January, 2005 questions you asked Aqualand

Our web site gets several questions, which we usually answer. Some times we don’t know the answer. Hard to believe, but it happens. If you have a question, include your location. That makes it more interesting. One thing I did learn was that I should add the new stuff at the bottom -- not the top. LA

Mike Pratt, January 2, 2005
Just a note to thank you for the considerable work you have put into your web site. I was just delighted to find the detailed pictures on the plecos. It is sites like yours that show the true value of the internet.
Kind regards,
Mike

A: Thx, Mike. You got my year off to a good start, however, I consider our web site more fun than work. LA

Jennifer Carrano, January 4, 2005
I have been looking through your site for the last 2 hours unable to tear myself away. I felt it was necessary for me to let you know how much I appreciate what a fabulous job you have done in providing accurate, educational and entertaining information.
My dad got me interested in aquariums as a hobby when I was three years old. He recently turned over two of his tanks to me and I have had a blast re-acquainting myself with fish that he has had since before I was born (30 yrs ago). I thank you for being so enthusiastic and for sparking new interest in an old (almost forgotten) hobby of mine. Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Marie Carrano

A: In my original answer to Jennifer, I told her she needs to get four more tanks. However, it’s really hard to criticize someone with such astute analytical skills. Thx, Jenn. LA

Dave Gard, Utah, January 5, 2005
What is the cost and availability of African lungfish (Protopterus annectens)? Thanks
Dave Gard, Professor of Biology, University of Utah

A: They’re usually available and cost $60 to $80. We do not sell fish thru the mail. LA

Tita, Indonesia, January 6, 2005
My name is Tita (MS), I am marketing division of Aquatic Indonesia. On 2002 I received your mail about tropical fishes. Are you still import live tropical fishes? We have very large stock of freshwater fish, marine fish, coral, and aquatic plant. And we have special offer price on some fishes. Please feel free to contact me for further information. We are ready to send you our stock list available. We are interested to make business with you and hope we have good relations business in near future.
Tita, CV.Aquatic Indonesia

A: We did not answer this one because we didn’t write for the info. However, we love to get these missives because I like the way they write in other countries. They remind me of how provincial we are. We can barely speak English much less another language. LA

Kim, January 10, 2005
I have a feral dove with an injured wing and I’m not sure if it is releasable. I was wondering if I can put this dove in cages with two pigeons (females?) I am not a rehabber just a person who cares. I find these guys in my backyard and the rehabbers here are over loaded. The cage I have these two pigeons in is approx. 7 feet high, 8 feet wide and the depth is 4 feet.
If you have any info or links pertaining to this situation that would be great. Thank you.
Kim

A: I still remember the first wild bird I caught when I was a kid. It was a house sparrow. I watched the red mites crawl up my arm and I let him loose fast -- real fast. Gee, maybe mom was right? I’d hate to mix wild (feral) birds with captive birds. LA
(And I wish I’d said your pigeons would probably pick on the wounded dove. Sorry I left that out of the response.)

Nguyen Dinh Tuan, January 10, 2005
Dear sir,
I’ve just visited your web site. I’m writing from Vietnam and I’m a farmer in Hochimin City, where a lot of farmers raise earthworms for shrimp, fish, and castings for raising vegetables and with a very cheap price! And I know you as a specialist in earthworm production. Are you interested in my being your supplier with a big amount? Thank you for your interest. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.
nguyen dinh tuan

A: We can’t use large amounts of earthworms. We get ours from a local worm farmer. Thanks. LA

Matt Humphrey, January 11, 2005
I have a question to ask and I don’t know if you can help me at all. I have a Silver Arowana I am thinking about getting rid of but I want him to go to a good home. When I got him he was about 3 inches long but now he is almost a foot long. My question was do you guys buy fish or do you do trades of any sort? I still am not sure if I want to give him up or not but I’d greatly appreciate knowing I have a place I could possibly consider. thank you.

A: We buy used fish all the time, Matt. We’ve got a couple of 11-inch arowanas right now. But we trade them in when we have room. Always call before bringing in a used fish. We don’t always have room for them. For instance, we one time got up to 173 two-inch black convicts. Call first. LA

A: Yes, when they are in season. They’re fairly pricey and I wouldn’t recommend them for most people. LA

Amy Alcorn, January 13, 2005
hi, i was wondering if you take your own pictures of your own fish, or if you use pictures of other peoples fish for your web site.
~Amy Alcorn

A: Of the 8,000 pictures on our web site, all but maybe 50 are not mine. I always credit the source. Most of the fish are mine but not all. I’ve been to other fish stores, hobbyists, breeders, and fish farms. And last millennium I used to judge a lot of Aquarium Shows. Some of the coolest fish were prize winners. LA

Jared Cruz, January 14, 2005
I’ve been looking for gold belly newts here in Minneapolis but have been unsuccessful. I grew up finding them in streams in California. I used to have 8 in a tank over 8 years ago but over time all but 2 have died. Now I have two males in full breeding form that are looking for friends and mates.
I understand from the web site that you do not do mail order. So, maybe I could make the trip. Are you open this weekend? Do you have any gold belly newts currently? How many?
- Jared from Minneapolis

Clay Carter, January 15, 2005
Hey. My name is Clay. I live in Indiana. I love and live for fish. I have 7 aquariums in my room alone. I also have a turtle and a hamster. Your site is the best site on the internet. I am on it multiple times every day. Your site has taught me most of the information I know about pets. I wish I could take a trip to Iowa just to come to your store. I just wanted to tell you how great your site is. Peace Out,
Clay

Miss Jennifer Alice Kossa, January 16, 2005
Dearest one,
Greetings!
Kindly permit me to discuss this problem of mine with you. My Father was the chairman of contract review panel in my country Cote d’Iviore (We call it Ivory Coast here in Des Moines. LA) before the problem of the land reform program and political crises in my country
he was assassinated together with wife on the 26th September, 2002. Before the escalation in Cote d’Iviore just of recent I recovered $16.8 million US dollars from over inflated contracts by some
government officials ...
(I had to redact much of this desperate missive from Jennifer. It was partly in French and got quite personal as she brought up events from a past life I thought I had given up and moved on from. It also involves financial matters too involved to delve into here.)
... I want to trust you and please do not let me down when this fund finally gets into your account. Please get to me through my email address to enable me feed you with more details and all necessary documentations. Please treat this as confidential.

