That was what I was hoping was that he was just getting picked on. I will definitely separate the bully for a while.

My dad is doing a lot better. He's starting to return to his normal self. I liked him a lot better when he was on the drugs from the hospital. LOL He was really loopy. :D

I FINALLY bought a bigger tank today, and started putting together the stand.


Daisy

That's awesome Daisy!
Are you going to put your convicts in there, or do something different?

Yes, I am going to put my convicts in there (minus most of the babies.) I also bought two Bumblebee/hornet cichlids that I put in the tank with the babies and mama for the moment, and three live plants. I am so excited. I love the bumblebee/hornet cichlids. They were getting along together at my brothers house, and he's had them three weeks (?) so I thought, hopefully they keep getting along together, and bought my own. And so far, since I put them in today, they are getting along great. I am planning on keeping one of the ten gallon tanks as a backup/isolation tank and pass the other on to someone else, just like it was passed to me.

When my mom saw the tank, she says, "Oh no!!!" but she had a huge grin on her face. And I promised my dad as long as he didn't say anything about it I would buy him Happy Feet tomorrow, because he wants to see it. So far he hasn't said a word about it, just kind of glared at me. (In case you're wondering how they are always around, I own half of the house and they own the other half, so we are always around each other. Not exactly who I want to be around all the time, but I would rather have them than have no one.) I would have bought it for him even if he would have said something.

:D :D :D I can't wait to have it all set up!! :D :D :D

Daisy

Don't worry Daisy, I'm 30 and I have to talk to my mother everyday... and
I see her at least 3 times a week - usually more...

Happy Feet was a really cute movie!! I took my kids to go see it.

You are going to love your 55 gal...
It's my favorite size tank...

I started filling my new tank. I haven't gotten very far. I tried mixing the stones, but it didn't work very well. I will have to try again before I put the fish in. I have a background on because I had to put it in front of a window. I was hoping that I would be able to put the fish in on Saturday or Sunday.

The water looks clear in the picture, but it's already cloudy in the tank. I put in the stones that I had in the second tank and a bowl full of the water from the second tank, hoping that it would start the cycle.

There may not be fish in it yet, but I was fishing in it today. My friend has a kid and he was throwing cat food in it. LOL :D He's only three. He was having the time of his life doing it, too.


Daisy:p

That's gorgeous Daisy!

Without any fish in the water, any beneficial bacteria living on the gravel will die (probably why the water is cloudy)
Fish = ammonia = nitrite = nitrate = water change... That's the cycle

Here is a short article that I wrote on an aquarium cycle



Have you ever wondered what it really means for your aquarium to be "cycled"?

This is referring to natures Nitrogen Cycle.
Here is a quick break down for a better understanding:

The Nitrogen Cycle is natures way of purifying itself.
It is the process in which nature creates beneficial bacteria to break down waste.
Just as in nature, an aquarium environment needs to develop a Nitrogen Cycle as well.
This cycle will be what converts the toxic fish waste (fish excreta, urine, and old food) into a non toxic form and is what will keep your aquarium environment clean and healthy.
This a lengthy process and takes much patience.

Just What Does The Nitrogen Cycle Do Inside an Aquarium Environment?

The Nitrogen Cycle has 3 major steps inside an aquarium environment.
When testing the Nitrogen cycle with water test kits, we are reading the byproducts of the Nitrogen Cycle.
These byproducts are ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

Step #1: Ammonia (the byproduct of fish waste)
Fish excreta, urine, and old food pollute aquarium water. The decaying process of this waste creates ammonia which is very toxic to fish.

Step #2: Nitrite (the byproduct of Nitrosomonas Bacteria)
Nature creates a beneficial bacteria called Nitrosomonas Bacteria to break down the ammonia. The converted byproduct of this bacteria is called Nitrite which is still toxic to fish.

