I said I was done with tanks. I swore I was until I got offered a 50 gallon 36 X 18 x 19 with stand. soooooo now I've just cleaned it up over the last 3 days and painted the stand but I'm considering buying a wood stand and canopy for it (maybe). so now begins the planning / stocking issues. I have afra Jalo reefs I could put in there but I'm also considering some other afra like the Lundu , cobue . I also have some OB zebra females that are very nicely colored that I could use in it also.

Or on the other end I could go with some tangs using Tropheus which I'd like to get again like the lusingus. Muragos . i will say I don't care about breeding much. so I could also go with a mixed tank.


thoughts ? suggestions ?

if you still have credit at Puppy Center- grab some of what they call "blue reef afra"
They are really G. Reef's

Or go with me to NEC May 11-13. I am going to try and get some nice Tropheus since they are one of the few fish I never tried (except I did have duboisi before)

Is a 50 gallon tank large enough for a tropheus colony? Hmmmm

Just asking? idunno

Probably a litttle on the small side I see now. the 50 is only 36 " long the last tropheus I had were in 48" 55 ,75,90 gallon tanks. something I did not consider until I seen your post preacherboy.

Blue reefs are nice. LFS has them for like $8-$9 each I think. they would be an option. got good color and I'm sure I'm getting credit when I turn in some frontosa. right now my credit there is only like $4.00 LOL I let Teddy spend most of my credit on Lizard supplies and food for the damn ferrett .

Uh oh, Ted...and so it begins...again!

The tank is too small for Tropheus...But it might make a good community Tang tank!

Are you referring the the White Top Galireya? Those would be great for that tank, and the females are absolutely amazing, unlike alot of the Cynotilapia females.

I keep telling you boys...Make a trip over the border!

Kim

I wouldnt mind a trip up there just to hang out w/all you guys.
I hear that coming back into the US is a problem with fish through customs?

PSSST..
paracyps Tres Bien!
never really tried malawi's but i will someday.

how about shellies??
i vote for the tang set up

les, i went to the states in december with my family so we can visit our relatives.
i was so tempted to buy myself some new fish. even my mom encouraged me to try it. the eheim 2213 was only 74.99!!!
my LFS sell them for 119.99! i passed on it and im regretting it.
when we were at the border, the guard asked us if we bought anything..
we said no(not really, me and my sister spent like 500$ on clothes On the Floor Laughing )

they just let us go. no checking, no harrassment, all the guard said was.. Ok have a good night sir.
but seriously, i was going to buy a group of tropheus but i didt think tehy would survive the 10hour car trip

Yup I don't know if I'm just psycho or what. in and out of the hobby over the last 2 years I sold everything or gave it away in 2007. now here we are setting up again with a 50 gallon. I love this footprint of this tank , it was nasty when I got it and I thought if it did not clean up I was junking it. but I'll tell you this tank cleaned up very very nice, they guy who gave it to me seen it today and was like where did you get that . LOL I said that is your tank Dummy. pretty funny what some water and tooth brush will do.

I don't like the condition of the hood so I'm definitely replacing it . anyone ever try cutting a larger glass canopy down to fit a smaller tank ? I have a brand new 2 piece for a 150 gallon I was thinking about cutting to fit the 50. just to be cheap and save money plus that canopy is just sitting new in the box up in the attic. may as well try to use it. and I'm not buying a 150 anytime soon.

Kim, you have the Blue reef ( White Top Galireya ) ? I think the males and females are the same colors only difference is the egg spots or am I wrong on that ?

in fact Kim we have been talking about heading up that way. only to see niagra falls though no fish shopping.. Wiggle it just a little bit!

No more shellies for me they just hide too much and I was thinking about the paracyps I like the nigripinnis a lot hope I did not kill the spelling on that not sure of the variation but it is a little blue really nice fish .. I thought they liked it in bigger tanks better ?

cyps and paracyps do fine in 4 foot tanks, I even had them in a 30 gal (36")
They did fine.

This is only an opinion but-
Truth be told, the niggripinnis are cool, but I think they look way better in pics- just as any blue frontosa varient that I have does

If you guys will plan a trip up for the spring, we'll try to arrange another BBQ around it! I could go for some more ribs and banana pudding! Giggly

Ted, females can colour up identical to the males, but most of the time they are a deeper purply blue colour...(Is purply a word?)

Here's my largest male:


And here's a young female and male, going through the motions:


The older the males get, the "whiter" they get. The more "in charge" they are, the lighter they are. I have two dominant males in a 55G, one has either side of the tank. They are identical in size and appearance, and fought for 2 weeks trying to take over, but neither could beat the other.