A: Dearest Jennifer, miamour. I’m truly sorry that we have grown apart over the years. But we agreed it could never work out. I hope that the cashiers check I sent to you via FedEx makes it to you in time. It’s written on the same Nigerian bank account that handles all my financial affairs. I hope this helps make up for the way I left you in Abyssinia. Adieu for now, mon cheri, but not goodbye. LA

Terry Barkhaus, January 16, 2005
Good morning! I’ve had a salamander since the summer and am curious about their hibernation habits. In the winter months, how long do they hibernate and/or do they come up from time to time to eat? How much soil should I have for him to burrow himself in? He is getting fat and does not eat every day like he used to. He gets half a worm every few days instead of daily. Cause lately he’ll snap at it for several tries (like he’s hungry), then seems to give up and not be interested. Any reasoning behind this? Thank you,
Terry Barkhaus (Mrs)

A: Tiger salamanders dig in below the frost line. Yours cannot really hibernate at room temp. However, he could probably go for weeks without food since he’s already fat. Sign him up for the Jenny Craig plan or buy him a treadmill. If you still want him to eat, give him some variety, like a cricket, goldfish, or mealworm. Don’t worry if he cuts back on the food at this time. He’s just not hungry.
Tiger salamanders come out of hibernation in early April -- way before frogs. And that’s when they breed. Salamander larvae prey on frog larvae. LA

Jake Moga, January 17, 2005
Hi! I’m really looking into dwarf puffers, and I need to know what I
could/should put in the tank. I was thinking shrimp, the mini puffers (duh), and snails (for the puffers). Which type of snail? Anything else I could add? Thanks. Please mail back.

A: Dwarf puffers (if we’re talking Indian dwarf puffers) mix well with bumblebee gobies and “freshwater” flounders. They’ll munch on the shrimp. So make sure you just add ghost shrimp. Snails die pretty fast in brackish water. Add one small snail at a time if you’re adding them for food. You don’t want a mass of dead snail soup polluting your puffer tank. Dwarf puffers do fine on small portions of blackworms, blood worms, and brine shrimp. They may adapt to small portions of flake food later, but don’t count on it. LA

Chris Snyder, January 18, 2005 11:48 AM
How much are your waterdogs? If so, can you ship me one to O'Fallon, MO 63366? What would be the total price for a waterdog and a couple (2) Bullfrog tadpoles thrown in. Thanks, Chris

January 18, 2005 11:52 AM
Oh yeah, and have any larger (3 inches or larger Albino Clawed Frogs) you could throw in? Chris

January 18, 2005 12:04 PM
Darn, you guys have some good stuff. It’s pretty cold here as well, but a heat pack or two usually does the trick (Just had a baby turtle shipped when it was around 0 degrees. Let me know if you decide to ship! Thanks, Sincerely, Chris Snyder

A: 11:55 Sorry Chris. We do not sell thru the mail. And just two days ago it was 10 below here -- not conducive to any live critters going thru the mail. LA

11:58 We have four breeder-size clawed frogs in stock -- two regular, two albino. We do not ship thru the mail. LA

12:13 Most heat packs last about 12 hours. If the shipper would keep stuff warm, we’d probably ship, but ...

By the way, it has been illegal to sell turtles in the US since 1973.

PS Now I have to confiscate your house, computer, and snowshoes.

Steve Ford, January 18, 2005
Hi, my name is Steve. I have e-mailed this site before and I was just curious if maybe you could help me out. I love my fish tank and have had it for over a year now. There’s just one problem. I have only recently discovered how to keep the water in tip-top shape so as you may know already, I’ve gone through a few fish. You see, my tank is looking kinda bare and I was just curious if you could possibly send me some opinions of the fish that you think are a great addition to a freshwater tank. By good additions I mean fish that are hearty, easy going, not too sensitive and fish that are beautiful. Basically I want a real cool fish tank and was hoping you could give me a helping hand on adding a variety of fish to my tank to make it look diversified and beautiful.
Any help in this department would be extremely appreciated and I’ll continue to research your site for help.
Thanks for any help,
P.S. I have a 30-gallon tank and may get a bigger tank in a few months. If possible I would like to have some big fish that look great and won’t eat the smaller ones I have. Thanks and sorry for all the grammar errors.

A: Here’s a chart to help you decide. However, base your final decisions on which ones are available in your area and which ones appeal to YOU. LA

Hein Ten Berg, Belgium, January 19, 2005
Browsing your beautiful and extensive site, I was wondering if it were possible to acquire through your intervention a number of dwarf sunfish, Elassoma evergladei.
As the name suggests, this fish is native to the Everglades in Florida.
I would like to have some wild caught or good quality captive bred fish, which would make good stock for further breeding.
I live in Belgium and wonder if it is possible for you or perhaps an affiliated trader in Florida, to ship such fish to Belgium. I used to breed this fish 40 yrs ago, but nowadays I never come across them anymore, they seem to have vanished entirely from European fish shops. Yet, they are most stunning and interesting fish if well kept in not too warm water.
Could you let me know about the prospect of starting with a fresh batch of the tiny “knights” ? Thanks a lot for answering.

Don’t be surprised if E. evergladei are not immediately available. They are probably only available at certain times of the year. E. evergladei are not a “commercial fish” in our area. They are most likely to pop up as hitchhikers in boxes of feeder fishes or feeder ghost shrimp. LA
Comment: Obviously we need to start shipping fish via mail.

Sherry Long, January 20, 2005
I’m looking for information on the breeding of mini crabs. I have two males and two females. A couple of days ago one pair of mini crabs were found mating and I’m not sure what to do from here. Please help if you can in this matter. Thank you.

A: Most crabs release multiple thousands of eggs into the ocean to drift along with the gazillions of other micro-organisms floating in the “soup” that makes up the plankton that feeds larger critters. Crab eggs and larvae help make up the zooplankton that eat either each other or the phytoplankton (algae).

Manuel Urriaga, January 23, 2005
Dear Sir: My name is Manuel Urriaga; I represent a company called Trigger Selva S.A.C. based in the Jungle along the Amazone river in Peru, South America . At the present moment we are contacting with companies around the world that wish to commercialize Ornamentals Fish, from tropical fresh water.
We have different species and a large vararity that we believe may interest you. If you are interested please do not doubt to contact us for further information regarding the species and sizes and different qualities. For further Information please contact us. We hope to here from you in the nearer future. Yours Sincerely,

A: We are sort of interested but not enough to answer and get on their weekly e-mail inventory. LA

Chris, January 24, 2005, 12:56 am
Hi, I am a beginner in keeping fish.
I had a double swordtail which has a big stomach (if compared to the others)? Is it pregnant or what?
Can you please send me a picture of pregnant swordtail so I can compare it to mine. I really want to breed swordtail and tiger barbs. What should I do? Can you teach me how to differentiate the sex of tiger barbs? I read in your articles but my tiger barbs look all the same.
I had 35 fish in my tank, is it over-populated? (it’s a 2 1/2 feet tank) (It consists of 5 types of fish) Is too many types of fish is the cause that fish can’t breed? Please reply me. Thanks.

