spoon Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 volatile organic compound basically nasty chemicals when you walk into a freshly painted room that smell that you can smell would be them but im getting off topic now i have a thread in DIY called backgrounds again all about making them have to update the summary at some stage make it more conclusive there is allso some pics of it being made in the thread thinking about trying cichlids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 from last year, same layout today except the fish are bigger the stacked rock supplies hidey holes for the survival of some young Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua j Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 Is that a greshakei in the centre foreground? Wow does it ever have some red on it! Yep it's a greshakei. He sure stands out in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 That is a very nice greshakei They are awesome fish however I found they were the "firey ginges" of the fish world and tended to beat the snot out of everyone.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilly Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Here's a pic of my tropheus tank. I used flat pebbles from the local rivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilly Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 And another sorry pics not so good I'm not the best photographer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tropheus Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 great looking tank. I like it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 i like the background... what is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted April 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Ahhhh!!! The fish in the second photo at the bottom (black and white one)....what is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilly Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 The back ground is made of poly covered in sand and coloured cement then painted with resin it's different shades of grey when not covered in algee. There are tropheus, leleupi, transcriptus and bn's in there. There is also a cory sterbai and a herlequin which I used to help mature the tank before I put the rest in, I presumed they would not last but are both still going strong, look a little out of place but are ignored by the africans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Yep giraffes.. And assuming a rough adult size of 20cm that tank is huge.. I think it looks awesome they don't look like giraffes to me, aren't they some sort of peacock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmsmith Posted April 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 The back ground is made of poly covered in sand and coloured cement then painted with resin it's different shades of grey when not covered in algee. There are tropheus, leleupi, transcriptus and bn's in there. There is also a cory sterbai and a herlequin which I used to help mature the tank before I put the rest in, I presumed they would not last but are both still going strong, look a little out of place but are ignored by the africans. transcriptus, that's what they are. Animates down here has a pair and a whole lot of babies in a tank, I thought they looked really cool. I love these tanks guys, keep 'em coming. My fish always seem to be hiding, so I figure the more rockwork the better to help them get a bit more secure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 These are some of my favourite tanks off the net. (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=184519) Might need a slightly larger house before I can have one of these though.... here's a link to more pics of this, it's amazing & a pic with mr stuart grant infront of it! http://www.backtonature.se/interzoo2006.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 It is awesome that's for sure stuart grant was a legend, it still doesn't say what is in the tank though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 It is awesome that's for sure stuart grant was a legend, it still doesn't say what is in the tank though? Think I've found it ! :bounce: Second pic down on that link says "Mr. Stuart Grant himself (a legendary exporter of Malawi Cichlids) was excited about the beautiful Malawi aquarium with many colourful Aulonocara stuartgranti from Cobwe. " But I dont know enough about Aulonacara to say if it is them or not - from the pics I have seen the finnage is the wrong colour to what I have come across. :-? :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishandchips Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Just saw the price for the "back to nature" backgrounds! WOW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua j Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 The back ground is made of poly covered in sand and coloured cement then painted with resin it's different shades of grey when not covered in algee. Is there a type or brand of resin that is better/safer to use? Do you have to do anything to is before putting it in the tank? (eg leave it to harden longer than recommended, wash off with water etc?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aqua j Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 That is a very nice greshakei They are awesome fish however I found they were the "firey ginges" of the fish world and tended to beat the snot out of everyone.. I had heard they could be trouble makers. This guy is the most well mannered cichlid I've had. He is the boss of the tank but doesn't pick on anyone or start fights. He even breaks up any fights that start between other fish by getting in the middle. It's odd to watch. I was wondering how much of cichlid behaviour is determined by genetics and how much is the tank environment etc. Could you selectively breed for quieter or more aggressive lines? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilly Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Is there a type or brand of resin that is better/safer to use? Do you have to do anything to is before putting it in the tank? (eg leave it to harden longer than recommended, wash off with water etc?) I just used a 2 part resin from Mitre 10 it was left for weeks to dry as I made the background before I got the tank. No I didn't wash it off just set the tank up then ran a few days with a few large water changes checking it had no effect on the ph etc before adding fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 here's one that was recently posted on the cichlid forum 500L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freakyfish Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 it must be a massive tank - didnt think they were giraffes at first purely because of the scale of things. WOW WOW WOW ! I'll go for a type of peacock, or maybe a type of Copidachromis. Once my tank settles down I will take pics of my display. Not as nice as the some of the net. The one with the val is my fav. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 i love the poly with the holes. must do something like that. looks so awesome. is it siliconed into the back? would it work if i just siliconed it to the bottom so it was in the middle so my fish could swim through the holes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 28, 2009 Report Share Posted April 28, 2009 i love the poly with the holes. must do something like that. looks so awesome. is it siliconed into the back? would it work if i just siliconed it to the bottom so it was in the middle so my fish could swim through the holes? Yes - there is a display stand like it at Redwood Aquatics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Yes - there is a display stand like it at Redwood Aquatics. that was my inspiration the tank at redwood with the frontosa and peacocks and yep its siliconed in as its very bouyant i was guna make 1 for the middle but i could imagine difficultities trying to catch fish if i had to! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquatopia Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 that was my inspiration the tank at redwood with the frontosa and peacocks and yep its siliconed in as its very bouyant i was guna make 1 for the middle but i could imagine difficultities trying to catch fish if i had to! I would think it would be easier - one net one side and then coax the fish to swim through into the net ! I think three smaller ones offset in parallel at 45 degrees to the front of the tank would look even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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