Females are that nice purple blue you see in the 2nd pic, unless they get angry or excited. When that happens, you'd have a hard time telling them from the males.

I'd say these guys are middle of the road aggression wise. They can't be too bad or those two big males would have already killed each other, and up until recently, they only had one female between them, and she survived it all, so they can't be too rough.

Kim

OMG! Drooly Drooly Drooly Drooly Drooly Drooly

Kim have you noticed any differences regarding egg spots between males and females. I seem to remember reading some place that females will not carry the egg spots. I almost bought some of these last year from a guy in NY but I backed out. I think their temperment is the same as my afra Jalo reef, those are also very calm most of the time but my females are very blaaa brown.

Both my males and females have egg spots...My big dominant female even has egg spots extending up onto her dorsal fin, which I've never seen in a female before.

I really never believe it when I hear someone say that females of a species never have egg spots. In every case, I've seen a pic to prove them wrong! Giggly

I do believe that in some tank raised specimens, you'll see "consistency" in the many generations produced by certain pairs of fish, though. I had a strain of Cobalts that the females ALWAYS had only one egg spot, while males had 4 or more. But that doesn't work in all Cobalts, just mine!

Kim

I know Kim I had some fish before I cant remember which ones they were but it was said that females did not carry egg spots. our females had more spots then the males did ..

this tank is making me crazy, I just can't decide which way to go with it dumb dumb

the best thing I could do would be to seperate the tangs and malawians in my 125. leave the frontosa in the 125 forever and put all the mbuna in the new 50. then my dilemma about the frontosa being crowded would be fixed . I'm so damn confused. idunno

Ted

hey list what you have in your 125 with the fronts and we'll suggest what to move over to the new tank. If you can get a nice tank with existing fish, it would be a lot cheaper.

dont you think we need pics Hmmmm
just really curious how the tank looks Drooly

I do not have many fish to move over IF I do that. in fact It may be better for me to move some out for good and replace them with other single Mbuna.



125 has 8 4-5" Burundi Frontosa , 5 adult Afra Jalo reef, 1 5" labeotropheus Fuelleborni OB, 4, 4" OB zebras, 2 5" cylindricus , 1 5" yellow lab , some fry from the Jalos, about 6 smaller petricolas , 4 or 5 clown loaches , a couple spotted and striped Raphael catfish , a larger synodontis cat , small chocolate pleco, I think I got them all listed here I got rid of soooo much stuff within the last year it makes me sick today to see that this is all I have now. but it is easy to take care of and the electric bill does not kill me anymore either.

Oh I forgot I'm getting a Big batch of snails saturday morning for the tanks. Malaysian trumpet snails . I just can't keep enough of them.

Ted

you could definitely move the jalo reefs and the yellow lab to the 50.

I agree that the Jalo Reef and Yellow labs would work in the 50G, but I'd be careful about moving that fuelleborni over to a 36 inch tank. They tend to think they rule the world, and I've had problems keeping mine in a 4 foot tank.

Kim

Hey Ted,,,,,,

Get rid of all the other


GARBAGE!!!!!!!!! take that and that!

We need more hobbyist that would enjoy the Tangs such as,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


Calvus and/or Comps. Bouncy



AP.

Now this should be good!

Actually AP we just got back from looking at some Calvus in Mass, I mentioned before I would like something new to me. I'm also considering a move on some from the 125 to the 50 but today Mary told me she does not want a thing to change in the 125 she loves the tank as is. so I may leave it alone for her maybe just thin the crowd out a little.

she Loves the calvus and I've only ever had one and it died 2 weeks after I bought him. so calvus or comps do fall into my my thoughts for the 50. so do Discus . but I am concerned with the discus mainly because Les had so many issues with his. and face it if he cant keep them healthy then mayb I should steer clear.

Kim, that fuelleborni is a demon If I could make him vanish and not have my son notice It would be done today. he is staying in the 125 no matter what ..I've tried him in a 4' tank and he was just impossible. but in the 125 he is managable.

AP dont the calvus / comps just hide most of the time ??

Ted, I don't think discus are quite as hard as they are made out to be. And, keep in mind that Les admittedly isn't into tank maintenance/water changes and such! I know they require a bit more diligence than some of the other species we keep, but I don't think it's anywhere near as much of an ordeal as people make it out to be...Kind of like the old "Tropheus" myths!

I think you could do it! Tres Bien!

