# Betta and SA cichlid journal



## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I bought an aquarium light fixture for the 65 gallon. This was really meant to be mounted onto a cabinet or wall which I didn't realize at the time I bought it.

After a little research I decided to build a box for the fixture itself. 

wood five dollars
wood nails 6 dollars
wood screws 3 dollars

It's not perfect, miscalculated on the measurements and I'm never using a board with a slight warp in it again. That also threw off the way it came together... I haven't built anything with wood since my mid teenage years. I put some paper down because it's too bright for the Aceis. The paper helps create a softer light.

I may attempt to remake a new one in the future and if I do, I have a few ideas on how to improve it.

It does serve it's purpose.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Two weeks ago, I bought five ghost shrimp and a mystery snail for my Betta tank.

Four out of five ghost shrimp survived. I can see eggs in a female this morning. Whether they're fertile or not, I'll know in the next few days.

On sexing my peacock cichlids, it's a boy. My male is showing promise on coloring up with the solid white stripe on the dorsal fin and it shimmers blue when the light hits it. Its a boy. I'm pretty sure two are girls for sure, but the fourth one is still a little too young to know for sure.

In time I'll know or I won't. Sometimes if there are two males in the tank, the less dominant male will stay the color of the female so he won't be noticed.

I was too tired to do the water change last night, so I better get on that this morning.


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## dennythebetta (Mar 8, 2017)

Your box actually looks great. It's an awful lot better than anything I could have put together.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks Denny

It's hard for me to get a few good shots of the Aceis. Here is an update photo of them. They've tripled in size since I brought them home. There's a picture of one of the two Synodontis catfish and a picture of the male peacock. He's showing promise of coloring up.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Two things I would like to share that would hopefully help someone in the future is a fishless cycle

I bought this small sponge filter and tried to do a fish cycle but it caused more problems for the fish then it was worth. 

After discussing about the next step to take with someone off another website, I decided to cycle the sponge filter in a bucket of water and I kick started it off by squeezing the sponge from my 65 gallon over the bucket twice.

I discovered if the ammonia went above 2 ppm then the sponge filter wouldn't cycle. The higher the ammonia got, it refused to cycle. Too much ammonia is not a good thing when attempting a fishless cycle. This is something I have noticed on websites is to let the ammonia go to 5 ppm or more. That kills any chance of a proper cycle.

Two weeks later I started doing water changes in the bucket to get ammonia down to 2 ppm. I squeezed the sponge over the bucket and the nitrite started to go up three days later.

Once the nitrite skyrocketed, the ammonia started to drop quickly and the nitrate started to rise. Yes finally it's cycling.

Once the ammonia reached zero I had to put pure ammonia into the bucket on a daily bases to keep the cycling going.

Eventually the nitrite started to drop and the nitrates stayed at an all time sky high. I did a few water changes to drop the nitrites and nitrates. It eventually became difficult to keep the ammonia and nitrites up in the bucket. I decided it was time to switch the sponge into the tank. The ammonia in the tank this morning was at 1 ppm and now it's down to .5 ppm in 12 hours, and the nitrite went up a little to .25 ppm and the nitrate is under 5 ppm, this morning around the nitrates was around 2 ppm. I'm hoping in the next forty eight hours, everything should settle down in the tank if not I know I'll have to do an emergency water change if the nitrite gets too high. I'm putting in prime to help with the ammonia and the nitrite. I'm hoping the cycle in the tank is a short one considering what I've done with the sponge so far. 

Onto the second part of my entry.

I bought a big sponge filter 2 months ago, intended for the five gallon but I realized the sponge filter would take up way too much space in the tank. I'm now using it in my 65 gallon. It's helping filtering out the water 2 to 3 more times an hour and I noticed my nitrates are not as high as they were last week before I did the water change. It's helping in keeping the nitrates under 20 in my SA cichlid tank before that it was sky high around 30 ppm. I would do a 75 percent water change on a weekly bases

The filter I have is an aqua clear 110 and filters the water 7 times an hour. With the sponge filter it's filtering quite a bit for a 40 gallon filter sponge. I noticed before I took the pump off to cycle the sponge for the 5 gallon. It was making a difference in nitrate levels. 

