My African Cichlids

[Deleted]

All are really nice fish, the bamboo shrimp is really cool. I use to have a few fishs. Also like kaneisdaman said, im glad to see you are still loving animals.

[Hulkamaniac]

thefishcalledbob said:

gar said:

The zoo tank is more like an indoor pond so it's obviously much bigger. The size of a fish is controlled by their genetics like any other animal. You can put a St Bernard puppy in a poodle sized dog run and it'll be fine for a short while. Eventually it'll grow too big for the dog run and it's health will suffer and sooner or later it's probably going to die much earlier than it normally would. Fish are basically the same way.

Also, clown loaches would be a bad fit for Jack's tank. The african's he's got are far too aggressive (clown loaches are passive fish) and they get way too big for that tank (8-12 inches). Also, they need to be kept in schools of 3-4 fish.

All the sites and places i've been on say they won't grown over 7" so i'm guesing either the fish sold for tanks are a sort of dwarf version that is just called a red tailed shark for short, or the one at the zoo is a slightly different 'breed'

The clown loach i had were right bastards, they were pure evil... (ps, got some images of my dads tank lower down)

I think there might be some confusion over the name. There are no true freshwater sharks. The fish sold as "sharks" are invariably catfish of some kind. There is this fish the red tailed shark


and there is also this fish with a similar name - the redtailed catfish


The former gets about 7 inches. The latter is the one in our zoo. It can get 4-5 feet easily but is commonly sold for the aquarium as a juvenile. I'm not sure which one of these two you have.

admin said:

gar said:

There is a red tail shark (aka red tail catfish) at my local zoo that's about 4 feet long. They will get that long unless they die first.

Also, you don't need a pleco for algae control. It's not a good idea to buy a fish solely for algae control. With proper lighting and water changes you shouldn't have any problems with algae.

For Jack - the crushed coral really isn't all that necessary if you don't want to use it. As long as you keep the water changed and the chemistry constant it's not a big deal. This assumes that your water chemistry isn't really extreme (i.e. really hard or really soft).

A buffer IS necessary for the Africans. For some reason my PH got so acidic so I gradually raised it up and got it to 7.6. Since they are tank raised they are not used to the 8.5 to 11.0 range that the lake has so it's not necessary for it to be that extreme.

I have never heard of a Red Tail shark getting that large. The so called 'Iridescent Sharks' get that large though.

JS

I don't know what your tank maintenance regime is, but a lack of water changes can cause acids from decaying fish crap to build up and cause a ph crash like the one you described. I don't see any live plants in your tank (and africans would trash them anyway) so I assume you're not injecting co2. CO2 can also cause the Ph to crash in a tank. My main display tank is a 75g planted tank that has a much lower ph than any of my other 5 tanks because it's the only one that's CO2 injected.

Also, I stand by my belief that ph isn't a big deal for fish as long as it's constant and not extreme. Depending on what your tapwater is you're probably fine not messing with it.

[thematthardyjr]

gar said:

thefishcalledbob said:

All the sites and places i've been on say they won't grown over 7" so i'm guesing either the fish sold for tanks are a sort of dwarf version that is just called a red tailed shark for short, or the one at the zoo is a slightly different 'breed'

The clown loach i had were right bastards, they were pure evil... (ps, got some images of my dads tank lower down)

I think there might be some confusion over the name. There are no true freshwater sharks. The fish sold as "sharks" are invariably catfish of some kind. There is this fish the red tailed shark


and there is also this fish with a similar name - the redtailed catfish


The former gets about 7 inches. The latter is the one in our zoo. It can get 4-5 feet easily but is commonly sold for the aquarium as a juvenile. I'm not sure which one of these two you have.

admin said:

A buffer IS necessary for the Africans. For some reason my PH got so acidic so I gradually raised it up and got it to 7.6. Since they are tank raised they are not used to the 8.5 to 11.0 range that the lake has so it's not necessary for it to be that extreme.

I have never heard of a Red Tail shark getting that large. The so called 'Iridescent Sharks' get that large though.

JS

I don't know what your tank maintenance regime is, but a lack of water changes can cause acids from decaying fish crap to build up and cause a ph crash like the one you described. I don't see any live plants in your tank (and africans would trash them anyway) so I assume you're not injecting co2. CO2 can also cause the Ph to crash in a tank. My main display tank is a 75g planted tank that has a much lower ph than any of my other 5 tanks because it's the only one that's CO2 injected.

