# 92g Corner Tank Fluval Venezia 350. Tropheus?



## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

I have not decided how to rockscape or what african cichlids to go with but i am really liking the idea of a couple colonies of tropheus. For the rockscape i will be checking out northwest landscape supply to get an idea of what i want. I will either go with a pile in the centre or run some basalt and slate along both walls creating many caves or homes and leave the center empty. any input will be much appreciated. I have my 75g malawi tank doing well and want to do something different.

Day one


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Looking good Jamie!

But this is my opinion... that tank would be best as a reef tank, it's already drilled. Just add a sump, throw in some live rocks and shab some corals and you're good to go! :lol:


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

you dont even need a sump lol 

hmmm some pets and a colony of trophs would be cool in a 90 gal it might be a bit small to do two big groups but if you did 15 and 15 it would probly be fine 
im my experience there haper in 20 + groups 

you could have a group of a few calvus along in there with them i think thad be realy cool 

as for scape i dont know iv never had a corner tank i think a big pile in the center would be best so they dont try to swim right up on the wall of the tank but it depends where you want your fish to hang out


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

It's not an ideal demention for Trophs but it will work. Definitely would go with 20+colony size,as scott tang mentioned.Calvus and comps would also be great. Too bad you didn't get this sooner since I sold a my Calvus and Comps.How do you like the sugar aragonite that I gave you?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Vman said:


> It's not an ideal demention for Trophs but it will work. Definitely would go with 20+colony size,as scott tang mentioned.Calvus and comps would also be great. Too bad you didn't get this sooner since I sold a my Calvus and Comps.How do you like the sugar aragonite that I gave you?


It is perfect thanks Lucaz. I have just enough sand in there now.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Are you interested in breeding tropheus? A single colony would be better for breeding purposes. If they do breed, there's a chance of producing hybrids with 2 colonies too. A sump would be the ideal filter for a colony (or 2) of tropheus, you can control nitrate levels much better than a canister and can handle a bigger bio-load than an hob.

What's your background colour? Some variants show much better in lighter vs darker backgrounds.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

hp10BII said:


> Are you interested in breeding tropheus? A single colony would be better for breeding purposes. If they do breed, there's a chance of producing hybrids with 2 colonies too. A sump would be the ideal filter for a colony (or 2) of tropheus, you can control nitrate levels much better than a canister and can handle a bigger bio-load than an hob.
> 
> What's your background colour? Some variants show much better in lighter vs darker backgrounds.


I wasnt really thinking of breeding them. i have never done that before. I do have a spare 20g and 10g. I have never done a sump either currently i am using a eheim 2078 rated at 490gph. i am open to the idea of a sump just need to learn how to do it. i have a background color of black.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Day 2 
I went to northwest landscape supply today and picked up 34lbs of midnight slate and about 60lbs of mini basalt ledgestone. this is my first attempt using this type of rockscape. water is slowly clearing up.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

if your going to breed you need a mature colony and dont use buffers the soft water replicates the rainy season in the wild in wich they breed 

i had a colony of 16 ikola breeding im mad i sold em wish i didnt lol

how much did you pay for all the rock ?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

I wasnt planning on breeding them right off the start. that could be something i do in the future. All the rock cost me a wopping $28


scott tang said:


> if your going to breed you need a mature colony and dont use buffers the soft water replicates the rainy season in the wild in wich they breed
> 
> i had a colony of 16 ikola breeding im mad i sold em wish i didnt lol
> 
> how much did you pay for all the rock ?


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

wow !im thinking about going african hap for my 125 gal i think the price of the rock convinced me


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Ya the price of the slate was .30 per pound and i just broke off pieces of the bigger stuff to make what i wanted. and the basalt mini ledgestone was .20 per pound, these were cut by a stone cutter so one side is perfectly smooth and flat so its good for stacking or placing against the glass.


scott tang said:


> wow !im thinking about going african hap for my 125 gal i think the price of the rock convinced me


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

A big thanks to Vman for the suggestions in types of rock to look for.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

jrock said:


> A big thanks to Vman for the suggestions in types of rock to look for.


What about my thanks for suggesting NWL. LOL. Great store. Good prices. The mexican bowl rock they sell for .20lb. LFS sell if for $3.99. Now thats some mark up.

