my new project-Aquarium keeping

[ocnbrze]

Were the "juiced" fish from a LFS or the online retailer?

LFS.....most lfs stores will have these types of fish unless they do a lot of business with africans and know better.....most stores do not.

online suppliers would not do this. they will unsexed fish, but not juiced up fish......from what i can tell at least.

my local lfs does have some nice juiced up fish i must say......LOL

i go to this store because there products are priced really well, especially their tanks. i mean a 180 tank, stand and canopy for under $1000 is not bad. it is by far the cheapest quote i got. and the tank is guaranteed for life not to leak!!!!!!!

plus the type of rock i got i have only found from this store and it looks really sweet.

 

[ocnbrze]

sorry guys.....it has been a crazy few weeks......but the 180 is up and running and looks great if you ask me......i'll post up some picks and i might even upload a video as pictures just does not do the tank justice as it is soooooo big!!!!!!

i also decided to go with a mbuna african tank for my 55gal.

so here is a species list for both tanks:
the big 180:

1. ngara flametail peacock
2. sunshine peacock
3. regal blue peacock
4. red cap lenthrinops
5. intermediatus
6. marginatus
7. red empress
8. venustus
9. yellow fin borleyi
10. blue dolphin (Crytocara moori)
11. bucco noto
12. compressiceps
13. albino compressiceps
14. vc-10
15. 2 trout cichlids
16. electric blue ahli
17. chrityi
18. tawain reef
19. rhoadesi

for my 55gal:

1. 5 syndontis petricola hybrids
2. 3 1.5" blue dolphins
3. 1.5" manda blue dolphin (think giant demasoni)
4. 1.5" elongatus chewere
5. 1.5" red zebra

i also placed another KGtropical order for delivery this friday for the big tank:

1. Ethelwynnae
2. Mloto Likoma
3. red top lawanda

and like i said pictures will becoming soon and a video.

 

[ocnbrze]

Ok so I bought a really nice red empress and a strawberry peacock a few days ago........the peacock commited suicide(jumped out of the tank) and the red empress got ich......which has now spread to my tawain reef cichlid!!!!!!!!!

I started treatment yesterday and they look better today.....but I'm getting new fish delivered tomorrow.....yikes

Thinking about investing in a UV sterilzer.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Be careful look at this

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f190/uv-sterilizer-worth-it-129422.html

 

[ocnbrze]

Yeah I know how some folks feel about......it is a topic that many have agreed and disagree on on how effective they are........it is just a thought and if I want to do it right, it seems like they can be expensive and would require me using another pump to run it........I might just set up a hospital or quarantine tank instead.........just thinking out loud.

 

[dragon2knight]

I've used UV's for quite a few years, don't, I repeat DON'T get a cheap one, the more expensive ones are well worth the extra cash. The difference in build quality between the low cost ones and the more expensive ones is quite a lot. Just some friendly advice from one who has gone both routes I hope your Red gets better soon.

 

[ocnbrze]

I've used UV's for quite a few years, don't, I repeat DON'T get a cheap one, the more expensive ones are well worth the extra cash. The difference in build quality between the low cost ones and the more expensive ones is quite a lot. Just some friendly advice from one who has gone both routes I hope your Red gets better soon.

Lol the red empress is fine it is my Taiwan reef who only has one spot left.........doing a water change and hopefully the last treatment for ich as I type

And yes with my tank nothing I have is cheap......and I only will go for the high-end route whenever possible.

.....like I said just a thought.

 

[ocnbrze]

Sorry guys this is long over due

so here is some pics of how i setup the 180:

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here is the tank with fish in it after it sat running overnight:

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and here are some of my fish i have in it now:

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Venustus

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Buccochromis nototaenia:

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Ngara Flametail (Alounocara ngara):

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DragonBlood:

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German Red Peacock:

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Red Empress:

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Yello Blaze:

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Albino Tawain Reef:

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Lemon Jake:

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i have more fish but i have not been able to get better pictures of them.

but when i do i will post them here.

i also switched out the Marineland led's and got some Ray2's from Finnex.

check out the tank now:

Spoiler

it is more blue and less yellow then the Marineland lights. it really brings out the colors in the fish.

i think i might be setting up a youtube channel discussing and showcasing my tank and some of the things i have picked up over the years that i have been in and out of the hobby......look to see a channel pop sometime this week or next.....i'll keep you guys posted.

 

[dragon2knight]

Nice! I really like the choice of lighting, it really helps a lot. Of course, more rocks never hurts My fav fish is the DragonBlood, very nice coloring. Again, excellent job on this set up and I look forward to the youtube channel

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Looks very beautiful loving the colors of the fish looking healthy where did this batch come from . and love the rock setup you make me want to get a tank started now .

 

[ocnbrze]

UGGGGGG bloat.

looks like i will need to setup a hospital tank and start treating this as two of my fish have it.....one is pretty bad (it is not bloated, but it refuses to eat and is breathing really hard) and the other just refuses to eat and it's poop is white and stringy.....not good.

more on bloat and how to treat it later.

