disgustipated

have you tried the switched on gardener or other hobby grow focused store?

wow. amazing tanks, great pictures

i was more impressed with the length but i guess each to their own...

here is growth of my tiger lotus over three weeks. then: now:

osiris looks good in there bro. my lotus is growing faster than i've ever seen a plant grow before. it also has a lot of red on it.

i love that place.

R18? gee that cuts out the majority of forum members...

there is a lot of controversy around this, considering they originate from the fresh waters of southeast asia, but are occasionally found in brackish water. most figure 8 keepers say they thrive in fresh water, others say brackish. it's clear that these fish can survive in either. at the end of the day, when it comes to specialty fish like these, i don't think you should take anyones advice as to how well your particular fish will do in which kind of water. especially from those who have never kept said fish and are only giving advise based on hearsay. try it out for yourself, and if your fish is thriving in fresh water, then there is no need to change that.

which part of the council should i ring to ask about this

i think individual experiences here depend on the stocking of the tank. my big tank is heavily stocked with big fish, it needs the airstone because making enough surface movement with filters is too splishy splashy. my lightly stocked planted tank on the other hand - don't need an airstone in there, even slight surface movement from the filter keeps DO levels replenished. i wonder why co2 bubbles are effective in adding co2 to the water, when oxygen bubbles are not effective?

ring the council and ask

yea i understand that, but am saying that rippling the surface was not enough, fish were gasping, made them splash more, fish still gasping. added air pump/stone and everything hunky dory. the air pump is doing more than i could get surface agitation to do...

the thread i linked to i was told literally "An airpump does not add oxygen to the tank" and that air bubbles coming from a pump do absolutely nothing to help aerate a tank, aside from the surface agitation that they create, and i disagreed. in my large american cichlid tank, i had plenty of surface agitation from the two filter outlet hoses splashing in from above the surface, but the fish were still gasping at the surface, until i added an air pump and bubble wall, now they are breathing easy. i also note that the air pump is much, much quieter than having my filters create surface agitation, that was quite loud, lots of splashing and whatnot

if you're gonna do something, you may as well do it right

i remember this.. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=62688 i agree that surface agitation can help aerate the water but an air pump is far more effective considering it does both - air bubbles that dissolve into the water and surface agitation.

disregard what you are told when logic contradicts. if the aro is under 600mm long then it wouldn't have any trouble turning around. davids black aro is still pretty small for an aro and he's had it a while..

pssh your tank is fine for an aro. if you got cash to burn get a black aro. they don't get as big as the silvers. i have attempted a few different plants in my american tank. massive bunch of ambulia i planted and stuck down with big rocks was uprooted/bitten off overnight and ended up floating on the surface. oxygen weed was the same. i didn't mind having a thick layer of plants floating on the surface as i was hoping the hoplos would make a nest but they didn't. anyway. about 5 days ago i removed the massive amazon sword from my planted tank and put it into my big american tank. it is well rooted and buried in the sand, plus has two heavy terracotta pipes either side of it holding it down, and so far, so good. no leaves have been ripped off it as yet and my jag and cats loves chilling in it. my vote for plants in american tanks is amazon sword.

eminems new song "rap god" (can't link to it on here, but it's on youtube. played it several times already today. not the best beat but he certainly confirms his place as a rap god.

did she breed yet? sometimes lady fish stop growing after they first spawn/birth

couldn't find a red one. got a tiger lotus instead. looks nice.

tricky question man. i have managed to get some very nice quality convicts from hollywood, but have also seen them selling some real mongrels. retail stores sell fish from the supplier but also often stock fish from random hobbyists too. i think that you should look everywhere, but definitely try and check out the parents of any fish you are looking to buy. with american cichlids it's quite easy to see whether or not they are good specimens. as for stunted - if you get them small enough then there is very low chance of them being stunted yet. if i were you, i would get all the fish you want, in small sizes, plonk them all in there and see what happens.

i've been raising one of duncans jaguars (male) in my large tank. got him almost a year ago, very small. is now around 14cm and has been raised with jd's, convicts, texas, severum, angel fish and tin foil barbs. the JD is slightly bigger and rules the tank. but i'm expecting that to swap around once jag outgrows JD. i don't know if you like angels but a large group of them usually go well in a tank stocked with american cichlids. i've only ever had one incident where a large jag 20cm tried to eat an angel. also tinfoil barbs make good dither/schooling fish with americans. and they get big. i have never seen one of my cichlids trying to hassle the TFB's. texas are quite timid in my experience. they often end up getting bullied by other more aggressive americans. anyway. i like how this tank is looking so far. so much more interesting than an african tank ever could be!

epic growth. now i must have one.

if you fill up a bucket of water, leave it for one or two days, the chlorine will disappear on its own. since you have a small tank that might be the easiest (cheapest) way to do water changes without having to worry about the chlorine. i however, like sam, have used water straight from the tap for years.

nah but if you get pulled over and show them the slip and tell them you are going to get it repaired they will probably let you off. unless it's one of those power trip cops, in which case, you will get a $200 fine and sent on your way - but if you then get your wof sorted within 28 days of the fine being issued you can write to the cops with proof of your new wof and have the fine withdrawn.