David R

Porret foam would be the way to go if you don't mind shelling out for it, could use different grades to have it catching finer and finer particles as it goes thru the filter. I was going to try get the inlaws to bring some back from the states to save on the shipping but couldn't jack it up in time. Let me know if you're going to order some, dad is oing to the US for Oshkosh this yeah, might be able to get him to bring it back.

Jag X festae is one of the few I really like, sometimes called Manaconda (if you're going to google it make ure you earch "manaconda fih" or "manaconda cichlid" not jut manaconda........... ), there seems to be a few more large female fetae around (compared to males, certainly my group turned out to be almot all girls) so it would be cool if someone with a big male jag got them together...........

A texas jaguar??? :-? A large male texas cichlid (H. carpintis) would certainly spell trouble for smaller african cichlids, and may (depending on the individual and the tank size) be intolerant of the larger ones too.

Josh, its Gymnogeophagus balzanii, they came in about 4 years ago but haven't seen them since, have been here before too. They're from southern Brasil, Paraguay and Uruguay and really need cooler temperatures than most eartheaters and ideally a cooler winter resp period for a couple of months. I think thats where I failed with mine, I had a pair and a couple of males, one got picked on and died, another I had in a community with temps around 27-8C, and another that were in a species tank by themselves but lost them randomly one day. The solo male in the comm was great for a couple of years but then rapidly went down hill at about 2-3 years old. Great looking fish, wouldn't hesitate to set up a tank for them if they came in again... *hint hint!*

She was awesome, bit he was better, shame I never really got a good pic of him Love these guys too and would love another crack at keeping these guys too

Try putting in several smaller pieces across the front of the tank. I used to feed three pieces (about 1/3 of a courgette each) so that each of the three blues could eat without fighting over it. Give it a go, but invest in a couple of old forks and some nylon first, makes retreaving them so much easier!!

I fed the blue phantom courgette occasionally too (maybe every 2-3 weeks), I can only think that the problems came from a huge feed of something new they're not used to eating.

Nope, it will simply be a pump on a tumer that dumps in a couple of hundred litres of water once a day from either a barrel with a float valve connected to a water supply, or straight in a large rainwater tank. Squirt I understand the point you're trying to make but I think your calculation over-simplifies it a bit. When does the "new" water become "old"? Calculations aside, I have seen Henwards tanks and seen how he feeds his fish, I doubt a single large weekly water change (even one close to 100%) would do as a good job of keeping the nitrates down.

It may be more effective at diluting waste on paper, but you have to take into consideration the fact that an aquarium will have ever-increasing nitrate levels. Draw a line graph showing nitrate levels over time and compare the increase/decrease while doing 100% changes every two weeks, 50% changes every week, 7.14% daily change and 0.3% hourly change you will see that although the larger less frequent changes are more effective at reducing the nitrates, if you're changing the same amount of water in larger less frequent lots the nitrate levels will get higher between changes than they would with smaller more frequent changes. The thing with a contiunious or automated system that makes small additions of clean water at regular intervals (like Henwards) is that although they may not be quite as efficient at diluting waste as a single large waterchange, if you don't mind using a little more water you can maintain a far more consistant and lower nitrate level than is possible by relying on large weekly water changes, and with a large heavily stocked tank that is when they are relly worth their while. As above, depends how it is set up and how much value you put on your time. You could have a fully automated system like Henwards where there is no need to ever do water changes, or a semi-automated system where you drain it first then refil, or something in between. My next big tank will have an automated system, not a continuious drip but one that does something like 10% daily in one hit. IMO the increase in water use is made up for many times over by the time saved, the decreased stress on the fish and the improved water conditions.

I'd say it depends over what time frame the 100% is changed. Obviously you can't do more than 100% at one time, but you could do 30% daily which adds up to 210% a week. If your waste parameters are all good though changing more water isn't really going to achieve much, you're literally just flushing money down the drain. As for the constant vs large and less frequent changes question, there is obviously a happy middle ground where the frequency and amount changed are most efficient at diluting waste. And I'd think Henwards system doing a couple of daily changes is probably pretty close to it.

The bigger they get the more expensive they get, unlike most fish. Oddball markings can make them more expensive too. $30 for 8cm is pretty reasonable IMO.

No problem, other thing I forgot to mention is that it really is adviseable (from a health perspective and for the enjoyment of watching them interact) to keep them in a good sized group (5+). I know the LFS usually says 3, but having kept many varying sized groups over the years from two to 30 it certainly seems like the more the merrier with clowns. The thing to watch for is whitespot, they are more prone to it than other species, especially if kept at lower temps. If you don't already, now would be a good time to start quarantining any new additions so you don't end up having to treat your whole tank.

beaver ... lol.... One thing to consider, you'd probably have to build a glass tank of that size on site and it would be very difficult/expensive to move if you ever needed to.

Translation; they were ok for the short time you had them, and you got upset when someone posted something contrary to your opinion with a little science to back it up.... You can keep the two together, although it is far from ideal for many reason. I would suggest if you must mix them then you need to compromise on the water parameters and keep it between the hard alkaline water the cichlids prefer and the soft acidic water the loaches come from. Other factors like water flow, temperature and diet will also have to be compromised if you wish to have long-term success miximg species from different habitats. Bear in mind when people tell you they're keeping clowns at high pH/low temp etc and "they're fine" that clowns SHOULD live for 20+ years and grow to ~10-12" in length, anyone who says they're fine after a year or two is getting way ahead of themselves IMO, there is far more to the health of a fish than how it appears at the present time. IMO clown loaches are a species worthy of being kept in their own dedicated aquarium, not just as "cleaners" in an aquarium set up for something completely different. Would you recommend keeping a few assorted tropheus in a high-flow 30C soft water amazon tank just to add a little colour? I'm not going to say you shouldn't do it, but I'll leave this article here. http://www.loaches.com/articles/why-loaches-should-not-be-kept-with-malawi-cichlids

You want IPS weldon #16. Try Mulfords plastics.

I got a tds meter and a few other bits and they arrived rattling round in a big box with a single sheet of bubble wrap. Not well packaged but cheap, I'm not sure if bulbs are something you want to go cheap with tho.

Looks more midas-y than red devil, but most likely a mix. Amphilophus Sp. is about as accurate as you'll get.

60L isn't big enough for anything more than a temporary home for tiny clown loaches, they are schooling fish that (should!) get close to a foot in length. I wouldn't want to keep any loaches aside from dwarf chain or kuhlii in a tang that size.

Good point, for some reason I saw "plecos" and thought of commons... Not sure what kind of "sharks" you're after, but I hope its a pretty big tank if you're planning on keeping then with the clown loaches, which makes me wonder why you'd want neons to go with them...

Might need to try the LFS, you're not likely to get 3 of those 4 from any "breeders" locally...

All this discussion and hardly a mention of water parameters. What is the temp, pH, KH, GH, TDS, water change schedule etc. Along with diet, these should be the first things to look at when struggling with a certain fish.

What are the dimensions of the tank? Footprint is far more important than overall volume when planning a tank for plecs. And as henward said, they can be messy and many prefer good flow so big filtration is advisable.

If you want cheap get it from overseas yourself, if Smidey can do then you can too, no special permits or anything needed so long as it is sealed and packaged for retail sale. I'm not sure if he mentioned where he gets it from in his Shop Smarter thread but I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing.

*Likes this

I think when the six eartheaters get bigger your stocking level for that size tank will be good. A school of mid level tetras would finish it off nicely, but I wouldn't add more big bottom dwellers.