curviceps

BlueandKim, I am finding the exact difficulties in adding a new canister filter to the AR980. As you said, the internal powerhead gets in the way. How did you actually solve this problem. I'm thinking of making the hole a bit wider by drilling to the right of it. Very interested to know how you did it (before I actually start drilling holes).

hi - cacatuoides are harem spawners, so a trio would be fine assuming you have a large enough tank. microworms should be fine for newly free swimming fry

Get 3 more of the same species and they might exhibit more active behaviour...

greenwater is not compulsory - microworm worked for me. baby brine shrimp (bbs) is more nutritious, and bigger than microworm - but i found microworm easier to culture and harvest compared with bbs.

also beware of mum beating up dad. doesn't always happen, but fish have individual temperaments and it depends on whether there are places for the male to get away to... if it happens, you can always seperate the dad.

also beware of mum beating up dad. doesn't always happen, but fish have individual temperaments and it depends on whether there are places for the male to get away to... if it happens, you can always seperate the dad.

I usually use a airflow control valve with two outlets (or more) so that I can adjust the flow of air by leaking out of the second outlet. it is not necessary to have too high an airflow, and it is useful to be able to adjust it, eg decrease it somewhat when there are new free-swimmers, etc.

ic, if they are a cm long, then they must have been there for a while already. when they first become free-swimming, they are quite small. see the pic of my a. hongsloi mum with new free-swimmers (cacs would be similar):

congrats! told you you'd have a hard time stopping them from spawning are they already free-swimming or still eggs / wigglers? what sort of filter do you have in the comm tank - the danger would be getting it sucked up the filter or eaten by the cardinals.... also if you want to keep this batch, u'd have to be prepared with fry food (microworms, bbs, ...) and in a comm tank, it would be harder to target the food to the fry.

depends on what type of fish you intend to put in that tank. coral sand will buffer to high pH, so should be alright for african cichlids, etc. otherwise, it is always safest to use inert silica-based sand (if sand is really what you're after and not gravel), which is available really cheaply from shops selling swimming pool stuff (pool filter sand) or placemakers.

if you're serious about breeding them, i'd suggest a separate breeding tank (2 footer would do) with a sponge filter (other types will likely suck up the fry), bare bottom tank (easier to maintain), a couple of pots and some java moss. dwarves tend to die sometimes for no apparent reason, so normally my first priority is to breed them, and then chuck a few into the community tank once they are grown. cheers

yes, they need caves. unlike other apistos, they don't need the pH lowered too much (6.5-7.5 should be ok). its been harder for me to stop them spawning than getting them to spawn. however, i think they will have a hard time defending their fry against the cardinal tetras.

for sand, look for something inert like silica sand which you can buy very cheaply as pool filter sand or from placemakers. since you're going to keep fish like blue rams, etc, that like low pH, you don't want your sand to be buffering to high pH. to siphon, just hover the siphon a centimeter or so above the sand and that will do the trick. do not do it the way you would with gravel (ie stick the siphon into the substrate). u don't need a lot of sand - i personally only go with 1-2cm or so. i think this helps reduce the possibility of getting pockets of poison gases trapped and then one day released. churning the sand once in a while also helps to prevent that. regarding filters, it depends on your load. you could always add an internal power filter or an external canister filter at a later stage. even if you used gravel instead of sand, i personally would steer clear of using undergravel filters.

Hi, I am looking for some silica-based swimming pool filter sand to use as substrate. Would appreciate if anyone could tell me where I could buy some in Auckland (preferably somewhere near Mt Roskill). Thanks.

Trace elements get used up... you could dose with something like Seachem's trace elements if you're not intending to do regular water changes.