Complexity Journal: 75g / NEW PICS Mar 26! Several pics posted with more to come!

[Fishdood25]

Originally Posted by Complexity

Yeah, I knew that would happen. It's there for those who want to read it while others can skip it. This is a "take what you want and leave the rest" thread.

BTW, as you can see, I'm a highly focused and detailed person. Now imagine this: my husband and both children have ADD! There are times in which we all drive each other nuts!

LOL, thats funny, at 1st I thought you were a doooood, till I read your name in sig oooops. Sorry ma'am!!

[Torpedobarb]

nice journal.. very informative... I want to see pics of the roselinetorpedodenisoniisharkbarbs!

[@marko@]

wow, lot of writing, heh.

nice start, though. not much else to really say yet.

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by Torpedobarb

roselinetorpedodenisoniisharkbarbs!

I'm busting a gut with that one!

Since you put it that way, I have no choice but to oblige! Pictures coming tomorrow.

Marko, no problem. I think I did enough talking (writing) for the both of us.

[Tex Gal]

When my kribs spawned they took over 1/2 of my 125g. They kept all the other fish (which were many!) all the way to the other side. Can't imagine fitting 3 breeding pair into a 75g. Oh my, I think I hear someone saying, "I NEED ANOTHER TANK!!" !

[Complexity]

I may indeed have a problem given how aggressive the Kienke pair have become. At least they are my favorites of them all!

I've heard mixed comments on whether I can keep all 3 pairs in a 75g tank. Most say yes as long as I am very good with caves and breaking up the tank to give separate territories. Others think I'm nuts! The real answer is probably a little of both.

I'm getting concerned that they are going to spawn or have already spawned in their current cave. I want to move that cave when I actually aquascape the tank. But if they've spawned in it already...

I need to do some research to figure out if either will stay in the cave once they do spawn. I can't remember since it's been so long since I've have kribs.

[Tex Gal]

Once mine spawned, one of the fish stayed in the cave most of the time. Once in a while I would see them both out. Their guarding got much more vigilant when their eggs were present. Then when the eggs hatched they would bring them out to eat and put them back at night.

I bet you have eggs if they are being that aggressive already. Wait a few days. It's doesn't take them that long to hatch. You'll know soon enough. CONGRATS!!!!

BTW I love the color of the ones you have. If you do have a spawn I may have to meet up with you a buy a couple off of you!! (Can't believe I just said that - may have to put up another tank, OH MY!!! )

[Complexity]

I tried to look inside the cave with a flashlight — which neither fish liked at all — but I didn't see any signs of eggs. Also, both fish leave the cave and don't seem to have a driving need to get back right away. They'll graze a little, chase a little, and then go back as if it's home base. But I don't see any major guarding of the cave door so to speak. And I'm also not seeing any moving of the substrate which they like to do to make their cave special just for them.

So all these things put together makes me feel they have not spawned. They are definitely interested in each other and the female looks so purple, you'd think she's going to start glowing! But they're still courting each other.

They're probably not feeling comfortable about spawning since I keep messing with the tank every day. But I have a feeling that once I get the tank settled so they can be together without my constant disturbances, they will probably spawn right away.

I have high pH, and I know the pH affects whether the spawn are males or females or both. I need to look up which sex you get with high pH. It would be interesting to know if I'd get mostly male or female fry. Or maybe a mix since I have pressurized CO2 which will lower my pH. I should probably do a pH test, too, to see how the CO2 is affecting it.

If these guys do spawn, I have enough tanks to work as a grow out tank. When I replace my 20L for my 29, that will leave my 20L empty which is the perfect size for a krib grow out tank!

[nikonD70s]

tanks coming along nicely! cant wait to see new pics with the roseline in it! by the way how much did you get your roseline for complexity? i just bought 4 the other day for only $10 cheapest i've ever seen. i fell in love with them and came back the next day and bought 4 more, and im wanting more! i was thinking of getting rid of my cardinals and rummy's just so i can keep more of them, they are very beautiful fishes!

[Complexity]

$10! That is a fantastic price! I paid $18 for mine. How large are yours? Mine are what I would call medium sized. Around 3". I saw some at another store that were smaller, but they were asking for something like $30 each. I agree they are incredibly beautiful! I think it's how pure and bold the colors are. Not a faded, sort of red, but a true, bright red. Same for the yellow. While the black and silver just make the colors stand out even more. They have a really sweet body shape, too.

I'm getting a little further with my tank. The CO2 is going well, and I ordered my dry ferts. I hope to have the lights done today so I can get the canopy back on. That will look much better. And then with some real light in the tank, I'll be able to take some better pictures. Right now, to get the inside of the tank bright enough, I have to increase the exposure which then distorts the cabinet's color.

