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  #31  
Old March 12th, 2008, 07:15 AM
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I've never tried live or frozen food before. I'll try that. I looked at that Liveaquaria site you sent, and I'd love to be able to order some livestock since my fish place is somewhat limited, but I tried and tried and couldn't find any Canadian sites.

I'll keep you posted. I'm moving iwithin the next month, so my whole setup now is going to change, and I'll have to find a place for my 10g.
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  #32  
Old March 12th, 2008, 08:10 AM
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i will hit my friend Joe up (he lives up there in the cold white north) and see if he knows of anywhere you Canadians can order fish.

-ashley
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  #33  
Old March 12th, 2008, 09:19 AM
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Awesome, thanks.
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  #34  
Old March 18th, 2008, 10:33 AM
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so i asked my friend in BC if there are any sites that he can order fish from. he said his LFS orders whatever fish he wants but he hasnt found any 'to the door' shippers or online fish stores for Canada. i vaguely recall running across a shrimp page that ships to Canada but i havent been able to find it. perhaps if you do a google search for Canadian fish stores and call them and ask??? they may know of sources i dont. i highly recommend shipping to the door if you can be there to receive the fish. its far less stressful on the livestock.

-ashley
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  #35  
Old March 18th, 2008, 11:25 AM
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Thanks, I'll do some investigating through my fish place.
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  #36  
Old March 24th, 2008, 08:44 AM
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w4r - I have some news...

My poor blue tetra died. I was very sad. He hung in there for a long time, in his small hospital, and sometimes he looked much better for a couple of days, others he looked quite bad. He was extremely lively right up until his last few hours. :sad:

Some better news though - I am purchasing a 65g tank for my new house! I've decided to try my hand at cichlids. Know anything about them?

The guy I'm buying the tank from put over 900$ into it and is letting me have it for 275. It includes everything but the fish. I'm SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!
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  #37  
Old March 24th, 2008, 11:02 AM
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thats a great deal!!! do you know what kind of equipment it comes with?? i dont know *anything* about cichlids. sorry!! i know quite a few people who know loads abotu them though. i just never really found them all that interesting. you could try your hand at a mated pair of discus and a handful of non aggressive tetras and a school of cory cats?? discus need *perfect* water quality though and a really low low pH. do you know what the pH of your tap (or whatever you use for water changes) is?

sorry to hear abotu your blue tetra. rest in peace littlest one.

-ashley
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  #38  
Old March 24th, 2008, 11:13 AM
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No idea, since I'm not even finished painting the place and haven't moved anything in.
I'm scared of the discus...they are SOOOOO beautiful, but I don't think I have the skill yet to take proper care of them. Maybe after a couple years of the cichlids I'll take them on. A friend of mine has about six discus, along with some other stuff, in a 95G tank, plus she operates a couple of 20 Gs in another room. Her 95 is stunning.
I think the cichlids aren't supposed to have any other species in with them, which suits me fine, since I'm still going to be running my 10 and 20 for various tropicals. I'm not even sure if I can have a pleco.
The guy says he only buys brand name equipment, so I'm guessing it's pretty good quality. I don't know what brand names he uses though. I'm going over to see it after work tonight.
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  #39  
Old March 26th, 2008, 07:08 PM
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Discus don't need low pH water, they prefer soft water, and that's mostly for breeding. 7.5 pH range and below is usually ok as long as the water isn't really hard. They are touchy about nitrates though, and obviously there shouldn't be any ammonia or nitrites in any tank.
The main thing with discus is to buy from a reputable breeder. There are a lot of TERRIBLE discus, they often aren't fed properly, they're bred indiscriminately and just poor quality in general, often they have parasites or other health issues. That's not what you want, you'll think you're just a horrible fishkeeper if you buy these fish since their survival rate isn't too good, they're sickly, and you WILL be overpaying even if they seem cheap compared to other discus.
If you ever decide to get into discus the best thing to do is RESEARCH how to tell a good quality discus from a poor quality discus and make sure you are buying from someone reputable.

Angelfish would be a really good choice for a 65g. They're more readily available than discus, cheaper and easier to take care of if you're inexperienced.

There are a ton of other cichlids to go for, it just depends on what type you like. I tend to go for the big aggressive ones, but I also have angelfish, africans, severums, and various other types.

Quote:
I think the cichlids aren't supposed to have any other species in with them, which suits me fine, since I'm still going to be running my 10 and 20 for various tropicals. I'm not even sure if I can have a pleco.
Try to figure out the exact species you're buying. Everything I named above is a type of cichlid. They're highly variable in personality and care requirements. An oscar and an angelfish are both cichlids, and they're obviously drastically different.
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  #40  
Old March 26th, 2008, 08:55 PM
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told ya i dont know anythign abotu Cichlids!!

