Fish!

[HDreptiles]

And you do have very pretty fish BTW.

[mistersprinkles]

Originally Posted by HDreptiles

Ok, I didn't know that. But I still say, if he wants to do it his way, you should let him without trying to beat some other way into his head. If he winds up having problems and asks for help, then give it to him, but don't ram it down his throat right off the bat. That is all I am saying.

If this were ffishh.com instead of ssnakess you might not think that way
What if those fish could walk and stick to a ceiling and had giant eyes. I wouldn't be going overboard. I just didn't want to let what I knew was an unhealthy environment go by un commented on.

[HDreptiles]

Originally Posted by mistersprinkles

If this were ffishh.com instead of ssnakess you might not think that way
What if those fish could walk and stick to a ceiling and had giant eyes. I wouldn't be going overboard. I just didn't want to let what I knew was an unhealthy environment go by un commented on.

I completely understand that, I was just saying that maybe you should tone it back a little bit, that's all. If the guy has problems and asks for help, by all means give it to him as straight as possible, but if not, let him know in a much more subdued way. I know how it goes with stuff like that. You get very passionate about what you do, and I am not going to hold that against you. I myself have done it to people. It happens.

On another note, are your tanks planted or are they fake plants? I was under the impression the cichlids tear live plants up.

[belovedboas]

Ya no need to call childish names

[infernalis]

so we let it rest and move forward....

[mistersprinkles]

Originally Posted by HDreptiles

On another note, are your tanks planted or are they fake plants? I was under the impression the cichlids tear live plants up.

Depends on the fish/plant combo. Mbuna eat plants. Angelfish actually protect and clean plants they intend to spawn on.

[infernalis]

When I had my Oscar, I gave up trying to decorate her tank, she shoved all the gravel to one end constantly, stirred up the tank with her tail.. just wrecked everything all the time. so I kept her in a bare tank.

[HDreptiles]

Originally Posted by infernalis

When I had my Oscar, I gave up trying to decorate her tank, she shoved all the gravel to one end constantly, stirred up the tank with her tail.. just wrecked everything all the time. so I kept her in a bare tank.

Most of the cichlid tanks I have seen are all rockwork. They do look nice like that though.

[HDreptiles]

Originally Posted by mistersprinkles

Depends on the fish/plant combo. Mbuna eat plants. Angelfish actually protect and clean plants they intend to spawn on.

What size tank are your angels in? I have a 45 gallon that I was contemplating doing an angel tank.

[Aaron_S]

Pablo this thread has calmed down since I went out last night so I'm not really going to continue it.

I will say though you can't back up your knowledge by saying you worked in a pet store and then say it doesn't mean a thing because I worked in one. You can't have it both ways.

I will get a pic of my clown loach as well as use my test kit. The tank resides with my girlfriend so when I'm over next I'll be sure to do it. I do have a full test kit, I might not have one test but I have the majority. I like how you still assume things.

Lastly, I went ahead and spoke to my friends, and as long as my fish aren't stressed, by lack of eating is a usual sign, then everything is currently fine. My clown loach has adapted to his surroundings. He's fine in the current water quality. I also ensure that it eats. You may think I overlook everything and simply drop in food but again you assume I don't know anything when I've told you otherwise. Stop doing that.

[mistersprinkles]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Pablo this thread has calmed down since I went out last night so I'm not really going to continue it.

I will say though you can't back up your knowledge by saying you worked in a pet store and then say it doesn't mean a thing because I worked in one. You can't have it both ways.

I will get a pic of my clown loach as well as use my test kit. The tank resides with my girlfriend so when I'm over next I'll be sure to do it. I do have a full test kit, I might not have one test but I have the majority. I like how you still assume things.

Lastly, I went ahead and spoke to my friends, and as long as my fish aren't stressed, by lack of eating is a usual sign, then everything is currently fine. My clown loach has adapted to his surroundings. He's fine in the current water quality. I also ensure that it eats. You may think I overlook everything and simply drop in food but again you assume I don't know anything when I've told you otherwise. Stop doing that.

No Aaron, I was right. About everything. YOU DON'T KNOW YOUR WATER man. You can NOT call yourself a fish keeper. If you can tell me your temp within 1F your pH within 1 10th your gH/kH and nitrate FROM MEMORY, you, sir, are not a fish keeper. You're some guy with fish.

I'm glad I don't live in your aquarium.

Example:

TANK I HAD IN 2006!!

pH 6.8
kH 5
gH 5
temp 82.5
MAX nitrate 10PPM
(reverse osmosis water + kent R O right + kent kH booster)

TANK I HAD IN 2008

pH 8.2
kH 11
gH 12
temp 79.5F
MAX nitrate 15PPM
(Toronto tap + Seachem malawi buffer)

It goes without saying I never had detectable ammonia or nitrite. I know what my water was four years ago dude. My angels spawned every FIVE days like clockwork.

You can say you're a guy with fish, but don't you dare insult my superior knowledge claiming that you know what you're doing. You know fish need water and food. That's about it as far as I can see. The rest is full of misinformation gleamed from idiots you should not have listened to and your fish are suffering. Don't post a pic of that clown loach dude because I can already see it in my head and i will SNAAAAP.

You test your water every 7 days bare minimum. If you can tell me what it was the last 4 times and today and have a proper mix of fish you'll be moving int he right direction.

And I can back up my info by the fact that aquarium stores have called ME for advice. The most respected person in the city on freshwater (Harold) thinks I know a LOT, I've serviced $30 000+ aquariums for major corporations in their boardrooms, and I talked some sense into the Toronto zoo's aquarium system. Know why they have clown loaches in the malaysian pavilion in the 20 foot tank now? Because Martin Thoene and I TOLD them to. We also convinced them to shut down their cave tetra tank which was very badly taken care of and even to re-do their seahorse and jellyfish tanks which were not conducive to happy animals.