The plants, caves and all on the inside are crazy! Most aren't actually planted. They're either dropped in or are floating around or are still in their pots, buried in the substrate. I have some dwarf riccia that I'm floating that I had to create a "floating cage" so I didn't get riccia all over the tank. I think I'll make another one for my floating stems since some are getting blown into the plants at the bottom, making a bigger mess. And I have other various plants either melting (new crypts) or turning yellow (bleach treated anubias). At least my large bleach treated anubias is fine, but the nanas need those ferts right away. And then I have rocks, clay pots and pvc pipes strewn about to make quick caves.

I was thinking last night of how I'll have to go about truly planting everything to make some kind of real aquascape. I'm going to have to create a temporary holding bin to put it all in so I can pull them all out to give me the space to actually plant them.

Hopefully, by this time next week, I'll have my ferts, my lights and the plants will be planted. So I'm very close to going high tech! And then the fun begins! I'm thinking of checking to see if there's a record for how many different kinds of algae a person can get in a tank all at once!

[Complexity]

OMG, I actually have light on my tank now! All this time, I have used an old 30" single bulb fluorescent fixture. 18watt T-8. So that meant I had only 1/4 watts per gallon. That's right, 0.24 watts per gallon. I did that intentionally to keep the algae at bay. Keep in mind that I started with just silk plants. They don't need much light. But today my husband helped me get the canopy and lights on, and WOW! Even with only 2 bulbs turned on, these lights are incredible! The fish colors are magnificent! With just two of my TEK fixture's bulbs running, I've jumped from 18w to 108w! That's 1.44wpg. And while that's still low, it is a huge difference between the basic flourescent lamp and the Giesemann lamps! Wow, the tank is amazingly bright! And I only have half the lighting turned on so far.

I also noticed that I have a second pair of my pelvicachromis showing mating signs. They've taken yet another cave. So that's two pairs doing their thing, my Kienke and Nigerian Red pairs.

The third pair, the Moliwe, is not quite ready yet. The female seems a big young still, but we'll see. So far, no damaging chasing or anything so they might do well later. They're just not doing the shimmy with each other yet.

I'll have to get a picture of my tank tomorrow now that it can actually be seen with the lights. I have my CO2 running and my ferts are ordered. So I'm about to make the plunge from very low light to high light/high tech this coming week. What this means is that I can now enter the contest for having the most algae growing in a tank at one time!

Wish me luck for this next week or so. I think I'll need it.

[starsunmoon]

pics pics. pics !!!! I wanna see it, I LLOOOVVEE your ideas !!! wow,. I would love to make that waterfall your talking about doing , and cant wait to see your newest members of life, sounds sooo interesting, I have never owned kribs > but you are making me truly want a pair , do they eat any plants or are they good... ?? LOL< please update, !! I wanna see your tank !! and I love the place you live ~~~ sugarland, I bet its meat there, tell us more !! about the town, (I wanna know more) and also abotu this buetiful tank, I am foing to be setting up a 90 gallon, and a 38 gallon hex soon to go with all my others, I need to sell a few, its just so hard to do !!! LOL, pictures ppllleeaaasseeeee~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Torpedobarb]

Originally Posted by Complexity

I'm busting a gut with that one!

Since you put it that way, I have no choice but to oblige! Pictures coming tomorrow.

Marko, no problem. I think I did enough talking (writing) for the both of us.

ok... tomorrow has come and gone a few times and still no pics!

[Complexity]

Well, you know how it is. For every day, tomorrow is always the day after.

I finally took some pics, but haven't resized them yet. I'm still trying to get things to work!

I got the canopy on with the TEK lights only to discover that the braces I used to hold the lights in place blocked my ability to open the glass covers to feed my fish! So I had to have my husband help me hoist the canopy back down, move the braces, and give it another try. Now I can feed my fish!

Star, kribs are very plant friendly. They do a little digging, but only at the entrance of their cave. And their kind of digging is basically "pick up one piece of substrate, swim over there, spit it out, go back to get another piece..." so it's not like they're diving into the substrate and uprooting everything.

While waiting on me to get the pics ready, there are a couple of threads regarding how I'm trying to get the electrical plugs customized (thanks to BiscuitSlayer's expertise!) and how I'm trying to rig up the lights so they can be moved into a hanging position when I'm working on the tank.

Let me get the links to those threads and post them. The thread about the lights has some pictures of my canopy!

[Complexity]

Electrical plugs:

Okay, this thread is where everyone is helping me design a customized electrical panel with water protection in the event of a catastrophic failure (tank breaking). The water protection won't be perfect, but it should be helpful.

Once we get the design figured out, BiscuitSlayer will do the actual work and post a DIY thread so others can give it a try.

The electrical panel will be awesome when it's done! I can't wait!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/ge...cal-plugs.html