I'm pretty happy about that. I'll update and let you know how the mini cycle is going in the five gallon. I suspect it shouldn't take long. I was told not to do a water change before adding a pre-cycled filter back in or I risk losing the whole cycle and have to start over again. Considering how fast the ammonia has dropped in a 12 hour time period. There is truth to it. 

Fingers crossed that I'm near the end of finishing the cycling on the sponge filter. It's been a super interesting experiment. I look forward to where I don't have to do a water change every four days on the five gallon.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I forgot to add Issac was busy today, he built his very first bubble nest. His color looks so much better. I think everything is heading off into a good direction where everything is concerned. While I had the sponge filter in the bucket I did have an air stone going in the 5 gallon. I'm going to keep a close eye on parameters until everything settles in the five gallon as cycling goes.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I had to do an emergency water change yesterday morning. The nitrite went up to .50 ppm and the ammonia was sitting just below .50 ppm

I did a 30 percent water change.

This morning the new readings were

ammonia 0
nitrite .25ppm >
Nitrate 5 ppm

I know that the ammonia can easily go up to .50 ppm in four days due to the stock. Like I said I can't wait until I can finally do weekly to by weekly water changes now that sponge filter is in there. 

We'll see how the next three days go. I'm doing daily water tests to see where the cycle is at and to do a water change if needed. 

That's the recent update

The new stock is one mystery snail and four ghost shrimp. One Ghost shrimp is pregnant  I added them in two weeks ago. 

I didn't know they ate blood worms until I noticed a few had made it all the way to the bottom and they were happily munching away on them. 

I added in horn wort to the tank and I have caught Isaac resting in the horn wort. It's given quite a bit of green look to the tank and hiding places for Isaac and mostly the ghost shrimp.

The crypto I bought at first may have lost its big leaves but four new leaves are growing in it's place. It's doing well.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Snail invasion? I noticed I have two snails in my tank that I don't remember buying.

Actually that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to happen. I'll just transfer them into my 65 gallon where my two synodontis catfish are known to eat snails as a staple. Hitch hiking into my tank just means I have food for my other fish. First I want to see if they breed.

This morning the water test readings are

Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 2 ppm
PH 6.8 

I'm going to see how the rest of the week goes. I'm hoping this means that the filter is at the end of the cycling period and I don't have to worry about water changes as much and can back down to weekly to by-weekly wcs and only perform 25% vs 50% every four days.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Nitrites and Ammonia has gone back up a little. I'm beginning to wonder if the bioload is too heavy for the filter and may need to consider finding something a little larger.


Ammonia was just under .25 ppm and nitrite was just under .25 ppm. 


If I do get another sponge filter, I'm going to let it run in my 65 gallon for three weeks. If that doesn't cycle it quickly then I don't know what will.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I talked with someone at the LFS about the small sponge filter I bought and he said to let it ride out first. It's playing catch up in the tank and given enough time both the ammonia and nitrite should drop back down to zero in a week or two. I didn't do a water change. That sponge needs to finish cycling. Will not do a water change unless the numbers are too high. 

Readings this morning no water change.

Ammonia 0 
Nitrite 0.06 ppm -.12 ppm? not quite .25 but not 0 
nitrate 5 ppm
PH 7.3

Maybe the guy at the fish store is right and just to let this ride out. The PH dropped down to 6 disrupting the cycling a little. I've been buffering the water with small amounts of baking soda. It raises the PH and KH naturally. With a small five gallon, it doesn't take much. 1/4 teaspoon is more then enough. anything above that causes the PH to rise to 8.6. Need to be cautious. Rule of thumb is 1 tablespoon raises the PH in a 30 gallon. I buffer the PH, GH and KH in my cichlid tank with baking soda and cichlid lake salt. If the PH drops below 7.6 it stresses the fish out. They prefer harder water. 

PH 8.2 ppm
KH 10 
GH 10 

This is the minimum for hardness for the peacocks and prevents the PH from crashing below 7.6. 

My male peacock is beginning to show more color in the body, when the sunlight hits him just right, you can see a blue shimmer and his stripes are turning blue. I'm about to have a blue peacock with red stripes soon. I'm beginning to suspect one of the other juvies is another male. We'll see what happens.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

This morning the readings are as follows:

Nitrite .02 ppm (Not quite 0 but pretty close to 0)
Ammonia 0 
Nitrate 5

This sponge is close to finishing it's cycle. 

