Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

No. But there is a binaries group carried by many ISPs.
It's "alt.binaries.aquaria".

-coelacanth

"aacool" wrote in message
...
[snip]
P.S. Is there a way to post binaries to this group?

Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

On Sat, 10 Jan 2004 00:15:54 GMT, aacool wrote:

"Adam" wrote in
:


"Frankrkay" wrote in message
...
Ken Thomas wrote;
And you're asking for advice to prevent this. Look long and hard in
the mirror at stupid. Did you have to have the fish that day?
See, fish are alive - it's not like running out to Wal-Mart and
buying a new toaster on Saturday to make your miserable life a
little more bearable. If your car was belching all kinds of black
smoke from the tailpipe - you would throw some STP oil treatment in
because you heard it took care of engine problems - then go on a
3000 mile trip? No, cause it's your damn life - you'd take it to a
mechanic before you went anywhere far. Well, I would suggest to you
that you show the same courtesy to other living beings. You can't
wait a few days to get a few fish - then you need to grow up - not
have a fish tank.

This isn't a flame. I'm hoping you read this and reach down real
deep, and - maybe start putting the blame where it belongs.

A little harsh - after all, they did say "We entered the hobby a
few
weeks
back........ " and " We read about bio-spira. So we rushed out, and
got
some,
added
it in......"
They also said, "This morning, the nitrite spiked - the ammonia was
still
high,
though about 1 ppm. We did two water changes today, and added
some salt in the evening." And the last quote "Whatever
happened to
the
biospira?" The way I read it, is a cry for help, because what they
were
told
would work (the biospira), didn't! ..... Frank

A bit harsh? I thought it was totally out of line. I hope the person
that started this thread is still reading this group after the "help"
they got. I'm glad I didn't receive that kind of "help" when I posted
questions in here. If I would have I probably wouldn't be the owner
of seven happy and healthy tanks today and would have missed out on
the hours and hours of joy I have gotten out of them. Just my 2
cents.

Ed




Thanks for standing up for us - you epitomise the true spirit of the
internet and the hobby, unlike some who take pleasure in others gloom.

Our water cycle seems to be near complete - nitrites are zero and ammonia
is 'safe'. We are not planning on introducing any cichlids to this tank,
but stock it with some platys, and our dear betta - it's a 10 gal, in
case I didn't mention.

We will be setting up a new 25 gal and will follow the right guidance.

Oh, and as for Ken, thanks for the misplaced advice - we didnt need
aspersions on our age, value for other life-forms, or preference, or
otherwise for Walmart. Everyone else gave us constructive advice that
will go a long way in fostering our hobby interests.

Cheers and stay tuned.

P.S. Is there a way to post binaries to this group?


I stand by what I said. You knew about cycling. You know that fish
can die during the break-in period of the tank. And you decided to
buy more fish and take a chance. This is a fact: You took a chance
with a life. That's stupid. You couldn't wait a few days to make
sure things were OK before buying more fish. That's impulsive. Not
something an adult does - especially when you're dealing with
something that is alive. I don't care if no one agrees with me.
People here feel like this is some kind of community and we have to
make everyone feel good. Well, I'll risk hurting your feelings. You
say you're an adult, than handle it. And maybe, just maybe, next time
you'll think twice about being flip with something as precious as a
fish.

Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

"Ken Thomas" wrote in message
...
I stand by what I said. You knew about cycling. You know that fish
can die during the break-in period of the tank. And you decided to
buy more fish and take a chance. This is a fact: You took a chance
with a life. That's stupid. You couldn't wait a few days to make
sure things were OK before buying more fish. That's impulsive. Not
something an adult does - especially when you're dealing with
something that is alive. I don't care if no one agrees with me.
People here feel like this is some kind of community and we have to
make everyone feel good. Well, I'll risk hurting your feelings. You
say you're an adult, than handle it. And maybe, just maybe, next time
you'll think twice about being flip with something as precious as a
fish.


Fish are very precious. And tasty too. I had the pleasure of eating some of the
cichlids we love so much while visiting Lake Tanganyika. The Boulengerochromis,
hands down had to be the best fish I ever tasted.
Amateur

Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

"Amateur" wrote in
:

I'm sorry to hear of your tragic start into cichlid keeping.
Bio-spira is a
great product and has saved many people starting new tanks. Where it
does add the bacteria to start a colony, it doesn't perform miracles.
Even in a fully cycled tank, which your tank was not yet fully cycled,
adding too many fish at once can cause ammonia and nitrites to spike.
Other things that may have affected your fish in addition to the
deadly ammonia and nitrites may be pH levels, abrupt changes in water
temp, etc. Although you don't mention the size of your new tank, it
sounds like it's a smaller tank. Small tanks are very difficult to
maintain water parameters in. They're easily overloaded and any
changes to the water could drastically change the parameters of the
entire tank. I could top off one of my larger tanks with a gallon of
ice cold water from the tap and the temperature won't drop in the tank
more than a degree. Do this in a ten gallon tank, and you may drop the
temperature ten degrees.
To make suggestions to avoid this type of disappointment in the
future,
we'll need to know what size the tank, what type of filtration, and
heating the tank has and what the parameters of your water is out of
the tap. I hope you're not too discouraged.
AmateurCichlids
www.amateurcichlids.com



We're not discouraged - as a matter of fact, we're planning on starting a
new 25g tank (the other one is 10g) and ONCE the cycle is complete,
having a cichlids-only tank. Will ask your advice on that later.

