# Exciting Day Here -- Have a Live Fish Shipment Coming!!!



## Jill (Nov 18, 2009)

This weekend, H and I set up a 75g tank that will be for mbuna cichlid fish. We have extra filter media running in other tanks so we can "instantly" cycle this one for the new fish, which should arrive TODAY!!!!






We ordered:


6 Electric Yellow Labs
6 Cobalt Blue Zebras
4 Albino Zebras
This weekend, we also picked up 8 Red Zebras that will go into the tank as well. So, it will be a very colorful tank!!! I'm keeping the ones shipping in and the ones we got this weekend separate for a couple of weeks, though (just in case). These fish are / should be about 2" long right now and grow to about 4" long and are pretty hardy and easy to take care of... and just as colorful as many saltwater fish (but easier to care for)





These are pictures of what we've got / got on the way. I'll post pictures of the tank when it's occupied later, but never can get individual fish pictures to turn out well






Last week, we got our first shipment of fish, which was four baby rainbow cichlids (they are for a different tank). They are growing fast and are really cute. We'd never ordered fish before these guys and it went really well and very easy





This is almost as exciting as waiting on a new horse... I know, I know ------ _what_ has happened to me????!!!????!!!!





Jill


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## mad for mini's (Nov 18, 2009)

Beautiful ! Sounds like you definitely have the fish bug



And I can see saltwater in your future



Then we will never hear from you again





If you haven't found it yet, LiveAquaria.com is an excellent mail order company to go through. Shipping can be a little pricey but it's worth it. I've always been happy with the fish (saltwater) that I ordered and the service is excellent if any replacements were needed.

And Dr Foster and Smith is an excellent supply company fosterandsmithaquatics.com


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## h2t99 (Nov 18, 2009)

Hey Jill,

Love those fish!!! Can you tell me who you are ordering from?? We live where there are NO good fish places within 2 hours of us, so since we moved and I lost both of my hugh angels my tank is depressing!!





Heidi


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## Sterling (Nov 18, 2009)

Oh how exciting!!!! Very pretty fish! Pretty soon you'll be able to open your very own aquarium to the public...lol...lol...lol....


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## uwharrie (Nov 18, 2009)

I used to keep a 55 gal tank of mixed African Cichlids. Just as pretty as saltwater fish and no where near as much work.

These guys are smart (as far as fish go). They recognized my husband and myself and would greet us at the glass. But let someone come up that they did not know and they would all hide in the rocks.

I do miss them!


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## MeadowRidge Farm (Nov 18, 2009)

Jill, the fish are beautiful, and yes..just as colorful as the saltwater without the work. I remember when I got my first fish order by mail, it was angels, very tiny pea size.. and they all lived much to my amazement. Dr. Foster and Smith is a great outlet and does have a nice aquarium /supplies catalog. They are only about 1 hour from our home so I usually just run up there about once a month. I love to look and see what is in there clearance/overstock aisle.


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## mydaddysjag (Nov 18, 2009)

Is it safe to assume that you found aquabid.com? lol My moim used to keep a 150 gallon tank of cichlids, and they're really neat fish.


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## Jill (Nov 18, 2009)

I love Fosters & Smith!!! That place and Big Al's are where most of my equipment and supplies have come from.

The fish I got today and last week, yep, I got them on Aquabid.com -- it's like eBay only for fish!!! It's so cool!!!

Here is our "new" 38g with and without the flash. We set it up about a month ago. The red zebra (orange) fish in it will eventually go into the bigger tank (below). This one is in my living room above a fake fireplace (hate that thing):









And here is the 75g containing the mbunas that arrived today. Had a couple doa's (yellow labs), but those are actually easy to get here, so I will get some more locally. This tank is in a hallway in the back of our house that is sort of square and about the size of a small bedroom. With and without the flash (not my bff "Watson" peering from a corner):









And a couple fish pictures.................. You can see, nothing fantastic -- I'm just delighted that a couple fish pictures turned out slightly better than a blur.

Some of the Mbunas that arrived today:





One of the blood parrots and one of the rainbow cichlid babies. The picture is a little deceptive as the rainbow cichlid is not nearly as big as it looks compared to the parrot fish, who really does usually look like he's smiling:





Thanks for looking!!!


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## topnotchminis (Nov 18, 2009)

Your tanks look great! Those are such pretty fish.


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## Irish Hills Farm (Nov 18, 2009)

Those are pretty cool Jill. I'm going to have to check out those websites! My kids have informed me that they want sharks in the classroom tank.


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## luv2ridesaddleseat (Nov 18, 2009)

Jill, please share with me what you use for filters. I have a 55 and a 30 gallon. Also, do any of your tanks have access to any sunlight??


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## LindaL (Nov 18, 2009)

When I got my 1st tank about 8 mo ago, I thought Id be more into the fish than I am now...still love the fish I have, but I doubt I will get a bigger tank...I do love fish and beautiful tanks...and yours look awesome!





Should we start calling you the "fish lady"??