-ashley
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  #41  
Old March 27th, 2008, 07:27 AM
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Wow, Evilbird, that was a great post! I will definitely be tapping into your knowledge in the future.
I have decided to start off with some Electric Yellows, since my friend is a fantastic cichlid-keeper and has a bunch of spawn. I hear that one male to two females per species is the best way to keep harmony in the tank, ans these fish are omnivores. I'm trying to lean toward omnis and herbis, as I'm really not a fan of feeding live. Would angelfish be okay with the yellows? And how about a pleco, can I put a pleco in with cichlids or will he be eaten? I ask this because the pleco I have is getting too bog for my 20, so I'll have to bring him back to the store to exchange him for a smaller one if I can't put him in my big one.
My 65 and my 30 are going to be my display tanks, I also have a 10 that I will be putting up in another room... should I use that as a hospital tank, or a tank to put my new livestock in before I introduce them to the larger tanks?
Thanks in advance for your advice - 11 tanks is amazing! How you find the time is beyond me...
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  #42  
Old March 27th, 2008, 07:28 AM
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W4R - don't worry, you're still my #1 source for tropical advice!
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  #43  
Old March 28th, 2008, 12:21 AM
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Quote:
I hear that one male to two females per species is the best way to keep harmony in the tank, ans these fish are omnivores
Do at least 1:3. If there's only two females he will harass them to spawn CONSTANTLY and they'll get stressed out. If they're gonna be in a 65g I'd actually do a whole group of them, like one male and 7-10 females. Lots of rockwork or hiding places. Don't underestimate the spawning ability of most african cichlids. My male livingstoni had 5 females holding eggs within a day, lol. You may have some issues identifying male/female with that species, but I wouldn't worry about it since they're not too aggressive. You could actually keep all males if you wanted to and it would prevent unnecessary spawning.

Yup, they're ominivores, they actually lean towards being an herbivore and they consume quite a bit of algae. I let algae grow on the sides of the tank for my mbunas (electric yellows are mbunas - from lake Malawi) to graze on and they also eat Hikari and various other pellets. There's no need for live foods.

Quote:
And how about a pleco, can I put a pleco in with cichlids or will he be eaten? I ask this because the pleco I have is getting too bog for my 20, so I'll have to bring him back to the store to exchange him for a smaller one if I can't put him in my big one.
I don't wanna say it's ok outright, I'd say mix them with caution. Depending on the type of pleco he might outgrow the tank anyway though. You'll have to watch that they don't nip at him, but plecos have pretty tough skin anyway and mbunas mouthes aren't made to rip stuff. Mine haven't ever bothered plecos or bottom dwellers. Electric yellows especially are fairly docile as far as africans go.

Quote:
My 65 and my 30 are going to be my display tanks, I also have a 10 that I will be putting up in another room... should I use that as a hospital tank, or a tank to put my new livestock in before I introduce them to the larger tanks?
If a 10 is the only other tank you have I'd keep it as a hospital tank. As far as quarantining before adding to the bigger tank, if you're adding all the fish at once from the same source it's not necessary. If you're gonna be adding them one by one then you probably wanna quarantine.
Personally, I'm a bad fishkeeper in the respect that I don't always quarantine, lol. My LFS is pretty trustworthy though and they'll keep fish while I watch for any signs of disease, so I do have that advantage.
If you wanna cut down on the risk of a disease outbreak then it's best to quarantine for a week or more before you add to the tank.

Quote:
Thanks in advance for your advice - 11 tanks is amazing! How you find the time is beyond me...
No problem. I love giving fishkeeping advice
I'm trying to cut down on the number of tanks, but upgrading to bigger ones. Right now I'm back down to 7, but I traded an old 75g and two 55g tanks for a brand new 125g. It doesn't take much time at all, every single one of my tanks right now has no substrate except for a 90g reef tank. I have powerheads blowing everything off the bottom into the filters, so I just maintain the filters and do water changes.
I do know one woman in town that has 40 fish tanks, all have undergravel filters which require several inches of substrate, so I should be asking her how she keeps up with that
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  #44  
Old May 1st, 2008, 10:43 AM
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Ash -
So I'm in my new house and setting up my 10g this weekend. What do you think about 6 kuhli loaches and a betta in the 10, sparsely decorated? Should work, eh? I LOVELOVELOVE kuhlis and my store has some on hold for me. I'll just be getting the betta so it doesn't look like an empty tank - you know how those kuhli's will hide.
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  #45  
Old May 1st, 2008, 11:04 AM
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6 is *perfect* but if they look like they are getting too big, upgrade the tank to a 20g long??? and use a soft sandy substrate!! ive had several people tell me that their kuhlis dont hide at all with the sandier substrates because the know they can hide quickly, thus dont have to hide at all.

also live foods are great too. you live in a decidedly non tropical place, most of the wild caught foods (fruit flies, mosquito larva, daphnia) arent likely (but its not impossible!) have diseases that transfer over to tropical fish. ive been feeding little bugs and mosquito larva to my bettas for a few years now.

OH and decorate away! hopefully the sand will make them feel secure enough to not hide all the time. when shopping for decor for your betta, the softer the better. live or silk plants, make sure that the rocks and driftwood are all soft edged. i use river rocks (fist sized) buried halfway by the substrate, natural drift wood, terracotta pots.... uh.... plastic caves?? handful of different things. oh slate too but i make sure i use pea gravel to take the edge off.

AND I WANT PICTURES!!

-ash
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Jeffrey- Son, 03/24/06
Alex- Son, 03/25/09
Mister- Black LabX, M, 08/06(?)
The Shadow Stalker- Gray Tux DSH, M, 04/04
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  #46  
Old May 1st, 2008, 11:06 AM
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You got it buddy! Thanks for the tips!
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