Just a few quick questions....

myswtsins

myswtsins

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Jun 15, 2008
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Central NJ
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Several small things are happening with my 72g.

1. Rustys are incredibly greedy eaters!
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Every Rusty but ONLY the Rustys stuffed their faces the other night. How do you handle a group of overeaters in a large community???? I feed 2-3 times a day only what they can eat within like 30 seconds.

2. What would be a good size to be able to clearly sex/vent these guys (species listed in signature)? Having never done it before I don't want to pull all the rocks out to find that I can't clearly define the sex.

3. There is a large amount of debris in the water. It almost looks like tiny dirt particles floating around. When I changed the rocks around I rinsed them in tank water and the water was clearer for a short period of time but it just comes back. I have done filter maintenance on 1 filter, waiting for next week to do the other one. I almost think it may be the filter media that I bagged up in the tank (3rd filter broke, new one is in the mail). It collects on the rocks a lot and when the fish swim by it stirs it up.

4. Temperature! In the morning the tank temp is about 78F by the evening it is up to 82F. The tank is in front of a window but the blinds are closed normally. The lights on the other hand seems to give off a lot of heat! How bad is it for the temp to rise and fall through out the day?
 
1. Getting all the fish fed in a community where there are a few that like to gobble up all the food is tricky. Have you tried feeding them something that takes a while to eat, such as blood worms to divert there attention while you feed the rest there normal food?

2. I dunno, hopefully someone else will chime in. An educated guess tells me the color and finnage would be lighter and slightly different respectively.

3. Rinse your filter media good, you can do this on both filters at the same time, in dechlorinated water of course. Your bacteria will not wash off, it is really stuck there..;). Make sure you are vacuming your tank as good as you can without rearranging it. When adding water to your tank during a water change, stir up as much as the debris as possible to put it in your water colum for the filter to suck out. There is a good possibility that it is the type of food you are feeding, consider changing to a different type or brand to see if it helps to clear the prob.

4. Temp fulctuations during the day are normal, this happens in the wild as well. Do you have fans on your light? As long as the fish are OK, I wouldn't monkey with the heater any at all, as long as its not a sudden increase or decrease in temp, and the temp swing is small, its OK.

Hopefully some more will chime in with additional information..:)

3.
 
Thanks for the reply Blueiz.

1. I really do not want to feed them blood worms. I believe their systems are not designed for such foods and although others seem to have success I don't want to take that chance. But something along the lines of a diversion is what I am thinking.

2. Well I do plan to vent them, I am just wondering what is a good size. Seeing as my 2" Yellow labs just mated I think 2" is going to be a good enough size. :)

3. I do all things you mentioned...stir up tank well, vacuum thoroughly & rinse filter media. I did not do both filters at the same time because from my understanding any disruption to the bacteria will cause some to die off (usually very little but depends on how disrupted it gets). As far as foods are concerned I am feeding pretty well recommended foods & I feed much lower quality food to my other tanks and they are CRYSTAL clear with less filtration even. I can cut out the flake for awhile though and see if it helps. The big difference between this tank and others is the rocks so I thought there might be some connection (I have more tanks than listed in my signature, they are just the "show" tanks).

4. I do not have a fan on the lights but a fairly large opening in the back of the canopy, ~4" x ~15".

Thanks for all the info!
 
1 I would try sprinkling the food over the whole surface of the water instead of one spot. Also feed them some lettuce or cucumber, just put in more than one so one fish doesn' claim the whole thing for himself. My acei LOVE romaine lettuce.

2 As far as venting goes i believe bigger is better. I would say 3 inches or so to be certain of gender. I'm certain you can vent at a smaller size but it gets tougher to see and be certain. You can watch also for certain behavior patterns and difference in fins to sort of guess at gender.

3 what kind of sustrate do you have in the tank? I had the whole dusty problem too and it was my bubble curtain and filter out put stirring up the sand and making the water kind of dusty. It could also be small air bubbles

4 I wouldn't worry too much about the temp if it were me.
 
1. feeding - no blood worms for africans - try putting a bit of food in over one side of the tank then a pinch on the other and alternate while you feed. You could also feed for longer - say a minute twice a day. You'll find that more fish feed more evenly that way. After the first thirty secs the frenzy dies down a little bit, whereas if you only feed in thirty second bursts, the most enthusiastic fish will nearly always get more than its share.

2. venting - nice explanation how here http://www.mbunacoast.com/vnt.html. About two to three inches usually you can do this.

3. Thorough gravel & decor vacs help. This stuff is excellent as a water polisher in your filter - bit pricey but I swear by it http://www.everythingforpets.com/polyfilter.pet/use.id.5.item_id.3686.dept.5/

4. I actually think 82 is a little warm for malawis. In Fahrenheit terms I would much prefer 76 - 78 in the home aquarium unless seeking to breed. Maybe knock your heaters down a notch. At higher temps you get higher metabolic activity which means more excretion (more nitrate wastes) and greater aggression too.
 
1. I do feed over the entire surface of the tank & I feed cucumbers or lettuce once a week. I was afraid to feed for longer than 30 seconds because the rusty may explode themselves! :) But what you, coler, said makes sense. I will try feeding for longer.

2. Ok I will wait till they are over 2" then. Thanks!

3. I have Tahitian moon sand. I am as thorough as can be with gravel/decor vacs but it is hard to get to the substrate behind the rocks of course. I am going to try to make something custom for just that and hope it helps. When I get the XP3 (soon!) I will be packing the entire top basket with filter floss which should help too....fingers crossed.

4. I have the heater at 76 right now but it never seems to get that low. I agree that 82 is too warm but is 74/75 too cold? When I turned the heater down before it got like 74/75 at night and 79 right before lights out. I am buying another heater too, might help keep it stable.

Thanks everyone, very helpful!

*EDIT* I knew I forgot a question! When I have my arm in the tank for cleaning and stuff they bite me a lot, is there anyway to deter them from doing that? :) Right now it is fine cause they are small, although I can feel their teeth, but when they get bigger it may actually hurt.
 
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74/75 at night won't do them any harm. I tend to err on the side of a little too chilly rather than too warm though.

That's not the polyfilter I use I don't know anything about it as a product. I'm trying to find a couple of other links to it now...ok yep this is the stuff http://www.everythingforpets.com/polyfilter.pet/use.id.5.item_id.3686.dept.5/ (maybe the same link as above)...you'll know it by the packaging I can't remember the manufacturer but when I get home after christmas I'll post it up - hopefully you can find a supply in the States. It renders the water crystal clear, and also is a nice little back up in case of ammonia/nitrite spike. It needs to be replaced every 6 - 8 weeks though, and is a lil spendy.

Happy Christmas !
 
Depending on how tight your canopy and lid fit, and the lighting you have, you may want to add a fan to the canopy...
 
Great, Thanks! I will lower the heater temp.

I might add a fan too!
 
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