DSH OUTDOORS

@ARMYVET they have certainly taken up way more room and tanks than I was expecting. But when you find a fish that grows on you like these guys have it is very worth it. It is going to get interesting if these guys keep going at the rate they are and start raising their own fry. Especially when all the fish from the outside ponds come inside...

Upload a picture of the different tanks you are considering. Sometimes the temp is what it is (most often in SW Florida) so maybe the habitat of one will make it better than some others.

Is there a third option??? Sterbai cory's preferred temperature range is 73-79 (depending on what reference you use). I know this isn't too far off but prolonged excessive heat could cause stress that shortens life span and deters any breeding you were hoping for.

Any of the Rams or Apistogramma will do great in that water.

Your current water eliminates most livebearers without supplements or conditioners. I don't think you will need an RO system as your water is already what most of us with hard water are trying to achieve with an RO system. It makes sense that your angels are doing fine, most South American cichlid species thrive in this kind of water. If this were my water I would be looking into as mentioned South American Cichlids, and a large number of tetra and barb species. Your limits are pretty endless as you can always buffer your water with crushed corals or other conditioners to raise the PH to match an given fishes needs.

That is a good question @Colu. The one fish I know for certain is my young pair of Electric Blue Acara. I need to add some black or grey Mexican Beach stones to finish out the scape and give them something to lay on. The next possibilities are as follows: 1 )My remaining unpaired Koi Angels, there are 9 currently but I'm hoping for two more pairs to bring that down to 5. OR. My group of 4 Leopold Angels, unpaired as of yet. 2) A group of 6-8 Dwarf Neon Rainbows AND Ether a group of 6-8 Dority's Zig-Zag Rainbow OR a Group of 6-8 Bozeman Rainbow. 3) A group of either 4-6 Banjo Catfish OR 6-8 Red Lizard Whiptails OR 4-6 Royal Farlowella. 4) A group of 5 Calico Bristlenose currently growing out in my outdoor pond. 5) A group of 6-8 Orange Venezuelan Cory. Hoping to stabilize water PH between 7.0 and 7.2 and maintain a temp between 80 and 82. The driftwood has been soaking for over a month and is still releasing quite a bit of tannins. I am hoping the higher volume will dilute these tannins a bit to give the benefits without darkening the water too much. Send me your thoughts suggestions!

I used the huskey systems 72"x48"x24". The wire mesh comes with it but I also placed 2'x4' 3/4" plywood over the top of the wire mesh. This plywood is supported by both the mesh and the metal frame around the edge. On one rack I have 4 ten gallons on one shelf, a 38 gallon on another shelf, two 14 gallon cubes on the bottom and storage on the very top.

Evening everyone! With a basement fish room anything over 75 gallons pretty much needs to be acrylic. I searched long and hard for a good used one and was able to find this one. The tank measures 72"x24"x24". I built the stand last week with 2x4s doubled up and a 1.5" butcher block top, it will be finished in the front with white trim and matching doors. 120lbs of Flourite Dark makes up the base layer and is capped with 90lbs of imagitarium black sand. Hardscape of rock and wood. Planted with assorted Val, Anubius and Swords. Filtration is currently 4 medium sponge filters. I will most likely add a power head for a bit more flow and the tank is heated with a Hygger 500W. One of the medium sponge filters was fully seeded but I'll give the bacteria on the sponge and the plants time to grow.

My tanks run between 80 and 82.

Admittedly I'm newer to Angels but what I've done so far has been working. Your quarter to silver dollar sized group of 5 is exactly what I started with. At that size it took about 3-4 months before I had my first pair break off. I was just finishing up my racking system so the pair got moved to a 20 long and the remaining 3 got moved to a 40. After moving to the 20 the pair was laying every 8-10 days and I was able to hatch out 30-40 on one of those spawns by pulling the cone. I was hooked at that point and got an opportunity for another 10 of the same Koi and another 4 Leupold. All unpaired went into a 75 knowing they would be pairing off rather quickly. That was two weeks ago. Since then I have had another two pairs form that have been moved. Sure there was some jostling in that busy tank but no injuries to date. The remaining 9 Koi will go into my new 180 that is cycling and the plants are getting established. The 4 Leopold will stay in the 75. I'm running out of tanks to moved pairs into so looking to see how they will raise things on their own. Most of the other Angel advice I've seen tells me I'm doing it all wrong, but this is what is working for me. See pictures in more detail in my Koi Angel thread. https://forum.aquariumcoop.com/topic/14631-koi-angel-fish/?tab=comments#comment-126932

