DeadStang

They seem to be very social -- I would get 2.

I have 3 in my 75 and they seem to be doing fine with plenty of room.

They are pretty mellow for African cichlids. Different fish have distinct personalities. My original male was super friendly but he ended up dying, unfortunately (I had some tank/water issues early on). The current dominant male isn't out as much. They dart when they swim, recognize me, and are very active. The "regular" Buffaloes live with a Hillstream loach and don't notice him in the least. They also don't care about the hatchets up top. I think as long as you don't try to make them coexist with other bottom dwelling/lower-half-of-the-tank African cichlids, they are fine. And I wouldn't put them in a true community tank with sweet little fish like Corys, but a 40 breeder with Buffaloes, the African tetras, +/- some hatchets up top is pretty full in all the water levels of the tank. I also have Slender Buffaloes in another 40 breeder and they are super cool, too. Hard to say which ones I like the best -- I've had the standard Buffaloes for longer. They swim "up" more, maybe in the lower 1/3 of the tank. I perhaps made a tactical error in pairing them with blue fin fairies, which hang much lower in the tank than I expected, but so far I've had no issues and everyone seems to have a territory and get along. I am going to see how things go in that tank and will consider adding some African tetras in time.

I really like my Buffalo Heads. You could have those on the bottom, some African red eyed tetras or Congo tetras for the middle/upper, and some hatchets to swim right along the top. I keep mine in a 40 gallon breeder and they are happy enough that I've gotten 2 "litters" of baby Buffaloes...they have cool family behavior and I currently have my adults and about half of each "litter" happily living in the tank. [I don't have the tetras -- just the Buffaloes and the hatchets as I don't want my babies eaten.] I keep a 75 gallon HOB, a sponge, a power sponge, and a wave maker to give them current, along with 3 air stones. Lots of rocks and driftwood with anubias and java ferns wired on to give them lots of places to dart around and explore.

Yeah, I noticed that, too. It seems like I can't enter or click anywhere to enter/join. But I do read the articles and always look forward to the emails.

I know you already bought the FX4, but I think an FX2 might be a better size. I just put an FX2 on my 75, along with my sponges and Ziss. I bought this so I wouldn't have too much flow in the tank -- that might be "underkill" vs the FX2 in a 75, but it's better than the HOB. Could you put the FX4 on something bigger and get the FX2 for the 55?

Just remember to check your ammonia and nitrite levels daily for a few days. Worst case, you use your prime at 5x the normal dose and do some extra water changes. I just swapped my HOB for a canister in the 75 and was really scared...I talked to the guy at the fish store -- my idea also was to run them concurrently for a bit, then take off the HOB, but he told me to be daring and just use my HOB media in the canister along with the next "extra" stuff in there and just do the swap. He gave me the above advice. I also have sponges and a Ziss, and I am not cleaning my tank for a bit. I did and so far, so good with just the little canister. But I am compulsively testing my water every 12 hours just in case. Good luck -- I think you'll be OK.

I have a 4 tank rule per the husband (actually he wants none) -- 4 tanks and my QT, but I tell him that doesn't count! I started with a 20, then added a 20 long, then a 40. So the 20 morphed into aother 40, and the 20L went to a 29, which then ended up a 75. Each time I get to add more decorations, rocks, plants, and fish. Now I am switching up filtration and going from HOBs to little canisters...if I'm not needing to do something to the tanks every evening, I am bored and have to mess with my houseplants, lol. Keeps me off the internet and from sitting in front of the TV. The next upgrade is replacing the 2 40 breeders with 44 rimless -- that should keep me busy for awhile.

I have given away cycles sponge filters to friends starting up their tanks, but I am not confident enough in a cycled sponge jump starting a new tank to sell one. I have put old sponges in new tanks and STILL spent dozens of dollars on bottled bacteria in the new tank and done 100s of gallons in daily water changes to cycle the tank(s). I am 100% certain the cycled sponge helps somewhat, but there is still a lot of work to get the new tank(s) up and running.

I am getting ready to put rope fish into one of my community tanks. I have angels, rummy nose tetras, fat corys, keyholes, and 2 3-spot gouramis (who are very not aggressive!). I have another community tank with Bolivian rams, an angel, rummy nose, corys, and apistos, and truthfully the most "aggressive" of the fish in these tanks are the rummy nose, which isn't saying much. As long as you have good "hides" in the tank for the ropeys, I think you'll be OK. Just remember the seal up any and all holes in the top of the tank or they will escape. My ropes are in the 10 gallon QT tank right now and I've used craft netting (firm plastic stuff from JoAnn Fabrics) to close up areas around air lines, cords, and the filter -- the first few days before I got that stuff it was terrifying watching them swim around and check out the top of the tank! I have that weighted down with a glass lid and the regular lighted lid over the top to make sure they can't dislodge the mesh stuff.