A: Swordtails pretty much breed themselves. Females have babies every six weeks and then eat them. In your tank of 35 fish, she has lots of help eating them. The key is to put her in a separate 10-gallon tank with lots of places for the babies to hide. You also want to keep her well fed but not overfed. Your lyre tail sword with the big stomach (and no gonopodium) is probably pregnant. Look for a dark area at the back part of her belly. The eyeballs of the babies usually show through. If you see this dark area, separate her.
If your tiger barbs all look alike, they’re probably too young to breed -- but not too young to eat baby swordtails.
If your 30-inch tank is a 20L, you’re a little crowded but not seriously. If it’s a 29, they have room to grow. Any fish old enough to breed are probably breeding all the time. The other fish eat the babies and eggs before you see them. If you want to breed fish, you need more tanks. Keep up the good work. LA
PS: You are staying up way too late.

Michelle Zerangue, January 19, 2005
I have a question about a toad that we have as a pet.
We caught a couple of baby toads this summer (about 6 months ago). We have still have one toad, but it does not eat much of anything at all any more.
We were feeding it mealworms from the pet store, but it just stopped eating them. There were also some baby crickets that hatched from the soil that we put in the container. Those are no longer there so I guess the toad ate them. I don’t want it to die, but I don’t think it will know how to live on its own if we let it go.
What should we do to help it out?

A: It was probably not a baby toad. Two baby toads will fit on my pinky fingernail -- way too small to eat mealworms. Toads normally vacation during the winter below the frost line. They fatten up during the fall in preparation for their long vacation under ground. Toads normally eat nothing during the winter, because they sleep until the robins come. He’s trying to hibernate. Warm him up a little. Show him a picture of a robin and switch to crickets. Toads do not need to eat every day. LA.

Chris, January 24, 2005
Thanks for the reply. Can you please send me some worms because the pet shop around my place don’t provide any. Do you mean that if my swordtail has some black colour behind the stomach? Yes, it has. And she has quite a large white stomach. I think I bought her pregnant in a pet shop. So, will she need the male fish to help her fertilize the eggs in her stomach? Thanks

Sir Fred Okonjo, January 25, 2005
RE: APPROVED CONTRACT PAYMENT OF US $7.5 MILLION ONLY EXECUTED UNDER C/NO:FMF/PED/CBN/1277-02.
With due respect, I am a director with the Federal Ministry of Finance and was instructed by the Hon. Minister of Finance to find out before the end of this month, why your contract/ claim of your fund have not been credited to your bank account, after instructions has been passed to all various Government parastatals that all over due contract/ claim payments should be released as a lot of petitions by beneficiary’s is being received bythe Minister.
Your bank details is what this office requires from you to reconfirm,with your telephone and fax numbers respectively, and any other information. However, why have you not received your payment up-till date? In view of this circumstances, I will give my assistance to make sure your file is in order for payment as two unknown people came for the claim of the funds and submitted bank account claiming that you are sick. Yours faithfully,

A: Good to hear from you this morning, Sir Fred. How’s your new album coming along? I thought I had already sent that info to you earlier. Probably slipped my mind. With your $7.5 mill and Jennifer’s 16.8 mill, this has been a pretty good month for my web site. Once you get the papers processed, I’ll send you a $400,000 finder’s fee because it sounds like you are looking out for me. Thanks a lot. Send me your bank account number so I can deposit the $400,000 directly to your account. And, how much does a Spell Check program cost in Nigeria? I plan to send you enough extra in your finder’s fee to cover it. Again, thanks a lot, and say Hi to all your wives and kids. LA

Chris, January 26, 2005, 4:21 am
Hi, Do you have a picture of pregnant swordtail? Do you mean that if the swordtail had enough food, it will not eat its young?

Sabine Tall, Frankfurt, January 27, 2005
I am writing from Germany in desperation! I almost know your info about small tanks and paradise fish by heart, but still got lumbered with 2 male Paradise rather than 1 male & 1 female. Although I did have serious doubts the lady in my local aquatic shop insisted they were male and female. I keep them in a 5-gallon tank at the moment. They are appr. 6 months old and absolutely beautiful so that I don’t want to get rid of either of them.
Now my question, when do they start getting stroppy to each other and since I will have to separate them sooner or later, is there a possibility of adding any other creature to each one of them. I spent hours on the net to get that sort of info, but most fish do need more space and also there seem to be loads of different opinions out there and my head is spinning. I do want to keep my fish a long as possible in good condition.
I do not even have to approach a German aquatic shop as they are so patronizing and try to sell you the biggest tank with the most outrageous equipment on the spot.
I hope you can help. Thanks a lot in advance,

A: Wie gehts und danke for teaching me two new words. I’ve never seen the word “stroppy” before, but it’s the perfect word to describe mature male paradise fish. However, since you’ve kept yours together for six months, they may not get stroppy with each other. They will react more violently to new tank mates.

And danke for the word “lumbered.” I haven’t seen that one for years. Female paradise are not common in Des Moines either. So don’t be too hard on the fish store lady. However, you do need more room as your paradise get more size and attitude. About the only tank mates I’d recommend in a five-gallon tank would be the danios. They’re fast, cheap, eat whatever you give them, and need no heaters. LA

Chris, January 27, 2005, 11:06 pm
Thanks for your guide. My swordtail had give birth yesterday evening. There are about 23 fry now. Is there a need to change the water cause it is quite dirty. Can you tell me how to differentiate the sex
of tiger barbs?

