NEW TANK UPDATE

After careful cleaning and inspection I am pleased with my tank trade. Both tanks look really great. The 40gl is slightly used, no visible scratches and clean up was pretty easy. Just had to wash it out with vinegar water and shine up. For this tank I have a Marineland HOB filter, my hubby will be making me the lid and I've got a line on an inexpensive LED light. The only thing I really need is a heater. I have an extra heater but I only use it in emergencies. It's a poor quality and hard to stabilize the temperature.

The 30gl was a little more work. I had to use a blade to scrape off lime build up where the filters had been hanging. It took a little more elbow grease but turned out looking just as sweet as the other tank. No visible scratches (which is a huge deal for me) so I'm very pleased. I had an extra hood/light in the basement for this size tank so I cleaned that up and it's perfect. It's just a florescent light which I'm not a fan of but for a grow-out tank it will do the trick. That's all I have for this tank so I'll need to pick up a filter, and heater then I'll be set.

After selling off the last of my 4 month old fry I have room again. These two tanks aren't really needed yet. The 30gl will be a grow-out but the 40gl I'm thinking it will be my "Pen" for the bad boys. I have so many options and lots of ideas so nothing is concrete yet. I have to make up my mind and that sometimes takes a little time!

In my Little Fish Room I now have

3 brooding tanks with three moms brooding in them. I also have two more moms holding in my community tank which I'll be moving this weekend. To make room for them I'll have to strip the mom that's furthest along - that being my Auratus mom. This weekend puts her at the 16 day mark.  A good time to strip. The other mom in my community tank seems to have misplaced her eggs. She may be holding one or two yet as she's not eating and acting like she's still holding but her buccal cavity has shrunk so there's no point in moving her. If she ends up holding and raising one or two babies..kudos to her. Just not enough for me to worry about. I'm hoping she'll learn next time. These first time moms are newbies and don't quite understand what's happening. It's important to let them hold to around 10 days in before moving them. They need this time to bond with their brood the changes of not eating and the entire mom experience. You lower the risk them spitting if you give them this time to adjust to these changes. In those few days it seems the protective instincts kick in and you end up with a pretty good mom.

Finally, the last two tanks in my Fish Room are a 20gl full of fry and a 30gl also full of fry. The smaller tank is holding my youngest at about 6 weeks old 1", and the other tank has some mixed fry all about 10 weeks and 1.5". As you can see I do't need the new tanks yet but I will soon enough.