Lincoln

He looks like a happy and healthy beta.

Not sure where else to put this, but these are pictures of my 240G tank from 2008 with the Mpimbwe Frontosa I bred.

I couldn't find good pictures, but these are taken from the gentleman I gave the tank and fish too, soon after relocating them.

I miss these fish. They were a ton of work, but also very rewarding. I had them eating out of my hand, literally.

Tank - 8X2X2' for the tank alone - 240 gallons

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/haVAofF.jpg

Male @ 10-12 inches

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/PD0eFzs.jpg
Female - @ 7-9 inches

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/FZjbUJH.jpg

The Group

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/YxPDaqp.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/2yvDZuO.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Not sure where else to put this, but these are pictures of my 240G tank from 2008 with the Mpimbwe Frontosa I bred.

I couldn't find good pictures, but these are taken from the gentleman I gave the tank and fish too, soon after relocating them.

I miss these fish. They were a ton of work, but also very rewarding. I had them eating out of my hand, literally.

Tank - 8X2X2' for the tank alone - 240 gallon

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I don't even want to think about the upkeep on a 240 gallon tank. I keep a 45 and I always think it's a good bit of work but 240 gallons sounds insane. That being said, I would love to put about 200 little South American tetras in there just to see large schooling behavior. I've always felt that parameters were easier to maintain the bigger tank that you have though. Did you find that to be true or was it about the same? Also glad to see folks talking fish on here, would love to get this section going!

That is a huge aquarium. Curious. How do you do water changes on that size?

First, I think Lincoln likes frozen brine shrimp more than bloodworms, if that's possible.

Offered him a few today and he went nuts.

Good to give variety. So the pellets as a staple with occasional brine shrimp and bloodworms. I would also like to try daphnia as they help digestion and work as a laxative, but mixing in F/T foods like the brine and bloodworms help too, as opposed to all dry food.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hugsplox

I don't even want to think about the upkeep on a 240 gallon tank. I keep a 45 and I always think it's a good bit of work but 240 gallons sounds insane. That being said, I would love to put about 200 little South American tetras in there just to see large schooling behavior. I've always felt that parameters were easier to maintain the bigger tank that you have though. Did you find that to be true or was it about the same? Also glad to see folks talking fish on here, would love to get this section going!

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Once established, bigger tanks are more stable, in general. I had 12 big fish in there and they were WC (there were no Mpimbwe in captivity in that time breeding - I was one of the first) and allowed to be imported because they are not endangered in the wild. Big fish means a lot of food and waste and WC meant they were more sensitive to nitrates.

The tank went from about 15ppm nitrates to about 30-40ppm in a week. I did 100-120G water changes weekly.

Additionally, they are high PH (7.8-8.2PH) and slightly brackish water fish who also needed harder water. So there was a lot of additives and chemistry involved.

So, had to do more work on it than many large tanks that aren't as full or with as sensitive fish. I guess I did a good job as they bred like crazy.

However, if you had a large tank with less load and that only needed dechlorination or light additives to remove metals, etc. and you didn't have to adjust PH and salt and hardness, it would be much more stable than a smaller tank with the same relative load.


I am also glad that some people are talking fish on here. It is fun. However, it is a reptile forum and there are better forums for fish information. If anyone is interested, I can name a few.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trinityblood

That is a huge aquarium. Curious. How do you do water changes on that size?

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Python syphon into the sink to suction gravel and start water removal. Then a small pump to pump water into the sink.

The night before I filled two 60G pails with the fresh water for the tank and dosed with all the additives I needed (PH +, salt, dechlorinator, etc.) and dropped heaters in as well. Very important temps are stable going in and out especially when doing such a large water change - has to be right within 1F or less not to stress fish.

Once the water was taken out and the gravel syphoned, I would use a pump and a long hose to pump the fresh water into the tank.

All in all, it took about 3 hours including prep. So about 1 hour the night before and 2 hours the day of the water change.

Very expensive to get all the supplies (pumps, hoses, etc.) as well as additives and the tank was insanely expensive with stand and lid and light, filtration and heaters, etc.

It was an acrylic tank and was awesome. The company I bought it from now longer makes tanks, but it was great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Not sure where else to put this, but these are pictures of my 240G tank from 2008 with the Mpimbwe Frontosa I bred.

I couldn't find good pictures, but these are taken from the gentleman I gave the tank and fish too, soon after relocating them.

I miss these fish. They were a ton of work, but also very rewarding. I had them eating out of my hand, literally.

