They're Here! New F1 Ndole Bay fry

[catstoy66]

Yay Me!! lol I'm just about to pop! My shipment arrived from Alison at Cichlids & Herps right on schedule and in perfect condition. I just can't say enough about how perfect that transaction went. I'll be sure to give them a shout-out on the Sponsor thread!

So my little guys are now doing the float, getting temp acclimated. They're very active, swimming all around in the bags, not a one sitting in the bottom. They seem curious & ready to be out & explore their new home. I am too! I can't wait to watch them interact and set their colony.

One question I'd appreciate some thoughts on... I've read differing opinions on when to feed them after a new shipment is received. Some have said it's okay right after releasing them into the tank, others say wait a day or two. What do you guys prefer? I'm leaning more towards waiting at least 24hrs. Please let me know what you think.

Well, I'm off to enjoy my new fish! It's been a long time coming & I still can't believe I'm here! WoooHoooo!!!

[...]

How are they doing this morning Cat?

[catstoy66]

They were perfect this morning Danny! Everyone was fine to my great relief. I tested my parameters this morning & everything was good, maybe showing just a smidge of ammo.

I came home for lunch at 1pm & checked it again with the same results...  (this is where your post to me about chilling out comes in LOL)

So this afternoon when I came home from work, I did a 20% water change with a light surface vac of the substrate. I went ahead and added some extra Epsom salt as you instructed & a little (2tsp) Seachem Cichlid Lake Salt. They did just fine during the pwc & were following the vac around like it was gonna feed them! LOL ... beggars.

I did a test again after the pwc & salt, no ammo showing but the gh & kh did rise (salts I'm assuming right?) They're all happy lil campers. I figure in the morning I'll pulverize some Cobalt Spriralina flakes & give it a go.

How's everything going with your guys? Have you moved the Dubs out yet?

Talk soon! 

[...]

I somehow missed your reply here Cat...keep an eye on your ammonia level...that is a sign that the beneficial bacterial colony is not fully established for the number if fish in the tank...how did you cycle the tank to begin with? If you have some mature media or a sponge from your 125 gal that you can throw into your troph tank I would go ahead and do that as ammonia is so toxic even in small quantities...your established malawi tank won't miss it and you troph's will really benefit from it for sure.

My guys are goin great guns...haven't moved the dubs out yet as the Christmas season has been so busy...soon though...

Keep us posted

[...]

Hey Cat been wondering how the new additions going? Got an update for us?

[catstoy66]

Hi Danny! Sorry I haven't dropped in for a few days but everything's going good, really good thankfully  

I did as you suggested and took a nice sponge from the sump on my 125 tank & put it in the tank in hopes of detoxing the trace amount of ammonia I was previously showing. I'm thinking that happened because I did a fish-less cycle then to keep the cycle until my trophs came I had placed my 5in Venustus & a 3in Johanni.  I had figured these 2 guys were big enough they would produce approximately equal waste as 25 less-than-1in tropheus. All I can figure is that wasn't the case so when they came, the cycle couldn't keep up? All my other parameters are perfect & stay consistent even after a 30 or 40% pwc.

I'm feeding 3-4 light feedings a day, which they attack! lol I love to watch them eat. They're such little characters too. They now greet me at the front of the tank & I swear they're trying to interact with me! (I know... I'm crazy ) I was worried about their first few pwc & vacuums but those were a breeze too.

I know they're not even an inch yet, but there are a few that I swear are showing some color... little tinges of yellow & some definite red finnage. Does that sound normal?

I've been practicing shooting videos with my GoPro & editing & such... plus I want to do one underwater lol. There's not many fry-only videos out there that I've found. First I have to not stink at it LOL! I do plan on getting some updated pics up soon though.

Hope everythings been going good for you! Talk soon ~  Cat

[...]

All good sis'...glad things a going great...you're not seeing things with some color showing...a good sign they're settling in nicely too...gkad they're eating well...so happy for you mate.
All is well with me & mine. Happy me year to you mate.
Danny

[catstoy66]

Whew, so I'm not completely nuts... okay welllll... LOL    ummm, yeah LOL

I'm glad to hear you're doing well too Danny! I hope you've had a wonderful New Year!!

Talk Soon! ~ Cat




 shhhhh... new project in the works (phase 1 in T-minus $$cash$$)