hard way. The fish on the right is a super red dragon flowerhorn cichlid. These can grow quite large and one like this around two inches long can cost a couple hundred dollars and up. This is my next purchase when I can find one locally. The beautiful purple female flowerhorn died on me two weeks ago after raising here from less that two inches to a foot long. Heartbreaker as they can live ten years.

View attachment 23658 View attachment 23659 View attachment 23660
Red Devil Super Red Dragon Flowerhorn Female Flowerhorn

those are some beautiful south americans...hehe...they don't call red devils red devils for nuttin'...eh?

 

[Caleb]

I'm not big on cichlids with big foreheads, not sure why I just prefer my peacocks. Very vibrant fish for sure.

I'm feeding them new life spectrum, they seem to like it a lot and you can tell which is the dominate male in this tank(yellow and blue are showing up). Which reminds me, I have two jakes with blue-ish lips and 3 with brown/grey lips...are the blue lips indicator of gender? I'm thinking about getting some more of the same kind of fish, maybe more females.

 

[Caleb]

my dominate jake

 

[DarkRose]

I'm not big on cichlids with big foreheads, not sure why I just prefer my peacocks. Very vibrant fish for sure.

I'm feeding them new life spectrum, they seem to like it a lot and you can tell which is the dominate male in this tank(yellow and blue are showing up). Which reminds me, I have two jakes with blue-ish lips and 3 with brown/grey lips...are the blue lips indicator of gender? I'm thinking about getting some more of the same kind of fish, maybe more females.

If you're planning on breeding, most Africans should be in a 1:3 or 1:4 male:female ratio (I forget which) and species only tanks to prevent hybrids... If not breeding, my research led me to an all-male tank, as if you don't really want breeding, a mixed sex tank can lead to serious aggression issues, and dead/hurt fish (just solved this issue in my tank, my all-male tank wasn't all male, lol.). Females also don't have much color in Africans, so all-male = all-color, lol. Same with males of the same species and species that look similar, one male will become dominant, color up, look great, and beat the crap out of the rest like him until they hide and lose color (already had this issue in my tank, solved that also by removing the sub-dominant male, he colord up when I first brough him home, and never again, always just plain grey after the larger one of his species started bullying the heck out of him).

Not sure about the lips on sex. Most of the big fish guys vent their fish, or wait until they mature, or use other features that I don't know enough about yet, lol.

NLS seems to be VERY popular, and theres always an ongoing argument somewhere between it and Hikari (it gets as rowdy as Glock vs 1911, and 9mm vs 45, or OC vs CC)
I use NLS unless it's not available locally, then I'll use Hikari or Omega One.

 

[Caleb]

Should I put my rainbow shark back in and hope nobody dies overnight? Somebody on another forum said that it's ok until I notice some stress...

 

[Caleb]

Heaters

This guys sells heaters for less then you can get at fishstore

 

[Caleb]

Also...eheim 2075 canister filter or fluval fx5?

 

[Frosty]

Eheim stuff is quality caleb, but I don't have any experience with canister filters.

 

[Caleb]

I have a constant haze in the tank, I suspect the lack of a polishing pad is the problem. I may go creek hoping to find some bigger rocks maybe