Tank - 8X2X2' for the tank alone - 240 gallons

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/haVAofF.jpg

Male @ 10-12 inches

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/PD0eFzs.jpg
Female - @ 7-9 inches

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/FZjbUJH.jpg

The Group

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/YxPDaqp.jpg
https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/2yvDZuO.jpg

---

Amazing. !!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I've found mixing in frozen foods with flake/dry food results in better coloration and growth. The fish just seem incredibly more healthy and active than when on a flake/dry food diet only. I'd love some suggestions if you have a few for some aquarium forums. Not that I don't like focusing a lot of attention here, but I understand not everyone wants to hear about our aquatic hobby lol.

Those python syphons saved my back from carrying buckets. I can do a change on my 45 in about half an hour vs how long it use to take when I just had a bunch of 3 gallon buckets.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hugsplox

I've found mixing in frozen foods with flake/dry food results in better coloration and growth. The fish just seem incredibly more healthy and active than when on a flake/dry food diet only. I'd love some suggestions if you have a few for some aquarium forums. Not that I don't like focusing a lot of attention here, but I understand not everyone wants to hear about our aquatic hobby lol.

Those python syphons saved my back from carrying buckets. I can do a change on my 45 in about half an hour vs how long it use to take when I just had a bunch of 3 gallon buckets.

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This was the site I wrote on frequently when I kept the Frontosa and also a 90G lake Malawi Cichlid tank.

https://www.cichlid-forum.com

Thought it was a really good site.

Not sure about other sites but have started looking and will report back if I find any good ones.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

This was the site I wrote on frequently when I kept the Frontosa and also a 90G lake Malawi Cichlid tank.

https://www.cichlid-forum.com

Thought it was a really good site.

Not sure about other sites but have started looking and will report back if I find any good ones.

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I have not spent much time on these, but they look good.

https://www.fishforums.net

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/

https://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com

This site also has info on what forums are out there, but they show Reddit so who knows. However, shows some forums for specific species/types of fish.

https://fishlab.com/online-aquarium-communities/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

I have not spent much time on these, but they look good.

https://www.fishforums.net

https://www.fishlore.com/aquariumfishforum/

https://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com

This site also has info on what forums are out there, but they show Reddit so who knows. However, shows some forums for specific species/types of fish.

https://fishlab.com/online-aquarium-communities/

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Thanks Daskski, I've heard some really good things about fishlore and tropicalfishkeeping but haven't spent much time on either other than when Google sent me there for answers. I'll check both out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Python syphon into the sink to suction gravel and start water removal. Then a small pump to pump water into the sink.

The night before I filled two 60G pails with the fresh water for the tank and dosed with all the additives I needed (PH +, salt, dechlorinator, etc.) and dropped heaters in as well. Very important temps are stable going in and out especially when doing such a large water change - has to be right within 1F or less not to stress fish.

Once the water was taken out and the gravel syphoned, I would use a pump and a long hose to pump the fresh water into the tank.

All in all, it took about 3 hours including prep. So about 1 hour the night before and 2 hours the day of the water change.

Very expensive to get all the supplies (pumps, hoses, etc.) as well as additives and the tank was insanely expensive with stand and lid and light, filtration and heaters, etc.

It was an acrylic tank and was awesome. The company I bought it from now longer makes tanks, but it was great.

---

Whew that's a lot of work. Salt? Is it a brackish tank? I'm not very familiar with them. Why did it need PH added?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Trinityblood

Whew that's a lot of work. Salt? Is it a brackish tank? I'm not very familiar with them. Why did it need PH added?

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Yes, a tremendous amount of work. Hence, not having the tank anymore.

Frontosa are from Lake Tanganyika in Africa. The water has a higher salt content than most freshwater and I believe would be considered brackish, even if mildly, but is considered a freshwater lake. It also has a high PH of around 8-9 and harder water than most.

That's why I had to add all the additives I did. I guess it worked because they bred like rabbits.

Below is a profile from Cichlid Forum on Mpimbwe Frontosa. There are a few different kinds of Frontosa, but I liked the deep blues on the Mpimbwe. The care is very similar as all are found in Lake Tanganyika.

https://www.cichlid-forum.com/profil...es.php?id=1512

Lincoln loves Brine Shrimp. He gets them as a treat 1X a week and Blood Worms 1X a week (1 every 3-4 days) on top of his pellet diet.

