Plant update...

So I replanted all my pants and put a divider in the tank for now till I figure out what to do with my pleco. The snook and bichir love the plants the bichir especially, he swims up through them then lays on top.  Once I figure out what I'm doing with my pleco and how I really want my plants organized I'll probably post new pics.

D*mn Pleco...

SOB uprooted all my plants according to the text msg my brother just sent me (figured this would happen just hoping it wouldn't) so I had him sit them in a bucket of water till I can fix them tomorrow stupid pleco. I'm gonna have to move him to another tank.

If you're interested you can have him AquaZ just get back to me. =)

Really Sweet Tanks

Found pics and video of this cool tanks on MFKs. Just wanted to give them some love. They belongs to jcardona1 on MFKs.

Red Wolf with Sand

So Im thinking about recreating what dru decided to to a month or so ago...
Pretty much copying the sweet ideas backed behind hours of research from the other two authors

Going with two red wolf fish (if everything works out).

Also going with sand substrate and real bright green and red plants.

This will assure a nice planted tank as well as some heavy aggression.
Found them for pretty good pricing online...shipping is killer though.

Any of the other two authors want in so we can split the shipping, maybe even three ways?

Hybrid Cichlids

Heres some pics of Hybrid Cichlids I found on MFKs. (None of these fish or pictures are mine)



Jack Dempsey X Blood Parrot



Jaguar X Blood Parrot



Firemouth X Convict



Convict X Red Devil



Jack Dempsey X Texas




Dovii X Jaguar



Dovii X Red Devil

DIY 3D Rock Wall

I'm very tempted to do this after watching this video. Only problem is that you have to have your tank empty to install and my new fish are going to be here soon.

Maybe I can put them in the 30 gallon until I get this back ground made. IDK. What do you think Dru?

ECO-Aqualizer...

This thing sounds pretty amazing but I'm gonna have to look into it more and see if it truly does what is claims to do. Basically its a polarized tube that frees up water molecules of the bad stuff like Ammonia and etc so you don't need to do water changes as often and your fish get better oxygen in their water. 

You can check out the link:

http://www.ecoaqualizer.com/aquarium.htm

***Elelectric Blue and Blue Gene Jacks on their way***

I just ordered 3 EBJDs and 2 BGJDs for an amazing price. $40 for all of them with $15 shipping. Will keep updated. Hopefully will have them by next week.


Here are some pics from the dealer:

Parents



EBJDs



BGJDs

Polls

We have a new page for polls. Please re-vote. Enjoy

FishTanX Polls

Uruguayan Cichlids

Live fish Direct has a section labeled "Uruguayan Cichlids" with some cool fish Ive never seen before. Going to make a post on MFKs and see what people think. Will do some research later and post back.


Heres the MFK Thread.
Heres the Cichlid.com Thread.


Heres some pics.

Mmmm...

Gonna head to the store today get some frozen cocktail shrimp and some cucumber see how my fish like it =)

Just some photos...

New Caves...

One inch per gallon rule

I found this on a thread in monsterfishkeepers.com. Its a good read and helps clarify some common mistakes.

Thread

"The "one inch per gallon" rule

---

This is something that comes up fairly often and is rather misunderstood therefore I will attempt to clarify the original meaning of the general guideline of "one inch of fish per gallon of water".

This is a suggested guideline for a well maintained and filtered tank.
It does not apply to all fish as some have differing requirements.

Here is the part that is being misunderstood.

The "rule" does NOT refer to the length of the fish!

The "rule" applies to the cubic inches of fish in the tank.

This means that a 5" gourami should be measured in this manner,
length overall (5"),
thickness, (1/2"),
height, (2 1/2"),
so for this fish you multiply the following, 5x 1/2x 2 1/2, this gives you a total of 6 1/4 gallons of water.

For small fish like glo-light tetras you will end up with something like this,
1 1/2"x 1/4"x1/2", this comes to 3/16 of a gallon (about 1/5), and that gives you 5 fish of this size per gallon (quite reasonable)

For larger fish you end up with something like this, my example here will be a silver arowana at 24" long, 24"x 4"x 1", which gives you 100 gallons of water.

As you can see this works fairly well.

You do also have to apply some common sense and allow for such things as potential growth, the fish types' tolerance for crowding, and of course the width and length of the tank (a 24" gar will not work in an 18" wide tank even if the tank holds 100 gallons).

So please people, accept that this is just a generalized guideline to figure potential stocking levels, not a hard and fast rule.
Also remember that just because you don't like it doesn't mean you should slam somebody for using it.
And lastly, please don't flame someone by saying a 10" oscar doesn't fit in a 10" tank.
Of course it doesn't,
but the rule never said it would."

Snook and Birchir Update...

The Snook are doing fine they are a little skittish but it will take them a little while to get used to their new environment. I'm going to do a water change and add some rock caves so they don't feel so out in the open. Oh, the Senegal is doing fine with them lots of swimming and no aggression so far. =)

And sorry for the bad picks the are still scared of me so it's hard to get good pics.

Aquatic Plants...

So I've been looking into plants for my tank to add more hiding place for my fish and more color to my tank. I like the idea of java moss but I've heard it can get out of hand pretty quick, I also thought about dwarf baby tears to cover the bottom of my tank but now that I'm going with sand that idea is out the window. I think I'm going to look into these red lilly pads for my snook. 

