Amelia

Thought it was about time I updated with some more photos! First of all, my 450l New World Cichlid tank. No new full tank shot as this tank has barely changed. I've given up on it looking pretty as they just move it all around anyway. Stock changes -- Firemouth has gone, Green Terror will be going shortly and 2 new parrots have been added. So stock is 1 Oscar, 3 severums, 3 blood parrots, 1 ebjd and a pair of T-bars. Plan on selling 2 of the severums but as of yet haven't decided which 2. Added 2 more parrots to keep my parrot company. He seems much happier with 2 friends and the 3 are now inseparable. My original parrot and one of the new parrots have laid eggs once but they ate them soon after. A shame, but parrots are usually infertile anyway. Original parrot and one of the new kids on the block -- my original guy is considerably larger, as you can see. My 3 red severums. Sooner or later I'm going to have to narrow down to 1, but I just can't decide which one I like best!! My reclusive male T-bar finally let me photograph him. They currently have eggs AGAIN in their pot. Anyone want these guys?? My Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. My 240l South East Asian Community. Finally sold my giant school of neons. Stock is now 16 Harlequin Rasbora, 1 old Platinum Gourami, 7 Yoyo Loaches, 4 Zebra Loaches, 2 Polka Dot Loaches and 14 Kuhli Loaches. Plan on increasing the zebra and polka-dot loach numbers to 6 each when redwood gets some in and adding a nice big school of a yet undecided Asian schooling fish... Possibly White Cloud Mountain Minnows, although Giant Danios have also crossed my mind. Latest FTS. Still looking for a nice bit of driftwood for the left side. My eyeless loach. Yuck. Poor guy. Pangio myersi, Giant Kuhlis, hanging out on a plant. Pangio kuhlii -- no idea what happened to this poor little guy but he seems to be missing half his face. Doesn't seem to bother him too much though. Perhaps the Yoyos have developed a taste for eyes. Last but not least, my newest project is "complete". My 53l Lamprologus occelatus species-only tank. Always wanted to try a Tanganyikan Shell-Dweller tank and it has been an interesting journey. Sourcing the shellies themselves was a real challenge, and now I have the challenge of keeping the grumpy little blighters happy. Do excuse the ceramic rings scattered around the tank -- they are temporary. A female vigilantly guarding her shell. Dominant male. Love this photo. I was getting too close so I was asked to leave.

Oh no. Which fish were missing? I hear that Galaxy Rasbora are notorious for disappearing/dying for no apparent reason. Minifish seem to be very fragile. Tank looks lovely. I really must get some of that Indian Fern.

Here here! You would never get the stunning colours you see here keeping them in a less-than-ideal pH. That's the difference between surviving and thriving.

:tears: So sorry that this has happened to you, and good luck with your remaining fish! On a sidenote, I don't think you're completely wrong about the fish-dragging thing. I once had a fish jump ship while I was moving tanks and I didn't find it for 20 or 30 minutes. When I found it it was nearly completely dried out and not moving and when I put it back in the water it just floated upside-down. I remembered hearing something about dragging them backwards through the water for some reason so I gave it a go and lo and behold it came back to life. First few times it wriggled a bit and then went belly-up again, but after I'd done it 4 or 5 times it swam back down with the others. Was a bit banged up for a while but I've still got him, 6 months later. So, there might be some truth to the "dragging fish backwards through water" theory after all. I think of it kind of like fish CPR. I imagine his gills had stuck together as he dried out and the dragging through the water forced them open again, allowing him to breathe (or whatever it is fish do).

Have to agree rabid it looked awful, but that wee tank is packed with cichlids. I'm sure it would brighten up once it got some space and clean water to itself. It's fins looked a little tattered last time I was in there so I assume someone has been picking on it. And yes -- that Salvini was gooorgeous.

Dave I will be thinning down my stock as they grow, no way I'm keeping it at this stock level permanently. Planning on only having a few fish, at this stage probably just an Oscar, a Severum and my EBJD. But if I find something else I really like (eg. possibly a Readhead) that stocklist can definitely change. Navarre it was at Organisms, in the tank with the Salvini in it.

