Ismart120

What size sump would you use? I'm not up on sumps anymore. In terms of noise, are the herby-style sumps as quiet as say a fx5/6? I'd be keen to go for the best filtration overall but have to keep in mind pros and cons of both

Hi all Just looking to the future and what I'm likely going to get in the next few years, that is, a bigger tank for my fire eel and ghost knife. They're currently in a 375 litre but I'd like to go up to a 1.8m+ 600ish litre tank within two years or so, so what would you recommend? The only thing I've seen as a stock tank is the aquaone 1800rt which is nice but anything else out there? Or, if I were to go custom made, what dimensions would be best? What would you filter it with? Lighting? Plus, as the other tankmates will likely stay, what would you have have with them, that wont be food or make food of those two? I like loaches, cichlids and plecs as a general rule but unusual/beautiful is the key factor here Tl;dr, tell me your dream set up for a fire eel and a ghost knife, tank, co-inhibitants and utilities.

On the (hopefully slim) chance that I can't get an electric blue acara, are there any other cichlids people would suggest? How would a texas cichlid do temperament wise (assuming I don't get a jerk fish)

That would be awesome, here's hoping two pair up again soon

That is a very nice looking fish, is it a male you might be looking at selling on?

I might be very keen on that, thank. Did you happen to get them on Sunday?

Where did you get them from? I've had a quick look but the american cichlid availability is pretty low in Christchurch at the moment

Have been thinking that but not sure if that would just crowd the bottom layer too much, umming and ahhhing over getting a few more angelicus loaches and pass the pictus on to someone with a group.

Ok, Recently lost my electric blue JD; he had always been a very shy and timid fish and due to missing a water change through being out of twon and a secondary filter failure he took a turn for the worst and went within 12 hours of me noticing him not looking so good. So, question is, what fish do you recommend I have a look at as a replacement? Its a 375 litre tank with a large Sev, a female convict, loaches, some serpae tetras, BNs, a fire eel, BGK and a pictus (and some randoms from old tanks etc), heavily (or getting there) planted. I'm really interested in a blue coloured cichlid that won't be put out by the the other two. The con can go if needed but the sev is the key fish. Thoughts? Not sure if I should try another ebjd due to the size of the sev, whereas the other had grown up with before, but the contrast in colour was really nice, and the price if it doesn't work out. I don't really have much of a grow out tank either due to space constraints of setting it up. Thinking maybe blue acara (2?), a few kribs maybe? Gonna assume blue rams would just be a waste of time (and an expensive meal for something) Thanks

Just found him at the back of the tank. Still not sure what it was thats hit him but he went downhill really fast overnight it seems

Ah yeah, thats just cause it was a good photo of him (her?) But also doing it in other parts of the tank, still seems to be using it when actually moving though at least. And yep, which is why I haven't been worried, although I thought that it might be useful to know

http://imgur.com/FG3CzOn Hi all My Ebjd has always been shy and slow growing but I've recently been suspicious of it being slightly unwell. Today I noticed that he's clamping his left pectral fin against his body (not while moving so its not stuck as such) so looking more likely that it is something. Any thoughts? Ich? Parasites of another type? I see the occasional (maybe 1 fish once a week) flashing on rocks so may be related? Any thoughts would be appreciated Thanks

Thanks for that - I had been thinking it looked like a 270 but don't have enough experience to really be sure. Whats the going price for one of those normally then?

Awesome, thanks, kinda good to know whats actually in there

Hi Can anyone tell me the names of these plants? Looking at giving/swapping some of the cut offs and want to tell people/know what they are. An ID on the crypts too would be great Thanks The progression photos are about 3 weeks apart http://imgur.com/a/9wToU

Hi Anyone know the L number or specific species of this pleco? Bought off TM for 35 so figured it wasn't a bad deal either way http://imgur.com/a/0dmej Photos are iPad quality but haven't been able to find him since so thats all I've got sorry

Much bigger than mine too, and at ten, I was lucky to have a 150... I've got naut on my 375 litre; I think two of those on yours should be a good fit. Congrats

Do you remember which cure/tonic you used? I know some are to be avoided with scaleless fish

Awesome, thanks - any issues with using prazi with scaleless fish?