 

[ocnbrze]

ok so here is the plan....after doing much research this is what i'm going to do:
1. setup a 10gal hospital tank and move the infected fish into the tank.
2. treat the tank with epsom salt (more on this later)
3. soak the food in metronidazole, seachem garlic guard, and seachem focus and feed to the non-infected fish in main tank
4. add metro to the hospital tank......and pray.

not sure exactly why this has happened. however, i have been trying other various foods to feed my fish....things like frozen mysis shrimp and pellets, along with flakes. not sure if the varied diet is what stressed some of my fish out or not. water parameters seems to be fine......nitrates are less then 10ppm. it could be lower, but it is nothing to stress them out.

i'm gonna cut down on feedings, and stick with pellets for now and hope that this will soon pass.

so what is bloat?
well from my understanding it is a single celled flagellate called Hexamita that lives in the intestines of most fresh and saltwater fish. Hexamita is also known to cause "hole in the head" disease. it is only when the fish are stressed do they start to attack the fish. normally the fish's immune system can fight any outbreaks, but things like water quality, and bad food can stress the fish out....and thus they can get sick.

....unfortunately this is a very common disease among african cichlids and can also be referred to as " malawi bloat". for bloat, the fish starts out refusing to eat, usually spitting the food out. you will also see stringy feces. it is believed that the stringy stuff is mucus from the intestines in reaction to the attack from Hexamita. then as the fish gets more sick, they start to get more secluded and hide or find a spot in the corners of the tank where they are less likely to be bothered.

metronidazole is the chemical most have said are successful. but from my research it seems that it can be as effective only 50% of the time. some say that treatment not only should be done to the affected fish, but also on the ones not showing any signs as this parasite can be contagious. but others say that since they live in the fish already that bloat cannot be transmitted from fish to fish as easily. if you fix the conditions then all should be ok. for me as a precaution though, i will be feeding them medicated food.

epsom salt is a laxative for most organisms including humans. epsom salts helps to do two main things: 1. it helps the fish by stressing the Hexamita allowing medication to kill them off. and 2. it allows the fish to hopefully expel the parasites and allow the medication in the water to kill them off.

garlic is also great to feed your fish as it does a few things to help with bloat. it helps out great with appetite and also it helps with keeping your fishes immune system healthy.

i find it funny how little is still not known about this disease given the type of technology we have today. and how many different ways people say they have success with various treatments. i even saw a guy on youtube take a syringe and shove a small tube down into the fish and inject a epsom salt solution down the fish's mouth.....totally craziness!!!!!!
if you want to see it......check it out:

Spoiler

the above plan i have outlined is a combination of things i have researched. and have used in the past. the medicated food and epsom salt is a new idea for me and it would seem to be an effective way of treatment.

here is a great article i read about Hexamita:
Hexamita: Fish Hole in the Head Disease

sorry for the super long post here, but i hope this help others here in AF.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

Its funny how garlic is healthy for humans and some other animals. And to know that this is healthy for fish same cure for humans treating for heart and intestine . but I can say I think some of the dried shrimps and blood worms has this problems and over feeding cause fish eat what they see. I had that when I had the big bad Oscar . feeding him the feeder gold fish that wasn't treated. I forget the liquid they sold me for 25.00 worked used it for 2weeks. Sort of looked as if the fish was smiling. The pet shop told me put the feeder fish in a tank or bowl and feed the Oscar pellets . while he first started the treatment and as the last five days put 3 treated fish and pellets . he ate the fish and pellets . .the shop also told me I was feeding to much . a stuffed fish has all of the problems .

 

[ocnbrze]

Yeah I never recommend feeding goldfish to any cichlids. They are never really that nutritious and they carry diseases. Pellets or flake food are always the best source of food for any cichlid.

Now I just got a second test done at my lfs and it turns out that my nitrates are a bit higher than what my results were.

Gonna do another water change tomorrow.

Luckily so far it has not spread to my nicer fishes yet......knock on wood.

 

[ocnbrze]

ok so i just finished finally doing most if the steps in my plan.

catching these guys was a bitch!!!!!!!! i had to remove all of the rock to catch all of them stressing them out even more. one of them made a leap of faith flying up and over the tank trying to avoid the net. i was able to sort of catch him, but he flipped from my hand onto the floor. he hit pretty hard. i added him to the hospital tank. he seems to be ok now, but at first he had trouble swimming and staying up right.....i think he was just stunned. i guess we will see tomorrow.

i'll take pictures of how the tank looks now.....not really sure if i like it or not. it will have to do for now.

 

[dragon2knight]

They are elusive little suckers Glad they are on their way to healing up, powerful NY healing mojo sent

 

[ocnbrze]

They are elusive little suckers Glad they are on their way to healing up, powerful NY healing mojo sent

Thanx let's hope for the best.

It turns out I kind of like the new design......I'll post pictures later.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

The ones that take that leap are sometimes the ones that heal up faster . Dont know if you seen it in one of the kg tube videos . he showed and also showed him put the fish back in and I think he showed it as living. . but hope all is well .

