JD pics

[breaker_1113]

he seems to be very pale compared to all other jd's that i look at but how can i make him darker??
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=2625765&uid=1379209
this is his darker mood
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=2625765&uid=1379209
when hes pale...
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=2625765&uid=1379209

ne ideas on why hes so ... pale

[breaker_1113]

how do u make the pic go strait into the thread?

[paradigmcubed]

It could be a female or it could be stressed. Begin thinking about a larger tank because those fish will need one when they grow up.

[jimbo]

Like this you mean?
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL136/1379209/2625765/31940899.jpg

Go to your picture, click right, properties, copy the url, go to your thread, open with ... past the url, and close with... (without the dots)

Jimmy

[peifc]

Could be stress. How long have you had that fish in the tank? And any other fish chase the JD?

[breaker_1113]

well the convict will chase the jd now and then but the buttikoferi is the newest guy so he doesnt bother him at all.
ph is 7 but is was 6 or below for like 6 month( i was finally able to fix that)
no ammoia
no nitrite
and 5 nitrate

i accually just divided the tank so he definately wont be getting chased.
how do u tell if jd's r female? or male?
and jimbo thanx for showing me how to put the pics up

*edit i had the fish in there for 10 months or so

[peifc]

You had your JD in there for 10 months or other fish for 10 months?

Female has blue sparkles pattern on the gill and dorsal fin is shorter and rounder...that's how my female JD looks like. I also noticed that a lot of the male JD's body has more color pattern than female if they come from good breeding.

You might wanna think about getting another tank soon because the Buttikoferi is aggressive and grows very fast. Eventually, there will be no more Barbs, Con, and JD. Also, Buttikoferi gets as big as 16". That guy needs at least 90 gal tank.

[breaker_1113]

how fast is fast cause im planning to mabey return the fish when they get to big or agressive and some others or get a new tank wich i doubt i can do
the con and jd have lived there for about 10 month and the buttikoferi is about 1 month and the barbs are less than a week

[peifc]

10 months for JD and Con? Wow! They look small. How big are they right now? Maybe my eyes are deceiving me.

I think it is best to return Butti if you are not use to aggressive fish. I have never owned that kind of fish, but from what I heard, they get an inch or more than an inch within a month. If you have seen Red Devil or Midas in action...that's what Buttikoferi does too.

[breaker_1113]

im not sure why but yeah there not growing that fast i guess because when i got the jd he was about 2.. 1.5 inches but now hes about 4 i think
is that slow??
he eats like a horse tho

and im getting used to aggresive fish considering that a breeding pair of convicts were pretty much the first fish ive had and ive always liked them cause they have personality.. well for a fish atleast. ive never taken a real big interest in gold fish and stuff cause there not all so entertaining to look( no offence to gold fish lovers) cause cichlids play , eat , fight, breed and do a whole bunch of wierd stuff so yeah
i want to get a bigger tank but being a 15 year old high school student.. its kinda hard to get the money with out a job

[peifc]

That is very slow. My JD was one inch when I got her. She is 3.5" now after more than 2 months later.

What are you feeding them? Do you include any meat (beside fish food) in their diet? I feed mine with all kinds of diet. They used to eat certain treat in the past. Now I feed them home made fish food and cichild sticks in the morning before I head off to work. I feed them sticks, pellets, and flakes when I get home from work. Then I feed them again before I go to sleep...a little snack for them...dry krills and pellets. Now I'm waiting for live worm arrive from the shipment so that I can start feeding them worms as well.

In my home made fish food, I always include some vege....like carrots or lettuce. My fish seems to dislike fish meat...so I feed them shrimp.

You can try to change a bit of their diet to see what happen.

[peifc]

Since you like some aggression in a fish, you don't really have to stick with just Convict or JD. There are many cichlids that are small and have personality.

[breaker_1113]

i was thinking of starting an african cichlid tank someday because from what i see they dont get very big and you can have quit alot in a tank without much of a problem.

