Comments to blog posts

Image from https://megapixl.com/

I suspect those of you who have commented on one of my blog posts know this already, but it’s worth mentioning explicitly. I DO read all of the comments that are submitted for each post. Of course, all comments are moderated, so your comment won’t appear until I’ve seen it and approved it. As long as what you submit doesn’t violate my communication rules, which I detail in questions 5 & 6 of the FAQ, I will respond.  To date, I believe every comment that has been submitted has been approved (except for spam that gets through and nonsense that one sad soul who tries to submit semi-regularly).  

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New cichlid food

Aquavore Aquatic Nutrition logo. Image from the Aquavore website.

A couple of months ago, I was made aware of a new food brand, Aquavore Aquatic Nutrition. Produced mainly for Lake Tanganyika species, Aquavore produces flakes and pellets for both carnivores and herbivores (adult and fry). While primarily for cichlids, the company also produces a variety of pleco nuggets.

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Cichlid food and feeding

Sample of cichlid foods used. Photo by the author.

I’m a firm believer that there is no set method by which all cichlids should be fed. This means there are no criteria dictating what you feed (other than the species dietary requirements/restrictions), when you feed, or how you feed. There are certainly tried and true practices, but ultimately you should decide what works best for your fish, your set-up, your time, etc. Having said that, I DO have specific feeding method(s) that I follow religiously. 

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Cichlid fry shelter

PVC tube and PEX pyramid. Photo by the author.

 
PVC tube, end view. Photo by the author.

 

This post is about catching specific-sized juvenile cichlids in a tank containing multiple broods. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I semi-regularly take the offspring of the cichlids I breed to my LFS for store or fish credit. In most of my tanks, I don’t separate my breeding pairs once they’ve spawned. The result is that I tend to have multiple broods in the same tank. So what problem am I trying to solve?

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Get a new t-shirt from The Cichlid Stage – for free

The Cichlid Stage t-shirt, front. Photo by the author.
The Cichlid Stage t-shirt, back. Photo by the author.

One quick-acting blog reader can win a free t-shirt right now. I will even ship it for free (anywhere in the world)! To participate you must be a member of at least two of the Facebook groups listed below. The rules are simple and are listed below the Facebook groups. You must complete each step in the rules. The first reader that completes each step below wins!

  • Dwarf Cichlids World Wide
  • Shell Dwellers
  • Cichlid Keepers
  • Tanganyika Cichlids in the USA
  • African Cichlids Worldwide

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Clean those impeller shafts!

Eheim Ecco 2235 canister filter impeller with shaft inserted. Photo by the author.

 

Eheim Ecco 2235 canister filter impeller and impeller shaft removed. Photo by the author.

Three years ago, I posted about keeping your power filters clean, especially the impeller and impeller housing. The point of that post was to help you avoid filter restart problems in the event of a power outage (or when you unplug the filter when you feed your fish or some other reason). Most of the time, a restart failure is due to a dirty impeller housing, dirty impeller, dirty impeller shaft, or all of the above. 

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Julidochromis dickfeldi  domestic housecleaning

Adult female Julidochromis dickfeldi. Note the rectangular, ceramic tube in the background with most of the opening blocked by the rock (below the cichlid). Photo by the author. 

As a regular breeder of J. dickfeldi, I spend considerable time observing them. Of the many interesting behaviors they exhibit, perhaps one of the most is their propensity for house cleaning.

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New IUCN status

IUCN Logo.

If you’re like me, you like to stay apprised of the conservation status of cichlid species around the world. One of the best ways to do this is to visit the Red List, maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This list measures the extinction risk of threatened species (both flora and fauna) on our planet. I’ve written a couple of posts about cichlids and the Red List, which you can find here and here. The new status is called the Green Status of Species.

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