my new project-Aquarium keeping

[ocnbrze]

hey guys,

so i forgot to mention how i started my tank.....i used a process called fishless cycling. it is a way to cycle the tank with out any fish. cycling is very stressful and some fish may get sick or not make it as the tank goes thru the cycling process.

what is cycling?
cycling is the process of establishing a nitrifying bacteria colony. there are several types of bacteria that are needed to grow in enough numbers that they can process the waste from the fish you will be putting in. the two main bacteria needed are Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter species. They are part of the process called the Nitrogen cycle. basically ammonia from fish waste gets broken down by Nitrosomonas and converts it to nitrites.......Nitrobacter then takes the nitrites and converts it to nitrates.

the tank is considered cycled when the nitrite levels are 0 and there are a considerable amount of nitrates......the only way to remove nitrates is to do a water change.

so what is fishless cycling?
since the nitrogen cycle needs ammonia from fish waste, one would think you need fish to cycle the tank. this is how it was done in the past. however, there is a new way to do this without adding any fish to the tank. fishless cycling is a practice that is becoming more and more popular and there are a few ways to do it.

the first is by adding ammonia directly to the tank. you can get pure ammonia from places like Home Depot. once added you let the tank run and wait for the bacteria to grow. this is a very long process as the tank will start with 0 bacteria and over time bacteria will grow, but it takes forever.

the way i did it was to start the tank running for 24hrs(just to make sure everything is working corrcetly). i then took a trip to my LFS and asked them for some of there sponge or filter water. basically they take a bag of tank water and rinse the filter media or sponge into it. this dirty water is loaded with bacteria. you then take the bag home and either dump it into your tank or add it to your filter. i just pored mine into the tank.....i added a bit of fish food and left it so that it could brake down into ammonia to help feed the bacteria i introduced. by seeding the tank this way, i cut the cycling time to less then a week. i think it actually cycled in like 5 days!!!!!!!!!

i found this article pretty interesting:Nitrifying Bacteria Facts

anyways i hope this helps others interested in setting up a new tank.

 

[Rxpert83]

In addition: Adding a bit of gravel from an established tank will do wonders as well for a jump start to cycling :thumbup:

Same basic concept

 

[ocnbrze]

boy i think i'm addicted all over again.......i have this delusion of grandeur of starting an african cichlid breeding business......LOL

i am contemplating on spending some good money on africans from these guys:HOME - african cichlids for sale: KGtropicals

i want to talk to these guys first. i never had ordered fish from a website or have it shipped before and i want to be sure that their selection is still good to order from or if i should wait for a new shipment.

i'll keep you posted on what i do in the next few days.

 

[ocnbrze]

ok my just got a lot lighter

so i talked to john(the owner) and everything is cool.

here is the order i placed:

Description Unit price Qty Amount
Lethrinops Intermedius
Item# 2005.002 $16.99 USD 1 $16.99 USD
Buccochromis Nototaenia
Item# 2023.003 $13.99 USD 1 $13.99 USD
Protomelas Marginatus 3" Unsexed
Item# 2034 $19.99 USD 1 $19.99 USD
Red Cap Lethrinops F1
Item# 2030 $11.99 USD 1 $11.99 USD
Trout Cichlid 4" unsexed
Item# 2027 $49.99 USD 1 $49.99 USD
Subtotal $112.95 USD
Shipping and handling $64.50 USD
Total $177.45 USD
Payment $177.45 USD
Payment sent to KGTROPICALS@GMAIL.COM

i'll post some pics when i get the fish.

i can't wait!!!!!!!!!

 

[Rxpert83]

After you linked them I went to that site and clicked around a bit. The video they have up on how they pack and ship and the fish is pretty interesting, if you haven't already seen it

 

[ocnbrze]

Yep for sure I have watched it......this why I picked these guys........there YouTube videos are great and the guy does know his stuff.......I like the fact that he also films his shipments as well.......I should get these guys on Friday this week.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

You should ask them if you can get some marine stuff you did help out with posting info about them on the phandroid and trust and believe these guys rock and will need to get back in the tropical area they shipping for show males are good comparing to some I seen and they shipping was promising

 

[ocnbrze]

You should ask them if you can get some marine stuff you did help out with posting info about them on the phandroid and trust and believe these guys rock and will need to get back in the tropical area they shipping for show males are good comparing to some I seen and they shipping was promising

Nah though getting discounts and free stuff would be nice, I can afford to help support these guys. Hobbies such as aquarium keeping were hit pretty hard when the economy failed.......this guy is great so far, and I have no issues supporting this guy.

