2ND 75 GALLON IS HERE

This morning we did a lot of running around. We hit the farmers market, went out for breakfast, picked up a few things and then we went to buy my new 75 gallon aquarium. I have big plans for it too!

A quick run down of my plans go as follows. One 75 will be for my Mbunas and the other will be home to my Haps and Peacocks. In my 55 gallon I have all my females right now. They will be rejoining their mates in their perspective tanks. I'm hoping the number will be close to even. I will have to see how that works out when I do the move. My 40 gallon juvenile community will be moved back into my 55 because the tank they are in is where the new 75 gallon is going to go.

I will dismantle my 40 gallon for now. I'm not sure if I will be putting it up immediately or closer to the fall. I may use it to keep my pond plants in for the winter. I have a second 40 gallon and a 60 gallon in the basement where my pond fish live during the winter months as my pond isn't deep enough for them to hibernate out there.

Yes I have many tanks.. too many tanks..no never! In my little fish room I have 5 10 gallon tanks, a 20 gallon and a 30 gallon. All tanks are in use except 2 but I have 2 females holding that will be moved up there this weekend.

Loving my hobby.. loving my tanks.. loving my fish!!

A LOOK AT MY 75 GALLON MALE COMMUNITY

DAILY OBSERVATIONS

First thing in the morning I go to my little fish room and check each tank. I turn the lights on and feed them watching the fish for any sign of trouble. I make sure they are all eating well, check the water temperature and generally look everything over making sure all systems are running as expected.

When I came down to check on my show tanks, I noticed I have a holding female in my juvenile tank. She's a young Red Empress and she's holding a good mouthful. When I do my water change on that tank tomorrow I will move her out. I'm not sure when I will strip her. I have had great success using my tumblers so I might just strip her tomorrow as well. She is young and doesn't need to go without food for three weeks. That would be hard on her little body.

Then checking my "all female" tank I notice I have a one holding in there as well. I knew I had missed a male and left him in that tank. Well now I reap the rewards. I have the room in my fishroom so I'll remove her tomorrow as well.

My 75 gallon all male community is doing fine. And no I didn't find a holding female in there!

MY NEW LITTLE FISH ROOM UPDATE

My little fish room is pretty much all set up and ready for action. Over the weekend I moved my last grow out tank in. Hubby worked hard all weekend building my last two cabinets. I am incredibly happy with my new fish room. It's just perfect for me. I have two grow out tanks. A 20 gallon and a 40 gallon both full of growing fry. I also have 4 x10 gallon tanks all in use as well.

Last week I stripped 3 moms of their free swimming fry and one mom of her eggs. The fry are doing awesome. One brood is from a Yellow Lab who bred to my OB Zebra, my RedxRed Albino Zebra also bred to that same OB. The third mom is an Electric Blue Fryeri. All the fry are together in one tank totally just under 50 fry. The mom I stripped gave me a dozen eggs. Four of the eggs weren't fertilized leaving me with 8 viable eggs. They are wigglers now having popped their tales and heads over the weekend. Today as I was having a closer look I realized all the babies are pure white albino. I'm very excited about these little ones. I hope they stay white but in another week they will be free swimming and then I'll have a better look at them.

Yesterday I went to town and came home with an adorable little 3.4 liter cube nano tank and a beautiful Betta fish. It's the cutest addition to my fish room. I'm still working on the final touches. I am looking for some cichlids posters or I may have some of my photos printed and frame them. I also bought a couple more plants. One is hanging in front of the window and another is hanging over the fish tanks.

I spend a lot of time in my little girl cave. With my computer up there I can watch YouTube and post to my channel. I also have access to any information I may need as to any questions I may have concerning the well fare of my fish. I think my fish like the fish room too!

PEAS PLEASE - AFRICAN CICHLID SNACK TIME

MIXED AFRICAN CICHLIDS GROUP

There are so many get places to get information online about this hobby. I belong to a couple forums. The YouTube cichlid community is vast and varied with so many knowledgeable people. Today I would like to invite you to join me in our community on Google+.

We are a relatively small group just making a stand in this community. Our members are growing and we would love you to be a part of it. Please come check us out. You will find great people, willing to share experiences, help with advice when needed and welcome you to our community.

Just follow the link and I'll see you there!

