high phosphate in fishtank ?

46 posts • Page 2 of 5

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


milky648
 
Posts: 194
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:41 am

by milky648

ok well i feed my fish mondays wendsays and sats i feed them stick food no flakes i usualy do 30% water changes every weeck but laty ive been bussy i didnt one 2 days ago ill do a 50% today , i just never tested phoshate . So here comes an other question for chilids what do u guys keep the ph at they toled me 7.0 is fine but my jack dosent seem happy so now i ahve it at 7.5?


milky648
 
Posts: 194
Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 4:41 am

by milky648

what kind of cichlid food is good ?


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Don't know what's best for cichlids. I would ask Miami, Poetic Irony (Brandon, or Gumbii who will be back in a few days from vacation. These people have experience with cichlids.

I feed most of my large fish freeze dried krill, but I'm not a cichlid expert.


Poetic_Irony2267
 
Posts: 297
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 8:42 pm

by Poetic_Irony2267

ok some of the foods i use to use are as follows, lol thanks for the referral pk.

i used the generic floating cichlid pellets from walmart, i also fed once a week with frozen blood pellets, for flake food any type of cichlid flake or tropical flake is fine, once a month i liked to feed them feeder guppies, and as the cichlids grew they graduated to feeder goldfish. do not i repeat do not by the cichlid pellets that are labeled cichlid sticks, these things will powder up in your tank making your water cloudy and it will cause this powder to get down in your gravel and rot, big big issue with this stuff, so flake food, floating pellets, feeder fish, and frozen blood worms. this is a perfect diet for cichlids and you wont have a happier healthier, more colorful fish....
hope this helps,
Brandon


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

I agree with most of what Brandon said, but a few more things. I looked at your profile and saw that you listed some African yellow and orange fish. I am assuming that you are referring to two different fish and possible yellow labs and red zebras (yes they are orange despite being called red) as these are very common. Many of the fish from Lake Malawi are herbivores (especially the mbunas like the yellow lab and red zebra) and these fish cannot tolerate diets high in animal protein. They should be fed spirulina-based foods and should never be fed things like blood worms or brine shrimp (even though some people do for some reason). When they are young they can be fed these things along with general tropical flakes, but as they grow these things will not be acceptable. If too much animal protein is in their diet they can suffer from a condition known as Malawi bloat where they will more than likely die unless diagnosed very early on.

For these kind of fish, feed them vegetable like zuchini (rubber band to a rock) or lettuce (clip on the side), feed them spirulina-based foods, and then I also use New Life Spectrum. Mix these up and they will really color up. They will also eat algae off the rocks as this is what is natural for them.

For the larger cichlids that are not from Lake Malawi, Brandon's suggestions work great. If you could clarify what you meant by "African yellow and orange fish" that would help. Thanks.

P.S. I would like to thank you as well for the referal peter. Oh and by the way, you have the coolest thumbnail image in your signature. I always like looking at it - very cool.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

Oh, and I saw you asked what we keep our pH at. I keep all mbunas and the pH is 7.9 (I hide petrified coral peices behind my rockwork to raise the pH to this level).
Last edited by miami754 on Wed Apr 16, 2008 11:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Thanks Miami. I like the thumbnail too. I'm ridiculously attached to my gars. I want to get some good pics of them waiting for and snaping at food at the opening of the tank, but for some reason it's hard to get a good pic at this distance and with the light behind them. I wish I had a video camera I could make some YOUTUBE entrees with.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

I wouldn't change your image. It's freaking cool. Makes me want to start a planted tank with gars in it.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

There are some cool smaller species of gar I've seen in aquariums like the Hujeta (Hydro) gar, the Needle nosed gar, and the South American Spotted gar, but they're a bit skittish and can easily injure and break their snouts when they freak. The South American Spotted had markings like a Rainbow trout, but it was so spooked that I felt bad about keeping it.

The Hujetas I have now I've had for 4 years and they've tamed down quite a bit. They're about 8 inches long. The Needle nosed grows to at least a foot in aquariums so I suggest a 100 gallon tank for them.

As for the best gars IMO, the Florida Spotted gar, they get huge, like a minimum of 18-24 inches in aquariums and they'll need a 300-500 gallon tank as adults. These are the tamest fish I've ever had and they have the most authentic gar look of all the gars IMO. It's just that they get much bigger than most people are prepared to handle. Check them out on YOUTUBE. I don't like the tanks most people keep them in, but you can see people feeding them. I want a square or cilyndrical 500 gallon pillar/island tank with a huge stump in the middle and anubias bartari growing like trees at the top. I'd have java moss and fern growing on the lower slopes of the stump, and areas of dwarf hair grass and microsword along with bare areas of Eco-Complete gravel, and I'll also have my pleco or two to keep the moss trimmed.

Sorry about hijacking this thread on phosphates!


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

If you ever build that tank - I would love to see it. Sounds pretty awesome. How big are your Fl. gars right now?

high phosphate in fishtank ?

46 posts • Page 2 of 5

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