I've decided to move some fish around...bored and after a new look.

The 5ft is going back to a planted tank, the 4ft, 2.5ft, 2ft will be pulled down and fish, driftwood and plants from them will also be added into the 5ft. The only fish not going in is the neons, for obvious reasons.

The 4ft breeding tank is on its way to be fully pulled down (will finish tomorrow), once i've given it a clean, it'll be setup for the maingano. I am trading off 3 males and a few smaller females out of the colony, the dominant male is getting cranky and upsetting the tank, and going to a bit smaller tank will definately mean trouble. I am trading them for some electric yellows and a white cichlid that for the life of me i cant remember the name of *L*

The 3ft is staying as is, with the goldies in it

The BN have been moved to their own tanks (2.5ft & 2ft). The guppies are gonna be moved to a smaller tank (2ft), so many of the fry will become dinner for the cichlids as the tank cant hold 100+ guppies

The oversized 2ft will house the neons

The 2.5ft SunSun is getting changed over to saltwater to house a lionfish.

Think thats all *LOL*

sounds tiring lol would luv to see when finished.
Do you have a fish room or are they scattered around your home ?

I need to convince my partner to let me get more tanks any advice ?

4ft is done, still choosing which maingano to move over. Will catch the loaches and move them to the 2.5ft tank til i get this tank sorted. The large male pep will also move to there.

Once they are all out the 5ft will be pulled down and rescaped.

Progress on the 5ft while i am having a coffee break.

I have the JBL, Dino Dung and Laterite in (boy what a mess), Layer of gravel/laterite mix over the top.
Wood in (not sure i love the placing but it might grab me once i get the java fern on)
1/4 filled, more needed before i can start planting it

Anyway, i'll finifh my coffee and fill a bit more, prolly plant tomorrow

Ok 5ft hit a block....

Had it all planted, upto temp still a bit cloudy but should have been all good to go. Added my 5 clown loaches and redtailed shark, within seconds of them hitting the water i knew something was wrong. Got them out as quick as i could but sadly lost 3 loaches. WTF???

Well after taking the water for testing, mystery solved.

PH 8
Nitrate 10ppm
Nitrite .5ppm
Carbonate Hardness 240ppm
General Hardness 30ppm
Ammonia ~ Off the charts!

I left the gravel unattended, yes well, it's the gravel thats doing it. I thought i could smell ammonia when i was giving it a rinse, but i had not long mopped the floor, the cleaner is ammonia based, and put it down to that...but nooooooooooooooooo, one of my sons decided for reason known only to him, to pee into the gravel. Because it was left for the couple of hours it would have turned to ammonia crystals. Because i only rinsed, not fully washed it, not all were washed off. Add water to it in the tank and OMG, instant ammonia bath.

Word of warning...dont let anything or anyone pee on your gravel *L*

I now have added some ammonia lock, and it will just take time to settle.

They are all loving the new setup, no agression between the mainganos and yellow, very pleased with that. There are dither fish in there (guppy fry) which seem to keep them amused trying to catch. All in all it is settling very nicely.

Just noticed in the second pic above the female maingano is holding fry *L*

Human pee is VERY potent! The test tube turned black, stunned both myself and the tester *L* We all looked at each other like what the devil??? It very nearly claimed them all to be honest, but the 2 loaches and redtail made it. I'm devastated, i had had the loaches from wee tiny little things, and they died horribly, at least it was fairly quick, but still......

The 5ft will come good, it looks at present like a tornado has gone through it, plants are just floating around and the wood has just been tossed back in willy-nilly. I'll try again in a few days, then wait another day or so and test again. If it seems ok, i'll throw in some guppies and see how they do.