New Fish List -Cichlid Suggestions

[kenor33]

Nice information on cichlids although I get totally lost with the scientific names of them keeping an eye on the info because I'm debating on whether to do cichlids in my 75. was gonna do saltwater in it but I can't afford the 100# of LR etc etc. Congrat's "secure 1347" on your new family members keep us posted on how they do for you..

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Kenor-

The possibilities with cichlids are endless: you can set up an African Rift Lake system, go with some of the larger Central or South American species, house lots of beautiful dwarf species, etc. I'd suggest looking at books and websites and find out what kinds of cichlids you like and go from there. You could also match the type of cichlid to your tap water: they can be found in waters varying from pH levels of below 5 to over 9- and everything in between!

 

[Jdills1347]

Well here are some preliminary pictures. Though I am finding it difficult to take good ones that are in focus. Have been trying to place around with the flash and macro mode but most come out fuzzy. Below are two decent but not good pics of my tank to give you an idea of the setup I have. Will try and take a picture later when the sun goes down.

I have two Cobalt Blues and two Yellow Labs I am trying to sex and see if I got a male and female like I wanted. These are the clearest pics I have of them sorry. The Cobalt on the left has two large eggs spots while what I thought is the female on the right only has one. I think that might be a male as well since some say the females don't devlop eggspots. The male Lab is in that picture but I'm not sure the other Lab (the next pic) is a female since the apparent male seems to chase her around sometimes. She only has a little black on her dorsal fin and that's it. Let me know what you think please.

Lastly for now I was wondering if I could get an opinion on what this is. Thought it might be a Ice blue top but the girl at the store wasn't sure. In real life his/her stripe aren't as noticeable as in the picture.

 

[Jdills1347]

Oh I forgot, can anyone verify that the fish on top in the 1st pic is a red finned borleyi or at least might be.

 

[TankGirl]

Top of the third pic? It sure looks like one to me.

Can't really help you with your other questions, as the coloration will change as they mature. Others with more experience can probably give you a better idea.

 

[Jdills1347]

Yeh top of the 3rd sorry. Thanks TankGirl. I'll get a better pic this evening.

 

[Jdills1347]

Actually upon second look it might not be a eggspot on the "female" Cobalt, it's more like a blemish so maybe she is a female after all. As far as the Yellow Labs go the "male" seems to chase the "female" around sometimes instead of being buddy buddy so that is why I questioning whether it was actually a female. Here's a few more pics. I'm trying to get a better pic of my Red Zebra because there appears to be something blue on the bottom of his one eye that sticks out a bit and I am trying to figure out what that might be. Here is one that is kinda blurry but you can make it out a little.

Here's a full tank shot though a bit blurry.

Lastly here's a day/night shot of one side of my tank. I made the moonlights myself and I wish the pictures could truley show how cool it looks and how it shimmers. Very calming.

 

[Menagerie]

Beautiful tank!!

 

[kenor33]

very nice tank and fish, well done

 

[Jdills1347]

Well I looked at the Red Zebra's eye and it is much worse now. His whole eye is blue and he looks a bit off at times. I'm bringing him back tomorrow along with the lombardi because he has been chasing fish around and it concerns me that it will get worse.

 

[TankGirl]

You are probably right about the lombardi, and sorry about the zebra

 

[Jdills1347]

Well now all I have to do is catch him and I'm finding that extremely hard. I've been trying to bait him to the top with food and snatch him like I did the zebra but if I miss I have to wait to the next feeding. I'm still trying to sex my cobalts and lab's right now. Is it out of the norm if I have one female and one male cobalt blue and the male chases the female around sometimes or is it more likely that they are both males?

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Have you tried to catch him when he's asleep? Give your fish a few hours to go to sleep (after the tank lights and room lights have been turned off) then turn on a small room light (so you can see what you're doing) and then try netting him. I've done this with holding females and most of the time they don't even wake up while I'm moving them!

 

[Menagerie]

Great advice Voodoo!!

 

[TankGirl]

Voodoo do you remember that thread on Fishgeeks about night vision goggles to net fish? That has got to be the ultimate way to go!

I used the nighttime method to net tiger barbs and it is amusing to net them while they are doing their nose-stands...

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

Yep, I sure do remember it: I've actually priced those stinkin' goggles, Tankgirl- but they're still waay too expensive! Is that fishgeeky, or what?!

It ALMOST seems like cheating to sneak up on 'em when they sleep- but I've had too many stressful moments trying to net the buggers when they're actually coherent.

 

[Jdills1347]

Hah never thought of that. Will try that next time. Instead I caught him by setting up a trap. It was pretty funny actually, I felt like a great fisherman trying to bring in the great white. I bought a little breeder tank you hang on the side and I rigged it up so the top hinged and the top could be closed by pulling a string. I put some rocks in it and put in a mesh bag of food to attrack him. I was able to have the string go all the way to my couch so I could watch tv while I wait hah. Well he finally went in it and I pulled the string and got him. Was so excited...hah what a dork. But most of the fish seem more relaxed though. The only one I unsure about now is the unknown fish on the previous page. Seems a little pushy sometimes but nothing big.

 

[TankGirl]

Well I love your trap concept, secure - that is pretty ingenious! We'll have to start calling you Wile E. Coyote!

 

[Menagerie]

We should make a sticky regarding ways to catch fish. TG--what do you think? It could be put in the FW general discussion section and people could add ways to catch out finned friends.

 

[Jdills1347]

Probably a good idea. I had a helluva time because my tank is so rocky. I'll take a picture of my trap, that should get a laugh.