I'm nervous though as I never bought any live fish online before. nor have I paid this much for fish as well.

 

[ocnbrze]

so here is what my fish will hopefully look like:
Lethrinops Intermedius

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i have only seen pictures of these guys.....can't wait to see what they look. but it seems like both males and females are pretty colorful.

Buccochromis nototaenia

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the bucco notos, as john from KGTropical calls them, is a beast coming in around 16"

Protomelas marginatus

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i do not know to much about these guys as i never have seen one before til now. i hope i get a male.

Red Cap Lethrinops

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the red caps as you can see why by thus photo, is my favorite. i do not know if the fish i'm getting is male or female as it will be unsexed. but they are one of the few where the females are just as pretty as males. i'm thinking of getting more of these guys so that i can try and breed them.......never bred any africans before.......could be fun and i could probably make money selling them.

Trout Cichlid

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the king i think will be the trout cichlid as they can grow up to be around 18" long. they belong to the genus Champso= crocodile (Greek). do not worry though as i'm saving up for a 150 gallon tank where it should be happy and have plenty of room to swim around.....these guys are hard to find especially at your local lfs.

i'll take some pics and posted them here on what they look like.......i may even do a unboxing of sorts.

 

[TJGoSurf]

Ever been to the Monster Fish Keepers forum? Those guys have some huge aquariums.

 

[ocnbrze]

Ever been to the Monster Fish Keepers forum? Those guys have some huge aquariums.

never heard of that forum, but i will check them out......i do go to Cichlid-Forum and primarily the malawi cichlid forums, since that is what i have.

monster fish, i'm sure they will talk about arrowana's, oscars and other south american fish which i'm not intersted in......but i will still check them out.

big tanks are awesome, but 150 is the biggest i can go which is pretty big......LOL

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Any bigger I think you would need a license to operate a aquarium for show and tell . I never seen bigger o it was a joke about the license. Keep watching kg didn't hear that about him starting in his garage . dammm got me thinking about a half of basement with tanks maybe see if I can build one or get many 30gal. Tanks to fill cause these guys Dont even have gravel in their tanks . hmmmmmmm idea

 

[Unforgiven]

Any of you ever watch Tanked on Animal Planet. I'd love to have one of those custom built for me.

 

[Rxpert83]

Any of you ever watch Tanked on Animal Planet.

Oh you know it!:thumbup:

The "unfiltered" episodes bug me though with the constant popups. Seems that's the only episodes I see these days.

 

[Unforgiven]

It's on NetFlix, I'm not sure of other streaming services though.

 

[ocnbrze]

Any of you ever watch Tanked on Animal Planet. I'd love to have one of those custom built for me.

i have seen a few episodes.......pretty cool show.

on another note.....i kinda of decided to switch gravel and rock before i introduce my new fish coming in on friday. i also am planning on painting the back of the tank as well.....gonna be a pretty big project. i think i will start it tomorrow night so that on friday when my fish arrive, i just need to add them to the tank.

 

[ocnbrze]

Any bigger I think you would need a license to operate a aquarium for show and tell . I never seen bigger o it was a joke about the license. Keep watching kg didn't hear that about him starting in his garage . dammm got me thinking about a half of basement with tanks maybe see if I can build one or get many 30gal. Tanks to fill cause these guys Dont even have gravel in their tanks . hmmmmmmm idea

yeah but, in kg's video's, he does not have garvel in them cuz they are tanks used to sell fish....they are not used to breed them in......you should have gravel in any tank that you have.you do not need a lot though.

check this guy's fishroom:

talk about crazy!!!!!!!

 

[BRAINZ2013]

I see and know people make filters but this giant man made filter wow . now I have a question. I know I seen and been to many petshops that have fish salt and fresh water . if you have a big filter system as he got and it man made or what ever , if one tank is contaminated wouldn't they all be due to everything going into one system . and if you had to treat the water how do you go about doing one tank at a time or hit the return water that has been filtered already . same goes for ick or pH levels . I would say every tank but I ask cause I don't know . never needed 12 tanks the highest I had was a 50 gallon that was made into a big circle. Looked nice til one day I got lazy and broke the top and for some reason no one had a fix for it but to pay and get a top . drainage came to mind first and that's what happen someone brought the tank at a garage sale . but fill me in how do u treat their water .