A: Female swordtails give birth every six weeks without my advice. The trick is keeping the other fish (and her) from eating her babies. She likely had more than 50. If their water is dirty, clean out 20% with a gravel vacuum cleaner. Although, the extra mess probably helped the babies hide and they do eat the minute organisms that live in the tank trash. Feed them finely crushed flake foods. Add a mystery snail or three to clean up the mess you make because you are no doubt overfeeding them.
Mature male tiger barbs have redder noses and redder fins. Females have larger bellies. Both grow darker bands when they come into spawning condition. If you cannot tell the sexes apart, they are probably too young to breed. However they will spawn at surprisingly young ages. Put each potential breeder in its own aquarium for two weeks prior to breeding. Feed them well to condition them. After the two weeks pass, put them all together in your breeding tank (a 10 with bunch plants in one end). Do not feed them. They will usually spawn the next morning. LA
PS You are still staying up too late.

Linda Smithers, Pennsylvania, January 28, 2005
Hi Larry, I called the store and was told to e-mail you. I have 2
climbing perch- Anabas and have been searching to buy more. (You have them listed under oddball fish) Mine are orange/black and pink/black. Do you have any that I could purchase? and also photos?
I am in Pennsylvania so would need them shipped. Thank you

A: Sorry, Linda, we do not send fish out at this time. And, I don’t have any Anabas in stock at present. All the Anabas species that I’ve run across have been nasty little dudes, so we only stock them occasionally. I can, however, send you some photos when we get climbing perch in again. Did you want me to put you in my tickler file (I’ve always wanted to say that) and send the pictures when I get them? LA

Taylor Hedrich, Michigan, January 30, 2005
I recently purchased a beautiful cherry finish 130-gallon aquarium with a stand and canopy. I am very excited about it, although I have just water in it at the moment, because I am letting it go through the Nitrogen Cycle. I have plans of raising oscars. I thought that it would be a great idea to have a variety of oscars such as red, tiger, albino tiger, pink, and so on, to benefit in making my aquarium more interesting and pleasurable to view by me, my family, and friends. However, since I have been visiting more sites and reading about breeding oscars, including yours, I am wondering myself if I would like to take a chance at possibly breeding them. I was wondering if oscars can cross breed. Being familiar with breeding poultry, and not having much knowledge at breeding fish, I don’t know, although I am guessing that they don’t. The reason I was wondering, is because if I think that I want to breed oscars I may have to get oscars of all the same type. Summarized: My question to you is: Can oscars cross breed? I would appreciate it very much if you could find the time to reply. In that reply could you also please tell me in your own opinion what type of oscar you think the best pet and/or breeder, if there is such a thing. Personally, if I were going to breed oscars I wouldn’t want to breed tiger or red oscars as much, because they are so popular, and almost everybody that has oscars has one of the two. I think that I am pretty interested in pink oscars. Are they good pets and/or breeders to have?
Thank you very much, it would mean a lot to me if you could reply.

Second, all the oscars are the same species and will breed together. All the colors have the same propensity to breed with their own color or any other color. If by pink oscars you mean albinos, they will breed true for you. Your only difficulty will be coming up with a mated pair. Your 130-gallon tank makes a perfect tank to spawn oscars in. LA

Taylor again, January 30, 2005
I just wanted to let you know that out of about 7 messages I sent, you were the only one to reply with a personal response. Everyone else had an automated e-mail that told me to post it on their website. So I just wanted to thank you again. I’m sorry about the Nitrogen Cycle confusion. I should’ve added that I put a plecostomus in there for a few days to make organic wastes to get the cycle started, and then I took him out. I was mislead by another web site and their “pink oscars.” I recently discovered that after many searches of “pink oscars” that they are the only web site that has so-called pink oscars. They are pretty though. So yes, I am going to have albinos. Thanks again. You answered what I needed to know.