Also, I stand by my belief that ph isn't a big deal for fish as long as it's constant and not extreme. Depending on what your tapwater is you're probably fine not messing with it.

I'm pretty sure every one meas this "shark" right?

These don't get anymore then 5"-7".

[S]

thematthardyjr said:

gar said:

I think there might be some confusion over the name. There are no true freshwater sharks. The fish sold as "sharks" are invariably catfish of some kind. There is this fish the red tailed shark


and there is also this fish with a similar name - the redtailed catfish


The former gets about 7 inches. The latter is the one in our zoo. It can get 4-5 feet easily but is commonly sold for the aquarium as a juvenile. I'm not sure which one of these two you have.



I don't know what your tank maintenance regime is, but a lack of water changes can cause acids from decaying fish crap to build up and cause a ph crash like the one you described. I don't see any live plants in your tank (and africans would trash them anyway) so I assume you're not injecting co2. CO2 can also cause the Ph to crash in a tank. My main display tank is a 75g planted tank that has a much lower ph than any of my other 5 tanks because it's the only one that's CO2 injected.

Also, I stand by my belief that ph isn't a big deal for fish as long as it's constant and not extreme. Depending on what your tapwater is you're probably fine not messing with it.

I'm pretty sure every one meas this "shark" right?

These don't get anymore then 5"-7".

Yea, thats what i meant, i thought thats what you were talking about Hulkamaniac (thanks Moore)

[thematthardyjr]

thefishcalledbob said:

thematthardyjr said:

I'm pretty sure every one meas this "shark" right?

These don't get anymore then 5"-7".

Yea, thats what i meant, i thought thats what you were talking about Hulkamaniac (thanks Moore)

no problem

[Jack Specific]

admin said:

A buffer IS necessary for the Africans. For some reason my PH got so acidic so I gradually raised it up and got it to 7.6. Since they are tank raised they are not used to the 8.5 to 11.0 range that the lake has so it's not necessary for it to be that extreme.

I have never heard of a Red Tail shark getting that large. The so called 'Iridescent Sharks' get that large though.

JS

I don't know what your tank maintenance regime is, but a lack of water changes can cause acids from decaying fish crap to build up and cause a ph crash like the one you described. I don't see any live plants in your tank (and africans would trash them anyway) so I assume you're not injecting co2. CO2 can also cause the Ph to crash in a tank. My main display tank is a 75g planted tank that has a much lower ph than any of my other 5 tanks because it's the only one that's CO2 injected.

Also, I stand by my belief that ph isn't a big deal for fish as long as it's constant and not extreme. Depending on what your tapwater is you're probably fine not messing with it.[/quote]For some reason everyone around here has trouble with their PH getting to acidic. The tap is around 7.6 but it does decline in around 2 days and not just with my tank. I do have a live plant in there, it's one of those bamboo plants (the aquatic kind, I forget the name but not a true bamboo). The only think they attempt to eat is the roots and algae that grows on it. It has thick leaves which is good for Africans to not eat it. Also CO2 injection lowers PH which is why I only have the one plant.

Also when I do a water change it will raise the PH suddenly which is not a good thing. This way when I do a water change it's the same PH level.

JS

[Hulkamaniac]

admin said:

admin said:

A buffer IS necessary for the Africans. For some reason my PH got so acidic so I gradually raised it up and got it to 7.6. Since they are tank raised they are not used to the 8.5 to 11.0 range that the lake has so it's not necessary for it to be that extreme.

I have never heard of a Red Tail shark getting that large. The so called 'Iridescent Sharks' get that large though.

JS

Also, I stand by my belief that ph isn't a big deal for fish as long as it's constant and not extreme. Depending on what your tapwater is you're probably fine not messing with it.

For some reason everyone around here has trouble with their PH getting to acidic. The tap is around 7.6 but it does decline in around 2 days and not just with my tank. I do have a live plant in there, it's one of those bamboo plants (the aquatic kind, I forget the name but not a true bamboo). The only think they attempt to eat is the roots and algae that grows on it. It has thick leaves which is good for Africans to not eat it. Also CO2 injection lowers PH which is why I only have the one plant.

Also when I do a water change it will raise the PH suddenly which is not a good thing. This way when I do a water change it's the same PH level.

JS[/quote]

Sounds like you have water with a low level of kh in the tap. The buffer probably isn't the worst idea in your case then. I do the CO2 injection because my 75g tank is very heavily planted. PH drops because of co2 injection have no effect on fish so I don't worry about it. Actually in my tank, the co2 is off at night so I'm sure the PH swings back up to 7.8 which is what it is out of my tap (it's about 6.8 - 7.0 when the co2 is running) and then goes back down in the am when the co2 comes back on. None of the fish seem to care.

[Jack Specific]

gar said:

admin said:

Also, I stand by my belief that ph isn't a big deal for fish as long as it's constant and not extreme. Depending on what your tapwater is you're probably fine not messing with it.

For some reason everyone around here has trouble with their PH getting to acidic. The tap is around 7.6 but it does decline in around 2 days and not just with my tank. I do have a live plant in there, it's one of those bamboo plants (the aquatic kind, I forget the name but not a true bamboo). The only think they attempt to eat is the roots and algae that grows on it. It has thick leaves which is good for Africans to not eat it. Also CO2 injection lowers PH which is why I only have the one plant.

Also when I do a water change it will raise the PH suddenly which is not a good thing. This way when I do a water change it's the same PH level.

JS

Sounds like you have water with a low level of kh in the tap. The buffer probably isn't the worst idea in your case then. I do the CO2 injection because my 75g tank is very heavily planted. PH drops because of co2 injection have no effect on fish so I don't worry about it. Actually in my tank, the co2 is off at night so I'm sure the PH swings back up to 7.8 which is what it is out of my tap (it's about 6.8 - 7.0 when the co2 is running) and then goes back down in the am when the co2 comes back on. None of the fish seem to care.[/quote]What kind of fish do you have? I know Africans are a bit more sensitive to any sudden PH swings.

[Hulkamaniac]

admin said:

gar said:

For some reason everyone around here has trouble with their PH getting to acidic. The tap is around 7.6 but it does decline in around 2 days and not just with my tank. I do have a live plant in there, it's one of those bamboo plants (the aquatic kind, I forget the name but not a true bamboo). The only think they attempt to eat is the roots and algae that grows on it. It has thick leaves which is good for Africans to not eat it. Also CO2 injection lowers PH which is why I only have the one plant.

Also when I do a water change it will raise the PH suddenly which is not a good thing. This way when I do a water change it's the same PH level.

JS

Sounds like you have water with a low level of kh in the tap. The buffer probably isn't the worst idea in your case then. I do the CO2 injection because my 75g tank is very heavily planted. PH drops because of co2 injection have no effect on fish so I don't worry about it. Actually in my tank, the co2 is off at night so I'm sure the PH swings back up to 7.8 which is what it is out of my tap (it's about 6.8 - 7.0 when the co2 is running) and then goes back down in the am when the co2 comes back on. None of the fish seem to care.

What kind of fish do you have? I know Africans are a bit more sensitive to any sudden PH swings.[/quote]

I keep various tetras, cory cats and a pleco in there. I'm planning on adding some rainbowfish. I had heard the opposite about Africans. I had heard they were very hardy fish, but I've never tried keeping them myself so I don't know for sure.

[Jack Specific]

gar said:

admin said:

Sounds like you have water with a low level of kh in the tap. The buffer probably isn't the worst idea in your case then. I do the CO2 injection because my 75g tank is very heavily planted. PH drops because of co2 injection have no effect on fish so I don't worry about it. Actually in my tank, the co2 is off at night so I'm sure the PH swings back up to 7.8 which is what it is out of my tap (it's about 6.8 - 7.0 when the co2 is running) and then goes back down in the am when the co2 comes back on. None of the fish seem to care.

What kind of fish do you have? I know Africans are a bit more sensitive to any sudden PH swings.

I keep various tetras, cory cats and a pleco in there. I'm planning on adding some rainbowfish. I had heard the opposite about Africans. I had heard they were very hardy fish, but I've never tried keeping them myself so I don't know for sure.[/quote]Acidic is good for Tetras. The amazon river is 5.5 to 6.5 mostly. A thing about Rainbow Fish... I started out with three Aussy Rainbows as dither fish which was recommended to me but my Africans killed them. They just were not quick enough and were too timid. Damn shame I felt so bad. I then got myself 5 Giant Danios which are also recommended. They are WAY fast and even will go after not only each other but the Africans at times. They're crazy. I did have one die though, not sure what happened but I do not think the Africans got her. You should get yourself a school of those. They are really nice looking and so fun to watch not to mention they are very hardy.

JS