Step #3: Nitrate (the byproduct of Nitrobacter Bacteria)
Nature creates a beneficial bacteria called Nitrobacter Bacteria to break down the nitrite. The converted byproduct of this bacteria is called Nitrate which is not toxic to fish if kept at low levels.

In nature, Nitrate byproducts happen to be a food source for plants and algae.
In an aquarium environment, we would not be able to keep enough plants to consume all the nitrate; therefor, we preform partial water changes to remove this byproduct before it reaches toxic levels.

So, the "cycle" moves like this:
fish waste = ammonia (toxic to fish)
Nitrosomonas Bacteria = nitrite (toxic to fish)
Nitrobacter Bacteria = nitrate (not toxic to fish if maintained at low levels)
water change (to remove nitrate)

A "cycled" aquarium should read:
ammonia: 0ppm
nitrite: 0ppm
nitrate: ideal range .1ppm - 40ppm ,
Warning: nitrate levels should never exceed 75ppm




Good luck on adding the fish.
To keep your cycle going, when you add the fish to the water, put all your filter media (cartridge and bio-sponge) inside the new filter behind the filter cartridge :D

I can't wait to see the finished set up (it beautiful already!! ) :D :D :D

I'm going to be gone for a week - talk to you when I get back!!

Kae

:D I couldn't wait to write to you. I got rid of all of my convicts except for two. Pet Smart took them. I decided to keep two males, one white and one striped, so they wouldn't be able to have more babies. I would have kept two females instead, but there was only one female that I actually knew of.

I have a few too many fish in my tank, yet, though.:eek: I bought two fish that are out of the assorted tank, and I don't know what they are. I think the one might be an electric yellow. I'll have to put up pictures then to see if you can hopefully tell me what they are. In the store the second one looked black and white striped, but when I got him in the tank, he has this blue/purple hue to him. I would actually like another one, but I guess that wouldn't be a very good idea? Oh, and I got two chocolate/striped raphael catfish.:D They are awesome looking. And now my brother wants one.

I bought a red tiger oscar, but I'm only keeping him as long as he isn't killing my other fish. I was told by someone today that he will probably eventually eat my other fish, which seems only natural for any type of cichlid. I want to keep him, I want to keep all of my fish. I love the colors, and I won't get rid of him if the other fish never die because of him, but I don't want to end up losing all of my other fish to him.

If I have to get rid of him, maybe I'll put him on FreeCycle and make sure he goes to a tank suited for him. Same with the others, if they seem to not get along too well. We will see if the time ever comes. They are all getting along right now, except the convict chases the other convict, and the bumblebee chases the other bumblebee. (Did I tell you I bought two bumblebee's?) There are 7 cichlids, 2 catfish, and two pleco's. Not as bad as my brother's tank though. He has 10 cichlids and one pleco in a 29 gallon. He said he wants to get a bigger tank when he eventually moves.

I bought a fake piece of driftwood, and they really seem to like it. I'm thinking of going to get another one like it when I get paid again. I also put in a bright colored shell, but I am thinking of taking it out. When I put the pictures up, you will have to tell me if you like it or not. I can't decide. One minute I like it and the next I don't.

Sorry for going on so long, I am just so excited to have a 55 gallon tank, and have it set up. :D If I had the money and the time, I would get an even bigger one (300 gallons seems like a pretty good number to me), but, alas, I don't think that will happen anytime soon, if ever. I am so happy to have a big 55 gallon tank.

I looked for a CO2 tab at my local pet stores, but the only one I found said you had to buy some container or tank to go with it, and it was like 50 bucks, and I don't have that much left to buy it. I bought something else called Flourish. I don't know if you ever heard of that? I was hoping that would suffice for a couple of months, until I can come up with the money to get the CO2 container/tank. This is the information on the bottle: Flourish™ is a comprehensive plant supplement for the natural freshwater aquarium. It contains a rich assortment of important micro elements, trace elements and other nutrients. These include calcium, magnesium, iron and others.