Below is a video of him devouring some F/T brine.

https://vimeo.com/523951881

He got his 2nd water change over the weekend and seems to be doing great. I plan to test the water in the next day or two and will report if anything looks off or if we have nitrates. In the meantime, I added Seed after the water change, but have not been adding it since the initial week dose aside from the first water change.

Update on Lincoln's Water parameters.

Today, 5 days after last water change, and about 3 1/2 weeks in, the water parameters were as follows:

Ammonia: 1ppm

Nitrite: 0.25-0.5ppm

Nitrate: 5ppm

I did a 20% water change today with gravel syphon and added Seed again.

So the good news is that the tank is producing nitrates from nitrite. The bad news is ammonia was a little high for my liking. Since the tank is already producing nitrites and nitrates, I want to keep ammonia below 1ppm. Between he 20% water change and the gravel syphon, we should be in good shape. My guess is it's down 30%.

I plan to add the Seed for a few days and also add some extra biological media. That will not be seeded, but it's the porous clay stuff and I will put in a small mesh bag. This should speed up the adoption of beneficial bacteria. Not sure I need it, but it can't hurt.

My guess is by this time in 2 weeks, we will only be seeing Nitrates.

In the meantime, Lincoln seems fine and is showing no visible signs of stress. Gills look good, colors are good, and he's eating happily.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Update on Lincoln's Water parameters.

Today, 5 days after last water change, and about 3 1/2 weeks in, the water parameters were as follows:

Ammonia: 1ppm

Nitrite: 0.25-0.5ppm

Nitrate: 5ppm

I did a 20% water change today with gravel syphon and added Seed again.

So the good news is that the tank is producing nitrates from nitrite. The bad news is ammonia was a little high for my liking. Since the tank is already producing nitrites and nitrates, I want to keep ammonia below 1ppm. Between he 20% water change and the gravel syphon, we should be in good shape. My guess is it's down 30%.

I plan to add the Seed for a few days and also add some extra biological media. That will not be seeded, but it's the porous clay stuff and I will put in a small mesh bag. This should speed up the adoption of beneficial bacteria. Not sure I need it, but it can't hurt.

My guess is by this time in 2 weeks, we will only be seeing Nitrates.

In the meantime, Lincoln seems fine and is showing no visible signs of stress. Gills look good, colors are good, and he's eating happily.

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I think you have a good plan in place dakski. The Nitrogen cycle is a fickle beast for sure and it took my longer than I'd like to admit to feel like I really had a good grasp on what I was doing with it.

If Seed isn't working for you quick enough, I've always had a lot of luck using Tetra Safestart Plus. I've speed cycled some tanks when I needed to set up a quarantine tank for some reason with that stuff, and all I can say is I was thankful to have a few bottles on hand.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hugsplox

I think you have a good plan in place dakski. The Nitrogen cycle is a fickle beast for sure and it took my longer than I'd like to admit to feel like I really had a good grasp on what I was doing with it.

If Seed isn't working for you quick enough, I've always had a lot of luck using Tetra Safestart Plus. I've speed cycled some tanks when I needed to set up a quarantine tank for some reason with that stuff, and all I can say is I was thankful to have a few bottles on hand.

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I've used startright in the past with good success. I've used before they were bought by tetra and also after, but I didn't think it was as good the 2nd time (much cheaper, didn't need to be stabilized in fridge, etc. and took a little longer, but still worked). I wanted to try something different this time, but if things don't stabilize quickly with Lincoln's tank (I think they will), that would be a good product to go to next.

Good news and bad news on Lincoln. He's doing fine, don't worry.

I was planning to do a water change 2 days ago, but have been sick. I got to it today and water parameters were a little nuts.

Virtually no Ammonia, Nitrites were 2ppm, and Nitrates were about 80ppm. UGH. Good news is the tank is definitely cycling and making nitrates. Bad news is there are lots of them and nitrite too.

I should have been more on top of this, but it also happened pretty quickly.

I rinsed out the sponge from the filter (in the old tank water as to not kill the good bacteria) and it was pretty dirty. I also did a 45% water change with gravel syphon and plan to do another 20-30% change either later today or tomorrow.

Lincoln seems no worse for the wear, but I am sure he appreciated the water change.

I am on top of it and will continue to be.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

Good news and bad news on Lincoln. He's doing fine, don't worry.

I was planning to do a water change 2 days ago, but have been sick. I got to it today and water parameters were a little nuts.

