Recent content by bosk1

I've never rearched what temp range beneficial bacteria can survive in, but I can just tell you anecdotally that mine seem to have survived just fine. I reset my tank and, although I had a very brief mild ammonia spike, things settled down quickly and are just fine. The water conditions are...

Your suggestion regarding the filter was a good one. I wasn't thinking it was too incredibly urgent just yet, since the parents are keeping the little school of babies far away from the filter. But when I got home last night, I noticed that some are starting to swim off by themselves at times...

I have a 55g, which seems to be good size for a small colony of fish this size. I had briefly toyed with the idea of maybe going with an oscar or two instead, but 55 seems a bit too small for an adult oscar to really thrive in. There are a few more rare S.A. species I also considered as well...

I feel for you. Same thing happened to me last month when I was away on vacation, except that mine was even hotter (just over 100). Nothing like coming back from vacation finding 55 gallons of fish soup in your living room. :(

I have another smaller firemouth and a pleco (can't tell you what kind of pleco because the LFS had them mislabeled and had no clue; they had it labeled as a rubbernose, but it's definitely not). Within a day of being in the new tank, they paired up and became somewhat aggressive toward the...

Right now, the only other fish I have in the tank are a much smaller firemouth who hides on the other side of the tank because my pair always chase him around when they catch sight of him, and a small pleco. I suppose the smaller firemouth could try to eat the fry if he wanted to. I would...

Very cool. I've had mine for about 3 weeks, and they just unexpectedly spawned (didn't even realize I had a male/female pair). Just posted a thread in the breeding subforum to get some advice on how to feed and care for the fry. Re-post of pics:

Firemouth cichlids 1. Tank size: 55g 2. Temperature: about 80 F 3. pH, GH: Don't know. While I check my other levels, I stopped checking pH a long time ago because it was in a decent range and never changed. I want to say it was around 7.8, but can't recall for certain. 4. Conditioning...

[bad grammar intentional :)] I have basically a single species tank of firemouths. I was going to go with a small school of 4 to 6, but the LFS I bought from only had 4, and the guy who was on duty could only manage to catch 3 of them, and halfway destroyed the tank just getting those, so I...

Just got back from a 12 day vacation to find that my entire tank is dead. Needless to say, I'm bummed. I've gone on trips before and never had any problems. It was a mature tank (over 6 years old, running without a hitch). I had a small school of roseline sharks, some clown loaches, yo-yo...

Problem is, it can get into their gills and kill them even thought you don't see many spots. That could be one explanation.

Yup, I agree with that.^ But Bio-Spira, provided you have a fresh batch and use it correctly, can do the job as well.

Your bioload should be fine, but don't get two males. In such close quarters, they'll likely kill each other.

Well, actually, I guess it would be more accurate to say that mine REFUSE to be bored. :D For whatever reason, I kept noticing that my thermometer lately will not stay attached to the side of the tank. I'm still not sure whether the suction cup is defective, or whether my fish are stronger...

I recommend roseline sharks. Pricey? Yes. But they are great fish.