	Qs & As -- Your Questions in January, 2005 Aqualand's Answers

Amphibians Axolotls Caecilian Worm Chaco Toad Mud Puppies Newts General Newts Eastern Newts Golden Newts Mandarin Salamanders Suriname Toad Tadpoles Terrarium I Terrarium II USA Toads Water Dogs Misc. Toads Frogs Bull Clawed Dumpy Dwarf Fire-Belly Floating Green Tree Leopard Pac Man Pipa pipa Pyxie Red-Eyed Tree Tomato Misc. More Misc. Misc Frogs III Animals Bunnies Chinchillas Degus Ferrets Gerbils Guinea Pig Hamsters I Hamsters II Hamsters III Hamsters IV Hamsters V Hedgehogs Kittens Kids & Kittens Mice Parasites Rats I Rats II Rats, Hairless S-T Opossums Sugar Gliders Water Bottles Bugs Crabby 500 Crab 04 Results Centipedes Cray/Lobsters Crayfish II Crayfish III Cray, Yucatan Fiddler Crabs Shrimp, Algae Shrimp, Aqua Shrimp, Red Shrimp, Flower Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, Rudolph Hermit Crabs Hermit Crabs II Madagas Roach Mantids Mini-Clams Mini-Crabs Giant Millipedes Red Claw Crabs Reiman Butterfly Snail, Apple Snail, Colombian Snail, Land Snail, Malaysian Snail, Mystery Snail, Trapdoor Scorpions Tarantulas TarantulaWeen II Misc. Bugs Birds Breeding Tips Canaries Cockatiels Dove, Diamond Dove, Ringneck Finches Love Birds Parakeets Pelleted Foods Quaker Parrots Parrot Pictures Parrot Pix II Dave's Parrots Lizards Alligators Anoles Bearded Dragon Calotes Chamel, Jackson Chamel, Panther Chamel, Veiled Gecko, Crested Gecko, Golden Gecko, House Gecko, Leopard Gecko, Tokay Horned "Toads" Iguana New Iguana Dragons Iguana Q&A I Iguana Q&A II Iguana Training Iguana Update Knight Anoles Monitors, Nile Monitors, Savana Monitors, Water Salmonella Skinks Skinks Blue-Tongue Tegus Uromastyx maliensis Water Dragon Misc Lizards Misc Lizards 2 Misc Lizards 3 Snakes Anacondas Boa, Rosy Boa, Red-Tail Corn Snake Garter Snake Green Snake Kids/Corn Snakes Kids/Red-Tail Boas Kids at Pet Expo 1 Kids at Pet Expo 2 Kids at Pet Expo 3 Kids at Pet Expo 4 Kids at Pet Expo 5 King & Milk Python, Ball Python, Burmese Snakesgiving Snakesgiving II Misc. Snake Pix Turtles Box, Asian Box, USA Races Snapping Sulcata Water Live Foods Blackworms Blood Worms Br Shrimp I Br Shrimp II Crayfish 1 Crayfish 2 Crayfish 3 Crickets Daphnia Earthworms Feedr Goldfish Fruit Flies Ghost Shrimp Grindal Worms Infusoria Mealworms Microworms Rosy Reds Super Worms Wax Worms White Clouds Decorating Bubbles Driftwood Gravel Plastic Plants Rocks Slow Growing Plants Miscellaneous How to Start How to Add New Fish How to Keep Healthy Which Fish Get Along? 10 Questions to Ask What is Ich? Under Gravel Filters Cloudy Water Cool Water Tanks Gravel Vacuums Preventing Disease Feeding to the Max Frozen Foods Green Water Nasty Chemicals Overfeeding Power Filters Rift Lake Salts Quarantine Tank Mini-Tank 2nd Av Bait Aquatic Plants Amazon Swords More Swords Sword Plants III Anubias Aponogetons A. boivinianus A. fenestralis A. ulvaceous Aquarium/Bog Banana Plant Bolbitis Bunch Bunch Plants II Cryptocorynes Crystalwort Dwarf Lily Grassy Grassy II Hornwort Hygrophila Lace Java Lance Fern Java Moss Moss Balls Onion Vermiculite Watersprite Aqualand Q&AS Q&As Jan 05 Q&As Feb 05 Q&As Mar 05 Q&As Apr 05 Q&As May 05 Q&As May II Q&As Jun 05 Q&As Jun II Q&As Jul 05 Q&As Jul II Q&As Aug 05	Our web site gets several questions, which we usually answer. Some times we don’t know the answer. Hard to believe, but it happens. If you have a question, include your location. That makes it more interesting. One thing I did learn was that I should add the new stuff at the bottom -- not the top. LA Mike Pratt, January 2, 2005 Just a note to thank you for the considerable work you have put into your web site. I was just delighted to find the detailed pictures on the plecos. It is sites like yours that show the true value of the internet. Kind regards, Mike A: Thx, Mike. You got my year off to a good start, however, I consider our web site more fun than work. LA Jennifer Carrano, January 4, 2005 I have been looking through your site for the last 2 hours unable to tear myself away. I felt it was necessary for me to let you know how much I appreciate what a fabulous job you have done in providing accurate, educational and entertaining information. My dad got me interested in aquariums as a hobby when I was three years old. He recently turned over two of his tanks to me and I have had a blast re-acquainting myself with fish that he has had since before I was born (30 yrs ago). I thank you for being so enthusiastic and for sparking new interest in an old (almost forgotten) hobby of mine. Keep up the great work! Sincerely, Jennifer Marie Carrano A: In my original answer to Jennifer, I told her she needs to get four more tanks. However, it’s really hard to criticize someone with such astute analytical skills. Thx, Jenn. LA Dave Gard, Utah, January 5, 2005 What is the cost and availability of African lungfish (Protopterus annectens)? Thanks Dave Gard, Professor of Biology, University of Utah A: They’re usually available and cost $60 to $80. We do not sell fish thru the mail. LA Tita, Indonesia, January 6, 2005 My name is Tita (MS), I am marketing division of Aquatic Indonesia. On 2002 I received your mail about tropical fishes. Are you still import live tropical fishes? We have very large stock of freshwater fish, marine fish, coral, and aquatic plant. And we have special offer price on some fishes. Please feel free to contact me for further information. We are ready to send you our stock list available. We are interested to make business with you and hope we have good relations business in near future. Tita, CV.Aquatic Indonesia A: We did not answer this one because we didn’t write for the info. However, we love to get these missives because I like the way they write in other countries. They remind me of how provincial we are. We can barely speak English much less another language. LA Kim, January 10, 2005 I have a feral dove with an injured wing and I’m not sure if it is releasable. I was wondering if I can put this dove in cages with two pigeons (females?) I am not a rehabber just a person who cares. I find these guys in my backyard and the rehabbers here are over loaded. The cage I have these two pigeons in is approx. 7 feet high, 8 feet wide and the depth is 4 feet. If you have any info or links pertaining to this situation that would be great. Thank you. Kim A: I still remember the first wild bird I caught when I was a kid. It was a house sparrow. I watched the red mites crawl up my arm and I let him loose fast -- real fast. Gee, maybe mom was right? I’d hate to mix wild (feral) birds with captive birds. LA (And I wish I’d said your pigeons would probably pick on the wounded dove. Sorry I left that out of the response.) Nguyen Dinh Tuan, January 10, 2005 Dear sir, I’ve just visited your web site. I’m writing from Vietnam and I’m a farmer in Hochimin City, where a lot of farmers raise earthworms for shrimp, fish, and castings for raising vegetables and with a very cheap price! And I know you as a specialist in earthworm production. Are you interested in my being your supplier with a big amount? Thank you for your interest. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon. nguyen dinh tuan A: We can’t use large amounts of earthworms. We get ours from a local worm farmer. Thanks. LA Matt Humphrey, January 11, 2005 I have a question to ask and I don’t know if you can help me at all. I have a Silver Arowana I am thinking about getting rid of but I want him to go to a good home. When I got him he was about 3 inches long but now he is almost a foot long. My question was do you guys buy fish or do you do trades of any sort? I still am not sure if I want to give him up or not but I’d greatly appreciate knowing I have a place I could possibly consider. thank you. A: We buy used fish all the time, Matt. We’ve got a couple of 11-inch arowanas right now. But we trade them in when we have room. Always call before bringing in a used fish. We don’t always have room for them. For instance, we one time got up to 173 two-inch black convicts. Call first. LA Gary Della'Zanna, January 12, 2005 Do you sell black rubber eels? Gary A: Yes, when they are in season. They’re fairly pricey and I wouldn’t recommend them for most people. LA Amy Alcorn, January 13, 2005 hi, i was wondering if you take your own pictures of your own fish, or if you use pictures of other peoples fish for your web site. ~Amy Alcorn A: Of the 8,000 pictures on our web site, all but maybe 50 are not mine. I always credit the source. Most of the fish are mine but not all. I’ve been to other fish stores, hobbyists, breeders, and fish farms. And last millennium I used to judge a lot of Aquarium Shows. Some of the coolest fish were prize winners. LA Jared Cruz, January 14, 2005 I’ve been looking for gold belly newts here in Minneapolis but have been unsuccessful. I grew up finding them in streams in California. I used to have 8 in a tank over 8 years ago but over time all but 2 have died. Now I have two males in full breeding form that are looking for friends and mates. I understand from the web site that you do not do mail order. So, maybe I could make the trip. Are you open this weekend? Do you have any gold belly newts currently? How many? - Jared from Minneapolis A: We have none in stock right now. They appear to be seasonal? Haven’t seen them in probably 5-6 months except for a few trade ins. Perhaps next spring. Want me to contact you when we get some? LA Clay Carter, January 15, 2005 Hey. My name is Clay. I live in Indiana. I love and live for fish. I have 7 aquariums in my room alone. I also have a turtle and a hamster. Your site is the best site on the internet. I am on it multiple times every day. Your site has taught me most of the information I know about pets. I wish I could take a trip to Iowa just to come to your store. I just wanted to tell you how great your site is. Peace Out, Clay A: Hey backatcha Clay. So you’re the one that’s been using up my web site? Well, anybody that has seven aquaria can’t be all bad. Don’t be so hard on those other sites. They’re trying their best. LA PS Better read the whole thing. There will be a test. And peace out to you, too. We’re downwitcha, dude. Miss Jennifer Alice Kossa, January 16, 2005 Dearest one, Greetings! Kindly permit me to discuss this problem of mine with you. My Father was the chairman of contract review panel in my country Cote d’Iviore (We call it Ivory Coast here in Des Moines. LA) before the problem of the land reform program and political crises in my country he was assassinated together with wife on the 26th September, 2002. Before the escalation in Cote d’Iviore just of recent I recovered $16.8 million US dollars from over inflated contracts by some government officials ... (I had to redact much of this desperate missive from Jennifer. It was partly in French and got quite personal as she brought up events from a past life I thought I had given up and moved on from. It also involves financial matters too involved to delve into here.) ... I want to trust you and please do not let me down when this fund finally gets into your account. Please get to me through my email address to enable me feed you with more details and all necessary documentations. Please treat this as confidential. A: Dearest Jennifer, miamour. I’m truly sorry that we have grown apart over the years. But we agreed it could never work out. I hope that the cashiers check I sent to you via FedEx makes it to you in time. It’s written on the same Nigerian bank account that handles all my financial affairs. I hope this helps make up for the way I left you in Abyssinia. Adieu for now, mon cheri, but not goodbye. LA Terry Barkhaus, January 16, 2005 Good morning! I’ve had a salamander since the summer and am curious about their hibernation habits. In the winter months, how long do they hibernate and/or do they come up from time to time to eat? How much soil should I have for him to burrow himself in? He is getting fat and does not eat every day like he used to. He gets half a worm every few days instead of daily. Cause lately he’ll snap at it for several tries (like he’s hungry), then seems to give up and not be interested. Any reasoning behind this? Thank you, Terry Barkhaus (Mrs) A: Tiger salamanders dig in below the frost line. Yours cannot really hibernate at room temp. However, he could probably go for weeks without food since he’s already fat. Sign him up for the Jenny Craig plan or buy him a treadmill. If you still want him to eat, give him some variety, like a cricket, goldfish, or mealworm. Don’t worry if he cuts back on the food at this time. He’s just not hungry. Tiger salamanders come out of hibernation in early April -- way before frogs. And that’s when they breed. Salamander larvae prey on frog larvae. LA Jake Moga, January 17, 2005 Hi! I’m really looking into dwarf puffers, and I need to know what I could/should put in the tank. I was thinking shrimp, the mini puffers (duh), and snails (for the puffers). Which type of snail? Anything else I could add? Thanks. Please mail back. A: Dwarf puffers (if we’re talking Indian dwarf puffers) mix well with bumblebee gobies and “freshwater” flounders. They’ll munch on the shrimp. So make sure you just add ghost shrimp. Snails die pretty fast in brackish water. Add one small snail at a time if you’re adding them for food. You don’t want a mass of dead snail soup polluting your puffer tank. Dwarf puffers do fine on small portions of blackworms, blood worms, and brine shrimp. They may adapt to small portions of flake food later, but don’t count on it. LA Chris Snyder, January 18, 2005 11:48 AM How much are your waterdogs? If so, can you ship me one to O'Fallon, MO 63366? What would be the total price for a waterdog and a couple (2) Bullfrog tadpoles thrown in. Thanks, Chris January 18, 2005 11:52 AM Oh yeah, and have any larger (3 inches or larger Albino Clawed Frogs) you could throw in? Chris January 18, 2005 12:04 PM Darn, you guys have some good stuff. It’s pretty cold here as well, but a heat pack or two usually does the trick (Just had a baby turtle shipped when it was around 0 degrees. Let me know if you decide to ship! Thanks, Sincerely, Chris Snyder A: 11:55 Sorry Chris. We do not sell thru the mail. And just two days ago it was 10 below here -- not conducive to any live critters going thru the mail. LA 11:58 We have four breeder-size clawed frogs in stock -- two regular, two albino. We do not ship thru the mail. LA 12:13 Most heat packs last about 12 hours. If the shipper would keep stuff warm, we’d probably ship, but ... By the way, it has been illegal to sell turtles in the US since 1973. PS Now I have to confiscate your house, computer, and snowshoes. Steve Ford, January 18, 2005 Hi, my name is Steve. I have e-mailed this site before and I was just curious if maybe you could help me out. I love my fish tank and have had it for over a year now. There’s just one problem. I have only recently discovered how to keep the water in tip-top shape so as you may know already, I’ve gone through a few fish. You see, my tank is looking kinda bare and I was just curious if you could possibly send me some opinions of the fish that you think are a great addition to a freshwater tank. By good additions I mean fish that are hearty, easy going, not too sensitive and fish that are beautiful. Basically I want a real cool fish tank and was hoping you could give me a helping hand on adding a variety of fish to my tank to make it look diversified and beautiful. Any help in this department would be extremely appreciated and I’ll continue to research your site for help. Thanks for any help, P.S. I have a 30-gallon tank and may get a bigger tank in a few months. If possible I would like to have some big fish that look great and won’t eat the smaller ones I have. Thanks and sorry for all the grammar errors. A: Here’s a chart to help you decide. However, base your final decisions on which ones are available in