I bought a Zoo Med Terra Habitat Drain Pump and it's been a game-changer. We have a small septic tank and funky old faucets so the Python wasn't really an option for me. I was siphoning water into 5 gallon buckets and dumping them out the front door and carrying 3 gallon buckets from the sink to refill the tanks and ended up hurting my back. So I bought the pump and it has made water changes a piece of cake. [2 -- 40 gallon breeders, a rimless 44 gallon , and a 75 gallon.] I stick the thing in the top of my tank to the level I want to drain (the bottom of the pump is only how far it draws water down). I bought some 10' clear 5/8" internal diameter hose sections with double barb-end adapters to make the hose as long as I want from Home Depot, then I run the hoses out to whatever flower bed I want to water, and just turn it on. It doesn't suck up my fish or my plant floaters at all. If I want to vacuum the gravel, I do it the old fashioned way with a siphon into 5 gallon buckets, then I just use the pump in those buckets with my hoses outdoors to the flower beds and empty them that way. Filling the tanks, I put the pump in the bottom of a 3 gallon bucket in the sink (well water) and run the same hoses across the house into the tank. Then I just get my water temperature right and let the bucket, fill it about 1/3 of the way, and kick the pump on and it runs the water into my tank. I dump my Prime and alkaline buffer into the fill bucket in the sink while the pump is running. I just watch the tank level and shut the pump off when the tank is full. Best thing, ever!

If you put him back in the 55, in addition to dimming lights for a few days, I'd rearrange the tank right before you put him in so it's "new" for everyone in there. If you don't already have them, I'd add some floating plants to the surface as well -- I notice my Angels seem to like "hanging around" under the red root floaters. Good luck!

So my understanding of your threads regarding the Tidals is that: (1) the skimmer sucks up your floating plants (check -- red root floaters seem to really like to get sucked up) and (2) the area around the basket allows water to bypass the filter media in the basket and flows out around the blue dial around the top "tray" area (check -- I am constantly messing with my bio-ring bags to prevent them from allowing this to happen)? So I am wondering if this bypass water situation wasn't part of my issue in setting up a new tank. Previously I have used my Tidals to upgrade from a 20 to a 40 without issues, and from my 20 to a 29 to a 75 -- all good. But I bought a Tidal 75 and hung it on the back of on of my 40s, along with the 40's permanent filter (another Tidal) to "seed" that new filter. I ran them concurrently for 3 months. So I set up another 40 gallon 10 days ago and used that new, "seeded" Tidal 75 filter, along with an older "seeded" sponge from a different, heavily stocked tank. Within 24 hours my nitrites spiked and have stayed high...I was on day 9 of 50% water changes and Prime with 2 different brands of tank starter daily and was getting nowhere (yesterday). So with nothing to lose and after thinking about these 2 threads, I thought "maybe my Tidal is allowing too much bypass?" so I couldn't establish my bio filtration system in the tank. I cleaned the sponge filter (NASTY!!! -- Microbe Lift seems like it's just algae spores and bad smell) and I cleaned the Tidal 75. The blue sponge wasn't very dirt but the inside of the housing and the outside of the basket were coated with nasty grunge. I reused that blue sponge, then pulled out the SeaChem white polishing filter that is pre-cut to fit into the filter and tossed it as it seemed too hard and I thought it might restrict water flow. I just put in some Aquarium Coop sponge (black with very large pores) on the bottom, then the blue SeaChem sponge, then some ACO polishing floss (much softer). Over that I replaced my unwashed Matrix bag. Perhaps a confounding variable was that I cut up a few small pieces of a round canister filter nitrite pad and stuck it into my Tidal under the Matrix as well. I am so over daily 20 gallon water changes! Tonight, day 10, nitrites are zero. Maybe the improved water flow thru the Tidal helped get it actually filtering my water, maybe the canister nitrite pads are magical -- I don't know. But I can see how water not actually flowing thru my filter media wouldn't allow bio filtration to occur. Anyway, just thought I'd add my experience with an unmodified Tidal.

I just fairly brutally cut mine back every once in awhile and haven't killed them yet.

A minutiae question...how long is "long?" My LFS is a 2 hour drive. They have well-processed city water and I am on a sketchy well. I am pretty new to the hobby and have always been instructed to acclimate with water added/subtracted every 15 minutes while floating the bag in the tank for temperature. It takes me about an hour. So far, I haven't killed any fish doing that, but maybe I am needlessly stressing them? Is 2 hours in a fish bag long enough for the ammonium/pH changes to develop? Am I allowing them to be in ammonia-saturated water after I open the bag, letting CO2 off-gas for the ammonium-->ammonia rxn to start, when I "drip" acclimate them? From a total water type/parameter change, drip acclimation sounds best in my situation, but maybe the drive home from the fish store is too long and I should temperature acclimate, then just "toss" them in my tank instead?

