GeeTee

Watched my flamebacks go through the motions this morning. Been waiting for days,she has been quite fat. Laying the eggs picking them up

Good on ya

Nothing very special then.He netted it on the beach himself,said it was swimming with mullet. Thanks

This little fellow is in a mates tank and he has no idea what it is. Please help him.

So do most of you not run carbon in your filters? Now would be a good time to learn the right thing to do as I received my new filter today,rinsed it all and put it back together. Please let me know so I can take the carbon out,it will be cycling a fresh tank if that makes amy difference. Should I not have it in my tank that has been established for 10 months?

Came home to find him dominant and chasing 3 females.Big difference in colour and attitude. Top photo a couple of days ago. Bottom pic today.

I am glad to say that all that said my "male" was female were correct,as of this arfternoon "she" is holding. I bought a male of about 6 cm a few weeks ago and it would seem he has done the business.I bought the new blue to either breed with the others or to be a sub-dominant male to my supposed male. We'll see how things go but it really looks to me that "she" is holding.

The female is no longer holding,it was her first time in this tank(maybe first time)held for 1 week then I reckon I saw her spit what looked like "egg shells", and not long after that was no longer holding.This happened a week ago. I think I'll do a google on the plastic sex and see what I find.

Sometimes they chase him, sometimes he chases them.Not sure what to make of it all yet. But I am vary happy with the colour of this one.

Not very clear but shows the colour ok. The stripes are a bit darker until you get close with the camera and then most of the colour goes. Had to take this one from a distance.

I couldn't help myself and took the male and swapped him for a more colourful one on the weekend. When I introduced him to the tank the "female" that was holding previously started to chase him around the tank as if it was a male as well.So he now keeps well away from this one fish. I have read before that some cichlids pretend to be the opposite sex to be left alone(males in particular I guess). So is it possible that this fish "female" went through the motions of holding etc (also did not eat for a week) to be left alone, or it maybe just a cranky woman thing???

Thanks Frenchie,very informative

Just checking you know my fish is the one in the top pic not the bright one. My main concern was the fact that the fish in the lfs 2 days ago had great colour at the same size or a bit smaller. I am feeding them on a spirulina as well as other things. He has 3 females to look after at the moment. When you talk nukeing I imagine this is feeding something special??? Don't get me wrong about this fish he is a great looking fish I was just after an immediate centre piece and that didn't happen. When buying a "GOOD QUALITY" feed for your fish how do we know what is good quality?At the moment I look for the protien %age and buy that.I can't get excited about buying one that says good quality because more often then not they are no better than anything else. What are cood colour enhancers?

He'd only be 2 inches long but the fish in the lfs are the same size and very nice colour. As I said before he is old enough to have a female holding. After posting last night I went to the tank to find him really going through the motions,dancing and flicking etc but the colour was the same.Just tends to get darker when he is performing . This is what he should be

I recently bought this Flameback from the lfs and thought it would colour up once home in its new environment.It has settled in well as it has already had one of the females holding after 2-3 weeks. It is still lacking colour though. I was in the lfs today and saw some nice colourful males in there and they are what I expected of my fish. My fish also has no ventral fins.The lfs called him a slider,keeping close to the bottom he said,wearing them down or stunting them???Sounded a bit suss to me,please correct me if I'm wrong. He also gets that nice blue around his head http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1548 This is a link to what I expected.The fish at the lfs didn' quite have the colour of this one.I am considering exchanging him for a more colourful one.

Thanks for your help.

I am setting up a 5 footer and am buying a new filter for it. To seed the new filter I am going to run it in the original tank for a week. Is there any advantage running the original filter in the new tank for that week to start the cycle process?

I need to leave the original filter where it is on the 3 ft and just buy another filter I think,Easiest way to do things.

thanks Frenchy,all information is good no matter when you get it.

Cobalt Blues(3) and Flamebacks(4) at the moment.

no worries thanks

It's not in my hands yet but I think it was 5ftx14"x18"(1500x350x450) I am tempted to buy a bigger filter though

Will soon be setting up a 5 footer,around 200 litres. My current tank is around 120 litres and has a fluval 204 on it pumping 680 litres p/h. My question is would this pump be enough for the bigger tank and put a smaller one in the original tank? It will be housing cichlids. I have read before that a pump should turn the water over 6 times an hour,but don't want to waste money that could be spent better elsewhere on the tank.

Thanks for all the replies,not really what I wanted to hear as I searched for months to find females, only to most likely already have one. On the other hand I get to go shopping for a male. I had seen all the articals on venting,and was getting doubtful about the male blue when I had a look at a male crimson tide and red zebra that I had and the vent and the anus were the same size. Not to worry it will all work out fine I'm sure. Thanks again

female male This is a pic of the two fish together,just for interest.Male at the bottom,see the egg spots.