That is very slow. My JD was one inch when I got her. She is 3.5" now after more than 2 months later.

peifc:
What are you feeding them? Do you include any meat (beside fish food) in their diet? I feed mine with all kinds of diet. They used to eat certain treat in the past. Now I feed them home made fish food and cichild sticks in the morning before I head off to work. I feed them sticks, pellets, and flakes when I get home from work. Then I feed them again before I go to sleep...a little snack for them...dry krills and pellets. Now I'm waiting for live worm arrive from the shipment so that I can start feeding them worms as well.

In my home made fish food, I always include some vege....like carrots or lettuce. My fish seems to dislike fish meat...so I feed them shrimp.

You can try to change a bit of their diet to see what happen.

well i feed them pellets,flakes,krill,bloodworms,earthworms, bugs
and this recipe http://www.worldcichlids.com/diseases/Adamhith.html#Anchor-Ingredient-56874
i feed once a day in the morning

[optix]

A little FYI for future reference before the next time you are preparing to make a purchase on a live animal. RESEARCH IT! :)

[breaker_1113]

i heard that they were really aggressive so i was planning to just have them for a bit then give them or sell them back to the pet shop if they become too agresive and i have a problem about looking at an empty tank when you invested so much into it

[dave76]

From your pics I would say that your JD is a female since she has blue on the lower part of her gill plate. That could be the reason for slow growth since female JDs only get about 6 or 7" anyway. I would take the buttikoferi back ASAP. Your JD or con will prolly eventually kill your tigerbarbs as well.

[peifc]

Originally posted by dave76
From your pics I would say that your JD is a female since she has blue on the lower part of her gill plate. That could be the reason for slow growth since female JDs only get about 6 or 7" anyway. I would take the buttikoferi back ASAP. Your JD or con will prolly eventually kill your tigerbarbs as well.


My JD is female too, but she grows very fast.

[dave76]

How often do you feed your fish?


That is very slow. My JD was one inch when I got her. She is 3.5" now after more than 2 months later.


i accually just divided the tank so he definately wont be getting chased.
how do u tell if jd's r female? or male?
and jimbo thanx for showing me how to put the pics up

*edit i had the fish in there for 10 months or so

I am confused which is it 2 months or 10 months? I would say that is normal growth rate for 2 months if you feed three times a day like I do. I have had my JD about a month and a have and he has grown an inch maybe a little more.

[breaker_1113]

ive had my jd for about 10 months and he has grown about... 2 - 2.5" i used to feed about twice a day but i cut it down to once a day

[Delco]

I think you need to do 2 things in your tank. First I would add some plastic plants to the tank to give the Jack some place to hide. My JD loves to stay hiden, I think they prefer to have a cozy place to hang out in. Your tank looks pretty bare to me and I know some people prefer their tanks that way but my experience says add some plants.

Also, You need a larger tank for the fish you have. I know it's more fun to have larger aggressive fish but you need to give them the right space so they'll be happier, healthier & more colorful. My fiance had a firemouth in a 20 gal. tank for 5 years that never came out of his cave. His color was always pale and she had very rarely seen why he's called a firemouth. Now that I put him in my 90 gallon his colors are so bright especially when he flares up at my JD. Anyway, bottom line is get yourself a larger tank if you want healthy colorful fish.

[peifc]

Originally posted by breaker_1113
ive had my jd for about 10 months and he has grown about... 2 - 2.5" i used to feed about twice a day but i cut it down to once a day

When fish isn't fully grown, they need to be fed often to reach their size. There are people who have JD for 10 months...and that thing already reached 6 or 7 inches.

Try to feed your fish 3 times a day...just make sure that they can finish off the food within 2 to 3 minutes. Anything that's left over after 3 minutes...net the food out. If you feed them in one setting...sometimes will end up over feeding them. And can cause problem on their digestion.

