David R

Sorry for dragging an old thread up, but I'd really like a few fronts for the tanganyikan tank I'm planning. There are obviously some in NZ (see here and here for example), but is there anyone breeding them, or anywhere I'd be able to get some small ones?? Any info on their availability would be appreciated.

Uaru are big and usually wont eat smaller fish, altho if you're planning on having plants they probably wouldnt be hte best addition. Not the most colourful fish but definately very interesting/intelligent and worth keeping.

Well I suppose I have eaten horse before... Sorry, back on topic...

What kind of "africans" are you after?? Most pet shops will have the basic 'electric yellows and blues' but for rarer/better quality fish you'll have to try some of the bigger shops [not sure of any south of auckland sorry] or maybe private breeders.

*sigh* I'd love to keep 3-5 tigers in a big tank, but it's just not practical in a rental house with wooden floors.

Who the hell would eat a foot long clown loach!?!?!?!?!!?!?!! :evil:

OT, how big/old is your tiger Doc? I've heard they grow pretty slowly.

The fire eel should be alright with most medium-sized non-aggressive fish. Try putitng it in a tank with shallow gravel and a length of PVC pipe for it to hide in, then you may see it a bit more.

How long do you starve him for before trying other foods?? try giving him nothing for a few days, then he'll probably jump at a cube of bloodworms! IMO live fish should only be used as an occasional treat, not a staple diet. How big/old is the tiger? How big is the tank? etc etc

That overflow box looks complicated. Drilling a hole in the tank isnt that hard according to the guy at the LFS. Sorta on this topic, does anyone have any good links for saltwater n00bs?? I'm thinking about setting one up, if I can convince my partner to let me!

Make sure you add extra airation when you turn the heat up. My loaches have currently got it really bad (it just seemed to come out of nowhere, no new fish lately, nothing) and I lost an ~10cm loach the other day. The havent tried malkon, but the whitespot cure seems to be doing its thing for everyone else except the loaches.

Sorry I cant help with the breeding, I'm just wondering how your ctenopoma's get on together?? I've got one thats about 12cm and would like to get a few more, but all the ones I see for sale are quite a bit smaller. Thanks

Oops! I'm sure they'll make it clear who's male and who's female as soon as they start breeding.....

LOL I remember the days of having a bedroom full of fish tanks. At one point I had a 5'x2'x2' with my black aro, uaru's and fire eel, a 3'x15x15 with a breeding pair of convicts and another 3'x15x15 planted tank in my bedroom!! [car geek] Good to see the poster of Sam's integra [ ITR ] reppin the Hondas, but I dont like the blue libero below it with ugly chrome wheels. And is that a commodore I see omn the other wall!? [/car geek]

Cichlid is a very broad term, perhaps you could be a little more specific to help us help you For a tank around that size, I'd have to suggest the T-Bar cichlid (A. sajica). They're pretty uncommon tho, maybe Rob could help you out if he still has a breeding pair...

How big, what size tank, where can I come see it??!?!?!

I never had a problem with my balck arowana when cleaning my tank, even when it was 22" it would always stay away from my hand.

The rocks were placed directly on the base of the tank, and there was only a small layer of gravel added after that. The stand was 12mm custom wood sitting on concrete blocks, with one at each end of the tank and one in the middle (kinda like this | -- | ) so it may have been that the wood had a slight twist in it. I'm going to get an engineer to weld up a steel stand this time.

Yup it was on polystyrene.

On sunday the base of my 4'x15"x15" tank cracked. I brought the tank second hand and had it set up for about a week. I had a lot of big rocks in the tank (was set up as a rift lake cichlid tank), and initially thought that was the reason for the break. Talking to Brian at the goldfish bowl today, he said it was more likely my stand may not have been level and that was more likely the cause of the crack. I'm having the tank repaired, and I'm wondering what thickness glass to use for the bace? I was thinking about going for 10mm (the rest of the tank is 6mm) as there will be a lot of rocks in the tank. If it was the stand that caused the crack then 10mm wont be necessary. Is 10mm over-kill, or would it be better to over-engineer??

You cant go too fine with the sand otherwise it wont sink. Go to a pool shop and have a look at some pool filter sand, its pretty cheap (mine was free) and works well. Make sure you rinse it well before putting it in the tank. As for the cost of tanks, glass isnt cheap, and as people have said there is quite a bit of skill involved in making a big tank. You get what you pay for. If it was <100L then I wouldnt be too concerned, but 4' (200L+) could get very messy if the tank isnt built properly!

www.aquariacentral.com is also good.

As Midas said RD's make awesome pets, rather than just a fish in a tank. (if that makes sense). If I had a spare tank big enough I'd be more than willing to take a few off your hands. If you're worried about the number of fry then just cull all the not-so-nice ones so you end up with around 20 really nice looking fish to give to the lfs. The problem with cichlids that breed easily is that people arent fussy enough with the fry or where the parents come from, so you get a lot of interbreeding of pretty average quality fish. That pretty much sums it up. RD's are a large fish that need to maintain a large territory, put them in a small tank with other fish and they will constantly harrass it as it's in their territory (ie the whole tank).

Hmm who was paying attension at the last Hamilton meeting, someone should be able to clear this up (Rob?)...

I'm using it in my 3' tank and it seems fine. You only need a thin layer (about 1-2cm) and I make a point of stirring it up before a water change occasionally.