You're doing it wrong. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Mtn.man
You're doing it wrong. lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Mtn.man
I figured it was going to be all saltwater fish. I'd jump in, but we actually need less fish. Thanks for the offer.
The two places I'm ordering from offer salt water stuff as well. I just happen to be ordering lots of fresh water stuff but I can order whatever depending on who wants what. The more we get the less shipping will be. The orders are pretty much together at this point but we're waiting for the weather to be right to ship so I imagine I can sneak some more items into the order if anyone still wants in.
Damn, nice to see some other african cichlid junkies around here! I've had cichlid tanks for about 20 years, but haven't set up my tank since moving to my new house a couple years ago. I really want to get back into it, no sense having a 135g tank just sitting around collecting dust! Got any pics Jer?
used to keep African Cichlids when I lived in Phoenix... most colorful freshwater fish I know of... and very active, they get extremely territorial...
Don't have a tank setup anymore, but thought I'd contribute that I enjoy eating some fish, and watching some others...
Yeah, I've had African Cichlids for over 25yrs now. I just had an issue where I woke up to about half of my tank laying dead on the bottom. I rarely lose fish so needless to say I was a bit upset. Several of the fish I lost were over 10yrs old and some were difficult to find. A real bummer. Now I'm needing to replace lots of fish and none of the lfs seem to either be in business or have any selection so ordering seems to be about the only way to go. You have a 135gal sitting unused? You should sell it to me. lol I actually am looking for a good deal on something larger than my current 55gal since now would be a good time to move what few fish I have over before the new ones arrive.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoopty
Yeah, the key is to keep a LOT more fish than fish stores suggest. The downside is that you need to do water changes more frequently but the benefit is when there's tons of them they tend not to be aggressive since there's really not territory to fight over. I used to lose fish regularly to aggression and territory battles until I started keeping 2-3x the amount of fish that is recommended per gallon and I was amazed at how long I could keep cichlids alive once I did that. Of course, you also risk the possibility of losing power and not having any water/oxygen circulation overnight and waking up to lots of dead fish. Don't ask me how I know this. If I had less fish then they likely would be fine but in all the years I've kept fish this is the first time this happened so it's goes w/o saying that I've lost WAY less in this one event than I would have lost to aggression since they can be such mean fish otherwise.Quote:
Originally Posted by 68Charger
We have a 60 gallon tank with a Jack Dempsy, a Plecostamus, two Silver Dollars, a Spike Topped Apple snail, and a Sun Catfish. We also had a Red Tailed Tinfoil Barb and another snail, but they died. I had a few crayfish in there for a while as well. I put them in there for the Cichlid to eat, but a few were too big and just burrowed into the gravel and pinched up the fish tails.
Yeah man, adding crayfish, krawdads (I actually saw someone on a forum call them 'crawl dads' once [ROFL1] ) or whatever you want to call them to an aquarium with fish is just a good way to get your fish eaten or maimed by the crayfish. I had a buddy when I was growing up that caught a small bass out of the lake. He decided to throw it in his aquarium and the next day woke up to being the proud owner of one fat ass bass.. and nothing more. lol He had no idea that they were actually VERY aggressive fish (with large mouths) and this particular individual was a hungry one to boot. He wouldn't make that mistake again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stuart
I had given him crayfish before, these were just a little too big for him (the cichlid) to take down. I put 9 in there and he ate 6 of them. I took the other ones out once it was apparent that he couldn't eat them. He has also eaten what I think were two small mouth bass. He loves chasing crayfish and I try to give him that treat occasionally, but it has been a while. During late summer, I fed them a lot of grasshoppers as well.
Damn dude I feel your pain. I had a heater go out and get stuck on, lost a lot of fish QUICK, including some that I'd had for 10ish years.
Jer- If you're interested in the 135 shoot me a message, I might be talked into selling it... Chances are I'd start another tank up sooner if I didn't have such a big tank. lol