your area and which ones appeal to YOU. LA Hein Ten Berg, Belgium, January 19, 2005 Browsing your beautiful and extensive site, I was wondering if it were possible to acquire through your intervention a number of dwarf sunfish, Elassoma evergladei. As the name suggests, this fish is native to the Everglades in Florida. I would like to have some wild caught or good quality captive bred fish, which would make good stock for further breeding. I live in Belgium and wonder if it is possible for you or perhaps an affiliated trader in Florida, to ship such fish to Belgium. I used to breed this fish 40 yrs ago, but nowadays I never come across them anymore, they seem to have vanished entirely from European fish shops. Yet, they are most stunning and interesting fish if well kept in not too warm water. Could you let me know about the prospect of starting with a fresh batch of the tiny “knights” ? Thanks a lot for answering. A: We don’t sell any fish thru the mail. However, here’s the name of a company that does sell North American fish via mail: Aquaboy Aquatics, Email: info@aquaboyaquatics.com They have a website with an inventory list.. Don’t be surprised if E. evergladei are not immediately available. They are probably only available at certain times of the year. E. evergladei are not a “commercial fish” in our area. They are most likely to pop up as hitchhikers in boxes of feeder fishes or feeder ghost shrimp. LA Comment: Obviously we need to start shipping fish via mail. Sherry Long, January 20, 2005 I’m looking for information on the breeding of mini crabs. I have two males and two females. A couple of days ago one pair of mini crabs were found mating and I’m not sure what to do from here. Please help if you can in this matter. Thank you. A: Most crabs release multiple thousands of eggs into the ocean to drift along with the gazillions of other micro-organisms floating in the “soup” that makes up the plankton that feeds larger critters. Crab eggs and larvae help make up the zooplankton that eat either each other or the phytoplankton (algae). You cannot come close to duplicating this at home. And coming up with the names for 30,000 crabbettes is way too much work. LA P.S. If you look real close in your aquarium (and some drinking water), you can see freshwater versions of these same tasty micro-organisms. Manuel Urriaga, January 23, 2005 Dear Sir: My name is Manuel Urriaga; I represent a company called Trigger Selva S.A.C. based in the Jungle along the Amazone river in Peru, South America . At the present moment we are contacting with companies around the world that wish to commercialize Ornamentals Fish, from tropical fresh water. We have different species and a large vararity that we believe may interest you. If you are interested please do not doubt to contact us for further information regarding the species and sizes and different qualities. For further Information please contact us. We hope to here from you in the nearer future. Yours Sincerely, A: We are sort of interested but not enough to answer and get on their weekly e-mail inventory. LA Chris, January 24, 2005, 12:56 am Hi, I am a beginner in keeping fish. I had a double swordtail which has a big stomach (if compared to the others)? Is it pregnant or what? Can you please send me a picture of pregnant swordtail so I can compare it to mine. I really want to breed swordtail and tiger barbs. What should I do? Can you teach me how to differentiate the sex of tiger barbs? I read in your articles but my tiger barbs look all the same. I had 35 fish in my tank, is it over-populated? (it’s a 2 1/2 feet tank) (It consists of 5 types of fish) Is too many types of fish is the cause that fish can’t breed? Please reply me. Thanks. A: Swordtails pretty much breed themselves. Females have babies every six weeks and then eat them. In your tank of 35 fish, she has lots of help eating them. The key is to put her in a separate 10-gallon tank with lots of places for the babies to hide. You also want to keep her well fed but not overfed. Your lyre tail sword with the big stomach (and no gonopodium) is probably pregnant. Look for a dark area at the back part of her belly. The eyeballs of the babies usually show through. If you see this dark area, separate her. If your tiger barbs all look alike, they’re probably too young to breed -- but not too young to eat baby swordtails. If your 30-inch tank is a 20L, you’re a little crowded but not seriously. If it’s a 29, they have room to grow. Any fish old enough to breed are probably breeding all the time. The other fish eat the babies and eggs before you see them. If you want to breed fish, you need more tanks. Keep up the good work. LA PS: You are staying up way too late. Michelle Zerangue, January 19, 2005 I have a question about a toad that we have as a pet. We caught a couple of baby toads this summer (about 6 months ago). We have still have one toad, but it does not eat much of anything at all any more. We were feeding it mealworms from the pet store, but it just stopped eating them. There were also some baby crickets that hatched from the soil that we put in the container. Those are no longer there so I guess the toad ate them. I don’t want it to die, but I don’t think it will know how to live on its own if we let it go. What should we do to help it out? A: It was probably not a baby toad. Two baby toads will fit on my pinky fingernail -- way too small to eat mealworms. Toads normally vacation during the winter below the frost line. They fatten up during the fall in preparation for their long vacation under ground. Toads normally eat nothing during the winter, because they sleep until the robins come. He’s trying to hibernate. Warm him up a little. Show him a picture of a robin and switch to crickets. Toads do not need to eat every day. LA. Chris, January 24, 2005 Thanks for the reply. Can you please send me some worms because the pet shop around my place don’t provide any. Do you mean that if my swordtail has some black colour behind the stomach? Yes, it has. And she has quite a large white stomach. I think I bought her pregnant in a pet shop. So, will she need the male fish to help her fertilize the eggs in her stomach? Thanks A: We don’t sell worms thru the mail. Ask your shop if they carry: ● Frozen brine shrimp; ● Frozen blood worms; ● Frozen tubifex or California blackworms. All medium-size community fishes avidly devour these tasty foods. Nearly every livebearer female you purchase will be pregnant. Most of them will have three or four more litters without “meeting” another male. LA Sir Fred Okonjo, January 25, 2005 RE: APPROVED CONTRACT PAYMENT OF US $7.5 MILLION ONLY EXECUTED UNDER C/NO:FMF/PED/CBN/1277-02. With due respect, I am a director with the Federal Ministry of Finance and was instructed by the Hon. Minister of Finance to find out before the end of this month, why your contract/ claim of your fund have not been credited to your bank account, after instructions has been passed to all various Government parastatals that all over due contract/ claim payments should be released as a lot of petitions by beneficiary’s is being received bythe Minister. Your bank details is what this office requires from you to reconfirm,with your telephone and fax numbers respectively, and any other information. However, why have you not received your payment up-till date? In view of this circumstances, I will give my assistance to make sure your file is in order for payment as two unknown people came for the claim of the funds and submitted bank account claiming that you are sick. Yours faithfully, A: Good to hear from you this morning, Sir Fred. How’s your new album coming along? I thought I had already sent that info to you earlier. Probably slipped my mind. With your $7.5 mill and Jennifer’s 16.8 mill, this has been a pretty good month for my web site. Once you get the papers processed, I’ll send you a $400,000 finder’s fee because it sounds like you are looking out for me. Thanks