New mini rift lake tank....

I had a bunch of extra fish stuff lying around, to the point where I had a complete tank. I have never done a african cichlid tank...so I decided to set one up. It finally cycled out and cleared up, and here's what I came up with:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ewtanks002.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...ewtanks001.jpg

So far all I've got is a pair of brichardi and some unidentified blue african. I had a yellow lap too, but the brichardi teamed up and took him out. The brichardi seem to get along with the other one, though. Eventually I plan to keep this a species only tank with a small colony of brichardi, but they are somewhat hard to find around here so I needed something else to get the bio load up and get the tank going.

ya brichardis can be very aggressive when they are paired up... i have some daffodils and they rule the tank LOL little guys taking on my big 10" frontosas. :giggle:

i know a guy who can hook you up with some brichardi - probably F1 or wild caught, which ever you are looking for.

http://www.riftzoneaquatics.com/

i know clayton personally... he's a great guy. really quality stock too. we've done many fish orders together in the past. he ships wherever the order needs to go. ;)

I like it! Good luck on your search for more brichardi. That's too bad about the yellow lap.
Little cycling hint: If you can get a hold of some ammonuim chloride (NH4Cl) from a chemical supply company, you can can use that to cycle your tank rather than risking fish to do the job. 1 gram/100 gallons will put your NH3 at about 2.0 I'm not sure how practical this is if you don't cycle tanks that often, but you could likely buy a very small amount for pretty cheap if you have a local chem supply. Working at a public aquarium quarantine facility, I bleach out, and recycle systems on a regular basis, so cycling with animals just isn't practical (especially when you have to start with a "clean" system before any animals are added). I also use it to keep systems going that are empty, just dose once a week for many happy bacteria :D.

Be sure to post more pics when you get more additions!

-Evan

Great looking tank Brad! I'm sure some nice mbunas would love that fancy rockwork!;) N. brichardi are great fish, good luck on your search.

Evan, great idea with the ammonium chloride...for those who may read the suggestion and want to try here's where you can pick it up online:
https://www2.carolina.com/webapp/wcs...y_rn=&crumbs=n

Aleesha, thanks for the link to the cichlid site, I'm setting up a rift lake tank myself any day here...Malawi for me...hard to decide on specific fish though, cichlids are so variable with color/size/temperment, and there are tons!

-Jason

Cichlids rock!

Nice set up! The bottom level reminds me of Stonehenge. :)

that rockwork is awesome :)

be very careful....Africans are addictive!

AweOme. I kept those cichlids for years, and they will definately appreciate having all of those crevices and hidespots. Mine would each have their own little spot, and when you turned the lights on, at first it'd look like an empty tank; then they would come out one by one. :)
My favorite African is the drab Livingstoni. I still have mine; he lives fine with my Oscars. The rest, I auctioned off; got more into fancy goldfish. But those tanks are awesome!

Just some new shots...the Brichardi have been busy...

Original pair...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...s/DSC02743.jpg

Male...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...s/DSC02745.jpg

Wigglers...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...s/DSC02718.jpg

Older fry...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...s/DSC02727.jpg

Growing family...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19...s/DSC02740.jpg

Cool stuff Sad Brad.....get some real fish, those things would be feeders here :P LOL

One day I'll get around to posting up some of my fish pics...I only have like 3 gigs worth LOL

Haha...one day I'll have a monster tank...Gigas anyone?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Uncle Festae

One day I'll get around to posting up some of my fish pics...I only have like 3 gigs worth LOL

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You keep talking up your tanks, they better be good! Isn't it about time to put down the pipe and post some up??? :P

Arapaima are bad ace Brad LOL real primitive

I want to do a 500g+ Amphilophus species tank, with hundreds of massive Red Devils and Midas(my super colored linebred ones, not the crappy blaah ones), Red Terrors (Festae, not Uro's) and Trimacs...Of course I would have to put a few of my Flowerhorns in there....the purists would love it LMAO

I definitely have the fish and breeding stock for it, I just need the room to house the tank itself :(

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

You keep talking up your tanks, they better be good! Isn't it about time to put down the pipe and post some up??? :P