As for the 10g - it has a Whisper filter, the regular clip-on heater. The
water is rather hard, slightly acidic. There are plants, and a few
tetras. We moved our betta in now that the cycle is complete.

Thanks

their short tragic (avoidable) history
 

In rec.aquaria.freshwater.cichlids T wrote:

"Ken Thomas" wrote in message

As far as adding the salt, I don't think adding salt during the cycling is
going to help matters much eithier. I believe it makes matters worse if I
remeber correctly. What do some of our local chemists think??

Adding salt does nothing to help during cycling. It has been used
to ease nitrite poisoning. Salt is beneficvial for helping wounds
heal and that's about it. Cichlids are freshwater fish after all.
Even the "hard" water rift lakes have very little NaCl in them.

For me, a handfull of gravel or some filter media from an established
tank is practical and cheaper than those "tank starters".

Rams are notorious for being picky about water conditions and are
a very poor choice for a "cycling" tank. Frankly so are tetras.
Fish in the minnow/rasboar/danio family are good because they are
quite resilient.

Fishless cycling works great, too.

Use test kits to verify zero detectable ammonia and nitrite before
adding your prized speciens.

Read about the cichlids you consider getting before you get them.

Start at www.cichlidae.com

We've all killed fish at some point or another (usually the
beginning.) By learning we become better fishkeepers.

Cheers--Jeff Dantzler

Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

ok first off ken you cant say you have never lost a fish when you were a
n00b new to the hobby so relax ive done the same thing and i wait and run
my tank for about 1 month doing regular water changes and no fish in it.
Buddy relax people make mistakes and dont go preaching about life to me
thanks i shot my first deer when i was 5 BECAUSE WE NEEDED FOOD!

at any rate i jumped from a 15g to a 55g then a big jump up to 155g the best
things i can say is 1 - run your tank for 2 weeks with just water in it
takes care of impurities and residues that may be in tanks filter housings
pre packaged filter media and the like

2 - buy some feeder or target fish the urinate alot and kick in a cycle buy
a pleco at this time i had one last me through alot of hardships and there
near to indestructible as you can get.. dropped mine on floor abandoned in
bottom of a tank when i moved for about 5 days in 2 inches of water and
gravell and had survived through several tank moves..
let these guys get in there and die off .there not meant to last long and
are very baddly inbread..yes frank these guys are expendible like it or lump
it... after a week or 2 check levels maybe add a plant or 2 .. i also
noticed you do not have an air pump these can be fish savers go get one
please you never know when more o2 will help out a spike or problem
3- test levels every day before doing an inital population dont do more than
4-6 fish cause you never know it took 3 tries to get my 155 gallon going and
i have had a hell of a time with it for the first year.. and most of all
listen to the info your getting I MAY NOT BE THE BEST ADVICE alot of people
on here have a lot more experience than i do realize this and learn from it
and use your own common sense and i think you will do fine

"Amateur" wrote in message
om...

"Ken Thomas" wrote in message
...
I stand by what I said. You knew about cycling. You know that fish
can die during the break-in period of the tank. And you decided to
buy more fish and take a chance. This is a fact: You took a chance
with a life. That's stupid. You couldn't wait a few days to make
sure things were OK before buying more fish. That's impulsive. Not
something an adult does - especially when you're dealing with
something that is alive. I don't care if no one agrees with me.
People here feel like this is some kind of community and we have to
make everyone feel good. Well, I'll risk hurting your feelings. You
say you're an adult, than handle it. And maybe, just maybe, next time
you'll think twice about being flip with something as precious as a
fish.