Dave, all my cichlids have 2 meals and 1 snack at night. I feed them in the morning 7 am before work...shrimp with vege, sticks, and pellets. I get home around 8 pm...and feed them sticks, pellets and flakes. 3 hours later...before bed, I give them some snack...dry krill and pellets or sticks.

Now I'm waiting for the live worms to arrive...so that they can eat live worm too at night.

[breaker_1113]

yes my tank is very plain but from my experience when i have a bunch of stuff in my tank it gets really hard to vacume the gravel but how do u guys do it?? do u guys move all the decor or just go around it? i would really love to have more decor in my tank and i regret getting the blue gravel cause it looks really un realistic but is there any easy way to change gravel?? another thing is im not very creative and to say the truth i SUCK at aquascaping. i love to see tanks that look really good with all the stuff and i would like to do it too. do u guys have ne pointers to aqua scaping.

another thing about gettting a larger tank is that i really really really really want to get a 90 gal plus but i dont have much room in my house and i have a very tight budget and my dad doesnt really want me to get a new one but im gonna try getting one on my birthday in nov but i doubt it.
ne ways thnx alot for all the info guys
i love this forum

[peifc]

Depends on how many fish you have in the tank. I have cichlids that eat like pigs and got debris all over the tank. I do move my decor to clean better. I use Python to do the cleaning job. I just make sure that I have a bucket to hold some decor while I clean the tank. To me, it is a relaxing job knowing that I provide something nice for my fish. Beside, none of my plants are real, so I don't have to worry about roughing with them.

[breaker_1113]

do u move ur decor everytime u clean your tank or just sometimes?? do u put them all into a bucket or somehting?

[dave76]

I just move mine out of the way. If you miss some spots its ok as long as you get most of it. As for cheap aquascaping ideas, Rocks are as cheap as they come. If you look in the right places you can get several rocks for next to nothing. Most cichlids love rock structures, and other caves. Check this out for cheap DIY ideas for aquascaping.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_list.php

[breaker_1113]

thnx alot dave for that link, im gonna try some of them

[dave76]

Here is a pic my Jack at 2". I have had him about 2 months.....

http://pic8.picturetrail.com/VOL227/1397781/2662369/32379766.jpg

[breaker_1113]

im jealous. every body has dark colour jd's and i dont. can it also be genetics or only environment? hes accualy starting to get a bit better

[DarthV]

I think JDs are starting to get a little inbred in the hobby now, so a lighter color and less scale color is probably something that will become more common :( Be nice if the big breeders that supply the chain pet stores would introduce some wild blood back into their breeding tanks. My JD is decently dark, but not as dark what I've read about.

As for decorations, I'm cheap...well until I can find some nice slate to make natural caves and rock formations ;) I use clay pots and some driftwood... I have around a dozen clay pots (various sizes) in the 55gal. For young fish, I'd feed 3-4 times a day... then again I vacuum my substrate and do 25% waterchanges 2-3 times a week to keep up with the bioload... I also have a fluval 304 + ac300 (2 sponges + bag of biomax media) and a prefiltered ac402 powerhead in the 55gal that only houses a 4.5" GT, 3.5" convict and 3" JD. So I don't fret if I overfeed right now...I just want the fish to get large...then I'll cut down to feeding 2 times a day.

[breaker_1113]

ive just started to feed 2-3 times a day and i hope he gets bigger and darker. i clean my tank every second day so it should be clean so im gonna start feeding a bit more. im thinking of getting an ac 300 causei only have an eheim 2213 right now on my 45 gal. is that enough?? and is it bad to get rocks and stuff from your yard and stuff even if u boil it? i would love to see a pic of your tank too if you have ne

[peifc]

Backyard rocks aren't for home aquarium. They might carry some chemical that will mess your tank up.

What's the percent water change you do each time? If you notice that they create a lot of waste and debris from eating, then yeah, changing water twice to 3 times a week is alright with 20% to 25% change.