I just found that they also make something called Flourish Excel. Could you tell me if you think this would be good as a CO2 supplement?:confused: Flourish Excel
This would be easy enough to buy online and I wouldn't have to buy any type of container to make it work right. And it's liquid so my fish wouldn't sit at the bottom and try to eat a tablet.

Thanks for listening to me go on and on.

Daisy:p

I forgot to tell you, my brothers fishy laid eggs last night. :D

I tried taking some pictures, but some did not turn out so well. These are the pictures of the two unknowns that I bought. I know they are both africans, but nothing else. Also, the tank, as far as it is going to get for a little while, with the bright shell.

And then these pictures are of my bumblebee's and my chocolate catfish, which I read will eat small fish, so I will have to watch out for him, too.

I forgot about the oscar. All of these fish are very camera shy, so getting a good picture was impossible.

How was your week away?

Daisy :D

The tank looks great Daisy!
My Vacation was nice:D Thanks for asking...
I wrote to you when I got back... it seems to have been deleted:(
I may have accidentally done it while messing with my posts...

Anyway... I said that your unknown fish are African Cichlids - I believe your right about the Electric Yellow and the other is a "Blue" Kenyi (I have some of them)...
The "Blue" Kenyi's are really neat fish. As they get older, the females turn pale blue and the males turn bright yellow...

What a precious baby Oscar! He's not likely to eat your other fish because they are growing up together. If he/she was full grown and you added small fish to the tank, then they may be considered dinner.

You know that the African Cichlids are the really really aggressive ones right?
They may be OK as babies, but as they get older, you'll want to keep them with their own kind...
Your Oscar and other fish may not stand a chance - the Africans will kill them...
That has been my experience...
I have 2 really mean African Killing machines... One of them is the Kenyi

Your Rafael's are so cute! Did you know that they are vocal fish!! Really cool!

Your plants should do great with any kind of fertilizer or food you give them.
I believe the ones that fizz (like Jungle plant food) offer extra co2...
Your plants will receive enough co2 from what's in our air (at least they should)
All the ingredients you listed are perfect for plants:D
Are they Amazons? They're really pretty.

I hope your enjoying the new aquarium:)

Loved seeing the Pic's too!

Kae

:D I am happy to finally have a specific name for my what my fish are. I tried looking it up, but with not much to go on, I wasn't successful. I'm glad my Oscar should get along with the others as they get older. I know right now all of the fish get along about 98% of the time. At least they do when I'm around.

I wasn't actually planning on getting an Oscar. I went to the store to see if they would take my convicts, and I looked at the Oscars, and this one was a little different than the rest. I instantly said, “Give me that fish! ” He has about a fifth of the stripes that the others had. You can't really see it in the picture, but on both sides he has a circle in the middle and about four stripes coming out of it. That's it. The pattern makes me think of the Aztec's and their symbols or something like that. It's really neat. He drives me nuts, though. He goes up and down and up and down. The others do that, but not nearly as much.

I do know that the others are Africans, and I do know that they are really aggressive. I am going to be finished paying off my truck loan in 6 months to a year, and was planning on hopefully getting another tank then. Hopefully they will be okay that long. What I pay in one month on my loan will pay for a tank, stand, and a few of the extras.

Will all of the fish eat tubifex worms? I read that the Raphael's will eat tubifex worms, so I bought them, but I couldn't get them to stick to the glass, and they just kept floating. I took them out and threw them away because I didn't want them to keep floating if the others didn't eat them. Someone at work said the Raphael's will eat algae wafers, so I have been putting a couple extra algae wafers in the tank for them.