MIXED AFRICAN CICHLIDS

PERFORMING AFRICAN CICHLIDS

Yesterday was CANADA DAY.  Everywhere you could see red red and more red. Patriotic Canadians celebrating CANADA'S birthday. 149 years!

Our neighbour girls brought us some cookies they made as a treat. While they were here they wanted a tour of my cichlids. I began at my 55 gallon juvenile tank. They loved it and thought it was so huge! From there we moved to the 40 gallon "fish for sale" tank. Moving on to my 75 gallon community show tank they were very impressed.

Showing them how the cichlids greet me they laughed. I held my hand in the aquarium making an O with my thumb and middle fingers. My two chubby OB's love to swim through the circle of my fingers actually stopping for a rub. The girls were so surprised they never imagined fish could be this amazing. They really enjoyed the tour so far.

When I finally took them up to MLFR to show them the full stages of cichlid breeding they were most excited about the babies in the tumbler. They couldn't believe fish could be so tiny. My young fish - as young as a couple weeks already come to the front of the aquarium looking for food knowing it's coming upon seeing me.

The girls really enjoyed the tour and
asked if they can come back when the yellow moms have their babies. I told them I will call the over when they spit.

Making up treat bags for the girls they left very happy. Telling me they were looking forward to a fireworks show they were going to have as soon as dad said it's dark enough.

It was a very nice CANADA DAY!

WATER CHANGE FRIDAY

I did a water change on my 40 gallon tank that holds the cichlids I plan on selling. Before I got started I noticed a cichlid was holding. She is a Red Albino Zebra. I just assumed that she bred with another Albino because I have four in that tank. The males and females look identical so unless you vent them you can't tell one from the other.

A little while later I noticed a Yellow Lab in the same tank holding. I watched for a few minutes and along came her partner. There are five Yellow Labs in this tank but she chose to breed with an OB Zebra! I decided I would let them finish and do my water change in the morning.

I went ahead and did the water change on my 75 gallon. I thought I would change the hardscape up a bit and only placed rocks here and there. None of them touching so the fish could swim between them. Within an hour my tank was a mess. Stones were tilted and big holes were dug. GAH! My cichlids just want their caves and swim throughs back. I removed the rocks and rescaped the tank again just to their liking. It's amazing how happy they seem when they have it set like they want. I spoil my cichlids.

SECURE YOUR HARD-SCAPE

TIPS FOR SELLING CICHLIDS

These tips I'm going to talk to you about are from my own experience and are simple tips for the average person who is looking to sell off some stock. More in the mind to make room than to make money.

TIPS AS THE SELLER

PHOTOS
It's very important to have good clear photos of the actual fish unless they are too small to capture in a clear image. You can add parent photos as they will give the buyer and idea of what they will look like as adults since many fry look very much the same.

ADD CONTENT
Use an eye catching title on your add to encourage people to continue reading. Clearly list your items, whether fish, supplies or anything else you may be selling for that matter. Beside each item give a detailed description of the item. And finally list the price you are asking. You can also add the reason you are selling to make your add a little more personal.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Leave clear instruction as to how to best get in touch with you. Include best times to call. If possible leave at least three options for contacting you to make it easier for your potential customer.

ONCE CONTACTED
Make sure to have clear pictures to send if asked for. Make valid points that will enhance the chance of the sale. Don't get too wrapped up in price. Satisfying a potential buyer is the best way to bring them back. If they leave with a sense of success and confidence in and your product they will tell others - word of mouth is the most effective form of advertisement.

DISPLAY TANK

This is my display "for sale" tank. 

When you have a customer come to your home have all the fish you are willing to sell in one tank. A display tank with go a long way in showing your care for the fish and also the quality you are offering. It's important to separate the fish you intend to sell. If you have to catch a few in a tank with your own fish that can sometimes lead to disappointment as they will see fish they would like to buy that you are not selling. This gives the customer the idea that the fish you are selling to them are not as good. Don't let the customer compare.

MAKE AN OFFER
Naturally people have a desire to bargain. Put aside your listed price as it should only be a guideline. Watch what they seem to be interested in and make them an offer. Combining to make it look like more for less is a great strategy. Talk from experience and share information or experiences you have had with the item making it more desirable.

These next points are for the buyer/trader.