But I must not be a respected source of knowledge on fish.

I'd be saying all this nicely but you called me a wimp so all of this has been said with malice. I also find it offensive that you can turn your nose up at me and somehow assume you have my level of knowledge when I assure you the snake folks who've been following along could tell otherwise with no foreknowledge.

Ok. Now I feel I've gotten the prick out of my system, I'm willing to try to help you nicely again, if you're willing to take it.

You have a couple of species of very sensitive fish, and I do want to help you keep them healthy if you're interested. So get me that info. Don't show me the clown loach because I know its not gonna look good and those are very smart puppy like fish and I wont be able to deal with it.

You should also, given that you have sensitive fish, be familiar with Toronto (and more importantly your local area)s water distribution practices. Things like- do you live in an area with mostly lead piping (can be very bad), do you live on the proper Toronto supply or the Markham or Pickering supplies (different water). Do you know that in spring the city flushes the pipes with an insane amount of chlorine for a couple of weeks and you must use 2-3x the water conditioner? Do you know that keeping a hardwater fish in overly soft water or vice versa is bad for them because their skin is actually geared toward optimum health in X-Y water hardness and do you maintain your hardness by testing and adjusting as necessary?

WOULD you be willing to get a 250 gallon tank for your frontosas and a 200-250 for your clown loaches (at least five as adults ideally more)?

Originally Posted by mistersprinkles

Fish hobbyists will jump down your throat for supporting hybrid fish. We're losing pure blood very quickly.

I should mention I do have 2 species of hybrid fish in those pictures. I bought those as 10mm fry and they were not labeled as hybrids. Once they were large enough to be sure I did return them. Hybrid fish = bad.

[infernalis]

Keep it civil people....

[mistersprinkles]

Originally Posted by Aaron_S

Lastly, I went ahead and spoke to my friends, and as long as my fish aren't stressed, by lack of eating is a usual sign, then everything is currently fine. My clown loach has adapted to his surroundings. He's fine in the current water quality. I also ensure that it eats. You may think I overlook everything and simply drop in food but again you assume I don't know anything when I've told you otherwise. Stop doing that.

Does your loach click? It's not happy. Not eating is a final stage of stress. Your 'friends' are not knowledgeable. I'm sorry.

Keeping any loach by itself is wrong. Keeping clown loaches alone is cruel. Keeping a clown loach alone with fish that it doesn't like or understand and in the wrong temperature, oxygen level, and pH is very cruel. Anybody backing you up here automatically resigns any kind of expertise whatsoever as far as I'm concerned.

When clown loaches are happy you will hear them click. To you, to eachother, when eating. It is loud- like glass cracking. I don't mean the sound they make when they are ripping pieces of food off. It is much louder than that.

Have you joined loaches.com?

It makes sense that the people on the BMW forum will know more about your 325i than the people at the general car forum, no? Think about it man.
Please understand that I'm more concerned about the well being of your clown loaches than your ego. This is the only responsible way for me to address this as far as I'm concerned.
Just like if people thought you were keeping your snake abusively and tried to correct you and you got your back up, those people would flip too and be more concerned with your pet than your feelings. Once they're being taken care of the way they need to be we can all calm down more.

[mistersprinkles]

Originally Posted by HDreptiles

What size tank are your angels in? I have a 45 gallon that I was contemplating doing an angel tank.

Hey sorry I missed this I'll PM you too incase you miss the post. Those were in a 55. In a 45 standard that's fine for breeding Angels. Is this the 3 feet by 1 foot by about 1.5 or 2 feet tall 45?

All you need is a large sword plant or anubias for them to be comfortable, and a nice big log helps too, for something to do. They like to peck at things, especially the ones with more wild blood.

You should be ok with normal tap water. I don't know what Chicago tap is hardness and pH wise though. Try to get wild angels are angels that still have wild blood. If it doesn't have red eyes, you don't want it. They behave like a door stop, not like angels.

If you want to breed them, get a few adults, wait for a pair to form, then remove the other fish. They will stay paired forever if you get a good pair. You can usually keep corys with the angels without losing the eggs but plecos will find the eggs at night. If you don't care about saving eggs you can keep them with any non threatening fish like most tetras, a trio of rams, stuff like that

[mistersprinkles]

Also my recommended diet for angels commercial diet wise if you're still reading -

60% New Life Spectrum discus (amino acids and lots of omega 3. Angels have a lot of fatty tissue.

30% dainichi veggie deluxe or veggie FX (contains a lot of montmiliorite clay and beneficial cultures. The high fiber level is good for digestion and there are a lot of natural color enhancers. As you can't keep angels in the sun in Chicago you'll need caretenoids and friends to keep your colors bright.

for the other 10%, a mixture of mysis shrimp and baby guppies or mosquito fish is best. The easiest way to do this is to simply keep the angels with a group of mosquito fish. They're too small to eat their eggs and they breed like rabbits. All you need is a planted clump in a corner. The adults wont be harassed only the babies. Feeding live food is a bit iffy as far as I'm concerned conscience wise but my lizard eats crickets...

Whatever you do, don't let your angelfish manipulate you. They're very smart. They want their food presoaked to soften, they only want food that tastes good, they want you to keep out of their half of the tank when they pair, etc etc. They will try to manipulate you by refusing to eat infront of you unless you soften their food, turning their back when they see a container of food they don't like, and so on. Don't fall for it. They're like parrots. Once they know they have you wrapped around their fin youll stay there. The female in the angel pair on page 1 only ate Omega 1 shrimp pellets, and only if they were pre softened. Anything else had to be whole baby shrimp or fish.