Speaking of algae wafers, my cat likes them.:eek: I took a few out of the bag and put them on a desk while I went to do something else quick. I came back a minute later to put them in the tank, the wafers were gone and my cat was sitting there. I was like, “What the heck?? ” I took a few more out, and stuck one on the desk, and wouldn't you know it, my cat ate it! Apparently this cat will eat anything!:eek:

I don't know what the plants are. I thought they were neat and the lady at the store said they should be okay with my fish, so I bought them. The lighter ones look like they are disintegrating, though, so I don't know if the leaves are dying or if the fish are eating them. The darker ones are fine, and they are the same kind. I have a different kind of plant in the back, but they are smaller and you can't really see them in the pictures. There was a fern at Petco that I was thinking of getting. I thought it said java fern on the label at the store, but when I got home and looked it up, it looked nothing like it. It looked like a fern plant, but it's leaves were a very, very dark green.

One more thing. Will the plants grow okay with the fluorescent light, or will I have to get a special plant growth bulb? I was thinking maybe that was the problem with the lighter ones looking like they are disintegrating?:confused:

I'm glad you had a good vacation.:)

Daisy:p

I'm glad to hear they're all getting along:D

I tried tubifex worms many years ago... Not one of my fish species would eat them... and back then, I had a wide variety of fish - more so than I do now...

If you have lights designed for saltwater/freshwater tanks or just saltwater tanks, then your plants may not be getting enough artificial sunlight.
They do sell lights specifically for planted aquariums though. I believe it will say for planted aquariums or have something like "natural day light" or something to that effect on the packaging.

Being that you can see the blue hue in your Kenyi, I'd say that you probably have lights suitable for salt and fresh water which does not offer as much artificial sun light.

That's a hard choice to make... If you change your bulbs to natural daylight, the color of your Africans will not show like they do now. And their colors are their best quality...

Oh, Cichlids like Oscars, Red Devils, and all Africans will kill plants when they are adults. They'll dig them up and rearrange the tanks... No kidding! It's kind of amusing. I had to resort to fake plants except in my non aggressive community tank.


Happy Easter!!
I'm getting ready to take my children on an Easter Egg hunt.

Kae

I hope your kids had a good hunt. One of my nephews came over tonight. He's three and he's in his "why" phase. "Why are doing this and why are you doing that? Why did you go upstairs? Why did you go downstairs? Why did you get a drink? Why did you pick up the cat?"

I think I would like to get a plant light. Just because I want to have real plants in my tank. I don't like the fake plants too much. I think I would be okay with the fish not looking so bright. I just like having them and being able to watch them. You can actually see the blue better in the picture than you can just looking at the kenyi's. And I guess I could just figure out what to do later with the plants when they start to tear them apart.


Thanks for all your help.

Daisy

Maybe I can find a fake plant I like, too

Oh Boy... My son just turned 4... He's beginning to get out of the "why?" and "how?" stage now... LOL... Sometimes I would just run out of answers to give him... LOL...

I let algae grow on my fake plants - they're the silk kind. Kind - of helps them to look more realistic.
I love the real plants though, they're much nicer.
I just recently bought some Lillies and a few banana plants. They've been doing really good so far without any added plant food.
I know I'll have to probably add some at some point though.

You'll probably be able to grow plants in your aquarium for a good long time before your fish start rearranging them.

I was reading on planted aquariums a while back and I seem to remember a technique where they used some plastic crates below the gravel to protect the roots from cichlids... I'll have to see if I can find that article again so that you can read it.

When I run out of answers to give to my nephew, or if I just don't feel like answering him, I say, "Because I wanna." And of course he says, "Why?" LOL :D

I had to change my avatar. I was downloading the pictures I took of the fish, and I saw this picture of the one convict looking directly at the camera. I couldn't decide if he looked more like he was smiling at me or more like he was trying to talk to me. I thought it was so funny. :) I know it's a little blurry, but that was the best I could get it considering how close to the camera he came.

That would be great if you could try to find that article sometime. I would defintely read it.


Daisy:p

I think the new pic is cute!
He looks like he was courious... "Hey what are you doing out there? Take my pic!!!" He's so cute!!
I'll look for the article:D

Kae