For decor, you can buy fake plants that cause $5 - $6 per one plant. They are hardy and life like. All my plants are fake, but they look real in the water. And my fish love to use that as hiding place sometimes, but mostly...all of them live together in a big log. As mentioned by Darth, clay pot is good hidding place for fish. Be creative, and you can get your tank look so good.

[peifc]

Here is a picture of my tank. This is an old pic. I have redecor the tank. This is a more community tank which the fish would not move and nudge the decor around like my other tank that contain some aggressive cichlids.

http://www.peifc.com/Our_fish/109-0981_IMG.JPG

[DarthV]

I won't ask how much all those fake plants cost ya! Errr wait...how much did that tank cost ? :)

[peifc]

All those decor? Cost me about $200. The most expensive one is the log. All the fish loves it. They all have their little quarter and will not see their neighbors. Except some of the Blood Parrots that do live together in the big hole. All the plants are fake. There are about 5 plants. Each one caused me about $8. The log already has some fake plants on...so that helped with the decor. The rocks are a bit more expensive. I always change the decor around every week, except for some site...like my Severums breeding site. They will take off my hand if I touch their rock. :D

The tank is bow front and about $400. Including stand, filter, heater, glass hood, light, and gravel, cost more than $850.

My other bow front cost less because it was used when I bought it. And it is pretty cheap looking since my GT and the mix Blood Parrot always dig around. I just leave it as simple as possible to prevent them from destroying the tank. I will take a picture of it next time. Now my bf and I want to get another 55g tank for our bedroom. Possibly will make another community cichlid tank. I'll have to see how I decor that next. :D

[DarthV]

I'm doing the nice cheap type decorations for now...once I get another 2 tanks this fall, I'll start putting more effort into how the tanks look. I won't have any more room for tanks after the 40gal breeder and 75gal, so I'll be forced to spend money on plants etc :)

[peifc]

I know how you feel. :) When I first got the 72g tank...not much cash left to buy anything to deco the tank. For a while, my fish relied on a cheap old cave and the bell. As my Blood Parrot got bigger...well, he got stuck. Then I just said, "screwed it." Just spend a bit more money just to give him a little castle (log). Who told him to eat so much and being such fatazz :D

I know you have GT, Carpinte, and a few other fish I forgot what :p I hope you will not spend too much money on plant...at least not live plant. My GT already dug the fake plant up just because he was bored out of his mind after a big chase, Con and JD got the abuse. And the Carpinte gets nasty sometimes. Mine was attacking things he doesn't like. He is only 2". Now he fought back when one of the Blood Parrots pushed him (too small right now to join other tank).

Anyway, play around with the creativity. It is fun sometimes :D

[dave76]

when I bought my JD I wanted to get a larger one than I bought. They had two tanks of JDs ones that were already about 2"(the size I wanted) and a tank of ones that were not quite an inch yet. The bigger ones were all pale but the smaller ones were very black. So I opted to get the smaller one instead. At first it was picked on and not allowed to get to certain areas of the tank, so I made some changes and BAM I swear he grew an inch in like a week. He is a PIG when there is something in the tank that he likes. I am glad that I chose the darker one. You must really make sure that the fish you are getting is a good one. I had gone to the LFS to buy jacks several times and come home empty handed because I did not want to have a pale looking one. It took me a good two weeks to find Brutus and I really dig him(think its a him). If your not satisfied with the JD you have why not trade it in and get another?

[breaker_1113]

so peifc every time you do a water change you have to take all that decor out?? or do u leave the big ones in there?

[peifc]

I always leave the big one in. That's their security. If I move the big one out too, they will get stunt. I notice that if leave one thing that they love...either a plant, rock, or log, they do not give a darn thing what I'm doing to the tank. They just get very curious with the siphon. If I moved the big log out, they would get so scared that they would not leave the log for days.