Anyone have suggestions as to what  plants would be nice and easy to maintain? BTW My amazon sword is getting devoured by my pleco so you can skip that =).....Wow creepy baby in the picture definitely didn't notice that....

Wally World...

So apparently Wal-Mart is planning on opening new pet salon areas with better pet supplies to compete with places like Petsmart and Petco. Now I'm sure everyone has seen the way Wal-Mart takes care of the fish it has now (pretty pathetic) but the idea of supplies being cheaper is interesting. Now People are arguing that the customer service will be sub-par, I can definately see that being the case but honestly I don't get the best service or advice when I go to Petco or Petsmart either. I don't think it has to do with the store really it's more or less the individuals interest in the product (fish in this case). Now I'm not trying to defend Wally World I'm just saying I'd probably get supplies from there if they are really better priced besides I prefer getting my fish from the LFS anyway. =)

Comments?

Giant Flowerhorn?

Flowerhorns are hybrid fish created in 1996 in Malaysia. They do not occur in the wild. However, some claim that after being released into the wild some survive and become extremely large.

Is this a real photo of an overgrown flowerhorn?

Substrate Swap...

Ok I've thought about it for awhile now and I'm finally going to do it. I'm getting rid of my black gravel for pool filter sand. Easier poo removal and a better overall look =). 

Opinions?

Petenia splendida

There’s a region called the Peten valley in their home countries from which they get their name (Petenia).  Two variants live there – a green and a red. When young, they look a great deal alike. The red color morph is actually for their safety,they hide from predatory birds on the underside of lil-pads that are red underneath =). But they do not hide when kept in tanks they are just as social as most cichlids coming to the front ready to feed when you get near. They are easy to care for and fun to watch.

More detailed info at      http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Cichlids,%20Red%20Bay%20Snook.htm

=)

Two new tankmates =)

So I just put my two new Red Snook in the tank they are doing fine and giving the Birchir something besides the Pleco to investigate. Not quite sure if the are the Red Morph yet but I won't be able to tell that for a couple months, they are still both beautiful fish and I'm very happy with my purchase =) BTW $16 for the pair both about 2-3".

P.S. Try and post some pics tomorrow =)

AquaZ's Introduction

I am one of the three authors. About to sell most of my fish and set up a new 55 gallon aquarium. I am pleased to see the other fish enthusiasts visiting the site. I will follow the lead of the other two authors and list the fish that I have raised.

Here are just a few pictures of some fish I have owned

• Frontosa
• Buttikoferi
• Jaguar
• Jack Dempsey
• Electric Blue Jack Dempsey
• Red Texas
• Pike
• Green Terror
• Convict
• Some other African Cichlids
• Flowerhorn
• Texas
• Arowana
• Tiger Shovelnose
• Channel Cat
• Belonesox
• Clown Knife
• Pleco

Look forward to updating this website with my colleagues and providing a reliable resource for others.

MonsterFishKeepers Deleted our thread

I started a thread to try and gain some support and followers in the fish community. I received a private message a few hrs later. "Your thread has been deleted. Reason: We have our own blog section."

Thats pretty disappointing. The layout for this blog is much better and easier than the one on MFKs. I have been a fan of that site thanks to the nice community on there. Apparently the moderators have a much different personality.

They also deleted my signature with the link to this site. Got to love that. I'm sure this little blog is a competition to them. Our attempt was to enhance the fish keeping community. Appreciate the help MFKs. I have a link to there site on here but i'm not allowed to support my ownsite when I post on there.

Any views?

Phish Phood...

So I think I'm going to go out and get some more cucumber for my pleco and I was thinking of getting a bag of frozen cocktail shrimp for my birchir and snook. Do the shrimp sound like a good idea or should I just stick with krill from LFS?

Decisions Decisions...

I've decided to go with the Red Snooks hopefully I'll be picking them up today at the LFS =)

Monster Tank

"FISHTANKS"

Here are some videos of our tanks back in the day. The videos were made as jokes so ignore the audio if you dont like it. But heres a way to see some of our old set ups.

Episode 1



Episode 2



Episode 3

Jswain Intro

Heres some background on my fish experience.

About a year and half ago, my roommate was given a 10 gallon tank. (He will post about his experiences soon). Of course I was soon to follow. Then we became a little obsessed going to fish stores twice a week, buying new fish, reading about them, raising them, and slowly developing a great appreciation towards fish keeping.

Since then I have bought a 55 gallon and a 30 gallon while my roommate bought a 55 as well. We have raised over 15 different types of cichlids. We both finally finished up college and are moving out. I recently gave my large cichlids to a local pet store due to my move. Within the next week I will be setting up new tanks and taking pics and tracking the progress.

Fish I myself have raised (not all in the same tanks)

1. Tiger Oscar
2. Flowerhorn
3. Red Belly Piranhas
4. Black Rhom Piranha
5. Clown Fish
6. Damsels
7. Jack Dempsey
8. Blood Parrot
9. Frontosa
10. Butterkoferi
11. Green Spotted Puffer
    

Red Snook FTW?

Maybe one of these guys....

Hi

I'm Dru one of the three fish peeps, right now I have a 55 gallon with 1 Senegal Birchir and a Gold Nugget Pleco. Previous Fish I've raised: Butterkoferi, Texas, Jack Dempsey, Red Terror, and Midas. I'm not sure what to add to in with my Birchir right now maybe Red Bay Snook.