herefishiefishie

Good luck, hope it goes well. Frenchy

Cool & well done. If there is only a little bit of the egg sack left then all should be fine. 25 is a good number too. Feed them baby brine, cyclops crushed flake....hope it goes well. Frenchy

It is possible. I'd say there would be be some fighting between males for sure. My guess would be one male from either group would dominate the tank. Frenchy

I have to say I am a fan of the cull. Frenchy

#4 looks like a Fossorochromis rostratus, as a guess. Frenchy

They will eat anything you throw in the tank basiclly. Buy a good vegie flake, & use that as their staple. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/feeding_african_cichlids.php Frenchy

How long have you had them for, how big r the youngens, what size tank, set up, tank mates....? If they are new then its just a case of getting used to their surroundings. Frenchy

Yeh it is probably just sorting out the pecking order. if its 2 males then you will probably always have the little running battles, depends on how strongly they feel about owning the space they are after. Adding more won't do much other than add to your problems, as a pair will be liable to form hence giving you more problems. As Mystic said what you have in the tank is short term, you will end up having to go bigger, tank wise. Frenchy

They don't have to breed to be trouble, it's just a tip to keep an eye on them. The dominant male will harass anything that looks similar. The shop I got mine from, the owner only keeps one per tank as he has lost a few. Frenchy

I would run them seperately. Ok so you will have to clean the one with filter material more often, the other one would hardly ever need a clean at all. I would add a layer of coarse foam to the bio media one just to catch particles that may get caught in the propeller. As for media, well matrix, purigen, calcium carbonate or similar, rough ceramic noodles, these seem better to the smooth ones. I tend not to use filter wool, clogs up to easy, & the water ends up running around the edges of the material. I tend to use a couple of different types of foam sheets. Coarse & not so coarse. That is why I tend to use the cannister as bio load with coarse foam{which the bacteria grows on too} & use an internal with finer foam to collect all the smaller particles. Frenchy

Had them once upon a time. At the top end of agro for mbunas. Easy to breed. Always active. Violently intolerant of males that look similar. Frenchy

I love Kingsizei's, they are still expensive here. {Retail $35ea-5cm} The buggers smash the s... out of each other & the males never leave the females alone, even when holding. Making them a challenge to keep together & breed. It will be a great mix of colour, hope they all work out for you. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/p_kingsizei.php Frenchy

sad to here the loss of a fishy especially when you've had for a few years. Frenchy

Some lovely pics there, well done. So hard to get good clear pics of active cichlids. Frenchy

Increase the airation in the tank too. Frenchy

Fish are worse than cats. They will eat all day given the chance. I only feed mine once a day, babies may get 2 feeds. If they are lucky they will get fed twice on one of the weekend days, the second feed being a treat. But I also have a day where the fish get nothing at all. {except fry they always get fed} Ijtan, sometimes bacterial bloom can take a while to clear. How much are you feeding the fish, as hinted in earlier post by spiders web. As for light 8 hours tops here. Frenchy

As for the plastic plant question, the bleach will soak into it, hence the reasoning behind; never use a bucket for your fish that may of been used for something else. The salt residue in the coral will be more benficial than bad for your africans. I use 1 teaspoon of marine salt per 20litres of water. As long as you rinse the coral out well & a bit of a scrub, all will be good. As Ryan stated if worried then use some carbon. Any parasite, bacteria...would be long dead if the coral has been dried out for a period of time, leaving in the sun even better. As for purigen I use that too, yes bleach is used to replenish it, but it is de-chlorinated before using back in the fish tank. Frenchy

Sorry I was refferring to Mark. That is a great mix of species & colour Ryan, very nice by the sounds of it. Frenchy

What size tank have you go them in, any other tankmates, how is the tank set up???? Frenchy

:lol: I was going to say something about another hat, but it is a family show :lol: Frenchy

I start with my hat :lol: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/stripping-vt9857.html then you try this way too http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/stripping_fry.php Hope these articles work, I tend to strip at 14 days, or the weekend following the 14 days. That way I have time, no distractions...At 14 days electric yellow babies tend to be free swimming, that means no egg sack. Frenchy

I went to Cathedral College, my first year of high school was the first year of the new school. Was Sacred Heart{girls school}& Xavier College{boys school} used to be a good footy & netball school back then, as in gave the more upper class schools a run for their money. I don't remember the red & black sock thing sorry. I am more like Caper, I tend to forget things too. :oops: I do remember how to source answers to questions as in, I remember the web page or book page :lol: Frenchy

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder Frenchy

There is a friend of ours that has got some very nice freshly imported ikola's. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing them yet. But there are plenty of varieties. Here is a list of what is currently available through on e of the big wholesalers http://www.bayfish.com.au/category32_1.htm You need a password to see prices. Frenchy

umm bicarb soda, epsom salts... are part of the chemical componds of the rift lakes, these chemicals are in their natural habitat. It is very hard to overdose a tank with bicarb soda. Can't be that bad, if I used to use it all the time in banana cakes. ps; Soft water is referring to the water having low carbonate hardness. The ph is different. What did shocked me is the huge variance in ph of your water supply. I have never heard of that much of a swing before. Thats a real concern, :-? If I was you then get a good test kit that will tests gh, kh & ph. This below is a simple rule of thumb. If either alkalinity or general hardness falls below the optimum level it can be reversed by either adding a calciferous source such as crushed oyster shell to the filter or adding more buffer to the water. If alkalinity is too low then add a carbonate buffer. If general hardness is too low then add a calcium or magnesium buffer. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/hardness.php ps; I have using epsom, bicarb...for years with dramas at all, probably stupid on my behave but I havent used a test kit in years. Frenchy