Naz_Nomad

The Jewel filters are fine unless you want to put BIG fish in their biggest tank, then you need to run a secondary filter to suppliment it. They don't produce huge water flow, but I have a couple of Jewel tanks with crystal clear clean water. My only complaint has been the brown scum I got behind the filter on one tank which I couldn't remove as the filter is siliconed in with too little space to get a scraper down there. I happily recommend the Jewel aquarium, they are great tanks.

I keep the gold version of the chinese algae eaters with mine. No problems and they fit the colour scheme a bit better.

Tiger barbs are fine in a community tank so long as you have a group of them. They generally only start their fin nipping when they are bored and the group is too small. Rams should be able to hold their own, even if the barbs start pestering them. They are able to defend themselves and in a planted tank there shouldn't be too much contact between the two groups of fish as the rams will stay in the bottom third and the barbs should stay quite high. The only problems you may have is if the rams start breeding, then the barbs will find an angry cichlid if they come pestering. They can get quite territorial anyway, but if they breed, they will defend their territory aggresively.

Nice photos, thanks for sharing.

Be very very careful with the Algae-Fix stuff. It can easily kill fish if overdosed. Personally, I never put chemical other than Flourish Excel in my tanks. My answer to algae problems has always been to add more Otto's or Bristlenose. Except that wouldn't work for green water. Keep the sunlight away and run a UV filter.

It was in a tank I bought and was just a "killer cichlid". I have suspitions that it may be a hybrid of some sort.

Thanks for that. If any of the guys get beaten up, there will be plenty of space to rehouse them in another month or two. As they are all happy at the moment, they can stay together. Especially as I don't have space to rehouse at the moment.

And the chances of the little guys staying still now I actually need to take a picture are slim. Here's my best effort so far... Of course, he has now decided to take a dump... typical!

The tank is a 3 foot tank and will be upgraded eventually to either a four/five or eight foot tank once I move house and gain more space and sell my car to afford bigger tanks. These will probably be going into the main tank, which is currently planned as an eight foot. The Oscars will go in the four or five foot tank in the study. The wife seems to think that selling the car will pay for blinds for the new place. I say we can afford both! Especially with my back pay and pay rise due in a couple of months!! Woo Hoo! MTS!

Thank you very much Johannes... Out of interest, why not? I realise the mix isn't well planned or anything, but I would welcome advice on why these are not ideally suited?

It would be nice to have the space to seperate them into different tanks. Maybe when I move house and get a whole room just for fishy stuff... 8) Pics 3 & 4 are gorgeous fish, they will be awesome when they grow up some. Got three of the pic 4 and just the one pic 3 fishies.

Well, I now have a Rifts tank and would love to know the name and origins of the remaining "unnamed" cichlids I have in there... Answer correctly and you *could* win a cruise (or not), but any help from the experts would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Oh, and I know they're not the best pictures, just do your best eh?

Keyholes should not be kept with other cichlids if the others are going to be aggressive. Keyholes are peaceful and shy and will just die a horrible death in with Africans. Get another tank and put the keyholes in with some Tetras and/or Discus. Then everyone will be happy.

Option A More Cichlids = better More fish in general = better More Clown Loaches = better Who needs an Ornate thingy? Buy an ornate cichlid instead!

Bristlenoses in an African tank? Now correct me if I am wrong, but bristlenose prefer a slightly acidic and softish water and need a bit of wood in there to rasp away at to suppliment their diet? An African tank will have hard water and a alkaline pH. I know bristlenose are tough as old boots a lot of the time, but how do they thrive as people seem to be reporting here? I would love to drop a pair into my african tank to keep the place clean and tidy for me, but have been reluctant due to the percieved differences between the environment in the tank and what I *thought* a bristlenose preferred.