I appreciate everyone's replies on this topic. Obviously, the carbon-in-my-filter suggestion came from an "old time"fish keeper and the long-time owner of my LFS according to what I am seeing here. I did watch a portion of Cory's ACO video (it was long and very good but I ran out of time -- I'll finish it this weekend). From the responses and from what I gleaned from Cory's video, carbon is a good thing in some situations, very likely mine specifically. I have an old shallow well (28' deep) in a rural area surrounded by land that's been field-farmed extensively for probably 100 years. In the summer, the nitrates are 40ppm from the tap but as the rainy season has stretched on for 6 months, it seems the old fertilizers and such leach into the groundwater and thus into the water table that feeds my well. The nitrates are running maybe 80ppm from the tap now. I am using nitrates as the measure of "stuff" in my water. I have a 29 gallon community tank that has been doing great, and with my generally high, stable nitrates, my plants (in the tank and the pathos and such that hang out the back) are doing really well. I use the Easy Green once in awhile (monthly at most) but don't really seem to need it. 3 weeks ago my Apistogramma cacatuoides (I had 3 of them) starting acting weird, hiding and not eating. At first I assumed they were exhibiting breeding behavior as they had been displaying and guarding a little hidey-hole "territory." Anyway, the male and a female ended up dying, to my extreme unhappiness. I took the male into my old guy LFS and we did a necropsy of my little buddy. Ultimately, he did not have fatty liver but his liver was pale and abnormal, and his gills were trashed with little absorptive capacity. There was no ich and zero evidence of parasites. I test my water literally daily with zero ammonia or nitrites, a pH of 7.4-7.6, and the stable, moderately high nitrates. The diagnosis was "unknown toxin," and he suggested carbon in my filter, which I immediately went home and added. He said that the Apistos can more more sensitive to toxins in the water than other fish, whichis why only they were affected. All other fish are 100% fine (corys, hatchets, a couple gouramis, rummy-nosed tetras, and some little flame tetras). So my conclusion is that, along with old fertilizers (=nitrate)s, some other ground chemical(s) leached into my well and killed my special fish. Alternately I may somehow have inadvertently introduced something into that tank, but I am pretty careful washing my hands and rinsing or soaking everything I use. But I think using carbon with monthly carbon changes is probably a good idea for my situation. As a side benefit, I thought my water was very clear and the tank looked good, but the morning after I added the carbon to my HOB, the water was shockingly clear and beautiful, and the tank looked fantastic! My cycled-but-not-seasoned tank has had some algae issues (as expected), and the carbon cut my algae problem at least in half, virtually overnight, as well. So I am sold on using it in my situation.

I like this. I have been considering adding the CC to the gravel (it will blend in well) as I currently just have a bag of CC in my HOB above the biorings and my KH has actually decreased over the past couple of months due to well water/seasonal fluctuations.

My friend told me it is not what people do anymore and I was advised by my LFS to use it.

I would do as someone listed above but use 4 buckets: #1 for fish 1/2 full of water with the airstone; #2 for your plants, with the water level at least covering them; #3 for the substrate and any tank furniture, also covered in water; and the last for your filter(s) with water covering everything. Drive slowly and mellowly -- haha! I try to keep as much original water as possible so the move is more like a normal water change than something too new.

This is very interesting to me! I have a shallow well (28' deep) that runs with 40ppm nitrates from the tap and the pH changes, from 6.4 - 7, depending upon the time of year (higher last fall, now lower since the rains have come over winter). The water sits overnight and off-gases to around 8, which is around what my tanks run (7.6-8, depending on which test I run high or low pH). I have had to deal with various water parameter issues and ich Tx with large (50%) water changes in the past few months. Some of my ich Tx failure(s) may have been that I have fluctuated the pH fairly dramatically with a 50% water change every day while treating and adding to the stress of the sick fish, I don't know. But now that I am not currently having problems, I do a 25% water change weekly and the mixing of lower tap pH with higher tank pH doesn't seem to be a problem. Long way of saying, run a bucket of water, let it sit for 12+ hours, then test the well water pH and see what you've got, but the smaller pH water mixing doesn't seem to be a big problem.

I also have my eye on one of the 68 gallon tanks by UN Systems. I am leaning toward the 90U, which is the more "standard" shape @ 35"x22"x22." There a a somewhat LFS that sells them and I've gotten to check them out in person...they have CO2 and groovy aquascaping and I love them! In my house, tho, I actually like large numbers of tacky plastic aquarium "furniture" with java ferns and anubias wired on, so it wouldn't look nearly as cool, but still -- I want one.

My tank was cycled but not seasoned and I got a nitrite spike when I tried to Tx the tank. I did a 50% water change immediately and blew off doing the treatment.

I have had to treat larger tanks with snails and plants so I do not do the salt, nor do I elevate the water temperature, which may affect the success of my treatment. My baseline water temperature is 77*. I do a 50% water change every day, followed by adding the Ich-X, and then I have to turn out the lights and go to bed as the blue diffuses thru the water! I always treat a minimum of 3 weeks straight, once daily every day. If there are still lesions or issues, I treat longer.

I use them together -- no issues.

Yep -- same advice. There are a lot of cool fish I would really like to have but my well water hits a pH of about 8 when it sits overnight and is moderately hard with an acceptable KH (could be a littler higher). Nitrates are 40 out of the tap and that value never changes in my tanks, which lets the rhizome plants do really well and the fish seem to do OK at that level. I just pick fish that do alright in my water and add other things they might like (like a power head and lots of air stones in the Buffaloes, etc.).