herefishiefishie

Alans comment of using 2 smaller wattage heaters is a good idea. Frenchy

Thats a very good mixture of food Johannes. Frenchy

Dam, did I miss out on some reading :lol: Frenchy

*You will need both filters for a tank that size. I have an interanl & canister on my 4x2x2. *The driftwood will be fine. *The side backgrounds, are just if the fish don't settle down. * Umm, the lakes of Africa have a very high oxygen content in the water, So I would ignore that little piece of advice. All my internals in the tanks are set high up. *The light flickering could be a lose connection. Check the light first. If connections are fine, then yes bulb could be going. Good luck with the new tank. Keep an eye on the convicts if they pair up. Tank is big enough for there to be hopefully no dramas. Just a note. Frenchy

Very nice looking. I have wood in a couple of tanks, no worries. I mainly have them as I have Aceis, they hang around wood in the wild. If you have plenty of buffer in the way of substract etc then no dramas. The driftwood looks good in the tank too. The only thing I will add, is that I would recommend lifting up one of the internals, so that the water surface is being agitated. Or connect some air tubing to the internals. & a maybe; If you find your new fish struggle to settle in, as in remain skittish for a length of time. You may need to get some plastic background for the sides of the tank. What size is the tank & what type of Cichlids are you going for? Frenchy

Thanks GT; am I right in saying that you haven't been on here much lately? I don't use the cichlid meal either as of the mess too. Here's a good read on feeding African Cichlids... http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/feeding_african_cichlids.php Frenchy

That would be me Ryan I found a response from a previous post...edit a bit.... I wouldn't recommend using Blood worms at all. Why??? They are found in the mud of stagnent pools & feed from the mud The mud contains chemicals which are toxic to some fishes. Especially African Cichlids. This is where the blood worms that you "buy" come from. Also red mosquito larvae induce allergic reactions in about 30% of persons coming into contact with them(Liebers,1991). I have seen one lfs owner get a nasty rash from bloodworms, I believe another lfs staff member {different store} gets really itchy after handling bloodworms & that is just from handling the plastic packaging. :-? There are plenty of other foods on the market that are better for your African Cichlids. Frozen foods like mysis shrimp & cichlid dinner are better. Any of the name brand flakes, small pellets.... will be good too. eg;HBH Cichlid Flake Frenzy, contains Spirulina too. I know people who use bloodworms with no dramas at all. There are plenty of other feeding options available, {IMO} why take the risk? One final thing, is that alot of African Cichlids, eg;mbuna. Have small stomachs & long intestines. Blood worms aren't easily digestible, therefore can cause internal problems, especially if containing toxins. As you can see, there was a reason or two for the lfs to back up what they said to Gee Tee. How are your cichlids going Gee Tee? Frenchy

I know a couple of the species are not available in NZ. But people can still have a guess, or look up fish for something to do... I had a run 2 months ago where I had 4 mbuna species holding all at once. I have got the 4 species together in one 4 foot tank, more for convenience, well lack of room. The question I ask the members is.... what do you think has grown the quickest out of these guys? Pseudotropheus acei ngara Electric Yellows Pseudotropheus demasoni Labidochromis sp mbamba One species is miles in front. I will add photos at the end. or even place in an order.. Frenchy

Planaria worms tend to feed only on protein. Google search a picture of Planaria worms & compare that to what is in your tank, just to make sure. Frenchy

Planaria are flatworms, related to flukes and tapeworms. They are quite small, and if examined closely have eyespots as well as protrusions from the sides of their heads. Although they do not harm fish, they love to feast on eggs, and therefore are dangerous if breeding egglaying fish. The Real Problem Even though Planaria do not harm fish, they are an indicator that the aquarium has a problem. They require a food source, which means there must be excess food wastes in the tank to support them. If you have Planaria it's time to give your aquarium a thorough cleaning. Pay particular attention to the substrate, as that's usually where they find their food. Make sure there are no dead plants, or other wastes in the tank. You should also take a hard look at how much you are feeding your fish. Usually the excess waste the Planaria are living on is the result of overfeeding your fish. Reduce the amount you feed your fish, as well as the frequency of feedings. Finally, once you've cleaned things up, be sure to continue with regular maintenance and water changes. A clean tank is the best defense against becoming overrun with Planaria. Be a good food source for the fish too. Frenchy