Do you invite the ex wife over for a swim after getting the 3 gators??? 🤔 😂

I have a number of tanks seeded with black worms. If you have cory's they will sift through the sand and find them periodically. In those tanks I do not see the blackworms sticking out of the substrate, only the occasional one against the glass in the substrate. In species only tanks, whether it be angels or swordtails or other livebearers the blackworms are noticeably sticking out of the substrate. I am sure these fish occasionally pick them off for a snack but they must not feel too pressured if they are not hiding in the substrate. I have tried daphnia and other similar cultures with little success. They are always in my tanks with higher populations until I put fish in, then they disappear pretty quickly. I have no doubt they are still there, but they are a prey species so their numbers are drastically reduced once the predators are introduced.

Another exciting evening at the Outdoors household. Had another two angels in the co-ed dorm pair off. Pulled them to a new tank and clipped the leaf they laid on to another tank. We also had a pair I pulled last week lay eggs on the glass in their tank. I'm going to leave them in hopes I can get some of these pairs to raise fry in their own tanks.

Far from local. I'm in Minnesota.

17 days from spawn and I have 25-30 fat healthy fry. No losses the last two days.

Same species, drastically different sizes...

I got spoiled growing up in Northern Minnesota. I had 300 lakes to choose from within 15 miles of my house. Had a different lake for every occasion and every species. See below for some of my personnel best fish, a slow day on hard water (ice) and my daughters first largemouth.

Although I have had slightly better results than @lefty o with these it isn't much better. Maybe 50/50 at best of the dozen or so I have tried to start this year. No explanation on why one tank worked and one did not either. I have had one sprout and the other in the same tank will not.

A fan over the top will allow for evaporation which will bring the temperature down. The biggest problem with higher temperatures is it does not dissolve oxygen as well as cooler water. Just make sure that you have plenty of air going into your tank and your guppies should be fine. At that temp they will most likely breed even faster than they normally do.

I need option 4 for all of them! 3 gallon to 180 gallons and everything in between I love them all. Single species 33 longs if I could only have 1, but of course I'd need 40-50 of them.

Actually, to stay on topic. That picture is actually from Lake of the Woods. The Canadian border as part of the Indiana Territory was supposed to intersect at the Mississippi river and the 49th parallel. As we all know now the Mississippi doesn't go that far north. So they followed the rainy river from lake superior and the agreed upon line between the great lakes all the way through Lake of the Woods to a point directly north of the Mississippi head waters. And that is why Minnesota has that little notch in it, and why I was able to catch my personnel best 28" Walleye in the USA instead of Canada.

That would be a delicious northern Minnesota Walleye. Caught in 4 feet of water over a sandbar just after dark on a full moon. It seems the shiners like to spawn there under those conditions and the walleyes take advantage, as do I 😉 And another one, different lake, different time and too big to eat that went back in the water.

Although I'm a math major history is way more fun and exciting! My favorite time period would encompass the frontier days of the United States and Canada. My favorite resource for this time period are books authored by Allen W. Eckert. They read like fiction but when written they were historically accurate and follow individuals through their days on the frontier. A close second would be the time just after the civil war to the end of World War II. Which was basically a time on earth where countries played whos is bigger for 60 - 70 years with drastic outcomes.

You may have mentioned it but I didn't catch it. Where exactly are you?!?!? 😂 The reason I ask, and state it province is good, I want to know what weather you are insulating against and the kind of moisture you are protecting against. @ARMYVET and @lefty o have been great guides so far, just want to catch up to be able to add anything I can.

Without knowing the collection point or length I'll take a shot in the dark. Bigmouth Shiner, Notropis Dorsalis