70 gal Malawi tank, A Journal.

[groan]

I had a sheet of plexiglass on top of the tank with a little 24" compact flash light on it. the whole thing began warping a bit and looked bad.
I went out yesterday and bought a glass cover and a 48" Coralife compact flash from BA's (no OVAS discount on the coralife line! keep that in mind!)
I paid for it anyways...i should have not bought it and did the same thing Art did and order it online...oh well. I have it now and it is GREAT! 130 watts instead of whatever little amount the other one was and it goes edge to edge and the gold tone finish looks fantastic. If i want to do plants I believe i can now though the africans may have something else to say about it.
should have done it a long time ago.
pics to follow...some day.

[groan]

Not shots of the 70 gallon, but the babies of the female Lemon Jake:



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[groan]

Shot of the tank, thought I had one of the full tank with the new light and glass hood but i didnt...this is the current rock setup though.


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[groan]

closeup of a crowd shot

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[groan]

I have a question though...to keep agression down i've read I should have 18-20 fish or even more in this size of tank..

what are your thoughts? should I add more of each or just wait fore more babies and keep some?

[pegasus]

Don't forget... It's nice to overstock but they will also grow to the point of you having to trim them down later, or you will sell them back or you will have found the reason to satisfy your MTS disorder.

The fast and easy way is to introduce more females..... boring
Keeping juvies that will later become competitive males.... welll, you know
Can't intoduce another of the same genus or too similar. (general rule)

Since your tank is stocked with somewhat aggressive Malawis, I'd be careful with small or delicate fish.

Of what I already have in stock and if you don't mind mixing it with Tangs: 6 more fish ...

1 male C44 (maybe a female also) (Lake Victoria & regions)
3 Neolamprolugus brichardi, leleupi or tretocephalus (any of these can be mix going against the above general rule.
3 Juliochromis
1 Cyrtocara moorii  (Blue dolphin)
3 Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty)
1 Pseudotropheus demasoni

1 Synodontis

Have fun

[groan]

Thanks Peggy!

I dont want to overstock, I want to properly stock.

Maybe I'll get one more trio +1 and stop there.
I dont mind mixing lakes, but thought I'd try to stick to Malawi initially.

I dont want to put in another Peacock since i already have  the red empress trio in there  and the Demasoni looks too much like the afras
The Rusty i really like and of course the C44 looks great, maybe the moorii...

We'll see. i'll think about it.

[groan]

waaa!
i just found the empty carcus of my other albino BN pleco in my 30. looks like the snail found him.
its completely a shock to me. the fish was alive and swimming this morning! looked fine.

very strange. still no sign of the first one that went missing.

Sorry Ottawadiscus. i loved them!

If i replace them i'll get larger ones.

The Synos are doing great and I'll throw up some pics soon!

[groan]

argh!
I just went out and got a aquaclear 70 to help clear the protein and cloudy water problem but I failed to measure the space behind the tank...
Not enuf roooooommmmm...

so now I have this filter and can't fit it. sigh.
any suggestion or am I going to have to empty, move and refill?

this sucks.

I can't return it because I've already rinsed the media.

chalk one up for experience...remember to always measure before installing!

[PaleoFishGirl]

Measure twice, cut once

[babblefish1960]

That is actually pretty funny, you know, if you were really adventurous, you could install a niche in the wall like the people do for pieces of art and just tell visitors you didn't want to take up any more floor space.

Measure twice, cut once

I was so sure it was some other handyman trick, check it out by eyeballing it and then cut a good several times until it is just about right, sort of.

[groan]

lol, thanks for the suggestion1 i'll consider it! NOT

I'll hold on to it, when I get a chance I'll empty it down to 6-8 inches so I dont have to remove fish and get a few guys over to help move it. I jsut need a couple inches out from the wall.

[repeej]

Hang it on the front for now until some poor sap offers to help you move the tank out.

[groan]

Repeej, you're a genious.
it's the simplest things we fail to see.
Thanks!

[groan]

red empress is today officially holding.

im going fry crazy!!!

oh and i added 2 more BN plecos from BA's on innis.
they were only 12.99 each! and aparently are wild caught from Peru. they are about 2.5 - 3 inches long and have nice bushy bushyness. i was surprised to see them for such a price...until i had a close look when i got them home. they have small white lumps. one has one on its tail and the other has one on its side and he also has little to no tail. not sure what it is...

i have them in a hospital tank, no carbon and using a slow natural ich and other medicine. it was all i had. they seem to be ok but i'll keep a close eye on them.

if i can manage a pic i'll psot it and get some advice.

[groan]

Some new pics and the BN lump pic...
click images for full sizes
You can see the lump on his cheek



Otopharynx lithobates male (from Pegasus's auction stock)


Otopharynx lithobates female(from Pegasus's auction stock)


And a group shot