Allow me to introduce myself:  I have been keeping fish for most of 37 years.  I have never owned saltwater fish - though have said "Some day".  However, I have kept most every kind of freshwater.  I prefer the Cichlids.  Right now I have four tanks running.  A little 5 gallon Eclipse acrylic tank on the kitchen cuonter with some 6 week old Convict babies; a 54 gallon acrylic double hex that is joined by two 4 inch diameter tubes between the hexes; a 50 gallon with a pair of mated Red Devils; and a 55 gallon with the parental Convicts who are prolific, and some Zebra Danios as dither fish! 

I enjoy live plants and currently have 10 varieties in the double hex wheresome dozen  6 month old Convicts reside with a couple of Tetras.   I enjoy surfing the net and talking with other fishkeepers from all over the world.  I truly enjoy ging to the fish auctions at the local clubs with my girlfriend, and my youngest daughter. 

A month or so ago, we set up a 10 gallon with some 6 month old Convicts and live plants at her house.  She truly enjoys watching them, and nothing could make me happier than to see her enjoyment. 

I live in Michigan, and look forward to the comraderie of local fishkeepers and the clubs. 

Recently, I set up the 55 gallon and moved the Convict parents into their new home after seeding it with water and gravel from their old home the 50.  They are doing fine after almost two weeks.  However, I am thinking of eliminating the Red Devils and placing small friendly schooling fish or African Cichlids in the 50 gallown, which is on the same stand as the 55. 

So, I am enthused about meeting others here, maybe see some familiar faces from FishChannel.com or other forums. 

Drop me a line anytime as I would be glad to "talk".

Best Wishes for the Fishes!

A new study shows that mosquitoe fish (similar to guppies) can count up to four.  I wonder how high cichlids can count then?

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/02/26/eafish126.xml

My local store got in Koi swordtails.  I've been wanting some for a little while now.  I think i am going to purchase a trio.  I added the little corydoras recently and they are doing great and my remaining platies are doing good.  My water tested great last time I went in.  Nitrate was 10ppm and ammonia was 0 and nitrite was 0 and my pH was, i think, 7.6.  I have read koi swordtails are a bit more sensitive than other swordtails.  I am a new fish keeper and want to be successful.  What is there that they need that is special?  If they are so sensitive, how do people keep them?  The ones at the store are a bit expensive, they are 3 for $18.99 (one boy and two girls).  Will keeping them with other fish be bad?  Do they need a special diet or something?  I want to get some in a few days (thursday maybe).  Also, what is the best way to pick out healthy ones?  Do they need salt in the water?  I keep a tiny amount (1 tablespoon for 5 gallons)  I am afraid more than that will harm my corydoras.

Thank you for any advice! 

I have an overgrowth of duck weed in my tank (whats new) but lately it hasn't looked great, and I have noticed my fish constantly going up to it.  I took a look at it and there are these little bugs living on it.  I think they kind of look like mites, maybe?  What ever they are my fish love to eat them and they seem to be killing off some of my duck weed (yay!). 

My 2 geriatric goldfish that I had moved outside this past summer seem to be surviving winter.  The winter has been pretty mild, so i guess thats good for the first one.  I see them lazily moving around the bottom of the pond, along with the gambusia schools.  I'm surprised the gambusia are still alive, but they seem to be making it!  I do miss having my goldfish indoors, but they are huge and deserve to be outside in a large body of water.  They are about 15 years old now, I wonder if they potential life span will be greater now that they are outside rather than being indoors.  This coming summer I will add some more goldfish, possibly a couple of Koi, and if I can find them, golden orfs.

My blue ram breeding project is going well, my younger ones I kept to grow out are getting big and I think will fairly soon be ready to pair off.  I currently have 2 spawns in the grow out tanks.  I split them between all the grow out tanks to keep them seeded with bacteria.  My pair breeds quickly again if I take the fry away from them.  The store I sold my first spawn to had great reviews, they sold quickly and they had very few losses.  They are very eager to have me as a supplier.  I still want to find some non related adults to pair up with my grown out fry, but no one in this area really carries blue rams.  I may need to order some online and have them shipped to me.  The only problem with that is then I can't see them in person and I can't get the sexes i want. 

 

My 75 gallon planted tank is going nicely, I am still getting various plants I want for it, but do have a carpet of HC growing (well not yet a carpet, but it will be).   

The other day I saw at least 3 of my baby killies left in my 60 gallon.  I wouldn't be surprised if there are more.  They are double the size they were when I put them in, and at least one I saw was looking to be a male, its fins were longer and it was starting to get some color.  They are starting to get braver and are venturing out more.  I toss in some frozen baby brine shrimp and rotifers every now and then for them, but also have seen them eating flake food.  It would be pretty cool if they manage to grow up and even breed in the tank.  I don't have any large fish anymore, except for my species uknown peckolita.  The rest of the inhabitants are 9 harlequin rasboras, some characodon lateralis, a few otocinclus and 7 botia kubotai. 

Found an interesting little article about a type of killie that lives in trees when conditions are bad: http://news.mongabay.com/2007/1017-killifish.html

I have been doing more reading on the gorgeous fish I fell in love with at an lfs, a copperbanded butterfly (salt water fish).  I decided that once I can keep my fresh water tank going without any incedences for 6 months I am going to try my hand at keeping a salt water tank and hopefully the copper banded butterfly.  What would be the minimum size tank I should start off with, and does it need to be a reef tank or can a copper banded butterfly survive in a fish only with live rock tank?  I read that I will need a protein skimmer and well as a regular filter is there any other special equipment that I need?  I know that I will need a heater.

thanks

So, after I lost my male I did several small water changes and the tank seemed to finish cycling.  The ammonia and nitrite have both gone up and down and I have some nitrate showing.  My 2 remaining females look good and one gave birth a couple of days ago.  I left the babies in the tank with the 2 girls.  I bought some more fake plants so they can hide better.  Last time I got a good count I saw 12 of them.  I still want to get some more fish, but I am going to wait until the babies get a little bigger.