20gallon Journal - Updated Daily - Indir

[Miss Wiggle]

cut it, stick something heavy through it so it sinks (plant weigth or a teaspoon will do) drop it in the tank

 

[indir-emir]

Ah so no resting it water and stuff like that? I bought a veggie clip for a dollar lol so that will solve holding it down for me

Hey ive noticed the rams sorta fighting a little, but not serious. It has started to happen a little more after she coloured up like she has, basicaly it looks like they are lip locking with eachother occasionaly. but today i caught the female swimming in a circle then they swam around a little and the male went back to the chest on his own... Is this normal or is it breeding behaviour or should i be worried?

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Water update 24 hours after last:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10

Is the behaviour (mentioned in previous post) normal?

Also anyone got ideas of what the soapy stuff could be?

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Eeeeek! Found 2 snail shells on the gravel today. They were half eaten, and no snails inside when i removed them.

They were white shells, that looks a little dirty, about 5mm long and 5mm thick... Any ideas on what type of snail this is or how it even got there?

Regards,
Indir

 

[rabbut]

I can't remember if you have plants, but that is a common source for them

The behavior you describe sounds fairly normal for Cichlids to me

I can't realy say what the "soap sud" effect you are getting is

All the best
Rabbut

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I'm following along and the same 3 statements rabbut made apply for me too...

ie. don't know about the foam other than usually its proteins of some sort, often from one of the foods and is usually not a problem if its that.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[indir-emir]

Hmm ok i hope its just proteins lol.

No idea where the snails came from as i dont have any live plants yet, nor have i gotten anything new since geting the tank except the pot (gotten few weeks ago now) and the fish lol

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

OK here is another water update 24 hours after last:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10

So water quality isnt a problem... Fish swim all around the tank and the rams have coloured up ALOT since ive bought them, especially the female... No idea what it could be, i dont even remember what i did when i first saw it I even increased surface turbulence but still the same thing...

Anyone know where the bubbles are from? Im a bit worried that it could be harming my fish, they look perfectly fine though The soap like bubbles (see picture on previous page) are now almost on all 4 edges of the tank surface against the glass... Anyone know what its from?

Also found another snail shell... No snails inside either of 3 ive found so far.. Cant get a clear enough picture, but they are like outdoor snails but the shell is a dirty white colour and they are only 5mm thick and 5mm long...

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Hmm yet another question

My male ram has started to flare up then shake his body while clamping his top fin down and shaking the rest of them, but will only do it when near the female (the few times ive seen it happen anyway).... From what ive read on the internet they shake when they want to breed.. Oh and they have started to become a little aggressive chasing the danios as if to bite them (when the danios are at the bottom of the tank) but the danios are to quick for them.

Am i lucky or is my fish sick?

Also, anything i can do to encourage the rams to spawn?

P.S Any answer to previous post, bit worried

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Ok after researching a long time and through billions of websites, i believe my rams are showing breeding behaviour and are not sick Today i caught the female and the male shaking their fins and their bodies. So forget that question

Now i just need help on determing what those bubbles (in pic on previous page) are?

Also, water update:
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10

Gonna start testing every second or third day for a while, as everything seems perfectly stable.

Regards,
Indir

 

[waterdrop]

I forget, are you feeding them any kind of bloodworms? I hear those can put a pretty sizable protein skim on the surfaces...

~~wd~~

 

[indir-emir]

Ive fed them bloodworms one time only... Planned on once a week as a treat. They are frozen bloodworms.

Regards,
Indir

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry indir totally lost on the bubbles..........

however i wouldn't be too concerned, rams can be a little finicky so if they're happily showing breeding behaviour then there's clearly nothing seriously wrong in the tank.

don't be alarmed if they're first few go's at breeding aren't sucessfull, they tend to have a few try's before they manage anythign serious.

 

[indir-emir]

Thanks MW, all the water is perfect and stable, and they have developed the orange bit on their belly (appears when they are thinking of breeding from what ive read) and the male is showing off to the female and she does it back sometimes. Tried to dig a smallish pit in the gravel in hopes to push them into spawning lol. Going to change water tomorrow as i hear that can be a trigger for spawning too, so im hoping lol.

Im hoping to catch them spawing so i know they are actually breeding and not agressive lol.

Managed to get my 60cm air stone going of my current pump, no idea on the LPH on it. I just folded and pegged the second air tube (mine split into two) and the air stone is fine now Looks pretty good. Im trying to find some java fern and moss, and other plants that are easy to care for and non demanding but no luck with my LFS.

Regards,
Indir

 

[Miss Wiggle]

pop over to the planted tank forum and they'll point you in the direction of some on-line plant retailers if you can't find anything local. there's lots of them but quality is varied so do ask for a recommendation.