I cant wait to see your tank when its all cleared up. Looks good so far


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

jbyoung00008 said:


> What about my thanks for suggesting NWL. LOL. Great store. Good prices. The mexican bowl rock they sell for .20lb. LFS sell if for $3.99. Now thats some mark up.
> 
> I cant wait to see your tank when its all cleared up. Looks good so far


Thanks to you too JB. haha. they had some mexican bowl rock there but they were huge pieces. I checked out NWL before i started my 75g malawi tank looking for Mexican Bowl but same thing only a couple of huge peices thats when i decided to go with the goby rock.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

jrock said:


> Thanks to you too JB. haha. they had some mexican bowl rock there but they were huge pieces. I checked out NWL before i started my 75g malawi tank looking for Mexican Bowl but same thing only a couple of huge peices thats when i decided to go with the goby rock.


Hahaha. Thanks...... I like the rock you picked. It looks really good. Your going to have some happy fish. When I bought the mexican bowl rock from NWL they had lots of big and small pieces. I ended up buying 122lbs of it. My tank weighs a ton. I have 120lbs of Caribsea African mix substrate too.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

Looks good.Now you gotta get them Tangs in there.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

what kinda trophs you guna do ???


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Im not sure yet gotta see what i can get my hands on. I have a lead on some Bemba that im thinking about.


scott tang said:


> what kinda trophs you guna do ???


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

A wooping $28? That's a steal!


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

getting clear. cycling the tank. new driftwood.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Current conditions
78 deg
ph 8.0
ammonia .25ppm
nitrite 0
nitrate 5ppm
kh 161.1ppm or 11dkh
gh over 400ppm or over 22 dkh


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

Looking good Jamie.Now which Trophs is it gonna be?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Vman said:


> Looking good Jamie.Now which Trophs is it gonna be?


Thats the big question. Lets go in on a deal together from Littleafrica but im not gonna camp out at the airport waiting for the delivery.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

As for fish this is the choices i have they are all juveniles 1-1.5". i plan on getting a group of 25 of all the same type i am leaning towards the Ikola or pemba. If anyone has any experience with any of these let me know what your thoughts are.
F1 Tropheus brichardi Ulwile
F1 Tropheus moorii Chaitika Blue Rainbow
F1 Tropheus sp. Black Pemba Orange Flame
F1 Tropheus sp. Ikola

Update for jul 22
On july 20 i dunked and wrung out 2 of my malawi eheim filters from my mbuna tank to build up healthy bacteria.
ph 8.0
ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
kh 179ppm or 11dkh
gh over 400ppm or over 22dkh.

I will get the fish on aug 7. so my tank should be fully cycled by then.


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

my vote to F1 Tropheus moorii Chaitika Blue Rainbow


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

jrock said:


> As for fish this is the choices i have they are all juveniles 1-1.5". i plan on getting a group of 25 of all the same type i am leaning towards the Ikola or pemba. If anyone has any experience with any of these let me know what your thoughts are.
> F1 Tropheus brichardi Ulwile
> F1 Tropheus moorii Chaitika Blue Rainbow
> F1 Tropheus sp. Black Pemba Orange Flame
> ...


I'm with the Chaitika Blues too. Though the Bemba flames have always been a favorite too. 
Do you have fish already in the tank or are you adding an ammonia source? Your bacteria needs it to live.

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

i had like 20 feeder comet fish a few of them had died already. but the last 4 days none have died. I have been using top fin bacterial supplement as well every 3 days or so. and i squeezed out my filters x2 from my malawi tank.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

jrock said:


> i had like 20 feeder comet fish a few of them had died already. but the last 4 days none have died. I have been using top fin bacterial supplement as well every 3 days or so. and i squeezed out my filters x2 from my malawi tank.


Have you been squeezing the old filters directly into your new filters?

Your readings have no ammonia and no nitrites with nitrates which would seem to indicate a completed cycle. 40ppm nitrate is high. Time for a Wc. Continue to monitor the readings. Also be aware of how much fish you add later. The bacteria colony will take some time to adapt to a higher bioload. You may see another cycle occur.

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

no i squeezed them into the tank not the filter. i will do a 50%wc later today.


tony1928 said:


> Have you been squeezing the old filters directly into your new filters?
> 
> Your readings have no ammonia and no nitrites with nitrates which would seem to indicate a completed cycle. 40ppm nitrate is high. Time for a Wc. Continue to monitor the readings. Also be aware of how much fish you add later. The bacteria colony will take some time to adapt to a higher bioload. You may see another cycle occur.
> 
> Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Your tank is looking good. I always like seeing planted African tanks. IME the GH being that high will be hard on the plants. Ive had to keep my GH around 8-9 to keep the plants happy. I had to pick a happy medium for the plants and the fish. Im keeping my KH around 11-12. Its not ideal African water but the plants seem to grow well at these levels. Also root tabs work really good. 