I haven't done any water changes in a week. I'm thinking a partial water change once the sponge is completely cycled or I may wait a little longer to give it time to really build up a good amount of bacteria on the sponge.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

It's a boy and he's really starting to turn blue

I've been waiting six months for the color transformation and it looks like it's about to happen with one of my peacocks

He's grown since the last picture and the blue is really starting to show on his body now. He's about halfway there now. The next update should be close to being fully colored.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

On Saturday I forgot to plug the heater back in after changing the water out on the 65 gallon. Couldn't figure out why the fish didn't want to eat that's until I go to put a plant into the tank and realize the water was cold. It wasn't below 70 because the room temp was around 72 to 73 so that was the temp of the water. 


Attempting plants with the cichlids is a toss up. They're known diggers so I could wake up and find the plant floating at the top. We'll see what happens.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

They have already ripped one leaf off. Guess they didn't like that one leaf 

There is a transformation picture coming up for my male peacock soon. He's really turned blue


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

This morning I got to witness my male peacock make out with what I now suspect is a female peacock.


At first I noticed she was aiming for the egg spots on the males tail and then next thing I know they're circling each other underneath the driftwood and he was definitely keeping everyone else cornered.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

She's holding and her cheeks look chubby.

I added in a hybrid peacock. Not entirely sure the name but it could be an OB but a nice looking one. I'm thinking of a pair of eureka red albino females and that will round off my tank nicely stocked.








enjoy


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Isaac passed away from what I suspect was an ongoing bacterial infection. It wasn't quite as obvious this time because it was under his belly. It didn't become obvious until he started to bloat and stopped eating.

I was fighting off a bacterial infection on him back in March and it's very possible that it went dormant or it was just still there and not quite as obvious. 

There is still a ghost shrimp and a snail in the tank. There is still life in the aquarium, so I can't just rip the tank down.

My female peacock is still holding and now the bottom of her throat is working over time. Either I'm going to strip the fry from her or let her do this naturally. 

In the wild she can go off by herself and get away from predators but in the aquarium, it's more difficult to get away from everybody. It's better to strip the fry so she doesn't get stressed out by it.

I have a few decisions to make and with family coming in over the weekend it's going to be a very long week.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I got a new Betta I decided to call Bubbles. He has a very friendly happy go lucky personality. In 12 hours he was already begging for food. I floated the cup in the tank for 25 minutes to minimize shock and I think that helped. He is a beauty.

I never had a fish settle in that quickly before. He must be comfortable in there.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I tried to get him to flare. Bubbles is smarter then I give him credit for. Instead he started doing the feed me dance. He ignored the mirror and paid attention to me instead. So much for trying to get that photo. I don't think it's going to happen with this guy.


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

I want to show you a picture of a cichlid display tank at California Science Center. It's literary "cichlid everywhere!!"


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

So pretty  Thank you for sharing


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Bubbles is doing well. I suspect he has the molting gene. His back half has already started to change color. I was aiming for a white betta this time but.... we'll see as time goes on.

The Aceis's fins are beginning to heal over. The issue all this time was an external parasite. This one seemed to attach itself, looked like a big grain of salt on the scale and slowly embedded itself into the scale two to three days later, then the scale fell off.

On the fins it looked like fungus which is the really weird part about it or it could be a secondary infection setting in.

The plan has been to take care of the parasites first. I'm on the second week of treatment and so far symptoms are starting to disappear.

If it is fungus, then the next step would be is to deal with the fungus. I have AQ in there which is known to help with fungus, so maybe I won't need to treat with fungus meds. we'll see how the second week of parasite treatments pans out first.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I had the mystery snail escape the tank two nights ago. I heard a loud thump and I thought it was something hitting the ceiling. The next morning I checked to see where the snail was in the tank and noticed he was missing. Then I remembered the loud thump. I looked down at the bottom of my dvd cabinet and noticed he was there. I picked him up and placed him back into the tank wondering how long they can live out of the water for.