Virtually no Ammonia, Nitrites were 2ppm, and Nitrates were about 80ppm. UGH. Good news is the tank is definitely cycling and making nitrates. Bad news is there are lots of them and nitrite too.

I should have been more on top of this, but it also happened pretty quickly.

I rinsed out the sponge from the filter (in the old tank water as to not kill the good bacteria) and it was pretty dirty. I also did a 45% water change with gravel syphon and plan to do another 20-30% change either later today or tomorrow.

Lincoln seems no worse for the wear, but I am sure he appreciated the water change.

I am on top of it and will continue to be.

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Tank care is rough when feeling sick. Hope you're doing better! Glad Lincoln is okay.

Just did a second, smaller, water change. It was about 20-25%.

That should get things under control for now. I'll test again in a few days and plan to do another water change then.

I was up early today unexpectedly. I tested Lincoln's water and Nitrites were down to 1-2ppm (vs 2ppm yesterday) and Nitrates were about 30ppm, a big improvement especially on the nitrates (which makes sense with 2 water changes).

I did another 30% water change and added some more Seed, although I am not too impressed with it.

I also added some ceramic bio media in a mesh filter bag into the filter chamber. I was planning on doing this earlier, but I just got the bags recently.

I'll keep everyone posted, but Lincoln appears to be weathering the storm fine and I imagine within a week, everything will be where it should be (nitrates only).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dakski

I was up early today unexpectedly. I tested Lincoln's water and Nitrites were down to 1-2ppm (vs 2ppm yesterday) and Nitrates were about 30ppm, a big improvement especially on the nitrates (which makes sense with 2 water changes).

I did another 30% water change and added some more Seed, although I am not too impressed with it.

I also added some ceramic bio media in a mesh filter bag into the filter chamber. I was planning on doing this earlier, but I just got the bags recently.

I'll keep everyone posted, but Lincoln appears to be weathering the storm fine and I imagine within a week, everything will be where it should be (nitrates only).

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Nitro zorb is a great product too by API if you continue having issues getting it down. The only downside is it'll cloud your tank water. You know this obviously, but that initial nitrate burst you get during the cycle is rough. It sounds like you and Lincoln are getting through it alright though.

I've always found one of the issues with cycling beta tanks is the water flow. With gentler flow your filter cycle rate to be a little lower so your water isn't moving over your filter material as often. I found that it takes a little longer for the cycle to sort itself out in beta tanks, but once it does it's easier to keep in check.

Lincoln is gorgeous, and must be a real joy to have nearby. You almost got me thinking about keeping fish again - I've kept fish before and admittedly miss them, but my last fish project was a 150-gallon saltwater reef tank. It was amazing, and I could just sit in front of it for hours. My favorites were the clownfish and their anemone buddies and a lionfish I had for a long time. He was a predacious, venomous little jerk but he was gorgeous. I had good success with that setup and it was stable for years, but dear gods the work and expense. I think it kinda burned me out on keeping fish.

My 'desk pets' are a pair of Mourning Geckos. They do fine at room temp and are so tiny that their little enclosure gives them enough room to do a full stalk-and-hunt with fruit flies. They lash their tails like cats when they hunt. And they chirp at each other, so overall they've been a lot of fun.

I've always wanted a cichlid tank - I love their behaviors and social interactions - and would enjoy a 'desk betta', but I think I'll just admire yours instead!

Lincoln is doing awesome. He's put on some size and looks incredible.

I've been neglecting to give him frozen foods as much, but he doesn't look any worse for the wear.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/TmRJR4X.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/hylouXi.jpghttps://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/mf570eB.jpg

He's a really gorgeous guy! :love:

That is a gorgeous little koi Betta. One of my favorite types of Betta. ❤️
I love how much he's brightened up since your first post.
Those dark lips make me smile. They're so neat.

Sadly, Lincoln has crossed over the rainbow bridge. I didn't feel like starting a Rainbow Bridge thread for him, but that doesn't mean I miss him any less.

He was a good fish and I am glad I gave him a good home for as long as I did.

I really enjoyed having a buddy in my office, but I am not sure how I will proceed. For now, RIP Lincoln.

I'm so very sorry to hear about Lincoln's passing away -he was a beautiful fish & I'm sorry for your loss. Rest in peaceful waters, Lincoln. :(

Oh no! I'm so sorry. You gave him the best care during his time.

:salute:Patriotic Lincoln will be missed! Thanks for introducing, caring , and giving him quality time.