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I've personally never had a problem with Vals and excel, even with double-dosing. You can try using a bulb syringe to direct the Excel to the leaves most affected. Even consider doing it directly on leaves that can be exposed during water changes. I would guess, though, that your problem is...

Hmmm. Quite a bit of questionable advice here! :) IMHO: Discuss don't belong in a 29 gallon tank!!! Neither do African cichlids!! Please don't put Malawi cichlids with cories and shrimp. Please don't mix Old World and New World cichlids. A 29-gallon tank would work very well for most dwarf...

Great photos and great fish. I have a pair coming today or tomorrow from an Aquabid breeder. (Did you get yours from New England?) Tell us a bit more about them. How big a tank? How many fish? Other inhabitants? What do you feed them? Any babies? Inquiring minds want to know!

You can't go wrong with the curviceps. They are a mild cichlid. Keyholes would also work. I've never done kribs because I like to have cories and those two often don't work out well (with cories getting the raw end of the deal). I actually have a pair of rainbow cichlids arriving this week to go...

In my opinion, you have WAY WAY too many cichlids in your stocking wish list. While some are milder than others, they are still cichlids and when breeding, can push around other inhabitants and lay claim to a lot of territory. Even in a 75, I wouldn't do what you have laid out. My...

Without being able to test water parameters accurately, you really are in the dark and your fish are potentially at risk. At a minimum, you should have liquid reagent tests, such as from API, for ammonia, nitrite and pH. Anyone of these could be out of whack. So my recommendation in this...

IMHO, 6" is HUGE for a 29 gallon tank, thus not an appropriate fish in the long run for that reason only (should not hurt the pleco)

Please note that apistogramma are not African cichlids and cannot be mixed with them. Sorry if that seems I'm stating the obvious, but not everyone understands New World vs Old World. If you insist on only getting fish from Petsmart, you are wise to stick with labs and pseudotropheus acei...

SAEs are not aggressive but are only good algae eaters when relatively small. They also like to be in groups. I usually have no less than three (if I have them at all). But more importantly, they get HUGE and will easily outgrow your tank . . .

Rummynoses can be very sensitive and need a sloooooow adjustment to a new tank. So making sure you introduce them properly is one important step. Two, they are just sensitive generally to shipping and I usually wait until they've been in the LFS for three weeks or more before I pick mine out. I...

With the overcrowding you generally need to do with mbuna, 20 percent WC a week would be totally insufficient. Most folks with African tanks do closer to 50 percent . . . If you're trying to keep WC at a minimum, then you could look at a species that doesn't requite the high stocking levels of...

Angels and keyholes would work well. Instead of keyholes, you could also do a pair of blue rams or a trio of apistos (borelli are my favorite). I personally prefer to avoid anything that would compete visually (in size) with these two species. (I've done such a tank in the past). I also like...

Take this for what it's worth, but I've been doing planted tanks for several years quite successfully and this is how I interpret the differences: Low light -- 1.5 WPG or so. Not good for much beyond anubias as far as I can tell. I've never pursued this. Medium light -- 2-3 WPG. This is...

Be careful in your local fish store. Many do not know much about Africans and are likely to give you incorrect information. You might do better to find an online retailer to talk to and order from. Check out some of the cichlid-devoted sites for profiles of various fish and then put together...

I, too, would recommend a Fluval FX with your size tank. I'd also recommend pressurized CO2. It just makes managing algae so much easier and gives you really nice plant growth. You don't have to go overboard with it, either. I'd recommend using Eco-complete plant substrate. It really makes...

Pitchblack -- you only have two fish in your 90 gallon??? A few things, some of which you may already know: 1. First, you need to determine what your "lemon cichlid" is. That's not a very accurate name. And you really have to know what you have when stocking Africans or you end up with...

I use pressurized CO2 in my planted tanks because I want more growth and less algae. It is a balance, though. You don't have to go overboard with the CO2. I have about 3 WPG in lighting, but actually stagger the two bulbs somewhat to effectively reduce that. I use Eco-complete substrate...

Last fall I lost a 60 gallon tank of peacock/haps and synodontis catfish that I'd carefully worked at getting balanced just right. It was a nitrite spike that is still unexplained. It seriously broke my heart. So I sympathize. In addition to testing the water to find out exactly what your...

I sure wouldn't put labs in a 30 gallon unless they are babies and you have plans to move them when they get bigger . . . A better bet in a 30 gallon would be SA dwarf cichlids. A pair of blue rams or a trio of apistos with a school of tetras would be lovely, colorful and suitable for that...

It's not supposed to, but I lost a whole tank of peacock/haps to a nitrite spike and the only thing I can attribute it to was dosing with metro for a case of bloat . . . lost the whole fri***ing tank. :rant2: