trueblue82's african cichlids journey

[Brichardi]

Looks like you are heading/venturing more into Malawi cichlids. Personally, I wouldn't recommend mixing tanganyikans with malawis unless you mix the right type of fishes that are compatible with each other (not easy imo), i.e. altos are quite shy fishes and little movement whereas most malawis are fast swimmers and aggressive and fast eaters....hence the altos may have less food and also stress from the malawis movement & aggression, etc. Ofc if u have a huge tank, 5~6 ft minimum, some of these problems will be reduced. Deciding what fishes to mix is one of the most exciting steps in maintaining a community tank. You can mix & match now but ultimately you most prolly would end up keeping either tanganyikans or Malawis....in a tank. Honestly, to achieve a desirable community tank of tanganyikans is easier than tank full of Malawis. In the broadest sense a community tank is an aquarium in which the tankmates therein are all compatible. This means the tank inhabitants won’t normally kill each other. In other words, you have a harmonious environment where all fishes are compatible with each other and should survive and even reproduce over a sustained period of time.

[trueblue82]

Originally Posted by Brichardi

Looks like you are heading/venturing more into Malawi cichlids. Personally, I wouldn't recommend mixing tanganyikans with malawis unless you mix the right type of fishes that are compatible with each other (not easy imo), i.e. altos are quite shy fishes and little movement whereas most malawis are fast swimmers and aggressive and fast eaters....hence the altos may have less food and also stress from the malawis movement & aggression, etc. Ofc if u have a huge tank, 5~6 ft minimum, some of these problems will be reduced. Deciding what fishes to mix is one of the most exciting steps in maintaining a community tank. You can mix & match now but ultimately you most prolly would end up keeping either tanganyikans or Malawis....in a tank. Honestly, to achieve a desirable community tank of tanganyikans is easier than tank full of Malawis. In the broadest sense a community tank is an aquarium in which the tankmates therein are all compatible. This means the tank inhabitants won’t normally kill each other. In other words, you have a harmonious environment where all fishes are compatible with each other and should survive and even reproduce over a sustained period of time.

yah boss i actually intend to shift my alto out of the tank...he is too slow to compete food with the malawis...LoL~


fyi for those lazy ppl like me i tried ordering the escargot online from cold storage..hope they come tomorrow!....any delicious recipes to recommend?
https://www.coldstorage.com.sg/

[CCT]

Haha another lengthy post by brichardi as usually he always write the truth, you will eventually be have full malawi or tangan tank. Take me for example from a humble 2ft to now 2 4ft and 1 3ft plus 2 2ft, most of my malawi are goner and i dont add in anymore as well.


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[trueblue82]

as i wrote before i did up my 2.5ft tank.

shells one side and rock one side.

i netted my occelatus gold out first.

then i proceeded to net my alto(1 comp 1 calvus) out from the 4ft tank into a bag.

i acclimatize both the occelatus and alto(which is in two bags) and intro both at the same time into my 2.5ft tank but today i discovered the comps dead.

he was very active yesterday even swimming out when i come to see him.
https://youtu.be/4FyOsOoRxDA

but after i net him out i notice he became listless but i didn't think too much and today he is dead on the sand. zz

too much stress from being net out?
The other calvus seems fine.

[freddie]

Sorry to hear about that buddy.

I'm not sure what the cause would be but best guess would be the difference in water chemistry between the 2 tanks. I believe comps are quite sensitive to sudden changes in water params.

One of the more experienced alto comp keepers should be along soon to advise on this.

Tank is lookin good after adding a few more fish. And a new K1 box too.

[Young Man]

tank looks good but for the bigger box of K1, try to position the air supply to one side of the container to generate a more directional and circular motion.

as for your dead alto, did you leave it in the bag for long during acclimatization? what did you do to acclimatize? any aeration during acclimatization? and what are your two water parameters.

[Gowling]

time to get some fronts? They are more hardy and survive well in wide range of pH.

I am actually keeping my Moba at pH 6-6.5

There are Moba stock at JZX now.

[Brichardi]

Originally Posted by freddie

Sorry to hear about that buddy.

I'm not sure what the cause would be but best guess would be the difference in water chemistry between the 2 tanks. I believe comps are quite sensitive to sudden changes in water params.

Originally Posted by Young Man

tank looks good but for the bigger box of K1, try to position the air supply to one side of the container to generate a more directional and circular motion.

Agreed with both Freddie and YM.

Originally Posted by trueblue82

as i wrote before i did up my 2.5ft tank.

shells one side and rock one side.

i netted my occelatus gold out first.

then i proceeded to net my alto(1 comp 1 calvus) out from the 4ft tank into a bag.

i acclimatize both the occelatus and alto(which is in two bags) and intro both at the same time into my 2.5ft tank but today i discovered the comps dead.

he was very active yesterday even swimming out when i come to see him.
https://youtu.be/4FyOsOoRxDA

but after i net him out i notice he became listless but i didn't think too much and today he is dead on the sand. zz

too much stress from being net out?
The other calvus seems fine.

As Freddie said, Altos are especially sensitive to changes in the water chemistry as well as WC .YM mentioned about your bags during the transfer......imo I think you should just net & transfer the fishes without putting them in a bag and acclimatise them. Tank to tank transferring of fishes AT HOME shouldn't be a problem assuming both of your tanks are running with the same tap water, set ups, etc. However, house to house trsf can be slightly trickier though. I think the altos was stressed inside the bag with no aeration. How long was it inside the bag? Did you notice anything? Is the altos gasping?

Also, agreed with YM about your K1...placement of airstone to the side instead of the middle. K1 is only effective if the medias are in motion whilst yrs atm seems to be 'stuck'. IMO, you need a super strong aeration in order to set those big pile of K1 in motion. Put 2 airstones instead maybe? Both at same side ofc.

[trueblue82]

Originally Posted by Brichardi

Agreed with both Freddie and YM.



As Freddie said, Altos are especially sensitive to changes in the water chemistry as well as WC .YM mentioned about your bags during the transfer......imo I think you should just net & transfer the fishes without putting them in a bag and acclimatise them. Tank to tank transferring of fishes AT HOME shouldn't be a problem assuming both of your tanks are running with the same tap water, set ups, etc. However, house to house trsf can be slightly trickier though. I think the altos was stressed inside the bag with no aeration. How long was it inside the bag? Did you notice anything? Is the altos gasping?

Also, agreed with YM about your K1...placement of airstone to the side instead of the middle. K1 is only effective if the medias are in motion whilst yrs atm seems to be 'stuck'. IMO, you need a super strong aeration in order to set those big pile of K1 in motion. Put 2 airstones instead maybe? Both at same side ofc.

tks to the pros who replied.

they were in the bag for 1hr without airstone though.
i pour some water from the tank 10mins apart.
They were not gasping,but the yellow guy became listless inside the bag.

both 4ft and 2.5ft water to coral sand ratio is almost the same apart from the decoration.
i wonder if my occelatus peck him to death? found him at the extreme left side(where the shells are at.)

[johannes]

You acclimatize from one of your tank to the other?
Aiyo
No need la....
More or else african tank same parameter ma.
Some more both your tanks.