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Mr. Ed's Aquatics

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  1. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I don't think that this is a myth or uncommon as both my 46 and 72 bowfronts had the brace break and both ended up leaking. I fixed both by using a stainless steel brace replacement and an extra thick bead of black aquarium silicone. Now that I do aquarium service, I offer tank repairs and the only tank I had to repair was also a bowfront that cracked the top frame and separated the front panel. I know you didn't list this as an option, but for what you want, maybe look at a 75 instead of a 55 or 60. Both 55's and 60's only have 4 square feet of ground space for plants and hardscape. A 75 ends up with 6 square feet and allows much bigger hardscape and more room to layer plants and create depth. If you do go with a bowfront, I'd preemptively reinforce the cross brace with something stronger than 1/4" plastic they come with.
  2. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I had a pair of Koi Angels that ended up being 2 females. Saw a beautiful Koi being rehomed online and figured I'd try again for a boy. The same afternoon it cleared quarantine and went in with the ladies he spawned with the dominant female. Before the lights went off that night I noticed he was on the other side of the tank spawning with the 2nd female. Sometimes you get lucky, I've also had pairs that were definitely male and female that never paired up even after a year.
  3. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I thought I put too much in or messed something up the 1st time. So bright orange and soooooo many. The next batch was just as good, so now I use just one teaspoon and get what I used to get from 2. Well worth it and the fry love it, even the adults in the tanks with fry baskets go crazy for it. It's funny watching a giant Venustus or Peacock hunting the tiny shrimps.
  4. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
  5. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I do sell local, but I have never shipped. If a store can order you some, that's probably better than having them shipped cross country.
  6. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    So as far as I understand it, the extremely slow growth rate makes farming them less cost effective as wild collecting them. At the moment, no one's shipping out of Africa so wholesalers are having to get stock from local breeders like me, if at all. Wet spot may have them back in stock, but I have had 2 people last week asking me to ship them some because they couldn't get them from there and 15 a pop is kinda high. Great little fish though, even if they grow super slow.
  7. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I have not seen the holey rock cause a big enough jump in ph and switched to lava rock and Aragonite. Lava rock has tons of surface area for beneficial bacteria and weighs less than holey rock and Aragonite seems to be the best for increasing the ph. Congrats on your new shellies, definitely one of my favorite tanks.
  8. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    Had a few new batches and thought I'd get a couple pics... Snow white cichlids getting a grow out tank. Super Red Empress fry moved from the Ziss egg tumbler to the Zise breeder basket (shout out to the Coop, loving the Ziss breeding merch). Even some of my baby Appistogramm got moved in to the display tank. What's everyone else working on?
  9. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    Yeah, I wanted floating plants in this one so the top sponges are diffusers and the intake is to keep out fry and shrimp. Swapped sides on the HOB and got the bigger Co-op sponge. But coming along nicely so far.
  10. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I could be wrong, but I think the trays he uses are from an old microwave meal. I seem to remember hearing that on a video and kinda chuckling at his ingenuity. Some people see trash, Dean sees a way to breed fish.
  11. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    Thanks, that's the one I'm currently working on and I think it's coming out nicely. There's a hobbyist that makes those decorations out of resin and molds with magnets embedded inside so you can put them however you like. He has several different molds and has a few different colors/looks. Pretty sure he's on Ebay (seller boe617) if you want to check out what else he makes.
  12. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    While Multies are pretty hearty compared to other Tanganyikans, they do like a high ph (7.8 - 9.0). You can probably keep them alive in 7.4, but they probably won't breed in those conditions. If you're looking at just keeping a few with other Tanganyikans and not trying to breed them, you can probably roll with what you have. If you're trying to setup a Multi tank and get fry, I'd keep trying to raise the ph closer to 8 at least. My substrate is 100% Aragonite sand. I tried regular sand with buffers like coral, but it was never enough to get the ph near 8. Swapped out with Aragonite and it is 8.2 consistently now. Once I had them in the higher ph, they started breeding and the fry would survive. Before that, I almost never saw fry. And when I did, it would be only 1 or 2 and they would die soon after.
  13. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I picked up a blue eyed lemon pleco and it is under the sponge whenever I look for it. Every morning, all the small driftwood is moved and there's pleco poo all over the white sand. I kinda think I got one that's messing with me.
  14. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I have dreams about not having to do water changes myself.... but for now I'm happy enough to have a Python to refill the tanks and a nice pond pump attached to the old Aqueon siphon hose to drain them. I'm trying really hard to only improve the fish room with money made from the fish room, but I have been looking at everyone else's water and air systems and think I might bend that rule for something similar to yours. Nice work, looking good... and only 2 years? I installed a wall mount a little while ago and the receipt was 07/16 lol
  15. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I was surprised when I brought in some cabomba and purple cabomba that I initially got from a friend to my LFS. They looked at me like I asked if they wanted to buy heroin or something. Then the nicer employee explained it's illegal to grow, transport or sell in Washington and they were supposed to report me to fish and game. Yikes
  16. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I've never felt like you come across that way, just always positive and helpful. My wife has to remind me to show my support by just giving the Coop business. I think 2-3 times, in a video, you'd be needing help or something (like that last members video) and I'd say to my better half "He's only about an hour away, I should offer to help" ... only to realize from "the look" that I'd maybe just look like a crazy fan instead of a helpful guy who appreciates all the help and advice. I have to resist the same thing with Bob since I live by him too lol
  17. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    Honestly, the fish room had already spawned fish room 1 - African cichlids, fish room 2 - American cichlids.... and then respawned fish room 3 - fry. LOL
  18. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I am a huge cichlid fan and have started the breeding process because @Cory inspired me to start a business that I'm passionate about. While it's true, there is difficulty getting quality African cichlids in the Seattle area. I have been looking into demand and I believe there is a market here that is severely underserved. So, along with designing, servicing and possibly renting beautiful African cichlid display tanks, I've been importing and breeding many species that used to be staples in Washington but have become increasingly difficult to source here and with no shipping out of Africa now, it's a sellers market atm. So far I've only provided fish to my clients, but I have been looking for a LFS to partner with or maybe even a website like Bob's, just minus the rainbows and plus the cichlids. If you're a fan of shellies like multies, brevis, similis, gold ocellatus, etc. Or Tanganyikans like julies, tropheus, cips, brichardi, etc. And of course Malawi's like mbuna, aulonocara, and bigger haps... good things are coming back to Seattle.
  19. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    If you're running air, consider turning it off. Had one pump with the filter clog with paint (from the fumes I would think) and another that I pulled the little filter from cloud the tank water. Took forever to figure out since I had very carefully covered the tanks.
  20. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I'm trying to wait for my next Coop box to get some of those new plant holding rock decorations... emphasis on trying.
  21. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    Looks like a cherry barb to me, juvenile or female by the coloring.
  22. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
  23. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    As you guessed, this joke has been made a few dozen times in my house. LoL
  24. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    Technically it's the "guest room" and I kinda like napping with the fish or stretching out to watch stuff my wife doesn't like (like Poker or fish videos). But I'm trying to get rid of the queen size and replace with a twin xl. Extra 20" of room would make working on the bottom tanks easier and give a better view of them.
  25. Mr. Ed's Aquatics
    I keep my Endlers in a 55 hex and they seem to do the same thing.
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