Since my algae eater has become lazy (just wanted to chase small fish), the decors have become so dirty. I usually shake the decors a bit before taking them out. Then I let the debris settle before I start siphoning.

[DarthV]

No, I like my JD fine... personable little fellow and is growing like crazy...the fins make me thing that it is a male...just waiting for that point when he should start really coloring up. It's the male con that is the troublemaker ;)

I won't be going with live plants...the con and GT totalled the amazon sword plants when they were in the 20gal tank...I'll go fake when I turn my pocketbook open for decorations. :)

[dave76]

Sorry darthv I was adressing breaker since he was stating he was jealous that his JD was not dark. Your JD looks very nice.

[DarthV]

I should take some pics right after a water change...the JD is almost black. And as luck would have it, I just did a water change in the 55gal just 10 minutes ago...here's an example:

http://executor.hil.unb.ca/craig/images/fish/dempsey/dempsey005.jpg

[breaker_1113]

thats an awsome fish.
sry dave i didnt see the post u made a while ago
dave76 :when I bought my JD I wanted to get a larger one than I bought. They had two tanks of JDs ones that were already about 2"(the size I wanted) and a tank of ones that were not quite an inch yet. The bigger ones were all pale but the smaller ones were very black. So I opted to get the smaller one instead. At first it was picked on and not allowed to get to certain areas of the tank, so I made some changes and BAM I swear he grew an inch in like a week. He is a PIG when there is something in the tank that he likes. I am glad that I chose the darker one. You must really make sure that the fish you are getting is a good one. I had gone to the LFS to buy jacks several times and come home empty handed because I did not want to have a pale looking one. It took me a good two weeks to find Brutus and I really dig him(think its a him). If your not satisfied with the JD you have why not trade it in and get another

when u buy a fish does ur lfs let u trade for another or do they give u a refund or do they just buy ur fish back or somehting? how long did u have ur fish before you brought it back because i would love to have a nicer jd

edit nvm u said u didnt buy the fish
sry for the mis understanding

[dave76]

the store I deal with lets me do exchanges, They will give me give much a certain amount for the fish I am trading in. If you gave them a fish and got another then I would think you would still have to pay for the new fish just not nearly as much. I got my male convict for $1.99 because I traded an angel in that day. It was a nice angel but my breeding convicts would have torn him a new one in about 3 seconds........

[breaker_1113]

is there a differnence between a tiger tilapia and a buttikoferi?

[Mystroe_TheMyst]

That JD rocks! I've wanted a dark guy just like that for awhile. And I saw one in the shop, the only guy left I wanted to hide him away so when I have the space for him I would be able to get him, he was only about 1"...he was so cool, sitting there all by his lonesome in the juvi' jag tank.

Also, store exchange is the best way and is great. My LFS does it and when I buy a fish for say $10 when it doubles its value I can take it back if I wanted to and he will say that he is going to sell it for $20 and give me $10 store credit so I really didn't make a loss (only food wise). Great system

[DarthV]

I should find out if the stores here would do that for me... I'd love to try out a ton of species, but I know I can't house them for life...so maybe I could be a grow-out person for the LFS.

The JD in the pic was in a a tank, at the store, with another 10 or so 1" JDs, a couple 1" Jags, couple Kribs and 3 larger blood parrots... I tried to pick what I thought was the most active and aggressive little bugger. :) They also had a 100gal or so display tank with larger cichlids, but it was WAY overstocked...not sure if I'd want to raise fish and have them sit in that tank until someone bought them.

