anewbie

I never use dirt in my tanks - i don't want my fishes to get dirty.

Huh? I've had melon swords that grow 2 feet tall.

Fyi been renamed n. dimorpha

The problem is that there are variation of visible pattern on many cory (just look at the pictures for sodalis); there is more than just the pattern in identifying the fish and you need to find a site that actually explains how the different species differ. I focus more on dwarf cichild - I went dizzy at looking at all the sterbai like species. I do agree the cory in question does not look like your typical sterbai but some of these other cory have so many different patterns ....

IF you check the for sale area of this forum you will see that @cinnebuns is selling some home raised panda.

Pseudohemiodon aff. apithanos

Couple of new pictures: And the transition of my 10: (old picture) to: (today): I did not run out and buy pearl weed - the tank has had pearl weed in it for 3 years BUT my last mystery snail died (or last one in that aquarium) and the pearl weed took off like a weed and in doing so it drowned out the hornworth (which is sitll in the tank). Sooner or later i'll fish out a mystery snail and add it to the aquarium and well we shall see what happens then !

That is also a possibility that they choose to let another company rebrand it. There is another company with a new line of canister filter can't remember the name but was looking at them last week - oh yea hygger has a whole set of new canister filters. Question is are the hygger the same as jbl ?

Normal for the species; melon swords grow taller.

Could also be Corydoras haraldschultzi; i'm not sure of the actual detail to distinguish between them as it sometime comes down to number of spines et all. Also different regions might have different patterns. Having said that the lower body does appear to be closer to elegans. It is not unusual if they are wild caught to be misidentified or labelled.

It is a fair question but usually it is a corporate decision not a technical decision. It isn't free to sell a product in another country so the company has to make decision between cost of expansion vs profits. It can also be they are testing the waters as one say. I presume it is a new product so perhaps they want to see market reaction. There have been companies that refuse to expand to certain regions due to cost and others that remove their product from certain region (eheim left usa approx 6 years ago) because they find it is not cost effective. Remember that certain region also has regulations around certain products or class of products that might induce additional design or process expense so it is not simple as finding dealers in a region even if you choose to let the dealer handle warranty support and restrict contact to email. Also markets are different - for example perhaps fluval is sufficiently inexpensive in usa they can't price their products to be competitive. Not stating this is the case just giving an example.

I can't comment on jbl products but if you really want one you can get one even in usa.

I've used zoo med filter - i think the 30 (they have two models); they are fairly inexpensive and it seem to work well the past 4 years. It also has a nice quick release for easy cleaning. Yea i just checked (amazon has great purchase history); it was the 30.

One nice smaller central american fish is the rainbow cichild; another very attractive fish is the elliot. There are a lot of nice fishes in central america (not all cichild); they just don't get any press. I'd start by testing the hardness of your tap water and then pick what is appropriate; it is a pia to constantly change tap water chemistry though people do it all the time. Also you might have some personal interest so you might have a natural love for a specific type or species of fish. Also just be aware that from time to time aquariums to spring a leak so try to put your new aquarium in a location where a leak won't cause $20,000 of damage.

You said it is not going well but it looks pretty decent to may novice eye.

Breeder box is small; did you feed them food they would eat (live bbs is best bet); did you remove all uneaten food so that no ammonia would build up from decaying food - anyway i'm not sure how large this breeder box is and what you did but i can say that frys are very delicate and sensitive to water quality et all. When it comes to breeding borelli coconut huts sometime works but sometime the female prefer other areas. Anyway she should breed again and you will have another try. Good luck.

Just because she is yellow doesn't mean she has frys; if you want to breed borelli i'd recommend a 20 long with just the borelli and maybe a few dithers like pencil fishes or ember tetra. Frozen baby daphnia might be small enough as various small dry food; the issue is the first couple of weeks the frys will respond better to moving food hence live food tends to work better.

coconut shell has no value here; small piece of driftwood or cholla; floating plants (hornworth, pearlweed, frogbit, ...). For the first week or so the best option for the frys are live baby brine shrimp - the movement helps trigger 'eat me' reflex. After that fine food but use that turkey-blaster to suck out uneaten food. Putting them with the mom is fine but she is probably scared out of her wits so she has told the frys to hide.

i never mentioned cichild (though most fishes in lake mawai are such); i only mentioned areas where fishes that like hardwater frequently originate.