Fish are very precious. And tasty too. I had the pleasure of eating some
of the
cichlids we love so much while visiting Lake Tanganyika. The
Boulengerochromis,
hands down had to be the best fish I ever tasted.
Amateur

Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

"Damaclese" wrote in
:



ok first off ken you cant say you have never lost a fish when you
were a n00b new to the hobby so relax ive done the same thing and i
wait and run my tank for about 1 month doing regular water changes and
no fish in it. Buddy relax people make mistakes and dont go preaching
about life to me thanks i shot my first deer when i was 5 BECAUSE WE
NEEDED FOOD!

at any rate i jumped from a 15g to a 55g then a big jump up to 155g
the best things i can say is 1 - run your tank for 2 weeks with just
water in it takes care of impurities and residues that may be in tanks
filter housings pre packaged filter media and the like

2 - buy some feeder or target fish the urinate alot and kick in a
cycle buy a pleco at this time i had one last me through alot of
hardships and there near to indestructible as you can get.. dropped
mine on floor abandoned in bottom of a tank when i moved for about 5
days in 2 inches of water and gravell and had survived through several
tank moves.. let these guys get in there and die off .there not meant
to last long and are very baddly inbread..yes frank these guys are
expendible like it or lump it... after a week or 2 check levels maybe
add a plant or 2 .. i also noticed you do not have an air pump these
can be fish savers go get one please you never know when more o2 will
help out a spike or problem 3- test levels every day before doing an
inital population dont do more than 4-6 fish cause you never know it
took 3 tries to get my 155 gallon going and i have had a hell of a
time with it for the first year.. and most of all listen to the info
your getting I MAY NOT BE THE BEST ADVICE alot of people on here have
a lot more experience than i do realize this and learn from it and use
your own common sense and i think you will do fine

"Amateur" wrote in message
om...

"Ken Thomas" wrote in message
...
I stand by what I said. You knew about cycling. You know that
fish can die during the break-in period of the tank. And you
decided to buy more fish and take a chance. This is a fact: You
took a chance with a life. That's stupid. You couldn't wait a few
days to make sure things were OK before buying more fish. That's
impulsive. Not something an adult does - especially when you're
dealing with something that is alive. I don't care if no one
agrees with me. People here feel like this is some kind of
community and we have to make everyone feel good. Well, I'll risk
hurting your feelings. You say you're an adult, than handle it.
And maybe, just maybe, next time you'll think twice about being
flip with something as precious as a fish.


Fish are very precious. And tasty too. I had the pleasure of eating
some
of the
cichlids we love so much while visiting Lake Tanganyika. The
Boulengerochromis,
hands down had to be the best fish I ever tasted.
Amateur






Thanks - that was very sound advice and we will follow it, especially
taking the tips of SANE people.

As a matter of fact, we have added an airstone and the fishes love it. We
are finding the 10g is almost through it's cycle and are going to start a
25g for the additional water stability - we will follow the advice
mentioned by all.

Our Cichlids - their short tragic history
 

also you may want to syphon off 2 gals of water from the 10 to help the 25
"Damaclese" wrote in message
...


ok first off ken you cant say you have never lost a fish when you were a
n00b new to the hobby so relax ive done the same thing and i wait and
run
my tank for about 1 month doing regular water changes and no fish in it.
Buddy relax people make mistakes and dont go preaching about life to me
thanks i shot my first deer when i was 5 BECAUSE WE NEEDED FOOD!

at any rate i jumped from a 15g to a 55g then a big jump up to 155g the
best
things i can say is 1 - run your tank for 2 weeks with just water in it
takes care of impurities and residues that may be in tanks filter housings
pre packaged filter media and the like

2 - buy some feeder or target fish the urinate alot and kick in a cycle
buy
a pleco at this time i had one last me through alot of hardships and there
near to indestructible as you can get.. dropped mine on floor abandoned in
bottom of a tank when i moved for about 5 days in 2 inches of water and
gravell and had survived through several tank moves..
let these guys get in there and die off .there not meant to last long and
are very baddly inbread..yes frank these guys are expendible like it or
lump
it... after a week or 2 check levels maybe add a plant or 2 .. i also
noticed you do not have an air pump these can be fish savers go get one
please you never know when more o2 will help out a spike or problem
3- test levels every day before doing an inital population dont do more
than
4-6 fish cause you never know it took 3 tries to get my 155 gallon going
and
i have had a hell of a time with it for the first year.. and most of all
listen to the info your getting I MAY NOT BE THE BEST ADVICE alot of
people
on here have a lot more experience than i do realize this and learn from
it
and use your own common sense and i think you will do fine

"Amateur" wrote in message
om...

"Ken Thomas" wrote in message
...
I stand by what I said. You knew about cycling. You know that fish
can die during the break-in period of the tank. And you decided to
buy more fish and take a chance. This is a fact: You took a chance
with a life. That's stupid. You couldn't wait a few days to make
sure things were OK before buying more fish. That's impulsive. Not
something an adult does - especially when you're dealing with
something that is alive. I don't care if no one agrees with me.
People here feel like this is some kind of community and we have to
make everyone feel good. Well, I'll risk hurting your feelings. You
say you're an adult, than handle it. And maybe, just maybe, next time
you'll think twice about being flip with something as precious as a
fish.


Fish are very precious. And tasty too. I had the pleasure of eating some
of the
cichlids we love so much while visiting Lake Tanganyika. The
Boulengerochromis,
hands down had to be the best fish I ever tasted.
Amateur