i'm a happy camper. traded my psp for a 60 gallon setup

man o man o man o man......
i'm pretty excited.

fish husbandry is one of the things i very much enjoy.

when we moved into this house, i sold my 75 gallon to one of my wifes friends.
i bought a psp and i never really use it that much so i put it on craiglist and i got the email just now....dude is gonna pack it in his truck and bring it my way this evening.

i'll give it a nice clean out and then next weekend, i'll hit up the store and get my crushed coral and some clay planters(bust me and use em as caves)..

i'm going to order 4 parachromis dovii and 4 nandopsis haitensis from jeff rapps.
i will watch them and see which of the two types would be the alpha male of the group and sell the rest.

here is the dovii



here is the haitensis

Nice!
I'm into reef keeping. Takes alot of time to maintain, but it is so worth it.
Ever try your hand at a reef?

Best of luck with your new setup!

reply to post by lombozo


no. i am a cichlid guy at heart. i like the big tank busters from south/central america and the smaller africans from lake malawai and such...

i have thought about dabbling in a nano tank but i always go back to cichlids.

reply to post by Boondock78



Good stuff. Keep me updated on your progress.

reply to post by lombozo


will do. i probably won't have any fish in it(save for dithers to get the bio load going) till probably the first of the year...
he said he has filters for it but i am partial to a special kind. i will need to get the crushed coral(bout 40 pounds of it) and a heater. i will need an airrator stone and air pump. thermostat to monitor temp.

maybe by the weekend after next i will have some barbs in there to get the load going and first of the year i will add the fish i want.

very excited though

i think i am going to go for the haitiensis.....

i will put about 8 tiger barbs in there to get my bio load started and then plop my black nasty in there.

gonna be a great success[/borat]

well, i jumped it with some stress coat and some stress zyme so i could toss my cichlids in right away.
i got 1 midas, 1 convict, and 1 jag.

I love fishies.


The best fish to get imo is a tetraodon lineatus


It's a puffer, super evil hardkore puffer

They destroy all!


That or some Vampire Tetras.

i am not into fish save for cichlids.

i would like to have a microlepis but i only know of one store that has one and he won't sell it for less than a grand....

they're common name is emperor cichlid.

hey lombo, you ever see an umbee?

check this dude out

nice trade. I'm a reef guy myself but any tank is a welcome addition in my mind.

Originally posted by Crakeur
nice trade. I'm a reef guy myself but any tank is a welcome addition in my mind.

what size tank you have?
i have really been considering trying out a nano tank.
i have a 55 gallon in the basement that is just sitting there. that really wouldn't qualify as a nano but i have been thinking of getting a 30 gallon long and giving it a go.

every time i start to think about it though, i wind up with more cichlids.

i have only had this one set up for a few days now and i already want more fish.

i have a parachromis managuense in there....they're one of my fav's but i really, and i mean REALLY want a haitiensis.


check out this vid....this is a male haitiensis



here is a male dovii banging glass



here is a 'juvi', male managuense.....thats what i have but mine is still a baby.

tell me about your reef tank crakeur

Originally posted by Boondock78
i will put about 8 tiger barbs in there to get my bio load started and then plop my black nasty in there.

Tiger barbs? But they're not from the same biosphere as the chichlids... not to mention their pH requirements are different.

Oh well, if they're just there to get the bacterial action started it doesn't really matter I guess.

reply to post by Boondock78


26 gallon bowfront. I've gone as small as ten gallons on the reef and as big as 150 predator tank in the office. The whole wife thing put a major damper on the fish tanks.

the 26 is actually the perfect size for a small reef. plenty of room, not huge so the electric bill isn't horrific and there's just enough water that, barring a total meltdown, you can salvage livestock in a catastrophe.

I actually started snapping pics of the tank the other day. I'll see if I can find the time to post a couple.

Originally posted by Beachcoma

Tiger barbs? But they're not from the same biosphere as the chichlids... not to mention their pH requirements are different.

Oh well, if they're just there to get the bacterial action started it doesn't really matter I guess.

not trying to be rude here coma but i know what i am doing....some people over think their setups.
i know they're not from the same area but they make a fantastic dither and thats what they are in there for.

it's perfetly fine to put tiger barbs/tinfoil barbs etc in with new world cichlids.

imo, unless you're messing with salt and such, your ph's, etc do not need to be perfect, just CONSTANT.

that is the most important thing.

i will be changing out 10 gallons of water every 5th day. the water will come right from the tap with stress coat to remove the chlorine and there will be 2 tablespoons of aquarium salt as a buffer.
i decided against the crushed coral(cause i went with new world) and have regular old gravel in there.

again, not trying to be rude but i know how to keep fish.

i don't do ph checks. i don't do ammonia tests. i don't test for nitrates and nitrites. i don't need to.
a the same time though, my water changes are the exact same every time. amount of water changed, temp of water, stress coat, stress zyme, salt.

done and done.

the absolute most important thing is that it is consistant. thats all

reply to post by Crakeur


i'd like to see it....a lady i used to work with had a 300 gallon reef tank. it was one of the most beautiful tanks i have ever seen.

something about those big ole new world cichlids just tickle my fancy.

do you have any seahorses or anything in there?

coma, take the barbs as an example.
they prefer a ph of around 7.0-8.0

now look at some africans like the auretus...they like it 7.0-8.5
no problems there.

bumblebee(another african) likes it about 7.5

firemouths(new world) dig it between 7.0-8.5

jd's like it between 7-8

the managuense likes it about 7.0
------------------

my point is, don't over thing it. make sure whatever maintenence you do is the same thing every time and you will have healthy, active, vibrant fish.

-----

i don't mix africans and new world though. various reasons but new worlds like to dig..mbuna's are not that big and will get terrorized.

frontosa take forever to grow...

reply to post by Boondock78


I believe you Really. You know your stuff. I used to keep tiger barbs with other fish that prefer soft, lower pH water. The books I used as reference also said the barbs prefer those sort of water, not to mention the rivers I sometimes catch them from have the very same water qualities... that's why I mentioned it.

But you're absolutely right about the other points, especially the bit about keeping the water consistent.

I'm happy for you boon. Sounds like you really do know what you're doing. Hope it works out good for you.

I have a 55 gallon tank with four big gold fish. I know very little about keeping fish except I feed them and keep their home clean. They give me much pleasure while I sit watching them.

I've had them over a year and I know it isn't possible but they really do seem to know who I am.

Glad you finally are selling your psp.

Originally posted by Beachcoma


But you're absolutely right about the other points, especially the bit about keeping the water consistent.

just wanted you to know that i was not trying to be a prick.....
this is key right there though.

when i was doing the fish store gig, thats the advice i would give people. keep your changes/peramiters/TEMP as close to the same all the time as you can.

that is by far the most important thing, imo....i've had a lot of tanks and a lot of fish and nary a problem....

like i said though, i'm pretty anal about it...

barbs are fantastic dithers though

This sounds a bit fishy to me.

Looks like you got quite a deal for the psp trade. I've used 10-20 gallon tanks with an sortment of mollies and such back when I had time for them but now the only fish I see are in the freezer.