[Mystroe_TheMyst]

I understand what you are saying about growing them up and having them stay at the store until someone with a large enough tank can house them, but my LFS is not a massive aquarium and so has good spaces. Plus he also doesn't accept fish if they are just plain crap, or he doesn't have space. I'm thinking of changing my setup actually so just waiting to the value of my kenyi's to get to a point where i'm only paying a few extra dollars, other than that its pretty much a equal trade off with both parties benifiting.

you should ask your LFS if they would do that for you, and say that your happy to get only half of what they sell the fish for in the form of store credit. They make money upon selling the fish whereas you also benifit from ridding yourself of a unwanted fish while gaining some store credit :D

[DarthV]

Not sure if I'd have any "unwanted" fish... but it would be cool to be able to grow out some larger fish that I can't house for more than a year. I'd love to grow out a trimac, red terror or jaguar... just to have the experience.

[dave76]

IME most LFS dont want big fish, and they are treated just like what you were talking about, shoved in a tank that is too small with many other tank mates. You might find one that will take them, but most people want to raise thier fish from juvi's, I have only traded one fish in before and it was for a good reason. Angels might be cichlids, but I dont think they would fare well against a breeding pair of convicts. The only reason I thought breaker should trade his fish in is because of the size of the fish, somone may still provide the fish with a good home. its kinda like older orphans ya know, no one wants them when they are not babies anymore. eg there is a fish shop that I dont go to that often, owner pissed me off cause he was trying to tell me that if I didnt buy RO water from him that my fish would die, anyway they have a full grown oscar that they want 50 bucks for, I went back to the store 3 months later and guess what, he was still there housed with two other oscars and two pacu all about 12" or so. I just wouldnt want my fish to end up like that.

[DarthV]

I'm only thinking about growing fish out til they are 6-7" long or...more as examples of what cichlids look like when they get older... most cichlids I've seen in a LFS are small...stressed ...and underfed...so no wonder they don't sell very well around here. Now if I could convince the manager to dedicate a 75gal tank or something like that just for display purposes, then people might get interested in them (and of course larger tanks).

[Mystroe_TheMyst]

I saw 3x8" oscars (red tiger, velvet and albino) and 2 of them got sold the same day as they were bought in. but my LFS sells fish cheaper than most LFS because they are not a massive comercial shop, so they are staying reasonably cheap. But yeah 1 fish I traded in, my Gold severum is still there and growing alongside a 7" oscar and a 8" synspillium (spelling).

So both I agree and disagree that fish stay there for a long time....depending on the customers

[Frameshift]

One thing that I haven't seen mentioned yet...

Fish try to blend in with their surroundings. (Makes it harder to get eaten.) Fish that have lighter gravel and backgrounds tend to be lighter, and vice versa. Any and all fish will do this, it is just more noticeable with the jack dempseys.

Breaker_1113's JD is in a light colored tank, hence it is light colored. DarthV's JD is in a dark colored tank, so it is darker. When my JD is in my tank with dark blue gravel and a black background she is very dark. When I've moved her into my tank with a blue background and light natural gravel she turns very light.

It's natural...I don't think inbreeding has anything to do with it.

I'll post some pics of the best looking JD's in the world here in a bit...(and I'm not biased, I swear.) :o

[Frameshift]

Here we are...

My JD's are currently in a 100 gallon with two oscars until they finish the breeding process. Then its off to their very own 60 gallon suite. (I didn't want to screw them up mid courtship.) As we speak the male is digging out his cave and shaking like crazy.

Female (7.5", 2.5 years old. You can see her egg swollen belly!)
http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL154/1404506/2675645/32540986.jpg

Male (5", under a year old. I've had him 2 months and he's grown 2")
http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL154/1404506/2675645/32540974.jpg

Getting their groove on
http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL154/1404506/2675645/32540979.jpg

I just liked this one...
http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL154/1404506/2675645/32540992.jpg

All of the pics were taken not 10 minutes previous and have not been edited in any way...(for the un-believers). :D

[breaker_1113]

i gotta admit those r some off the nicest jd's ive ever seen. im planning on getting some black gravel or sand in my tank and add some more decor to make it more natural looking. i totaly regret getting my bright blue gravel. i hope i can do some sort of exchange cause i dont wanna have a whole buncha gravel laying around.
what would uguys sudgest
black gravel
black sand
or other options?
thanx in advance
breaker

[Frameshift]

It's all personal prefrence...You gotta be like Martha and pick what goes best with the fish/room/decorations. I do like the sand look, but have never tried it with larger fish. JD's do dig, and I've heard of sand getting into filters and ruining impellers.

