ViS

Hey everyone, yes I am still alive and no, I have not been keeping fish lately. That may however be about to change. I am considering setting up a modest tank for display. I am thinking perhaps a 4-5 ft, standard width, and perhaps a bit taller than standard. I am severely out of touch with what's around and nice at the moment, but am starting to do some research. I am unlucky that I am not living in NSW any more, knowing the people who might have the fish I need, but lucky that now I am in Adelaide, I am nice and close to E4G13M4N Mark's shop (which is really good btw). I am thinking either a busy bright tank full of msobo or saulosi, or an interesting tank with shellies down low and some mid / upper Tangs. I'd love to hear some ideas and find out what cool stuff is out there these days. Cheers Andy

I lost an entire colony of Tropheus duboisi when a huge bristlenose spawn was eaten by the buggers. All died within a day or so. First and last tropheus I tried to breed lol.

Dang. I was going to try and make this one. I'll be in QLD until the 3rd. Might see if I can swing it. It's only been about 6 years

I have no idea what I'm going to do with the ones that survive. I have a feeling this might be an ongoing problem. Now another pair are nesting alongside this pair Hopefully the clown loaches like a midnight snack.....

Skippy, great looking fish. That's what they should look like. I did buy a heap of fry a while back to try and get a colony going. The colour turned out to be really ordinary in the girls. Boys looked nice, but the girls ended up being a really pale orange. Almost dirty looking. Nothing like my original colony, or the ones I picked up from Lee Miller. I didn't keep any, and haven't seen anything of quality for a long time.

Hello! I'm still alive The bug is starting to bite again. I have an empty 8 foot tank, cycled and ready to get its first guests. I want to try something new. I've done Malawi, Tang, and SA Eartheater display tanks over the past few years and reckon it's time to try either a new SA or CA cichlid. Despite my nagging gut telling me that it will end in homocide, I really love the look of texas cichlids. I have an opportunity to get hold of a male and a few females around the 10cm mark. They look very nice and are currently getting along fine in their smaller tank. The loose plan is to get the 4 or 5 texas, add in a bunch of bristlenose and smaller L-numbers, maybe a few clown loaches and other fast bottom feeders, and a stack of columbian tetras for movement and colour. The tetras may or may not be a good idea, but I've read plenty of stories where they are a good dither choice in a potentially violent CA / SA tank. So for those who have kept the texas before, will 4 or 5 (with only 1 definite male, possibly two) be a good choice in an 8 footer (2ft high, 18 in deep)? Decorations are both large holey rocks, hollow driftwood logs and mangrove roots. pH is right on 7.0 and steady (natural pH of my local water which is why CA fish would be the logical choice). dH about 10 with a dodgy test kit. Is there another choice that will be just as nice looking but be more peaceful? Maybe jack dempseys, green terrors etc? I don't want huge fish. 8 - 10 inches max would be good. How would firemouths go along with the texas?

I've kept both Chitande and Chilumba. Both beautiful fish and reasonably peaceful. About the same temperament as cobalt blues / maingano etc. Lots of chasing away, but no biting / injuries.

Damn, completely missed all of this. Thanks for posting the pics, and have sent you a PM.

So you are saying freezing is the best way to euthanise the elderly? I'll try to remember that

Yeah that's the reason I grabbed that one. Hopefully the circles don't disappear with age.

I had the same problem with the BBA. The SAE's do a good job, and I also found that bristlenose have a go at it. A real SAE has the line that runs right through to the back of the tail, but so does the flying fox. The one that doesn't is the fake SAE. SAE's have clear fins, flying foxes have reddish coloured fins, which is the easiest way to pick them. SAE's also have a solid colour above the black line, where Flying Foxes have two distinct colours above. Just google "sae vs flying fox". There are hundreds of pages. Here are a couple of good ones: http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/m...ae-eater-id.htm http://www.future-digital.com/aquarium_inf...iamensis_7.html http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/saes.htm Here is a picture of a real one:

Here's a few more.