PHOTOS
If you are answering a add be sure to have clear photos ready to send of the items you are willing to trade. Don't bother sending blurry undefined photos as they will only send negative feelings. Do not ask to see photos of their items/fish unless you have good clear photos to send in return. Be clear on size and history of your product. Don't ever say "I don't know". better to say "I'll have to find out for you". Most of these tips can you used on either end of the transaction.

Yesterday I had two experiences with buyers. One experience was good. We talked on the phone. This very nice guy came by. We talked hobbies and got a little background. He chose the fish he wanted. After we concluded our business I gave him a little tour of my tanks. Be sure to only show the best you have. It gives the buyer confidence in you and your product. It's always a good feeling when you have left a customer feeling satisfied and happy. Remember they will pass on the word and no advertisements equal testimonials.

The second and not good experience - It began as text messages. The bad experience started off on the wrong foot and only went down hill from there. It was a young person (not sure how young - thinking teen) He/she started out asking about the fish I had for sale, then wanted to know about what I have in other fish stock. They wanted to trade not buy but had nothing to trade that I was interested in. They called their 1" fry juveniles. Sent pictures that were just a smudged fish. He expected me to drive there, which the seller should never do. At best a mutual location to meet is fair in the event of a long drive. Suffice it to say I ended the deal by saying thanks for your interest but this deal is not worth an hours drive for me. He offered me a free brand new Aqueon filter if I drove there. Just not good from start to finish. The fish he wanted I wasn't sure I wanted to part with anyway. Never set yourself on fire to keep others warm.

MY LATEST PHOTOS

WATER CHANGE - RESCAPE

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.

AFRICAN CICHLIDS BREEDING WELL

WHEELING AND DEALING

I had a good day today. I had a couple coming for Red Top Zebra fry. They were looking to re-home a pair of Jewel Cichlids and wanted some fry so we did a swap. I took the Jewels and gave him 1/2 a dozen Red Top fry. I also had two batches of gravel washed and ready for sale. He took one of those off of my hands as well.


A few hours later I had another couple come for fry and they took the other batch of aquarium gravel. It's always a good feeling when you get rid of stuff you no longer need and someone else can make good use of.

I had the blue gravel laying around for quite a while. I had used it in my tropical fish tank but I didn't like it with my Cichlids.

I first tried fine sand in my Cichlid tank. I loved the look of it but it caused me problems with my HOB filters causing them to make a grinding noise because they would suck up the fine particals of sand. I switched it out for the natural gravel. I used that for a few months but really wanted that beautiful white sand look. I tried different coarser sands but they were pretty expensive to do a big tank. Finally I tried pool filter silica sand. It took me a long time and elbow grease to wash it all but it was perfect in that it wasn't quite as fine so my filters didn't pick it up and it's lovely white colour was just what I was after.

55 gl - JUVENILE AFRICAN CICHLID COMMUNITY

I was trying to decide what I was going to do with my 55 gallon aquarium. I had American Cichlids in there but I knew they would eventually get too big and I would be forced to get them a bigger tank which I really don't have any room for. I gave them to someone who I know will have the room for them as they grow.

That left me with an empty aquarium and lots of possibilities. I was trying to decide getting great suggestions from friends but I had a great idea. I have lots of fry, holding moms, grow-out tanks and brooding tanks but once the Cichlids pass the fry stage and become juveniles I really didn't have a place for them to go before joining my adult community. This was the perfect solution.

My plan is, when my juveniles get big enough they will join my adult community. If I find I have too many, then I will begin selling off some of my adult Cichlids. I sell most of my fry and only keep a few of each species. I love to watch them grown and come into their colours as adults.

NEW ADDITIONS - 55 GALLONS

Here are photos of my new acquisitions to my Cichlids. There are more pics than just the new ones. The juveniles are my most recently acquired. I'm looking forward to watching the grow and develop their colours.

AQUARIUM RE-SEALING PROCESS

Last week I had to deal with the mess of my 40 gallon grow-out tank leaking. Of course it was the middle of the night when hubby was answering a bladder call that he noticed the tank was 2/3's empty.

Today I decided to tackle stripping the sealant and cleaning it up - preparing it for re-sealing. I belong to a couple different aquarium enthusiasts groups where I get wonderful advice on just such a project.

Getting my tools laid out and of course my helper Finn I was ready to begin. My scraper tool, vinegar/water bottle, paper towels, dustpan and whisk completed my
list.