a lot. Send me your bank account number so I can deposit the $400,000 directly to your account. And, how much does a Spell Check program cost in Nigeria? I plan to send you enough extra in your finder’s fee to cover it. Again, thanks a lot, and say Hi to all your wives and kids. LA Chris, January 26, 2005, 4:21 am Hi, Do you have a picture of pregnant swordtail? Do you mean that if the swordtail had enough food, it will not eat its young? A: You’ll see several pictures of pregnant female swordtails on the web site. An arrow points to the gravid spot where the eyeballs of the babies show thru. No matter how much you feed her, she will still eat some of her babies because they taste good. They need lots of places to hide. Please refer to the “Swordtail” page of the website and get to bed earlier. Also, add two dozen feeder guppies to her tank. They will take her mind off her own fry. LA Sabine Tall, Frankfurt, January 27, 2005 I am writing from Germany in desperation! I almost know your info about small tanks and paradise fish by heart, but still got lumbered with 2 male Paradise rather than 1 male & 1 female. Although I did have serious doubts the lady in my local aquatic shop insisted they were male and female. I keep them in a 5-gallon tank at the moment. They are appr. 6 months old and absolutely beautiful so that I don’t want to get rid of either of them. Now my question, when do they start getting stroppy to each other and since I will have to separate them sooner or later, is there a possibility of adding any other creature to each one of them. I spent hours on the net to get that sort of info, but most fish do need more space and also there seem to be loads of different opinions out there and my head is spinning. I do want to keep my fish a long as possible in good condition. I do not even have to approach a German aquatic shop as they are so patronizing and try to sell you the biggest tank with the most outrageous equipment on the spot. I hope you can help. Thanks a lot in advance, A: Wie gehts und danke for teaching me two new words. I’ve never seen the word “stroppy” before, but it’s the perfect word to describe mature male paradise fish. However, since you’ve kept yours together for six months, they may not get stroppy with each other. They will react more violently to new tank mates. And danke for the word “lumbered.” I haven’t seen that one for years. Female paradise are not common in Des Moines either. So don’t be too hard on the fish store lady. However, you do need more room as your paradise get more size and attitude. About the only tank mates I’d recommend in a five-gallon tank would be the danios. They’re fast, cheap, eat whatever you give them, and need no heaters. LA P.S. Each person can only tell you as much as they know about paradise fish -- usually based on their own experience. You can keep individual paradise in the tiniest tanks. However, the bigger the tank the better. Chris, January 27, 2005, 11:06 pm Thanks for your guide. My swordtail had give birth yesterday evening. There are about 23 fry now. Is there a need to change the water cause it is quite dirty. Can you tell me how to differentiate the sex of tiger barbs? A: Female swordtails give birth every six weeks without my advice. The trick is keeping the other fish (and her) from eating her babies. She likely had more than 50. If their water is dirty, clean out 20% with a gravel vacuum cleaner. Although, the extra mess probably helped the babies hide and they do eat the minute organisms that live in the tank trash. Feed them finely crushed flake foods. Add a mystery snail or three to clean up the mess you make because you are no doubt overfeeding them. Mature male tiger barbs have redder noses and redder fins. Females have larger bellies. Both grow darker bands when they come into spawning condition. If you cannot tell the sexes apart, they are probably too young to breed. However they will spawn at surprisingly young ages. Put each potential breeder in its own aquarium for two weeks prior to breeding. Feed them well to condition them. After the two weeks pass, put them all together in your breeding tank (a 10 with bunch plants in one end). Do not feed them. They will usually spawn the next morning. LA PS You are still staying up too late. Linda Smithers, Pennsylvania, January 28, 2005 Hi Larry, I called the store and was told to e-mail you. I have 2 climbing perch- Anabas and have been searching to buy more. (You have them listed under oddball fish) Mine are orange/black and pink/black. Do you have any that I could purchase? and also photos? I am in Pennsylvania so would need them shipped. Thank you A: Sorry, Linda, we do not send fish out at this time. And, I don’t have any Anabas in stock at present. All the Anabas species that I’ve run across have been nasty little dudes, so we only stock them occasionally. I can, however, send you some photos when we get climbing perch in again. Did you want me to put you in my tickler file (I’ve always wanted to say that) and send the pictures when I get them? LA Taylor Hedrich, Michigan, January 30, 2005 I recently purchased a beautiful cherry finish 130-gallon aquarium with a stand and canopy. I am very excited about it, although I have just water in it at the moment, because I am letting it go through the Nitrogen Cycle. I have plans of raising oscars. I thought that it would be a great idea to have a variety of oscars such as red, tiger, albino tiger, pink, and so on, to benefit in making my aquarium more interesting and pleasurable to view by me, my family, and friends. However, since I have been visiting more sites and reading about breeding oscars, including yours, I am wondering myself if I would like to take a chance at possibly breeding them. I was wondering if oscars can cross breed. Being familiar with breeding poultry, and not having much knowledge at breeding fish, I don’t know, although I am guessing that they don’t. The reason I was wondering, is because if I think that I want to breed oscars I may have to get oscars of all the same type. Summarized: My question to you is: Can oscars cross breed? I would appreciate it very much if you could find the time to reply. In that reply could you also please tell me in your own opinion what type of oscar you think the best pet and/or breeder, if there is such a thing. Personally, if I were going to breed oscars I wouldn’t want to breed tiger or red oscars as much, because they are so popular, and almost everybody that has oscars has one of the two. I think that I am pretty interested in pink oscars. Are they good pets and/or breeders to have? Thank you very much, it would mean a lot to me if you could reply. A: First, your tank will not go thru the nitrogen cycle without fish in it. Several products will help you short-cut the time frame, but don’t add them until you add your fish. Second, all the oscars are the same species and will breed together. All the colors have the same propensity to breed with their own color or any other color. If by pink oscars you mean albinos, they will breed true for you. Your only difficulty will be coming up with a mated pair. Your 130-gallon tank makes a perfect tank to spawn oscars in. LA Taylor again, January 30, 2005 I just wanted to let you know that out of about 7 messages I sent, you were the only one to reply with a personal response. Everyone else had an automated e-mail that told me to post it on their website. So I just wanted to thank you again. I’m sorry about the Nitrogen Cycle confusion. I should’ve added that I put a plecostomus in there for a few days to make organic wastes to get the cycle started, and then I took him out. I was mislead by another web site and their “pink oscars.” I recently discovered that after many searches of “pink oscars” that they are the only web site that has so-called pink oscars. They are pretty though. So yes, I am going to have albinos. Thanks again. 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