 

[ocnbrze]

If they are on the same system, most (but not all) will also have sponge filters in each tank..........so you get the overall filtration from one big system and then you get biological filtration locally in each tank by the sponge filter. If there was an out break of something, there should be a valve(or a way) where you can close the tank off from the system and only rely on the sponge filter.........or they remove the fish and treat the fish in a hospital tank.

 

[dragon2knight]

I love fish tanks, from custom planted to Fancy Goldfish to African Cichlid's so this post is right up my ally
I've been breeding AC's for over 20 years now, and I started when you could get them from the actual lakes, not the store bred variety that you get now. The colors really pop on mine and I love the looks of just about all of them I also got into breeding Fancy Goldfish in the last few years, it's tough but rewarding. You really shouldn't have less than a 55 gallon for any pair of full sized AC's, especially if your into breeding them. They are, as I'm sure you've found out already, very territorial, they like their own space and if they don't get it they get very stressed. Be careful there.
I use Aquaclear 500 filters, sometimes a few on one tank(over 100 gallons). They have great power and you can add whatever media you want to them and it usually works out great. Reliable as all get out to boot.
My current set ups are 2 100 gallon tanks and one 150 gallon and one 175 gallon plus an assortment of 10 and 20 gallon tanks for growing out my broods. My partner and me have a small business selling to local stores(AC's only, I'm not anywhere near good enough to sell off my Goldfish yet...in time, in time ). Anyway, just wanted to chime in here, nice to meet a fellow lover of AC's

 

[mrex]

Cool more hobbiest =)

Im so an aquarium enthusiast =) I wrote ten years ago an internet book "How to maintain an aquarium" on internet, but the free service was shutted down. I still have those pages on my computer, and when I have more time, I put them back on net for beginners to understand that water is just not a water. It has all to do will you keep your fish healthy or will you have a slimy tank with dead fishes.

I had several aquariums, also a tanganyika lake aqarium, but nowadays I have only one, around 118 gallons (us). For me it's easy to keep aquarium, because our water is soft (pH 8, GH 2

 

[ocnbrze]

merged your duplicate posts there mrex.

my fish just arrived.....i have pics so i will be posting them shortly.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Love to see

 

[ocnbrze]

Love to see

ok ask and you shall receive(sorry it took me a bit to post as i had an emergency of sorts.....more on this later in the post):

ok guys so bare with me this is a long post.......

so last night before my new fish arrived i decided to do an overhaul of the tank.
1. i switched out the gravel and put in white crushed corral(fine)
2. i switched out the river rock to petrified wood or something like it.
3. i painted the back of the tank with acrylic paint(black)

it took me about 3-4 hours to do the whole thing. what took the longest was rinsing out the petrified wood. it was very dirty and the holes that it has was clogged with dirt. but i'm so happy with it now.

here is what it looked like last night with the fish in it:

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and compare it with before:

and here is the finished product:

what do you think? i think going forward i will always paint my tanks. i think for my big tank i will go for dark blue instead of black.

should have went with this sand in the beginning as this type of sand is what is typically found in Lake Malawi.

i got my shipment around 12pm or so.....i picked today to get my delivery as i had a day off.

here are some picks of the delivery:

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and here are my fish:
Protomelas marginatus

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trout cichlid

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Lenthrinops intermedius

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red cap lenthrinops

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now you ask, where is my 5th fish? my Buccochromis nototaenia? well it looks like the poor guy could not handle the stress......or it could have been my emergency that i talked about earlier. either way he was very stressed and when i went to get something to eat and come back, he was belly up

when i saw that he was not going to make it, i took a look at my other fish. it seems that every single fish, new and old, were breathing very rapidly. i tested the water and the ph, ammonia, nitrites and even nitrates were low. i did a 30% water change which seemed to help, but an hour later they were back to breathing really hard again wtf???????

i ended up doing a 50% water change and added a ton of prime to detoxify the tap water as well as adding in all of my stress zyme that i had left..........so far so good

so i'm not quite sure what happened to stress everybody out like that. the old fish were fine all of last night and today prior to releasing the fish. the only thing i can think of was that i forgot to rinse out the plants (which were brand new) so there could have been some kind of residue on it that polluted the water.

what sucks is that my red cap seems to be really stressed now from everything that has happened to the poor little fellow. i hope he makes it. he did eat which surprised me.....i'm crossing my fingers.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Don't know how good your water is in your neighborhood but I did this . boil some water . let it cool and poor in or get some bottle water . but let them chill out shock does bring a fish and human health down and also jet lag . they been shipped over night let them see what a new home is about . few hours they be break dancing .