Alot of people probably don't realise that you can. Frenchy

How old was the carbon at the time Tsarmina? Rogan yes its possible to renew carbon. Curveps point could be taken as, renewing purigen is easy. Carbon, well its cheaper to buy new carbon. Frenchy

:lol: Frenchy

the thing about the dragon reds is that they look like nothing that exists in the lake. Frenchy

Once your tank is settled, up & running carbon isn't needed at all. Just incase people think cool, I can do less... that is the reason why. Just incase anyone didn't note the correlation. Frenchy

Multiple males won't work with species like What you will get is one dominant male bright blue, the rest will step down in colour from not as blue down to grey. If you are after multiples of one species, then mbunas are a better option. eg; electric yellows, demasoni.... Males & females are both nice. If they breed dosen't matter, they will spit. Get eaten, no dramas. Best bet is to get 2-4 of each species of colours you like & later on down the track take out the less dull ones. Fish with red, don't know whats in New Zealand, Protomelea taeniolatus{Red Empress}, Maylandia estherae {Red Zebra}, The red dragon peacock that Afrikan has.....then these have a little reddish in them, red shoulder peacocks, Eureka red peacocks, Red fin Kadangos. Thats all I can think of off hand. The filters on these tank styles are on the light side, as long as stocking of the tank is done slowly, weekly water changes etc, should be right. Rogan, Rogan, Rogan, we are talking about an interesting display tank, not a boring one. Frenchy

I would say they are hybrid... Frenchy

The thing is you still have to treat the tank. The fry will be carrying the disease too, & that would explain her irration too. Imagine having something in your mouth that is carrying a parasite. As Ryan said the fry are pretty tough, but the main concern is you have to treat the disease. Do a gravel vac of the tank & follow the directions of the medicine bottle. You may want to treat the tank you put the male in too. Chances are he maybe be carrying whitespot too. i got this info from this site, which may be handy for some to add to favourites...http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA041 Frenchy

Chances are is that she is getting harrased. Pretty badly too be the looks of it. {Oops, re read lol.} If she is struggling that much the only thing you can do is catch her & put her into a seperate tank. 9cm is big for first time if its a mbuna, what type of cichlids are they might help too. In cases like electric yellows, the females are bitches towards each other. Frenchy

eeeeewwwwwwwwwwww Frenchy

Also things like leaching wood will affect its life span too. In one tank I have the purigen bag in an old breeder trap net, suspending in front of an internal filter. :roll: Frenchy

Depends on how they get along. Sometimes cichlids will go well. Other times one particular type of cichlid may pick on another, even if the colours & species are different. Kadango's are generally fine, when young. A good sized peacock can dominate a Kadango of similar size or smaller. Once Kadango's realise that they are bigger than others & they want to breed, they will. They tend to only mainly clash with similar types, as in ryans case, peacocks. If you mbunas except the kadango's all should be fine. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/c_borleyi.php There is a little video at the end of the page...& also the last paragraph gives an answer too... Frenchy

Well.... :lol: Just try & see. If the young look bad then get rid of them & the parent. Frenchy

:lol: Imagine what the other fish in the tank are saying about her now. Frenchy

I bought the little ones already in a bag. I only use them on 2 of my smaller 4ft tanks.{the heavily stocked} Over time I have had a couple of bags split. So I emptied these outinto one bigger filter bag & thats in the 4x2x2, canister. That is my main concern with purigen & that i sthe quality of the bags they come in. I don't have to worry about plants, African man myself. Brad has purigen in the discus display tank in his lfs & the plants are going great guns. Frenchy