780 Litre Tank

[ricbea]

Hi simonas,
 
Thank you for the kind words, it is my intention to keep the journal going but you know how life is...the tank itself is actually easier to manage that I thought it was going to be and therefore is giving me  extra time to do other things. The changes in the tank in the last 7 weeks are good and it definitely helps keeping a journal as I get to see the changes and how the fish grow and so on.
 
One area I am really not happy with is the rock formations and the dead spots they are creating in the tank. I really need to work out how to create a better flow so I can eliminate those dead spots and clear the detritus that I am sure is collecting in between the formations. One potential solution that I am looking at is to add a sump that has the outlet down behind the formations and put a directional nozzle on it. The trouble is I know nothing about sumps and am somewhat restricted on space now.
 
Yes, I am English. Been here for many years now. 
 
Richard.

 

[ricbea]

Hi Everyone,
 
Hope you are all keeping well. We finally are getting hit with snow here, last 2 days have been a constant downfall.
 
That aside, i have a fairly large problem with my tank... It is a good and bad problem, I now have 3 electric yellows holding which is good and bad as previously stated. Good because it means that the tank is in good shape and the fish are happy , bad because I don't have enough tanks to run as nurseries. I am absolutely petrified to ask my wife if I can get another 2,3,4,5 infinite number of tanks to use as nurseries/grow out tanks.
 
This is where my personal dilemma kicks in, do I leave it to survival of the fittest or is it possible to grow out fry from different mothers in the same nursery? I don not feel comfortable (so much) with the survival of the fittest and in my live bearer tank I made sure all fry were moved to nursery until they were big enough to not be tasty treats, the big difference here was I was able to judge pretty accurately when the mother was going to give birth and use a birthing tank. With the the way the cichlid tank is set and the size of it it was be nigh on impossible for me to get the mother without causing her an immense amount of stress.
 
Any ideas anyone PLEASE?
 
Sorry if this sounds like a rant, it really isn't just want to do the best for fish.
 
Richard 

 

[hobby5]

It surely will not be the last time they reproduce, so I would leave it to nature. What are you going to do with them afterwards anyway? There are not endless buyers But if the fry is about the same size it should be no problem at all to raise them together in the same tank.

 

[ricbea]

Hi hobby5,
 
My local LFS takes all my live bearer fry (grown-out) and has already agreed to take the cichlids when they are about 1". I get credits back for food or whatever else i need from the shop. I guess it will be survival of the fittest and the surplus are passed onto the LFS. 
 
Wishing everyone a splendid weekend.
 
Richard.

 

[ricbea]

Hi Everyone,
 
Well the electric yellow babies are out 

First mouth brooders born in my tank. Feel very happy and almost proud. This tank has been challenging from the moment I saw it. I am really looking forward to watching all these fish mature and hopefully have many more fry. 
 
I will try to get pictures but in reality they are hiding in the rocks at the back of the tank nearly 80 cm away, it will be difficult if not impossible. I wont disturb the rock formation just for a picture. There will be plenty of other opportunities, sooner rather than later maybe.
 
There are 2 more holding and they are living openly very close to the front of the tank. I am toying with the idea of setting up a live web-cam feed so I can keep an eye on proceedings whilst at work. (TAD obsessed maybe)
 
Richard.

 

[jag51186]

Congrats on the babies!! Must be doing a proper job with the parents to get that many broods going! Good luck with all the extra mouths to feed!!

 

[ricbea]

Thanks jag, i think i can manage the food bill. If not, well the wife will have to go hungry, she did say to me at the beginning if I am going to do it i need to do it properly so she will understand.. But seriously, these fish are so interactive, it is almost as if they want to speak with me and its not only at feeding time. I have my chair close to one end of the tank and when i am sat down they are constantly up and down the tank, pop over have a look and then go off. They have personalities I swear.The measure in what I am saying will be proven or not when I set up the web-cam and there is no interaction during normal working hours.

 

[ricbea]

Good morning everyone,
 
A sad day today, as some of you know my BN ancistrus was becoming more and more active, he was waiting for food at dinner time and very confident. It appears he got too confident as I found him on the outside the tank. Somehow he decided to make a leap of faith from water to dry land. I have covers all over my tank to avoid this very thing from happening, but rather foolishly I didn't think about my sump overflow. The sump is not connected and he leaped over the 3cm divider and unfortunately passed on. The only thing I can think that caused it is he swam too close to the Brichardi and their fry and they darted at him, which, in turn caused him to swim away in what turned out to be the wrong direction.
My daughter is heartbroken, she had many names for him but the favourite was hairy head, not too many hairy fish around. So tonight we must go shopping for another but it just wont be the same.
 
All the best,
Richard.

 

[Munroco]

Sad

 

[ricbea]

Hi everyone,
 
After mt last sad post, I am happy to be making a happy post.
One of my yellow labs decided today was the day and released her fry. It all started last night when she came to the front corner of the tank basically where I sit (me on the outside of course) and she started spitting them out, only 2 at a time and then recapturing them. She was being incredibly territorial and chasing everything else off. I tried to catch her without success and was resigned to them being fresh food for the tank. When I woke up this morning she was still holding and in the same place but looking very stressed, so off I went to the local DIY shop, bought some netting and 2 metres of drilled plastic. In my mind I was going to make a divider for the tank and let her have some peace, in the end I made a smaller divider and let her get behind it. The it took 10 seconds to catch her and I moved her to the nursery. Within 60 seconds she had released all her fry, 12 in total. I have since let her back into the big tank, she is so much happier now! I will post some pics as soon as I am able to cut. I also managed to get some video from last but not too sure how to post that yet.
 
Happy days,
Richard.

 

[ricbea]

Hi All,
 
So a quick update on becoming a new dad again! All the fry are doing great in the grow out tank, 2 days in and no losses yet. Mum is looking fab, she is back in peak form, colour is back to normal bright yellow and she is relaxed. I will post some pictures tonight when I get home form work of the fry.
 
Just a quick question for any cichlid owners out there, is it normal for fry to fight? I see 2 of them kinda beating 7 shades out of each other. It looks super aggressive, maybe because they are small. I really don't know. They don't get at it too often and it lasts only a short period of time but all the same it is not particularly nice to observe.
 
laters,
Richard.