What are you using to raise your GH?
Any luck on hunting down some trophs?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

i am using the epsom 1tblsp instant ocean 1tblsp and baking soda 1tsp all per 10gallons of water mixture.
i am looking at getting 25 of the F1 Tropheus moorii Ilangi Yellow Nkamba Bay 1-1.5" or F1 Tropheus moorii Chaitika Blue Rainbow.


jbyoung00008 said:


> Your tank is looking good. I always like seeing planted African tanks. IME the GH being that high will be hard on the plants. Ive had to keep my GH around 8-9 to keep the plants happy. I had to pick a happy medium for the plants and the fish. Im keeping my KH around 11-12. Its not ideal African water but the plants seem to grow well at these levels. Also root tabs work really good.
> 
> What are you using to raise your GH?
> Any luck on hunting down some trophs?


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

o god i have to do that to as soon as i empty my tank god 25 pails of salt water i gota walk down to the toylate down stairs o goodie lol


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

has anyone ever had problems with the hood lights heating up the water? i noticed when i have both sets of 2 lights on the water temp got up to 82. so i unplugged my hydor 300w inline 5 days ago and would only turn on the back set of lights and the temp dropped to 79. The front set of lights lenght is 34" x2 tubes of 39w T5 and the back set of lights are 12" x2 8w T5. I would like to keep the lights on for the plants and to see the fish as well but i dont want to overheat the tank water. i want to keep it at 78. would a fan do the job to circulate out the hot air? Or are there different lights that dont give off heat? I dont think i could go LEDs for this tank as it is a somewhat specialized size hood that can only fit the tuble lights.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I think you could probably retrofit some Led strips into the hood. Is it a wooden canopy? 

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

no its plastic


tony1928 said:


> I think you could probably retrofit some Led strips into the hood. Is it a wooden canopy?
> 
> Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

If you don't mind losing the plastic canopy you could probably get a fixture that just sits on top of the tank. Try our sponsor aq.led. 

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

I bought some wicked fans at a grow store in ridge that within 2 hrs drop the temp about 3 degrees.They are about 4"x4" at $20 I believe. I set them on the tank between the frame and glass. They blow the air out of the tank. You're ok with temp up to 82 degrees. My T5's always heated up a lot. LED is much cooler.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Water chemistry update.
On jul 23 i did a 50% water change in order to lower my nitrate level.
jul 24 water conditions
ph 8.0 
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10ppm it came down from the 40ppm on jul 22
kh 161ppm or 10dkh
gh over 400ppm ot 22dkh

would this mean my tank is fully cycled now. cause i plan on bringing in my tropheus on aug 7


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Thanks Vman ya i will end up doing this. i will need to find out the name of the store from you later.


Vman said:


> I bought some wicked fans at a grow store in ridge that within 2 hrs drop the temp about 3 degrees.They are about 4"x4" at $20 I believe. I set them on the tank between the frame and glass. They blow the air out of the tank. You're ok with temp up to 82 degrees. My T5's always heated up a lot. LED is much cooler.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

So i decided to go with 25 f1 tropheus moorii ilangi yellow Nkamba bay. I receive them on aug 8 from Little Africa Aquatics.Today i did a water test and got the following readings:

temp 78.6
ph 8.0
amm .25ppm
nitrite 0
nitrate 20ppm

I plan on doing a 50% water change the day before i receive the 25 juvies and not feed them for 3 days. Is there anything else i should do to better prepare the tank for the 25 juvies?


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

not feed for three days ?mabie for full grown but i would feed juvys teh second day


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

You should feed them same day.Most breeders will starve the Trophs before shipping. That way there's less crap in the shipping process. I've had them shipped before and they came in seperated baggies.I once received them and all were in individual baggies.
Back to feeding them upon arrival.Once you land them and they're swimming around,give them an hour or so then feed them.But don't just feed them,have to soak the food in Metronidizole.This is a great precautionary measure. You can also use metro in the landing water.I lost about 30% of my Trophs ,upon receiving them once. I have the metro if you want it Jaimie.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

ya that sounds great vman. landing water? is that like a bucket of my tank water or something. I will have to talk with you before i pick em up to follow proper procedure to ensure all fish are well.


Vman said:


> You should feed them same day.Most breeders will starve the Trophs before shipping. That way there's less crap in the shipping process. I've had them shipped before and they came in seperated baggies.I once received them and all were in individual baggies.
> Back to feeding them upon arrival.Once you land them and they're swimming around,give them an hour or so then feed them.But don't just feed them,have to soak the food in Metronidizole.This is a great precautionary measure. You can also use metro in the landing water.I lost about 30% of my Trophs ,upon receiving them once. I have the metro if you want it Jaimie.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

jrock said:


> So i decided to go with 25 f1 tropheus moorii ilangi yellow Nkamba bay. I receive them on aug 8 from Little Africa Aquatics.Today i did a water test and got the following readings:
> 
> temp 78.6
> ph 8.0
> ...