Hi I've got a potential ich issue (seeing some flashing but no external signs, everyone seems to be happy and normal otherwise) so looking to add some salt and raise the temp for a fortnight just in case, without out using random medications as such I've got a fire eel, black ghost, angelicus loaches and a pictus, all of which I think come under the scaleless title; has any one treated these fish with salt and higher temps before? Good? Bad? Looking to do a teaspoon every 40 litres or so (approx one every 10 gallons) and raise the temp slowly up to ~30 degrees from the 26 it is now. Conversely, would dosing with salt for a longer period of time and raising the temp say to 28 be a better option?

Hi Noticed some of the fish have started rubbing up on the ornaments occasionally; the big sev has done this for a while but seeing he was only doing it on a smooth pot I had thought it was a territory thing. Have noticed a few other fish doing it today though so thinking it might be something else now Can't see anything on the fish externally, and apart from the EBJD who had never eaten well when I'm there, everyone seems to be eating happily (Flakes, bloodworms, pellets etc). No deaths or fish looking unwell, no strange behaviour apart from a few more flashing on rocks and weekly 25% min water changes. Anything that I should look out for specifically? (Housing sitting at the moment and I forgot to test parameters when I fed them before - should be able to check these tomorrow) Big question though is, what should I look at treating it with? I'm assuming a parasite at this stage due to lack of evidence for anything else. I have a ghost knife, fire eel, angelicus loaches and a pictus in there, and I know there are some treatments that need to be diluted/avoided with some of these guys (scaleless etc). Otherwise, just the cichlids (Sev, EBJD, Con), some serpae tetras and SAEs and a BN or two. Any thoughts/help would be gratefully received

Awesome, thanks for the replies Ira, how long did it take him to get settled in? He's still not comfortable staying in the open much,even though he's the second biggest in the tank. I was thinking the growth rate has been slow due to the featherfin I had grew three times the size in that time, and the Sev would be nearly as much. So relatively speaking, he's been the slowest by a large amount. Doesn't seem to like the pellets or mealworms either which I hoped would help Will try the garlic though, worth a shot at the very least

Hi all I've got an EBJD that is extremely shy and doesn't seem to be eating well. I've had him for about 6 months and while he doesn't seem thin, he's not growing very well (i.e fast) and I'd kinda like him to get fat. I've only seen him eat a few times (Bloodworms once when I first got him and a nibble here and there). Need some ideas on what to do to get him eating more He has grown some what (maybe doubled in size in the time I've had him to maybe 12cm? so I know that he is eating at some point and seems healthy overall (Not lethargic as far as I can tell, no major bullying from others from what I've seen). He is very shy and often hides in the driftwood. I've got a full grown female convict and a large male Sev in the tank (380litres) too (also others but no other cichlids); he's bigger than the con but not by much, has a few displays with the convict (He usually backs off and I've never seen any real contact) but mainly, doesn't come out at feeding time like everything else Any ideas on what to do/try? Was hoping he'd bulk up a bit and that would solve a number of things but that hasn't eventuated. Would some dither cichlids like Kribs help? (Or would they just have the snot beaten out of them?)

They're pretty tough from my experiences - can you put a heater in there to keep it above say 20 degrees? Or are you trying to get a proper cold cycle for the natives?

http://imgur.com/rqJRCaf,XcQ1tbA#0 This is the blerb that came with the photos: He has some redness on fins, and very red gils (although this might be normal?) He has a ghosting of white on his dorsal (back top?) fin and paleness of colour. He gets like this every few weeks for a few weeks, then goes back to normal for a week or 2, then relapses. But he's been like this for almost 2 months now. 30Gal Tank 7 Tetras 1 African Dwarf Frog This ~6yr old Syno Catfish problems: -Not moving around tank as normal -Always upside down (though this isn't alarming, just much more than normal) -Barely eating (haven't seen in over 3 weeks) -Looks as if he struggles to breathe Temp: 68 Ph/Nitrates/Phos/ = ? I don't have a gauge, and will be going to Petsmart next week to get a test kit. Water Change: We rarely change the water, but after reading up, we've changed ~25% every 2 weeks. Sorry I'm a fish newb but rather attached to this one. Thoughts? I'm thinking ammonia attacking the gills but anythign else it might be? Def not in a good way in any case