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Brad, my tanks are nothing to write home about....these fish and decor do not go together, they just tear it up within minutes..... Alot of the breeder tanks are divided, and I dont clean algae on breeder tanks ;)

Now the fish...thats another story, I am proud as hell of them, and they make Jaws drop ;)

Just for you Sad Brad, I will put up a sample...... but I just dont know where to start, or which ones to post..I could probably fill a 30 page thread just with my pics, and still feel like I left some out :(

I hear you...its the same with ball pythons...some fish in captivity don't necessarily need us to try and make an attempt at making a habitat out of plastic decor for them...and a utilitarian type setup works well. The fish species you mentioned could probably care less if they have some stupid fake plants in the tank with them or not...

You probably want to do something like this
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/fo...ad.php?t=48640

I wish I couldve edited my last post to include this :(

Ok Brad...I figure that the easiest way to do this, is a little bit at a time, one kind of fish at a time LOL

We will start off with my first Flowerhorn, Duke....13" long, over 5" high and almost 3" thick of pure rage and beauty

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/4ebcfc19.jpg

I like to make videos too, this one is my favourite.....

Here's what happens when silver dollars try to get smart and steal a FH's last pellet when he's still hungry, and looking for more LOL
I love it when he stops on a dime, grabs his food, and goes right back to raging LOL
http://www.yourfilehost.com/media.ph...keOnALeash.wmv

Of course the music rocks, great synching with his actions

You should show that FH to some of those hybrid haters...thats one of the best FH's I've ever seen.

How have those silver dollars even survived with him in there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

You should show that FH to some of those hybrid haters...thats one of the best FH's I've ever seen.

How have those silver dollars even survived with him in there?

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Brad, that video is from almost 2 years ago....all six of them are still in perfect health, now living with a breeding pair of a 13" male Red Devil and an 8" female festae (Red Terror)...Those Silvers are just too darned fast and nimble for these behemoths

Thanks for the props on the FH, I love him too, even though he's "low grade"

Whats up next Brad? Devils? or a mixed bag?

How about some of those special devils you were talking about?

Thanks for hijacking my thread by the way...maybe if I cry about it, we can split it up! ;) :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

How about some of those special devils you were talking about?

Thanks for hijacking my thread by the way...maybe if I cry about it, we can split it up! ;) :P

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I was going to warn you in advance, not to hate me for taking over your thread with my goodies. Crying about a thread to get it split up is sooo yesterday ;):D

Brad, right now I'm going to throw up a bit of a mixed bag of pics that are already groomed and hosted on the net....the Devils will take me a lil bit, either cause I have no good shots of some and have to take them, or the shots are uncropped, and unhosted..dont worry, I'll get er done for ya ;)


Astronotus ocellatus "Albino Red Oscar"
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/1c55ea89.jpg

Astronotus ocellatus "Wild caught x Tiger Oscar"
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/b7a0a948.jpg

Herichthys cyanoguttatus "Texas Cichlid"
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/e22d4404.jpg

Thorichthys meeki "Firemouth" 5in(male)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/84c75fc6.jpg

Aequidens rivulatus "Green Terror sp. Gold Saum" male
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...chief2mnt4.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/0bcb8969.jpg

Archocentrus octofasciatum "Jack Dempsey" (male)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/1959016f.jpg

Male and female in breeding dress
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23...0/11b3287b.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Uncle Festae

I was going to warn you in advance, not to hate me for taking over your thread with my goodies. Crying about a thread to get it split up is sooo yesterday ;):D

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Its OK, too much policing is never a good thing...hopefully no one gets upset that I signed your last hit with "-Pedro" :P

those are some AMAZING looking fish, keep the pics a coming!:sweeet:

Nice shots both of ya! Glad to see that tank is doing well for ya Brad, and you got some youngins in there now. One day I'll set up another home tank, but for now I get enough fish at work :D . That giant arapaima tank is pretty impressive for a home system too, wowzers!!

-Evan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Its OK, too much policing is never a good thing...hopefully no one gets upset that I signed your last hit with "-Pedro" :P

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LMAO "-Pedro", "-Adam", it's all the same they're both losers :P I'm just pissed that Kip ate all the flippin chips!!

New world cichlids ROCK...those are awesome Chris!