Well, my new African cichlid tank is just about fully stocked. YAY!!

I have 3 Yellow Labs, male and 2 females (male is vibrating at them like crazy!), 3 Acei's, again a male and 2 females (and he is vibrating like mad too!) one male Powder Blue Ps Socolofi and my very favorite so far is my itsy-bitsy-teeny-tiny Red Zebra that miami754 brought to me yesterday! It is the bravest little fish I have ever seen LOL. He will probably grow up to be king of the tank too. It is just under an inch and all the rest are about 2 1/2". The little guy hangs with the big ones, and when he gets charged, instead of swimming away, he will duck under them!! So funny to watch too, it confuses the one who charged. I am totally enjoying watching these guys and girl's personalities develop! I never understood why people get so hooked.

I had asked miami754 a few questions, because he seemed to really know his stuff and discovered we live in the same city! We even get all our fish and stuff from the same small LFS. He brought me my baby zebra and it was wonderful to talk about my tank. I was so worried it wasn't done right, etc. But he gave it a thumbs up and now I feel much more confident about it. He confirmed for me that I indeed do have a 1M/2F ratio with my yellows and Acei, explained how many more my tank can handle, etc.

It was so nice to show off my other two tanks to someone who actually listened and enjoyed watching them instead of getting that eyes glazed over look! I am sure you all know that look. :-D My big Bolivian Ram male was in a "mood" while Robert was here and put on quite a show for him! His little daughter is the cutest thing too. She liked my African dwarf frogs and my cats (animal cats).

So, I now have someone to talk about my fish to, and to maybe trade babies with. He is going to save me a couple more red zebras in case I decide on a couple girls for my little "Punky" later on. And I told him he is welcome to the best ram kids the next batch I get, or Brichardi fry if they ever get to spawning (I read they do like mad).

So, all is happy in my new tank. Its been set up for 2 months now, and I expect a couple holding females any time now. The Yellow and Acei females are really intrigued with the egg spots on the males when they vibrate. I will put a good size chunk of lava rock in one corner, curved side down on the sand so the fry can go in there when they arrive (another idea from Robert, Thanks!).

Just wanted to share with you all :-) The man knows his stuff and always gives great advice.

Hope everyone is having a good day and are not melting in the heat like here in Colorado today!

Cathy (Dizzcat)