I'd leave it messy; fishes love messy plants. The messier the better. Of course you might want the plants to fit your visual needs rather than your fishes so i suppose there is that aspect but... still something to think about.

I'd get your gh/kh tested - vaguely it sounds like you might have harder water and if so i'd drop your current stocking plans and go for either central american fishes or lake malwai fishes. Also keep in mind you have a narrow tall box so it favors short tall fishes as oppose to long fishes. Nearly every fish you have mentioned so far favor softwater. Why make a square peg fit in a round hole ?

Yes; to my limited knowledge they are very simliar in behavior. The general philosophy you can keep so many together that they can't really establish a large area and the aggression gets spread; but if just a couple of pairs (or three) i would expect sooner or later the weaker ones to get kicked out (i.e, killed) but who knows maybe they will find harmony. Having said that there are better species for this sort of thing. i have 5 krobia (2 pairs and an odd one out) in a 120 and they pretty much get along. Borelli is a species that some folks put in a colony (though i would not keep just a couple of group as that is more likely to leave a weak fish open to attack. a. winkelfleck might work in a large group (again just a couple of males is more likely to result in the weak ones being eliminated). I had a pair of nijjensi for a couple of years but i kept them alone. They are nice fishes (mine were true f1); Anyway an attempt is made to keep them lots of leaves are really helpful as the fishes will swim under them - just make sure they are large and not laid flat against the bottom - you want drift wood or stones to make them hang at angles - and as they decay add new ones. I do have a group of 8 a. bitatina in a 4ftx4ft cube. My configuration is 3 males and 5 females (nijjensi are pair forming while bitatina are harem breeders). Anyway can't hurt to try it just don't be upset if after a year you only have 1 pair left; and it works great ! -- I was re-reading op original post and there are a number of other issues i see: first pleco don't mix with apisto either - same reason a cory. tetra will eat frys - if you don't care about frys why get male and female? There was mentioned ot putting crushed coral in the filter - yet wanting blackwater. crush coral is the opposite it makes the water harder while blackwater is all about soft acidic water. You might want to add peat to the filter (use filter bags); but definitely not coral. -- If you want biotope most pleco like strong currents while most apisto are found in area with reduce current. Anyway not sure of your objective. Oh and to answer your question - yea you can just laod the tank up with leaves et all. Initially the water are will be very dark like this: but over time after a large number or water changes it will lighten up.

I wouldn't do it; panduro are one of the more aggressive species can can claim 4+ feet of territory. Doesn't mean they will but why play with fire. I have a pair of a. lineta and several blue rams in my discus aquarium (6 feet long 2 feet wide); and while a. lineta are relatively passive i can tell you they never object to taking a cheap shot at the rams. There are more passive species than panduro which might work so if you really want more than 2 panduro (or any other dwarf cichild) i'd look for a more passive species. Having said that you can get a nice pair of panduro and then throw in some larger cichild that hangs closer to the top of the aquarium. -- Btw you also should not mix cory with panduro. Panduro like to establish territory and tell others to stay out - this territory will be near the bottom - cory do not understand territory so everytime they enter the panduro area the panduro might take a shot at them - and on occasion might even poke an eye out here and there. - As it goes with individual fishes you can never tell how it will work out but you should not be surprise if things go badly. Btw if you do go with more than one pair make sure you add lots of leaf littler for them to hide under and feed them in multiple locations so they aren't forced to visit each other territory.

Careful when you say big pleco; some get over 2 feet long.... now that's a nice size pleco....

updated picture of b. cupido with one m. egregius upper left: