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Post by bikeguy33 on Oct 16, 2008 22:39:04 GMT -5
all the pics look great my friend....can`t wait to see them with the cichlids....
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 16, 2008 23:14:20 GMT -5
you started all this Bill - I have you to be thankful for - and thank all of you for your positive thoughts and help in getting me going!
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Post by eve on Oct 17, 2008 3:18:37 GMT -5
very very nice tank setups  love it with taking pics, you gonna learn as you go as already mentioned, i didn't wonna go into the chemical thing about live plants, but i knew there where some positive effects on it in my tanks, all of them have plants in them, my nitrates are all below 10ppm also the pH doesn't raise either other plants you might wonna consider are anubis water wisteria amazon swords as for pH, the best is around 7.2-7.6 my lfs guy told, that the guy who bred them for him, always had stable pH of 7.4 for breeding them, if that is your ultimate goal with them when you get them home, make sure you drip acclimate them i didn't do that with my first ones, did the regular acclimatization thing john so great described in his article but they all died in a matter of 4-5 days this time i did drip, and they're doing great they eat well, swim around and everything i'm feeding them spirulina flakes once a week they get frozen brine shrimp (make sure you thaw them, and get rid of that water) once a week frozen blood worms (same thing as brine shrimp) algae flakes and then those little crumbs, which are red, but not pellets need to check on the name, don't have it on hand right now |
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 17, 2008 8:18:17 GMT -5
thanks Eve, that really helps - have leff plenty of room behind the caves and along the sidewalls for live plants - thanks for your suggestions - I'm really getting excited!
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Post by Carl on Oct 17, 2008 9:13:57 GMT -5
Eve gave some good points as per keeping plants, such as low nitrates (as I also noted earlier).  One point about plants that I want point out that is less known and that is that although plants are excellent for pH stability WITHOUT correct GH, plants will raise pH dramatically during hours of peak photosynthesis. Many plant keeping aquarists are aware of the relationship between KH and pH stability, but are unaware of the studies proving the relationship between plants, GH and KH. It is also noteworthy that plants can lower oxygen at night, which between these tow points I have had a few clients find this out the hard way with delicate fish. See this article for further information about this: Planted Aquarium Care/InformationCarl |
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 17, 2008 9:36:59 GMT -5
an airstone running 24/7 should help though right? I'm sticking w/ the artificials for noe and may add 1 plant per tank as time progresses in accordance w/ water parameters - thanks Carl
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Post by Carl on Oct 17, 2008 12:01:05 GMT -5
an airstone running 24/7 should help though right? I'm sticking w/ the artificials for noe and may add 1 plant per tank as time progresses in accordance w/ water parameters - thanks Carl Yes, definitely! In some heavily planted aquariums with CO2 I had the air stones on a timer to turn "on" when the lights went off. However, this timer would not be necessary in a tank with a few plants and no added CO2. This was helpful in heavily planted tanks with CO2, as although air stone are great for oxygen, especially at night when plants also deplete oxygen, air stones were a "double edged sword" during daytime as they would "drive off" valuable CO2 went plants needed it most. Carl |
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Post by jonv on Oct 17, 2008 15:10:37 GMT -5
I really like the brownish look in the third tank John. I think with your African tank size, I'm going to try to send you one nice male and three females. I think the space looks a little small to try going with five total. I think four should be fine, and of course, should something ever happen to your male, I've got quite a few others.
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 17, 2008 17:14:24 GMT -5
thanks Jon for the compliment on my SA tank - daughter is picking me up some mopani for the African tank tonight - it will be slightly rearranged so it becomes more 3-D - seasoning the tank now and seasoning the rocks for the remaining 2 tanks I haven't set up yet - haven't finished splitting all the granite and marble yet to make more hidey holes - right now there's 3 caves and it definitely needs more plant cover
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Post by brenda on Oct 19, 2008 11:03:37 GMT -5
I'm patiently waiting for the fish and new pics to come. I am really excited for you John!!!!
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Post by murdock6701 on Oct 19, 2008 11:56:31 GMT -5
thanks Brenda, but not as excited as me! Wednesday can't come soon enough! won't know til Tuesday what size the're going to be - I want them small enough so they will acclimate themselves to mt tank and I get to watch them grow and change color - believe me, I'll have pics as long as they're not camers shy - lots of caves!
