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anewbie

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Posts posted by anewbie

  1. 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 ....

  2. Couple of new pictures:

    lip_1.jpg.8bc1f1a775f0faf7ea41777433618662.jpg

     

    And the transition of my 10:

    (old picture)

    nn1.jpg.de77b3f289f72dd9707d298f56fadce8.jpg

     

    to:

    (today):
    10_2.jpg.037298dc0a10b56559b3ab83000fb2b1.jpg10_1.jpg.ba192487bbb3068a4d047e6df8b15d95.jpg

     

    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 !

     

  3. On 4/20/2024 at 4:46 AM, madmark285 said:

    For Tetra which is well established in the USA, it could be a patent or licensing issues. Tetra may be buying/licensing the filter from another company and could not secure the USA rights. 

    On patents, alot of stuff from China is sold using storefronts on Amazon. It makes no sense to sued them for patent infringement, they will just close up and reopen under a different name. But Tetra could be sued, they have money. There could be an USA patent for the latch mechanism to remove the hoses for example. 

    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 ?

     

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  4. 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.

     

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  5. On 4/19/2024 at 7:28 PM, Vítor said:

    Im from Portugal so i can find it here in every store, i would like to know why certain brands don't sell in certain countries

    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.

     

     

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  6. 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. 

    • Like 1
  7. 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.

     

  8. On 4/18/2024 at 9:14 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

    Tank update: not going well at all. At this rate, no AGA this year. It’s obviously early, but hashing out a layout isn’t going well.

    Recent changes in dosing: Moved GH to about 6 degrees, Ca to 35ppm and lowered Mg to 5ppm. Reduced water changes to 50% while double dosing after water change and then 2 more doses over the week. Micros dosed 3 times a week.

    Trip wall is going well and only the left side needs to be added.

    I’m trying to use 2 Dutch streets but I’m not liking it so far. I do have a few plants just in the tank for future use making it look chaotic but some are in place. 5 more plants ordered and all green. Decisions will be made shortly whether to use 3 or 4 reds. 
     

    image000000.jpeg

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

     

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  9. On 4/18/2024 at 8:15 AM, NOLANANO said:

    Yes but doesn't it mean she is preparing to drop eggs and entice a male to fertilize them? In my mind, I would put the coconut hut in the tank and then she would claim it as she is preparing for fry.  Maybe I put the hut in the tank at all times?

    I wouldn't say I am necessarily trying to breed the apistos but if they are gonna breed, I want to give the mom a better chance at raising her fry than how this first round went.

     

    The sad news is the fry are all dead. I am not sure exactly where it went wrong but I think its because I couldn't find a low enough flow spot in my tank to hang the breeder box. My spray bar makes the top have decent flow and I think the flow killed them. IDK, I am grasping at straws.

    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.

     

  10. On 4/17/2024 at 1:34 PM, NOLANANO said:

    Would it be of value if I see a yellow female in the future? I am trying to figure out a way to get a better survival rate than 5-10 fry before I notice them and can put them in the breeder box.

    On another note: Do I need to get a 10G tank for once they outgrow the breeder box or can I release them into the community tank at that point. The Apistos are the largest fish I own so I don't think they'd get eaten but maybe bullied?

    Also is frozen Daphnia small enough for fry? just curious.

    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.

     

  11. On 4/17/2024 at 11:47 AM, NOLANANO said:

    I have no idea how I did it but my Apisto Borelli have fry.  Seeing the mother on top of a rock with about 6-8 fry made me do a little research which taught me that she was most likely out in the open because the cave she chose to lay her eggs had too many openings and she couldn't properly defend her offspring. This makes sense since there were so few left.

    Upon my research I also found that the fry most likely wouldn't live in my 75G community tank because there are too many predators. being a good fish owner, I ran to the store and got a breeder box and a turkey baster and sucked up the fry and put them in the breeder box. I also cooped up the mom and threw her in there too so she could be with her babies.  I think I messed up though because the babies are hiding under the plastic frame of the breeder box and I fear they will not make it.

    I have purchased a coconut hut and fry food from ACO so that I can give the female(s) a better chance of protecting their fry next time. I don't have any other tanks so I can't remove any fish other than into the breeder box. I do have a few questions though:

    1) What do I do now?

    2) Was moving momma and her babies into the breeder box a good idea? They don't seem nearly as happy as when they were in general population.