I began by using a blade and scraping all the old sealant off. I also removed the top and bottom frames of the tank and stripped it as clean as I could. Once it was stripped I washed the tank out with vinegar water. I dried it as best as I could and now I'll let it continue to dry completely for a couple days before I re-seal the aquarium.

I glad this is just a grow-out tank and not one of my good display tanks as this is a first time re-sealing an aquarium for me and I am not quite as fussy if I make a mistake or two. As long as the seal is good I'll be happy. I think if it were one of my bigger display tanks then I would look into getting it done professionally or at least get someone who knows more than I do about the process.

THE LAST 22 HOURS

Yesterday off and on during the day we had disruption in our electrical service. By 5pm our power was off. We were in the midst of a nasty ice storm here in South-Western Ontario.  Many communities in our area were without hydro. This storm left many of us without electricity for hours.

Our hydro went off at 5pm. Not expecting it to last long we got settled with candles and extra blankets. After an hour I started to worry as my aquarium pumps and filters were down as well. The time was passing, the temperature in our home was dropping and my aquariums remained silent. I kept checking the temperature of my tanks and they were steadily dropping. Finally finding it too cold to stay up hubby and I went up to crawl into bed to get warm. The temp in our home was down to 15° Celsius. To figure out Fahrenheit just take the °C temp of 15 + 15 = 30 + 32 for a temp of 62°F. It was getting chilly. We checked the Hydro service provider to see when we could expect it to be back on. We were not reassured as it said "under investigation" meaning they hadn't even determined the source in our area.

We were up talking well passed midnight - hubby falling asleep leaving me up worrying about my cichlids. I went to check on the a number of times through the night always finding the tank temp lower then the time before. I was awake all night worrying fearing they wouldn't survive. Our cell phones were dead so I couldn't call anyone for advice, or go online to ask at the forums that I frequent.

Having not slept all night I stayed in bed and finally fell asleep. Hubby thought he'd run to the Mini Mart and get us coffees but they weren't open. With the power out still at noon, we had to leave the house for an Easter dinner with my son and family who lived in a city out of the storm area. We charged our phones as soon as we got there and began checking on the service.

Finally mid-afternoon we heard our electric service was restored. When we left our home the house was down to 10°C and my tanks were below 60°F. I began to feel better once I knew the power was restored but I knew it would be a long time for the temperature to rise.

I didn't feed the Cichlids as they were hardly moving in the bitter cold water. Conserving their energy and the oxygen they moved very little. When we got home early evening the house temp was back up to normal but the aquariums were still very cold. They were all still well below 70 but on the rise. I am so thankful and relieved to report that my Cichlids did great and are doing well considering what they were through. I did suffer a loss. I had stripped two female Auratus earlier in the week and lost all their in my tumbler. I consider this a minor loss compared to what could have been devastating.

We have suffered 4 major power outages in the last 2 years. Two of them being for 4 days at a time and of course during the coldest months of the year. We have discussed purchasing a generator from time to time but have never gone out to buy one.. well a generator is our next large purchase.

This was not such a Good Friday!

DAILY OBSERVATIONS

This morning I was anxious to check on my babies bouncing around in the tumbler I made. When I looked YIKES! at least half of them were missing. I'm so disappointed in myself. I didn't secure the bottom below their bouncing mesh tight enough and my a Zebra Fry got in there. I caught him/her red handed! I watched as that little sh** wiggle his way back out. He was eating the babies right through their mesh. I could just cry. I only have about a dozen left now. They may not survive the trauma of watching their siblings get eaten. I know I wouldn't!

This week has been a traumatic week for me all around and it's only half done. I better stay off the roads! From my test being high, to giving my South American Cichlids away, to my 40 gallon tank leaking and flooding the main floor of our home to my newest fry getting eaten and then the lights now working in the living room - things surely can't get any worse. I just knocked that whole "Bad things come in threes" saying out of the park. Unless the count has a reset and I'm going for a second run.

I talked to the fellow I gave my SA Cichlids to; he's happy and they are doing great so that made me feel at peace. This is a photo of my "empty" 55 gallon tank.

The 40 gallon tank needs to be stripped and re-sealed. I have had such helpful suggestion from the Cichlid group I joined that I'm feeling better about that too. My babies getting eaten is still hanging over me.. so sad. The light breaker just tripped so it was a quick fix. I guess I shouldn't complain there are worse things that could have happened. I'm not even going to go there.