I've got the best wife ever.

[Nephalem]

Thanks to my wife's severe case of MTS, I came out of an appointment today to her on the phone claiming a tank for us. She found a 55g fully setup that is fully planted and has a bichir and a jewel cichlid in it for $70. I think the lady is going to try and rehome her cichlid in her smaller cichlid tank, but if it doesn't work out we will either keep him or take him to a friend of Ours that owns a LFS to find him a home. Either way is good with me, we just don't have a tank he would be comfortable in, cuz this one is gonna be my BGKs next home I think. The rate at which he eats is gonna get him big quick. We're deff keeping the bicher tho. My wife always wanted one and they sell here for like $50 anyway, so we are basically buying him and getting a tank free. So many options, so little attention span. This is the first time we've done a full breakdown tank move tho. I think I have all my basses covered and am remembering all the important stuff, but it's still nerve wracking. We're going at 4:30 and I feel like a kid before Xmas. Wish me luck!

[balt]

Congrats. Have a smooth move. Looking forward to some pics.

[toban]

It sounds like a nice set up :) Congratulations and make sure you post some photos. :)

[homemadepopcorn]

Congrats and good luck. Keep us updated!

[Nephalem]

Thar' she blows:


Sorry about the crappy image quality. Pics are w my phone and I have to cut the rez to hell to get it to upload in under 24hrs with my lame AT&T connection.

Took us just under 4 hrs to get out there bag the two residents, break it all down, load it up, drive home, unload, thoroughly clean, set up, refil, rehome the two big guys, and adjust everything. Then I had to check and WC my two cycling tanks, and check on everyone else in the other three. Lol. Sooo tired.

Here is what I see when I sit in my living room now:

There's 3 more tanks in the dark there with light sensitive fish.

The lady had made an effort with these guys but the tank really did need some serious TLC. I had to scrape off this nasty mineral buildup that was on everything with a razor blade it was so thick. And im still not totally done. And really wash the substrate good. She tried to take the filter media from me to wash it in the sink when I pulled it out to bag it up in some tank water. I was like "no, no its ok, this is good." lol. She looked at me like I was crazy. She had well water so the bacteria MIGHT have been ok, but I didn't want to risk it.

My plans for getting a discus are out the window tho. The cichlid we were going to rehome is the bichirs serious buddy, and I don't have the heart to split them up. When they went back into the tank they were so stressed from the drive home that they both squeezed into this little jar all curled up together. But I guess that's what happens when they've been together for 4 years. And they are doing much better now.

Here's a pic of each of them:

That's the bichir. He looks kinda like an armored to me, and not a Senegal. He's short and big, and his dorsal spines are pretty large, but he doesn't have the black marks I've seen most armored with. Anyone know?

And the cichlid:

I'm way too OCD to just know it as a cichlid. I'm pretty sure it's African but I really wish I knew what kind. He's a really big boy. At first I thought he was an Mbuna from far away, but when I got close I realized that wasn't right. I'm sure one of you knows.

Anyway now I've just gotta get some plants cuz I hate bare tanks. And it cost us $90 instead of $70 because the table didn't come with like I thought, so I bought it too. But the armored Bichirs are $60-$70 at the LFS here anyway, and the lady also threw in a little 3.5g or something with a filter that just needs media for my daughter so she can get some micro fishies for her bedroom. So it all worked out.

Just gonna have to find a different 55g+ for my discus. ;p

Too many fish in the world, not enough tanks.

[Nephalem]

Turns out I THINK the bichir is a dragon fin? "Polypterus Bichir Lapradei", so not an armored, but still good. Now just gotta find the cichlid.

[Nephalem]

So yeah after doing some research I'm pretty sure the cichlid is a pseudotrophius color morph like I thought, but because of the whole "zebra complex" confusion, and also the fact that his stripes are near invisible (prob due to stress as he hasn't been fed or housed right in 4 years) he didn't look like one close up.

So that brings me to a question for you old timers. I assume I already know the right answer, but you know what they say about assumptions. Since these guys have been living with what I would consider sub par conditions for their species for the last four years, (ie: no plants, no background, no hiding places, poor water, the wrong food, etc) is it going to stress them out for me to change things for "the better"? Are they going to turn down better food, or get freaked out by a heavily planted tank? I know better water is always a good thing, and I'm sure I can wean them onto any food I want with time. But I'm worries by trying to make things better in the tank they will just get more stressed. Do fish get set in their ways? Or am I being paranoid with my new additions? Can you really teach an old fish new tricks?

The thing that got me thinking about it is my wife said these guys were never even supposed to be good tank mates, and yet they are totally attatched to each other. So just wondered.

[Dennis Bissett]

Improvement in environment can only be good - I reckon the speed at which it happens will make all the difference. Dont try to do it all in one hit, treat it like a pygmy eating an elephant - one bite at a time. You're really gonna enjoy this trip