 

[ocnbrze]

ok some new pics:

new:

old:

new:

old:

it looks a little more filled this way. it is not as wide open as it was..........i kind of like it.

 

[ocnbrze]

ok so my hospital tank has been working.....all of the fish i added to it are eating again!!!!and do not show any signs of bloat. even the redcap who looked stressed up until yesterday....breathing really hard. but i fed them a little bit this morning and all of them ate.....really surprised me.

i just did a another water change on the main tank....that is twice this week. i did one on monday and another today.

i also had to grab my german red peacock, the other trout cichlid, mloto likoma, and dragon blood who were next to show signs of bloat. they were finicky eaters and they had stringy poop so i took no chance and just move them to the now vacant hospital tank.

i also did a water change on the hospital tank before adding the new occupants. i then added a double dose of metronidazole, a scoop of epsom salt, and three tablets of clout.

clout is supposed to work on bloat really well. there is only one problem, the company, mardel, was bought out to another company and that company has decided to discontinue producing this product. fortunately my lfs (though not so local....takes me 45 min to get there!!!!) is the only place in town that has a surplus and they sell it at $1.50 per tablet.

so i used this formula of medicines and salts to cure my first batch. and i hope this next batch will have the same success.

now on the main tank i am soaking the pellets with metro, seachem focus (it chemically binds the medication to the food), and seachems garlic guard (to help with finicky eaters). since the fish in my main tank are eating the medication should help with preventing and further break outs of bloat.

man, i never knew that this guy:

Spoiler

could be such a pain in the ass. when i kept africans before i never had that big of an issue with bloat....of course before i only did mbuna's and never kept the larger africans.

i'm just stoked that my treatments have worked so far, cuz many on the net have said that it is always 50/50 as far as success goes.

i'll keep you guys up to date with the next batch and how they fair.

 

[dragon2knight]

Bloat is a pain to clear up, especially if you have it in a large, well stocked tank. Unfortunately it only takes one guy to have it to spread it around....I'd be wary of where you bought them from and look elsewhere from this point forward. Bloat(or any disease really) is a sign of overstocking, something that many shops do unfortunately. Thankfully your hospital tank is working, I agree, 50/50 is usually the outcome, your very fortunate for sure Glad it's all working out ok(so far, fingers crossed) and I LOVE the new setup, that's the way to stack rocks!

 

[ocnbrze]

yeah i know. bloat sucks!!!!!! and thanx for the crossed fingers.....LOL

i do not think it was my lfs or kg tropical which are the two places i get my fish from that is the cause of bloat. hexamita is found in all fish. it is when the fished are stressed when it attacks. could i use the hospital tank to quarantine new fish? yes. this is what i plan on doing going forward. is there a way to tell when they have bloat before buying them? no

anyways......it turns out my testing kit is not as accurate as i thought. so my main issue was over feeding( i guess as most cases when this disease strikes). i think i will keep doing water changes twice a week. this way i do not have to worry about water quality issues going forward.

hopefully by next week everything will be back to normal.

and on a side note.....i keep forgetting to mention the 55 gal that i still have setup.

right now i have some mbuna's and haps mixed in. the plan is the the haps i have when they get bigger will be moved to the main tank and then i will keep the tank as a mbuna only tank.

so the haps are:

• 3x crytocara moorii
• Placidochromis phenocilus
• Lichnochromis acuticeps

the mbuna's are:

• Metriaclima sp. "Blue Dolphin" Manda
• Metriaclima sp. "Msobo"
• albino auratus
• lions cove green afra
• elongatus chewere

so far no issues with this tank.....LOL

 

[BRAINZ2013]

In some cases you are to let rest in a hospital tank when you get the fish from shipment. The shock from travel . bumps and bangs to the box . and we all love to shake boxes when u feel a thump. Now you see the word LIVE STOCK so you stop shaking it.but yes it happen when shipping . I use to put fish that was in the bag from transport into its tank with the fish inside to let settle I stopped

 

[dragon2knight]

In some cases you are to let rest in a hospital tank when you get the fish from shipment. The shock from travel . bumps and bangs to the box . and we all love to shake boxes when u feel a thump. Now you see the word LIVE STOCK so you stop shaking it.but yes it happen when shipping . I use to put fish that was in the bag from transport into its tank with the fish inside to let settle I stopped

I have never, ever just placed a fish fresh from a store or shipping straight into any stocked tank. I have a few 20 long tanks that I let them acclimate to(with water from the tank they are going into)for at least 48 hours. There are no lights, minimal filtration(usually a corner filter) and of course a heater. The back and sides are covered in black construction paper to avoid any additional stress. It's the most stress free way I know of and all of my fish have had great life spans because of this handling with extreme care. Yes, I'm fanatical, and yes I have way too much time on my hands,lol, but it's just prudent to do this before hand, you really can't be too careful at this stage.

 

[BRAINZ2013]

That's what I had to learn I did it and good fish was sick and new fish was sick and didn't know how they died . it was the first kissing fish I ever had but dam all 6 died . store told me to let them settle before you attempt to put in your standing tank I was shocked