Three hours later I noticed he was no longer in the same spot where I dropped him back in the water. He was moving up the piece of driftwood. He was out of the water for nine hours before. Apparently they breath air and I didn't know that.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I had an old hummingbird feeder out this year and didn't fill it because I had no hummingbirds coming around and it attracted ants.

Yesterday I was sitting on my balcony when a hummingbird shows up on the feeder and looks at me as if to say, well where's the food? I filled it in hopes of him coming back. 


My female swallowed the fry, almost positive of it. She had a nice big string of poop one day. My male and female are attempting their second batch of fry. They mated about a week and a half ago.,


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Bubbles and I have an interesting relationship. I hand feed him blood worms and brine shrimp off a popsicle stick. I love the little guy, he's so much fun 


Don't ask how this came about, it just sort of started shaping up towards hand feeding him this way


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I set up a small 10 gallon as a grow out tank for the fry. There are around close to 20 fry in the tank. I'm in the process of getting the female some extra protein in her before returning her to the main tank. She took to the brine shrimp right away. I have baby cobue peacock fry that will be for sale once they reach 1 to 2 inches in size.


One person at the pet store got excited when I said I have a proven breeding pair. He was ready to offer me a quick deal but I like my big blue peacock. Sorry, I know it takes 8 to 9 months to know if it's a male or female because that's how long it takes for the males to color up. He's not for sale. (That's why male peacocks are 35 dollars plus. It takes months to sort the males and females.) I like my big blue boy. 


Mom and dad are posted in this thread.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

my blue boy is a horny boy

the smallest peacock I own is now in the process of breeding with him. All three smaller peacocks are females for sure. no doubt about it now. I came home from a long day at the international plow festival and came home and watched her lay eggs and he's doing his duty.

from the second batch of fry, one did manage to survive in the main tank. I came across him less then a week ago. the others are growing like weeds and close to be selling size.

i think my blood dragon could use a female club of his own. someone does sell blood dragons at a decent price, im going to see if i can get a few sexed. the cobue females want nothing to do with him.


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I lost my blue boy  and the blood dragon became so aggressive I removed him from the tank

My blue boy got caught between a rock and the glass while I was cleaning and he died instantly

The fry I did save from him are doing really well, I have a lwanda and an electric yellow in the tank. They're doing very well.

I have quite a few blue males coloring up and someone is coming soon to buy three of them


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## Rainbo (Nov 23, 2015)

I'm sorry to hear about your big blue boy. I know how much you liked him.


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

Hi Falcon! 


I'm sorry to hear about the blue boy  Glad to hear that you were able to save the fries from him.


I haven't seen you for a long time. Have you been busy?


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks.

yeah I've been busy, had to readjust my schedule due to my new job schedule and am finally starting to adjust better.

When the 30 gallon is empty, I'm going to convert it to a salt water tank


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

What kind of salt water fish are you going to get?


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I was thinking a pair of clown fish, a black and white and an orange one, a watchman goby or a tail spotted blenny


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## ryry2012 (Mar 31, 2015)

They are pretty! MY favorites are Mandarin Fish and Cardinal Fish. All I can do is admiring them at aquariums though


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

The tank is a bit small for mandarin fish, and cardinal fish look nice but they don't really do anything....

I seem to be more attracted to aggressive species for some reason, I think the reason is individual personalities. No two fish think alike. They seem to have a bit more intelligence then mindless fish


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

I sold the majority of the stock yesterday. I still have three males and four females left to sell, once they're gone salt water plans here I come


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## Falcon (Jan 9, 2008)

Bubbles is sick.

earlier while I was cleaning his tank, I noticed what looks like a giant grey spot on his side and it's not looking good. It looks like the one side is wasting away. His appetite hasn't changed so I'm hoping I can turn this around. I started treating with metroplex and kanaplex. Not sure what kind of infection it is, so I thought I would cover all bases.

His fins have been clamped for some time, I thought it was because the five gallon wasn't big enough for him and was starting to make plans to switch him into a ten gallon. 

I checked the water parameters and that's not the problem

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5 and that is before the weekly water change this afternoon

The tank is cycled, has been for over a year. 

After the amount of food this fish eats, it's shocking to see one side look thin and starved. It's really disturbing.


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