    3) Is there any shot the momma can raise fry in a community tank if I provide a proper cave for her to shelter her fry?

    4) How did I get them to mate? I have read that Apistos aren't as easily bred as Rams but I have never had rams get beyond the eggs and I have Apisto fry within a month of getting them with zero effort on my part.

    5) were the conditions just right and this is likely a one time thing or once they start breeding is it likely they will do it again?

    6) If I do get fry to live, what's the going rate to a LFS?

    @anewbie @Guppysnail @Lennie @tolstoy21 tagging a few people that I think have experience with Apistos.

    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. 

  12. On 4/17/2024 at 12:30 PM, Sartor said:

    Yeah, I thought of cichlid, but honestly I don’t want to deal with the tank aggression I’ve heard of with them. And, generally just haven interested me much. 

     

    I’ll have to look at the Kh, to see where it’s at. 

    For most other fish though, is it harmful/ stressful to have a high Kh? I’ve been told stable parameters and slow acclimating are most important, most species can adapt to KH.  

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

  13. 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.

     

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  14. 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 ?

     

  15. On 4/16/2024 at 7:54 PM, macdaddy36 said:

    @Myersc1989 has njisseni, not panduro. I was just using my experience with panduro as an example because I know they are closely related.

    Does everything you said about the panduro still apply to njisseni?

    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:

    black2.jpg.f9bed3666f52347f21ca258d5f6cb129.jpgblack3.jpg.c0cd961e419a63b7fcc7ecdec427d578.jpg

     

     

    but over time after a large number or water changes it will lighten up.

     

     

     

  16. On 4/15/2024 at 7:54 PM, macdaddy36 said:

    This seems like a great plan and that It will be a great tank!

    3 pairs of Apistogramma, especially nijsseni in a 125 still might have some issues. I have A. panduro, which are members of the same complex and are very closely related to njisseni and I would hesitate to put more than one pair in any tank less than 4 feet. You have a 6 foot tank (I think), so I would think that you could probably get away with it. I have never kept my panduro with other apistos but so far the have attacked (and done damage to): Honey Gourami and each other, and killed Beckford's Pencilfish, guppies and endlers. In such a large tank, especially one with decent height your tank mates will probably be fine (except for maybe the corys, but probably fine)

    I say you try the 3 pairs. Make sure to add them all at the same time and build sufficient cover and territorial boundaries. Also, continue to monitor them even after they have settled in, as when they mature and start breeding their aggression can increase.

    Most importantly, make sure you have a backup plan if there are issues.

    @anewbie has more experience with apistogramma in large tank than I do, so they will probably have more advice.

    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.

     

  17. On 4/13/2024 at 3:22 PM, Flipper said:

    She is SO beautiful. 

    re: Plecos.   I've had only one pleco and he/she is a tiny dwarf clown pleco.  I've looked that up many times and Google has never found a single mention of a "dwarf" clown, but my LFS sells them.  I've named it Bashful and just assume he's a boy, because he acts like a boy to me LoL

    If I ever get a large tank, I'll try a big pleco.  For now, I absolutely love little Bashful.  I feel protective over him, like he's my baby 👶 ❤️

    20230118_171759_exported_89353.jpg.ae7499bf4a44ca6f33a1502f25648a48.jpg

     

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

     

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  18. Peat will not help you with your high kh. The kh has to be around 0 for peat to useful. Also if you were to use ro water and peat the peat should be put in filter bags so it doesn't clog things up.

    Also a lot of water companies put in additiives to raise ph to protect copper pipes; those additives will dissipate over night so when testing tap water you should put some in a cup and let it sit for a day or so before testing for ph.

     

    • Thanks 1
  19. On 4/7/2024 at 1:58 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

    @anewbie if you have discord there's Jonny from dan's fish on one of the server trying to ID some unknown plecos that look very similar.  Might be a place to reach out to if you're ever trying to track down the correct species.  My condolences.   Moving fish tanks is such a grueling process and losses on top of it makes it so much more difficult. 

    I would love to see you have that photo printed / framed or something if you wanted to.  It's that beautiful. 

    I do not use discord; too many competing services; enough is enough 😉

     

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  20. Updated picture of my discus aquarium - approx 1 month has passed since it and the previous picture when i put on a black background. The biggest difference is the a. ciripus has grown about 7 inches higher and have gotten a deeper red/purple colouring:

     

    discus_update.jpg.447532c318563c947e5e5759c0f48385.jpg

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