For my JD's 60 gallon I went to home depo and bought a 60lb bag of all purpose gravel...$3.49 and 30 minutes of washing later it was good to go.

http://pic6.picturetrail.com/VOL154/1404506/2675645/32544271.jpg

Thank for the compliment!

[breaker_1113]

i like the idea of going to harware stores for gravel.
well ill c what other people have to say about sand or gravel.

ne ways my jd is finally starting to get a little more color
aug, 25
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL136/1379209/2625765/32545793.jpg
another
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL136/1379209/2625765/32545820.jpg
tilapia his tail got chopped up but its healing
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL136/1379209/2625765/32545797.jpg
no flash(very bright gravel)
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL136/1379209/2625765/32545725.jpg
jd befor
http://pic1.picturetrail.com/VOL136/1379209/2625765/31942266.jpg


i hope my jd gets even better than this
and what do u guys think of my substrate?

[DarthV]

Frameshift,

Actually I do have a dark background (black paint...with the lights on turns out to be a dark grey) but I have a bright light sand substrate... so I think my JD is still a little washed out because of the substrate :) When I get the 75gal, I'll be using black or darker natural gravel and hopefully my convict and GT will be less washed out.

Now that the ambient temperature has dropped a quite a bit, from the high 90's on Friday to the mid 70s today, the fish have stopped harrassing each other a bit and the JD has grown a LOT in the last 2 weeks. So I think it less stressed and likes the extra food and waterchanges I've been doing lately.

And BTW you have some very nice dempseys. Hopefully mine will get as colorful once it gets to adult size! Sweet pics... you should post more.

I did do some color and contrast/brightness correction on my older pics, but now that I've learned a little about the digital camera, I don't find I need to anymore...rather have raw untouched photos :)

[DarthV]

breaker_1113,

I have that bright blue stuff in my 10gal tank here at work. I had bought the tank used..and man is the blue ever ugly looking! I have to get off my lazy butt and replace the substrate someday. I'm tempted to buy a 40gal breeder tank for work and use the 10gal for a fry tank at home.

Your dempsey is looking pretty good...how big is it ? Mine's getting close to 3.5" now, and I'm hoping I'll start seeing the scales starting to color-up big time very soon.

[dave76]

I have light colored gravel and my JD is plenty dark

http://pic8.picturetrail.com/VOL227/1397781/2662369/32378430.jpg

granted his/her coloration doesnt stand out in that pic, but it is still very young.

[breaker_1113]

my jd is about 3.5-4" long and yes i hate my bright blue gravel.
im thinking of getting some natural color or black for my substrate but i dont have enought $ yet and i dont know how im gonna take all the old gravel out either. i bought a few decors and my tank looks ALOT better and less empty
ill try getting pics soon

[DarthV]

Just rinse the new gravel really really well...scoop out the old stuff with a net (or bucket) then put the new stuff in :) It's a little harder to do with sand :P I'm thinking about just trying some pea gravel from a hardware store...or maybe some very coarse black sandblasting sand.

[breaker_1113]

i guess ill check the hardware store and see what kinda stuff they have. most sands and gravels are ok right?? if u buy them at a hardware store?

[DarthV]

I'd check before buying...but gravel is gravel...well for the most part. I think igneous type rock is ok, but some sedimentary will have have more disaolved minerals? And metals are bad as well. Silicate sand is probably the best to get for sa/ca fish if you're going to choose sand... some of the other types might contain carbonates and will increase water PH and hardness.

[breaker_1113]

hmm is there ne black gravel or sand that u can get at hardware stores?