There is about a 5cm one at my LFS. I'm pretty sure it's been there a while but it's just plain grey and ugly in the shop tank so nobody takes any notice of it. Thinking I might get it... But at the same time my 450l is overstocked already (although everything is still young).

Like a FH in temperament? That's a bit disappointing, I was hoping I could maybe add one to me 450l new world cichlid tank but oh well. Probably too agro for my fish.

Anyone kept these? I noticed some in a tank at my LFS today. I'd seen them in there before but never really paid attention to them. I decided to google them when I got home and Holy Hell they are pretty when they mature!!

Whats with all the Black Sharks popping up on the market recently? I've seen dozens of them! Personally it makes me really angry. These things are sold as cute babies for a cheap price to unsuspecting customers with little community tanks, unaware that they reach upwards of 2 feet in size! In my opinion fish with the capacity to reach that kind of size should not be so readily available, we have enough trouble with Silver/Bala Sharks and Clown Loaches. People seem to love shoving them in their small tanks regardless of the fact that they get to a foot long and require schools. I understand that of course there is always going to be people who want AND have the space for this kind of thing but the average aquarist is not equipped to deal with a 2-foot fish. Hence, they should not be sold next to the neon tetras in a standard pet shop! At least with other tank-busters like Aros they come with a hefty price-tag to deter some would-be buyers intent on seeing just how small of a tank they and shove it into (not that even that works all the time). GRRR what next! Irridescent Sharks?!?

Haha, the parrot was a gift from my partner. He may be +++HIDEOUS but he has a lot more personality than anyone else in there. Although I started out anti-parrot he has grown on me a lot.

Hahah yeah they do in the pictures. They're both beech-coloured Juwel Rios, ones a 240 and the other a 400. I'm on the hunt for a beech Rio 125 so I can have a matching set! :thup: Thanks for the compliments! I really like my T-bars but I feel sorry for them, they try so hard to raise their fry. They really need a tank of their own. The female is quite stunning but the male is rather dull. When I got them they'd been kept with Mbuna and their poor fins had been absolutely shredded and they were both plain grey. The male never seemed to recover, although the female looks increasingly more stunning. A real shame, and a perfect example of why New World and Rift Lake cichlids shouldn't be mixed. :an!gry

Had a wee "photo shoot" after my water changes last night. Kuhli Loaches do some weird things post-water change. A Yoyo Loach sitting still for once. I now have 1 Yoyo Loach with only one eye as the other 6 decided they didn't like him. Found these during my clean-out. T-bars have been hard at work. Thinking of selling them to someone who actually has the time and desire to breed them, they are breeding every 3 weeks at the moment and do a great job of looking after their young -- just not as good of a job as the other fish do eating them. Mr EBJD. Big half-red Severum. He has a kink in his dorsal fin which he has had since I got him at about 5cm (he is now about 12cm). And my other 2 severums, the true red on the left and the smaller half-red. I think he is starting to get bullied by the bigger half-red with the kinked fin. STILL trying to get a half-decent picture of my Oscar. This one makes it look like he has a split fin, but at least it looks like a fish, not just an orangey-black blur... Mrs T-bar came over to see what all the fuss was about. She is very outgoing, unlike her mate who rarely retreats from his cave. Baby Firemouth. I'm noticing scrapes appearing on him. I think him and the Gold Saum have developed a mutual dislike for each other. This ugly mug hangs around like a bad smell as soon as the camera appears. Cam whore.

Interested that you rehomed your loaches!! They are really cute little guys but man are they boisterous little things. Many fish just can't handle them. I had 8 Chains in with a bunch of Panda cories and they harassed the pandas relentlessly, wouldn't let them eat... Now they are in a tank with a bunch of Clown Loaches -- I hope the Clowns give them a taste of their own medicine! Muahaha! :lar: All of that aside -- they are so adorable they way they school out in the open. Love this tank btw Sophie. Planning on centering my next tank around cories.

Even after a good clean its no better. I've read reviews about sunsuns losing pressure after a while. They're doing a terrible job and my tank isn't heavily stocked. It has noticeably less pressure than my smaller 1400lphs. And yes I'm aware that the Max flowrate and operating flowrate are different. But I would still expect to be getting at least 1500lph or so. I doubt I'm getting even a third that, its just a trickle. I'm not using really dense filter wool either. I'm using the same media in my sunsun 1400lphs and those work really well.

