Ron R.
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi, first post here so I thought I'd start out here. I have a wc colony of moba fronts in a 180g tank. I am not a traditional fishkeeper and I don't claim to be an expert. I have been pretty successful with this group. I bought them from TNT Cichlids back in Jan 2005.
Here are some myths I've challenged over the years keeping mobas:
-they live in the deep and don't do well in well lit tanks
-they don't do well or spawn in a tank with any kind of current
-they will get float in an aerated tank that has bubbles
-they will get float if they eat their food at the surface
-don't keep them in a tank with rocks with sharp edges or corners
These are just a few I can remember off the top of my head.
I believe the key is consistency........temp, water quality, lighting, pH and feeding.
I keep my regular Marineland Double Bright LED lights on an auto-timer and have them on so I can enjoy seeing my fish. I also use a moonlight by Digikits on an auto-timer. My schedule is:
6am to 6:45am: moonlights
6:45 to 8am: LEDs
12 noon to 1pm: LEDs
7pm to 10pm: LEDs
10pm to 12:30am: moonlights
I use CaribSea's Aragonite Select sand as a substrate and have about 250 lbs of Texas Holey Rock. I don't ever have to vacuum my sand. I use 2 6080 Tunze Streams (like the saltwater reefers use) and have them attached at each end of my 6 foot tank. I have the right one pointed toward the middle portion of the back glass pane and the left one pointed toward the middle portion of the front glass pane. I have them on another auto-timer and turn them on 4 times daily for 15 minute cycles. They cause a whirlwind effect causing alot of current. The current gently sweeps all the fish poop and smallest pieces of uneaten food to either of my 2 2217 eheims located at either end of my tank.
To keep my water circulating and good surface action I use 2 large 2" ball aerators. The mobas love swimming through the bubbles and the current caused by the Tunzes.
I often feed a combination of NLS Thera A and Dainichi sinking pellets now, but the first 3-4 years I had these fish I fed Hikari frozen krill. I would break a frozen piece off the 16 oz flat pack and throw it in the tank. About 90% of the feeding was off the surface....no problem with float. In the olden days when I fed my fronts, I fed floating sticks.........no problem either.
I have 5-7 caves in my tank using Texas Holey rock. This offers the mobas protection from larger and sometimes more aggressive fish and gives them a place to spawn. The mobas will get scratched from time to time, but they heal up fairly quickly.
Here are some pics of my colony:
pic showing LEDs. Check out the diy floating nursery with F1 moba fry
my wc alpha male
one of my favorite group pics. See the little F1 juvies?
big boy wc moba
F1 moba juvies
a wc moba momma. She's been jet black from day 1 and her fry have the richest blue coloring and darkest, solid stripes I've seen on F1 fry. I affectionately call her my wc black moba momma. She is A-1 and holding eggs in this pic.
older full tank pic with older lights. You can see the Tunzes in each corner.
more babies. These are from my wc black moba momma
Hope you enjoyed the pics and I hope to contribute and learn here.
Here are some myths I've challenged over the years keeping mobas:
-they live in the deep and don't do well in well lit tanks
-they don't do well or spawn in a tank with any kind of current
-they will get float in an aerated tank that has bubbles
-they will get float if they eat their food at the surface
-don't keep them in a tank with rocks with sharp edges or corners
These are just a few I can remember off the top of my head.
I believe the key is consistency........temp, water quality, lighting, pH and feeding.
I keep my regular Marineland Double Bright LED lights on an auto-timer and have them on so I can enjoy seeing my fish. I also use a moonlight by Digikits on an auto-timer. My schedule is:
6am to 6:45am: moonlights
6:45 to 8am: LEDs
12 noon to 1pm: LEDs
7pm to 10pm: LEDs
10pm to 12:30am: moonlights
I use CaribSea's Aragonite Select sand as a substrate and have about 250 lbs of Texas Holey Rock. I don't ever have to vacuum my sand. I use 2 6080 Tunze Streams (like the saltwater reefers use) and have them attached at each end of my 6 foot tank. I have the right one pointed toward the middle portion of the back glass pane and the left one pointed toward the middle portion of the front glass pane. I have them on another auto-timer and turn them on 4 times daily for 15 minute cycles. They cause a whirlwind effect causing alot of current. The current gently sweeps all the fish poop and smallest pieces of uneaten food to either of my 2 2217 eheims located at either end of my tank.
To keep my water circulating and good surface action I use 2 large 2" ball aerators. The mobas love swimming through the bubbles and the current caused by the Tunzes.
I often feed a combination of NLS Thera A and Dainichi sinking pellets now, but the first 3-4 years I had these fish I fed Hikari frozen krill. I would break a frozen piece off the 16 oz flat pack and throw it in the tank. About 90% of the feeding was off the surface....no problem with float. In the olden days when I fed my fronts, I fed floating sticks.........no problem either.
I have 5-7 caves in my tank using Texas Holey rock. This offers the mobas protection from larger and sometimes more aggressive fish and gives them a place to spawn. The mobas will get scratched from time to time, but they heal up fairly quickly.
Here are some pics of my colony:
my wc alpha male
Hope you enjoyed the pics and I hope to contribute and learn here.
