GeeTee

Can we see a pic of the whole tank?

The fish is 3" long and is in the tank with 3 other females,I think if it was male it would be doing the business by now. The other females have even carried eggs for a couple of days,unfertilized they got rid of them. This one is still being chased around the tank by the others and is not far behind them in size,so am still convinced female.There is no dominant fish they all chase each other (except this one) Yeah Frenchy the water is good,getting turned over 6 times an hour and 25% changes weekly so should be right. It's no real concern she still gets about the tank,no difference in character. All the fish are good,damage may be the reason???

Thanks for that ,sounds like it could be the go here. I feed them on spirulina cichlid sticks on a regular basis.

It's not actually a growth it's more like a bruise and none of the others seem to have anything like it. If the last part of your reply is saying that my fish is a male,here is a link to some pics I posted on here a while back of it's vent.It was a unnanimous(sp) decision that it was female. I value your opinion though. http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/vent-p ... 13808.html

The spot only appeared about a week or two ago. It's not really a worry just curious I guess to see if there is anything wrong with her.

Here is a picture of one of my blues and she has this black spot on her side. Any ideas as to what it might be?

Don't know about the new breed thing!! But they're harmless they'll stay in the family for a while. Won't try and contaminate the market. I like a big tail fanned out showing all the colours,really makes a fish I reckon.

No they had no tail when I stripped them. And they will be special fish I guess,thought about feeding them to something bigger but I couldn't do it.

In my last batch of fry I end up with 2 of them with no tails. It doesn't worry them though they just swim with the rest of the fry.

I see no casualties from overnight or during the day,so all seems to be fine. Have a new heater fitted now so things will be back to normal soon. The temp dropped as low as 20 deg and the little ones just seemed to slow down a fair bit.

What do you do in the way of treating it before you add it to the tank? We have a limestone quarry close to home, is this all you rocks would be?

Just added to the original post what's in it. I did do a small water change to bring the temp up and have covered them up considerably to see how things go before night falls. It's in the garage and not well insulated.The cover is insulation paper and a thick towel.

Found the heater in my fry tank died today.(Late Sun arvo,no shops open) Being a sealed unit I don't imagine there is anything I can do with it and is just a matter of buying another one? If there is anything I can check please let me know. The light flicks on every now and then when I twist the knob but there just isn't anyone home. On a lighter note the tank has 30 flameback fry(stripped yesterday)and 3 platy fry(i think). These 3 fry emerged from the subtrate one day and were just swimming around cautiously. When I stripped the flameback there was 1 dark fry,bit odd I thought,then realised it was one of these 3 fry and the mother must have picked it up thinking it was her own or food I guess.

I found the same thing with the Aussie forums,there is never a lot to be said on these forums either.You can go for days without looking at them,check on them for some local knowledge and find no additional info. The only other site I look at is the cichlid-forum that Frenchy has been posting the "handy hints"from.Good site but not as friendly or personal. Can't beat this site. Greg

I'm finding it hard to get anything that isn't in the shop at the moment. Can't even get a male cobalt blue. Tank might stay as is for a while unfortunately. AUSSIE MEMBERS You don't know of any online fish suppliers,I might have better luck?

Yeah I use that site for species alot,it's very good. I would only go for 1 male as I already have 4 blue fish in my tank and am after the orange/yellow colour.It's good that they are mostly black to get away from the blue a bit. Need to get some ordered in..

Yeah,I like the johanni, can you sex them by colour from an early age?

Saulosi for different colour for male and female,Mainly for the orange/yellow(f) or Black acei??

Thanks Frenchy Mid North Coast(Port Macquarie) Saulosi???

I am just after some stocking info for my 55 gal. I have 4 cobalt blue(4f,male coming), 3 flameback(1m,2f) at the moment.(I know, different lakes) So I have blue and red,yellow. Just wandering what else will go with these fish and with a little bit different colour. Have been to the lfs's around here and there really isn't anything that catches my eye,so I need some ideas so I can possibly order some fish. Although a different blue I am looking at Maingano. Some Lake Tang's maybe???? Or don't mix any other lake type in to the tank?

Fish died overnight.

It is cofusing to me thats for sure. Here is a photo of the males vent just taken for comparison. Totally different to the original fish.So definately female by venting.

The fish took a beating today, again.Things were fine for a day or 2. Keeping in mind that she was in the tank for weeks before introducing the females,and then a couple of days before the male was put in. Must be the male doing the damage. Not as clear as I would have liked,but taken just now. This is what she is looking like now,very much the wost for wear. Taken out of the tank of course,might have to trade it when recovered.

Just thought I would add some photos so you could understand why I questioned the sex of this fish. The 4 flamebacks were originally in a 3 footer until the fish in question was attacked by the male and sulking in a corner.I removed it and put it in a 5 footer where it was fine. Put the 2 females in with it and it was fine just swimming around not chasing at all. Put the male in this arfternoon and it was on again,but the fish in ? was holding its own and had plenty of colour. (It was only that the male harrassed it that there was any doubt.) Things have since settled and the fish seem to be fine. Fish on left was the fish in ?. The 4 flamebacks,very dull females. This photo is just in because I like it.

The fingers were in the tank for a while,quick little things. I was confident with the first one, it was the cobalt that was the main concern. It does not chase the females about at all,just cruises with them. If I was to get a male of say 2 inches,would he chase the females of 4 inches or would he be a bit warey(?) of the size difference?