I have 2x 2000lph UVs, I think they are HW-304Bs. Flowrate has probably decreased by 50% in the few months I've had them and they aren't doing a very good job at all so I'm wanting to change to something... better quality. With 2x 2000lph filters I should be getting 10x per hour turnover but there is no way I'm getting anything close to that. It's odd because I have the 2x smaller 1400lph UV sunsuns on my 240l tank (HW-303Bs I think) and they have been really good, do an awesome job.

Been thinking about changing my 2x Sunsun canisters on my 450l cichlid tank to one Aqua One Nautilus 2700 UV canister. Anyone have any experience with these on this sized tank? Ideally I would love a Fluval FX5 but that's not on the budget right now.

Thanks so much!! Always lovely to hear that, I do pride myself in keeping my tanks as immaculate as I can. :bggrn: Think you're a tad confused, I never had plants in my 450l. It's had that 'scape with the large rocks and long bits of wood since I set it up but I am looking to change soon. I have found a whole lot more similar long bits of wood and I really want to try for something like this: The planted tank is my 240l. I'm converting it from a general community to a semi-biotope.

I have some old FTS, not recent ones as I rescaped it a few weeks ago. Here are the ones from the previous aquascape. No they don't tend to burrow in the sand, surprisingly. There are 14 of them. Thanks everyone for the kind comments!! :happy1:

A few of my Yoyo Loaches. These are now in the 240l Asian Community and are HEAPS bigger. Fat pandas. Cories are one of my favourite fish, I'm excited to set up a tank just for them. My little Platinum Gourami. Fish I've owned the longest. A FAT Kuhli. Kuhlis are one of my favourite fish, I have about 14 of them. More Kuhlis -- kind enough to sit still while I took photos.

Thought I'd go ahead and share some photos from my tanks! I currently have a 450l SA/CA cichlid tank, a 240l which is part-way through being converted into a South-East Asian Semi-Biotope (on the look-out for Asian community fish if anyone has any). And a 50l tank which is currently empty, planned to be a Lamprologus occelatus shellie tank OR house a pair of Nannacara anomala if I can't get my hands on any shellies. I'm on the lookout for a Juwel Rekord 800 or Rio 125 for my next and final project (for now) which will be a small South American biotope focusing on mainly on cories. Yes I love Juwel tanks. All my tanks are Juwels. :dnc1: Without further adieu, some photos. Big daddy severum. My prettiest red. My Gold Saum/Green Terror. Just a wee baby! My young Red Oscar. He's hard to photograph as he moves a lot. He's also grown quite a bit and coloured up since this was taken. My Blood Parrot. Has almost doubled in size in the 3-4 months I've had him. Out-ranks everybody else in the tank. Firemouth. Fuzzy shot of my Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. Defending his cave from the GT and FM (arch enemies). Best shot I've ever managed to get of my T-bar pair. Photo does not do their amazing colours justice. The whole fam at feeding time. Excuse the bubbles, this was post-waterchange. The yoyo loaches have since been removed after they started nipping the oscar. And some FTS (full tank shots).

Bucktooth Tetra aren't your everyday characin. They feed primarily by eating the scales off other living fish. Must be kept in species-only tanks for obvious reasons and must be kept in large schools -- if they aren't kept in large enough groups they stress out and eat each others scales off! Some juvenile piranha also feed this way, when they are not yet large enough to feed like an adult. It's called Lepidophagy. Exodon paradoxus, the Bucktooth Tetra.

Veering away from the Kelly Tarltons theme a bit, there's a guy down here who I buy a lot of fish off who said he had some years ago. He does a lot of work in fish wholesale and managed to get some imported on the sneaky. I think this was like 10+ years ago before the laws and such were as tough. He said they were scatty things that hid all the time. COULD all be a story though... Now, Bucktooth Tetras... THAT'S something I'd love to own.

Cute!! What is your "grow-off" strategy?

What gender ratio did you have sunbird? Still keen to try these but now I'm a tad put off. Would be very disappointed to get them shipped all the way down from auckland just to have them murder each other. :-?