I would really like to try my hand at calvus again someday, and I'm also thinking about picking up some brichardi soon and letting them populate a 40G breeder that I have. I really love the look of them, and that's something I've never kept. As far as the calvus go, I'd like to have a pair of them, and then put some shellies and leleupi in the tank with them, if that would be possible.

Kim

OH Mary,,my silly little friend. ZIP IT. Nanananaa Giggly


Ted...that 50 would do just fine. Tres Bien!

IME,,,Calvus or Comps will ONLY hide if they have aggressive fish in the tank.
You know I have had many types of these in a 55 gal. and the tank was beautiful IMO. I have a pic on here somewhere?


Hey "Mrs.",,, easy now,,,I know you remember what happened when you last had those Black Calvus???? dumb dumb roll eyes

Maybe you should try a "show" tank of them first...eh' ?

Soory Ted,,,didnt want to make this a Calvus or Comp thread.


AP.

Yeah, I remember...That "bonded pair" tried to kill each other from the second I brought them home! blinky

I guess they wanted a divorce...

Actually, this thread may have caused a problem for me...

I just contacted a guy on PN who has a bunch of black calvus (just like I had) at 1-1.75 inches for $10 each...I'm hoping he still has some and if he does, I might just pick up some myself this weekend! Tres Bien!

That's a pretty good deal...He has larger ones for $20! I'd just rather have a larger group of the smaller ones and let them form their own bonds!

I think what I like most about the calvus is that "tribal" look they have!

Kim

WHAT,,,,,, yikes

Larger ones for $20.00, thats it,,where exactly do you live again????

To funny 'Mrs.',,,when you mentioned the "tribal" look,,,it reminded me of back at that other forum when you were looking to names them. Remember the names,,because I dont. Hmmmm

I suggested that you name them "Tango and Cash"??? idunno
You can't have those names now,,,,I have 'em. Nanananaa

If you can find lrager ones that cheap,,,,,I guess we will be coming up for a BBQ.


AP.

2.5 inches...Not fully grown but it's still a good deal!

I just heard back from the guy and I'm going to pick up 6 of the smaller ones next weekend! They are in Toronto, and I don't have time to make the trip this weekend, too much to do! It's just about a little over an hour away.

I can't remember what I named those two, and there's not enough money in the world to get me to go back and find out! Giggly

Kim

wow,,,2.5" for $20 is a good deal. Just about at the size where you can ALMOST tell 'em apart and acually able to teel what they are.


hey Ted,,,,go over to the Puppy Center and have "kneel and bob" get you some 1/4" - .5" Calvus for $15.99- $20.00 depending on which ones you want. And you think $40- $60-$80 is bad?????? For adults???

Has Mary changed her mind yet. Let me talk to her. Wiggle it just a little bit!

I think the problem with discus is just getting good stock to start with. Generally speaking, petstore discus are from the Far East. These fish come in poor shape and often have parasites.

Uhh Yes I do think $80 for 1 fish is too much. for me anyway.

I'd drop that cash on a fish only if it were credit and I needed to spend it. but that is just me I'm a cheap son of a gun when it comes to buying fish.

I just got together all the equipment I need for the tank tonight. light bar, hood, undergravel plates , heater and filter. now I just have to place it in the room and level it, then it is all up to the gods to decide which fish goes in. we are heading to Emmons tropical this weekend to look at his Discus this guy has some great fish and knows how to take care of his stock. I have not been there in a while but I know he has great Discus. if he does have calvus they will be small and those things take forever to grow from what I have seen.

I'll let you all know what I find when I go to check out the fish. I do have a hunch that 50 will be filling up before the weekend ends. LOL

Ted

Hello all. Hello Kim. Just happened across this site and realized you were talking about me. :)
I've seen a couple of other familiar names here too,like Ziggy,and Darius.

In response to an earlier question about US customs in this thread: I just sent my sister in law back to the states with a few calvus,some neolamp.brichardi and some guppies.
The guppies were no problem at customs,but she had to call back to get the scientific names of the african fish(altolamprologus calvus...).
Took about an hour but they let her through with the fish.

Hi, Ed! Hopefully I can get some of those calvus from you soon! This baby coming into the world early has really scrambled us on the weekends for a bit!

I've heard that if you take a pic with the scientific name or a copy from one of Ad's books on the species, you don't have any problems getting them through customs. You just need to prove what you have isn't on any endangered species list, etc.

With that being said, I've been through customs enough to know that all it takes is someone having a bad day to cause problems for you!

Kim

She should have just called them "Aquarium fish". :)