What is your KH and GH?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

kh 10 or 11
gh over 22


jbyoung00008 said:


> What is your KH and GH?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

On Thursday i received my F1 tropheus moorii Ilangi. I got them from Little Africa Aquatics. I am very happy with them. All 25 are looking healthy and happy. here are a few pics. This is first day

Today


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Tropheus are looking very nice. Looks like they handled the shipping well. Did you need a permit to bring them in?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

hp10BII said:


> Tropheus are looking very nice. Looks like they handled the shipping well. Did you need a permit to bring them in?


No permit required. but paid a lot in shipping and handling as well as customs too. It ended up costing about $280 for all the shiipping costs the order was for me and another person as he bought some WC Kalambo. But shipper did provide us with the information.


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## jona31 (Jun 28, 2013)

wow it's looking great coming along nicely


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## scott tang (Jan 29, 2012)

how big are they ?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Probably 1-1.5 inches as advertised.


scott tang said:


> how big are they ?


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Here are a few more pics taken with my sony nex5


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

I love 'em! Finally some red fish (kinda) in your tank :lol:


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

Looking good Jaimie.They should color up nice.Glad they all made it.When I got mine I lost about 30%. It was sad.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Thanks guys. Vman i was worried about losing some of them as well after you told me to expect that to happen. I think the success was due to being shipped out at 5:30am from kentucky to Las vegas then to Vancity at 5pm. This was the best option as there was the least amount of times the fish would be transported on and off the plane. Customs bs and dealing with the company that held our package took almost 4hrs. So i actually got home at like 10pm. So in total these guys were packaged for 17hrs or so. Thanks to Carter8089 for doing this order with me and also for giving me some helpful advice to ensure 100% survival. I will start to add the rocks back in slowly because i still want to monitor these guys and ensure there is not one fish not being part of the group. If there are too many hiding spots i will not know if anyone is sick.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

here is a video update after almost 1 month of having them. all of the 25 trophs are doing well and eating 2- 3 times a day.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Well i spoke to soon. During the month of sept i lost 8 of these guys due to bloat. With the help of vman and carter8089 i was able to treat the rest of them over a 7 day period with metro. I have not lost anymore fish in the past week and have not been feeding them too much. They seem to be doing good now but are a little shy.


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## hp10BII (Apr 23, 2010)

Sorry for the loss - always a huge worry with tropheus. Good thing you had metro on hand, I hear too many stories of people without and by the time they get some, they've lost valuable time in treating the tank.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

hp10BII said:


> Sorry for the loss - always a huge worry with tropheus. Good thing you had metro on hand, I hear too many stories of people without and by the time they get some, they've lost valuable time in treating the tank.


I had some metro on hand and Vman helped me out as well with some.


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

sorry to hear of your loses.

Tank looks great though. What type of sand if that and where did you buy it.

thanks


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

the sand is sugar fine grade from j&l aquatics in burnaby.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

I have recently added 16 duboisi juvies and also got a good deal on some more Illangi F1s. Here are a few pics.


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## jbyoung00008 (May 16, 2011)

Nice. Looking good. You need to post a few full tank shots


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Here are some full tank shots of my other tanks as well.


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## AKAmikeross (Nov 5, 2012)

looking good. What type of sand are you using.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

mikeross said:


> looking good. What type of sand are you using.


Caribsea Aragamax Sugar Sand / Substrate is what i use in my show tank. I use a coarse grade of same stuff in my malawi tank. i will be swapping out the crushed coral from my ikola/chilanga tank and use the sugar sand as well. it looks really nice.


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## crimper (Oct 20, 2010)

Way to go Jamie! Really nice collection in there. Only one tank you're missing.... A reef tank.


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## Vman (Jan 20, 2011)

I'm glad all is well.Gotta get better pix of the chilanga.


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## jrock (Jan 25, 2013)

Vman said:


> I'm glad all is well.Gotta get better pix of the chilanga.





some chilanga fry too

ikola spawning


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## fishinmind (Sep 10, 2010)

I was searching for some tropheus moorii ilangi fry to suppliment my small group. I saw you purchased some awhile ago. Have yours bred? I am looking foe 10 if available .If you have some please pm or text me at 12502400321. Thanks for your time.


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