20 gallon breeder for my golden dwarfs

[frank_zappa]

i recently filled my 20 gallon and am going to use it to house my pair of golden dwarf cichlids. i plan to keep them together until a spawn happens and then raise the fry in the 20 with the mother. there are also 2 juvenile platys, females. i am growing them out a bit before adding them to another tank.

initially i had a male golden dwarf living in a 10 gallon with the platys, and the female was in my 29 with another male. i put the female and the male she was with into the 20 gallon. i took the little filter off the 10 gallon and ran it on the 20 and i also added a brand new whisper ex45... i had an instant cycle because both filters were stuffed with seeded media.

i have some large gravel so i filled one side of the tank with that, and the other side i used all the small gravel from the established 10 gallon tank...i made it sloping on each end and i kind of like the look of it. i had some plastic plants in the 10 so i threw them in as well. i have a pretty good sized ball of christmas moss in there just growing it to use in my other tanks...i dont really plan to plant this tank.

there is a good deal of filtration for this tank, probably too much when a spawn happens, because there is a pretty good current...but i am going to leave them both running for now. the platys enjoy the surfing.

here's a shot of the tank, as well as a couple earlier shots i have of them before and after a spawn

[Northernguy]

Thats a nice tank!
They look to be enjoying it!thumbs2:

[EmmanuelJB]

Great Looking Tank! thumbs2:

[frank_zappa]

by the looks of them, they are within a couple weeks of a spawn. the female is getting quite colored up for a fish that is described as "entirely colorless" in its writeup. she is not very very colorful, but does have a good amount orange in her fins, and also some greenish blue on her gill plate, and bright gold colored eyes. the male is very colored up now, at times looking a metallic green and other times appearing more gold in color. he bullies the female from time to time, though less than he was doing 2 weeks ago. soon enough, that will change and he will hide in fear from her. then i will know that they have spawned. i expect that to happen within the next 2 weeks and i am getting excited for it.

[rich311k]

Nice tank and fish!

[Taurus]

Zap, great job on the tank. Good luck with the spawn.

[frank_zappa]

hey, thanks.

here are a few more shots i just took right now. i think something is wrong with my camera because it just doesnt seem to get sharp shots anymore. do digital cameras slowly do that or am i just imagining it? i did not change any settings on it.


the last shot is very blurry, but i included it because it gives an idea of the orange that is on the female, and of her gold eyes...to show she is not entirely colorless. my camera did not pick up the bits of blue

[rich311k]

They are great fish. I think the camera is focusing on the glass rather than the fish.

[Taurus]

hey, thanks.

here are a few more shots i just took right now. i think something is wrong with my camera because it just doesnt seem to get sharp shots anymore. do digital cameras slowly do that or am i just imagining it? i did not change any settings on it.


the last shot is very blurry, but i included it because it gives an idea of the orange that is on the female, and of her gold eyes...to show she is not entirely colorless. my camera did not pick up the bits of blue

Try a new pair of batteries yet? Looks like the focal sensors are off.

[Taurus]

They are great fish. I think the camera is focusing on the glass rather than the fish.

Now there's an expert opinion!

[frank_zappa]

Now there's an expert opinion!

oh believe me, i threw that question out there with that in mind.

i actually need new batteries for it, as these ones are about dead.

how am i to keep it from focusing on the glass? it seems that when i am taking shots they are always focused on something in front of or near the fish i am shooting, and then it just is a bit blurry. it is very annoying

if you look at the first 5 photos i posted in this thread, the last two of those five, of the female with fry, were taken with this camera several months ago and they are able to get nice detail. i cannot get a shot like that now with the same camera.


oh, and i really do love these little fish. they are extremely interesting to watch and i would recommend them highly

[Taurus]

how am i to keep it from focusing on the glass? it seems that when i am taking shots they are always focused on something in front of or near the fish i am shooting, and then it just is a bit blurry. it is very annoying

if you look at the first 5 photos i posted in this thread, the last two of those five, of the female with fry, were taken with this camera several months ago and they are able to get nice detail. i cannot get a shot like that now with the same camera.



I noticed the first set of pictures the subject was much clearer (in focus). First thing I do is get a new set of batteries with the correct mAh rating. that can make a big difference. If your doing auto focus, try manual focus to see if it makes a difference.

[frank_zappa]

thanks i will start by getting some high quality batteries