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## Katiean (Nov 19, 2009)

I had an octogon tank that I had a blue cichlid and an oscar in. The ciclid lived in the bottom and the oscar lived up top. I would drop in a gold fish at feeding time and they would work the fish up and down the tank. Some times the oscar got the gold fish and sometimes the ciclid would. The other would get the left overs for the day. I was told you could not keep both kinds of fish together. These two worked together. Very cool. I hust thought about it. I may put a ten gallon tank on the bridge of my computer desk. I may have to run a support beam across underneath but I think it would be cool. I might do that this weekend. But I like the fancy gold fish with the bubbley head. Besides, they don't eat each other.


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## Jill (Nov 19, 2009)

Hmmm.... I don't know if I want to be the fish lady! But I've been paranoid I might be "the cat lady" in time as much as I love Paisley LOL! I guess I'd rather be the cat lady than the fish lady. Hmmm...

For the filters, in the 38g, I don't really have the filters I'd most like, but this tank has to be flush to the wall, so I cannot use hang on the back filters. What I have in it are two Whisper 40i Internal Filters, which both supposedly can filter up to 40 gallons, but I don't think they really have that much water flow and I want to over filter. With them, you cannot fill the water up to the frame of the tank or the outflow will be under water. So, I took black electrical tape and did a couple rounds of that at the top of the tank just below the frame. It's in the pictures that way, so you cannot really tell it's tape (at least my eyes can't), and it hides the water line.

For the 75g (and for the 55g's we're setting up) I have two Penguin 350 BioWheel filters for each. They supposedly can do 70g each and they have a lot of water flow. They are pretty inexpensive ($35 or so each) and, at least for now, were less intimidating to me than canister filters.

The cartridges I've started using are called "ReeFresH2O" (formerly Cell Pore) and they are not disposable and last basically forever. They look kind of like rigid sponges and have tremendous surface area to grow the good bacteria that actually keeps the tanks clean. Between those and the biowheels, there's a lot of room for the good bacteria to grow. Apparently most hard core fishkeepers don't use carbon at all, unless they are removing medicine and carbon only lasts 2wks or so max. These ReeFresH2O / Cell Pore and another sort called Super Cartridges seem to be what they recommend, or some other kind of high surface area bio media that goes in canister filters.

The way I have the blinds in the living room, the tank in there doesn't get sunlight and I don't think the one in the hallway will, unless I leave the bathroom door all the way open (which I nearly never do). So, I'm hoping there will not be algae problems in them but if so, at least in the living room, I think we can put some bristle nose plecos with the fish that will go there after the red zebras move. Bristle nose plecos eat algae but they do not get massive like the common plecos will. They come in albino or brown, maybe other colors, too.

Not all cichlids are aggressive and the kind I get don't need to eat live food. They wouldn't really even be big enough to efficiently eat feeder goldfish when full grown. They are actually vegetarians! Which surprised me. You have to be careful to not feed mbuna cichlids like I have too much protein or they get "Malawi Bloat". They're a specific type of cichlid from the same lake and region. The other cichlids I have, the hybrid blood parrots and the rainbow cichlids, are compatible to each other but not to the mbunas. They are, however, more peaceful than the kind of mbunas I have (which are the milder mannered mbunas you can get by far).

I also love fancy goldfish. We have two 20g tanks of them (with Penquin Biowheel 200's in them, can do 50g each). I didn't realize how much space fancy goldfish need when we first got them and ours are still small so are okay for now, but goldfish are supposed to have 20g for the first one, and 10g for each additional one. Once we found that out, we planned to get a 150g tank for the Florida room, however, after setting up the 75g tank this weekend, we decided one that size will be enough. It's one thing to see the tanks in the store and another to see them set up in your house. Ours seems to have grown on the trip home. Right now, 75g seems HUGE in the house and I don't want a 150g for the goldies anymore. We have 12 of them total.

You know, in consideration of what I just wrote, maybe I should be the fish nerd, vs. the fish or cat lady?


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## Marnie (Nov 19, 2009)

Your fish and tanks are beautiful. It makes me remember back a long time ago, we were so into our fish and gorgeous tanks. We'd keep the lights out at night just so we could watch them, I actually have a smile on my face and a tear in my eye, just writing this and remembering.

But things change, it seems to be another life time now, I just can't have any right now, I'd better go lie down until this feeling passes. LOL!

But congrats on your pretty fish.


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## MeadowRidge Farm (Nov 19, 2009)

Awww Jill, go for the gusto



and the next time you have to buy a filter get a canister one. That is all we have now, and believe me if I can figure them out anyone can. There really is nothing to intimidate you. We have a Magnum 350, whichI have on my 55 gal tank of gold fish, and we all know how filthy goldfish can be..



and on our 72 gal we have a Eheim Pro 3 and on the 90 gal we have a Eheim Pro 3. The 90 gal was set up into saltwater up until about 2 weeks ago, when we took it down...now it sits empty and we found a home for the 6 fish and all the corals. Our goldfish are all fancy ones and huge, so maybe I will give them a much needed bigger home.


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## luv2ridesaddleseat (Nov 19, 2009)

thanks for the filter info, Jill! Glad to see you are enjoying your fish tanks so much! I happen to love tropical fish, especially vail tailed angels! Of course my daughter had to buy 2 tiny red eared slider turtles at a flea market a year or so ago. They will grow to be the size of a dinner plate and are almost half way there already! You want a challenge? Get turtles that will be huge.


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