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Post by rusalka on Jan 3, 2015 0:49:13 GMT -5
If I understand right, Rams like wood, tannins and low pH? I just lost my bolivian Ram yesterday, he died in the hard embraces of a statue. I have a gargoyle figurine, sitting his arms crossed. And the ram got inside his arms from underneath, and pushed himself farther in the attempt to get out, but just got more and more stuck (the only way out for him was initially to go back). At the end I think even if I saw him, I wouldn't have been able to get him out, only if cutting the figurine. May be the fish got scared by Synodontis and jumped in such small hole… The hole is not wider than Ram's body, it doesn't look like a cave at all. Or may be his curiosity killed him… Whatever, I will get another Ram one day, when I bring the water quality in order and solve fish health issues. The gargoyle will go to goldfish where none is close enough to fit in that hole |
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jan 3, 2015 14:15:09 GMT -5
If I understand right, Rams like wood, tannins and low pH? I just lost my bolivian Ram yesterday, he died in the hard embraces of a statue. I have a gargoyle figurine, sitting his arms crossed. And the ram got inside his arms from underneath, and pushed himself farther in the attempt to get out, but just got more and more stuck (the only way out for him was initially to go back). At the end I think even if I saw him, I wouldn't have been able to get him out, only if cutting the figurine. May be the fish got scared by Synodontis and jumped in such small hole… The hole is not wider than Ram's body, it doesn't look like a cave at all. Or may be his curiosity killed him… Whatever, I will get another Ram one day, when I bring the water quality in order and solve fish health issues. The gargoyle will go to goldfish where none is close enough to fit in that hole Here's some information on Ram care: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/sacichlids.html |
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Post by Carl on Jan 3, 2015 14:18:08 GMT -5
If I understand right, Rams like wood, tannins and low pH? I just lost my bolivian Ram yesterday, he died in the hard embraces of a statue. I have a gargoyle figurine, sitting his arms crossed. And the ram got inside his arms from underneath, and pushed himself farther in the attempt to get out, but just got more and more stuck (the only way out for him was initially to go back). At the end I think even if I saw him, I wouldn't have been able to get him out, only if cutting the figurine. May be the fish got scared by Synodontis and jumped in such small hole… The hole is not wider than Ram's body, it doesn't look like a cave at all. Or may be his curiosity killed him… Whatever, I will get another Ram one day, when I bring the water quality in order and solve fish health issues. The gargoyle will go to goldfish where none is close enough to fit in that hole I would re-phrase the question that Rams come from a habitat that is low in pH and high in tannins. The problem we see in the hobby is persons accidentally inferring that this habitat means that this is what they must have. What then happens is the well meaning fish keeper uses products or methods that drive out all mineral cations that ARE ESSENTIAL for osmotic function in an attempt to make their aquarium a duplicate of nature. In nature, the tannins simply overwhelm the minerals that are still present (often coming from upstream", but these cations are still present. The difference is an aquarium is a closed system while in nature it is an open system Further Reading: www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2006/12/how-do-fish-drink.htmlwww.fish-as-pets.com/2014/10/common-aquarium-keeping-myths.htmlCarl |
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Post by Ameenah on Jan 3, 2015 22:24:15 GMT -5
Very nice tanks John. Amazing that you set all of them up at the same time. That's a lot of work! Do you keep all the tanks in the same room? On a rack? Or seperate stands?
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Post by rusalka on Jan 4, 2015 2:40:12 GMT -5
Carl, how would you recommend to add tannins if there is no drift wood in the tank? In my country where I started my hobby (in Eastern Europe) we didn't have many products for everything, so they recommended dry oak leaves, rinsed with boiling water to be placed in the tank. Some off topic, I remember we were buying gallons of some chemical cleaning product from some company (some industrial cleaning or alike). Then shared it in smaller bottles among aquariumists to dose it against "black beard" algae. It may sound savage. The side effect was that it made plants grow faster. Later when I bought Flourish Excel I recognized the smell  |
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Post by Carl on Jan 4, 2015 12:32:10 GMT -5
Carl, how would you recommend to add tannins if there is no drift wood in the tank? In my country where I started my hobby (in Eastern Europe) we didn't have many products for everything, so they recommended dry oak leaves, rinsed with boiling water to be placed in the tank. Oak leaves would work (I actually made my own black water tonic with oak leaves back in the 70s). Indian Almond leaves are better. I really like Pillow Moss as well Product Resource: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/FrogMoss.htmlFurther Information: www.americanaquariumproducts.com/AquariumKH.html#amazonVery interesting! Carl |
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jan 5, 2015 9:30:27 GMT -5
Carl, how would you recommend to add tannins if there is no drift wood I also use the peat moss with my driftwood. Just put it in my HOB filter and add more every month or two. |
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jan 5, 2015 9:34:05 GMT -5
Very nice tanks John. Amazing that you set all of them up at the same time. That's a lot of work! Do you keep all the tanks in the same room? On a rack? Or seperate stands? Might be hard to get an answer from John on this old thread. From back in 2008 when Jon was more active. |
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Post by Ameenah on Jan 5, 2015 9:36:24 GMT -5
True, but current readers may find the info useful |
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Or please consider a donation, even just $5 helps. If even 25% of users of this information donated just $5, it would be more income than one year of sales (currently less than 1/1000 of a % donate)
