I’m so pleased you are making videos again, there’s so much rubbish out there that people unfortunately pick up on and think is right when it’s not, you always speak the truth and give everyone the benefit of your knowledge and experience
Love you LFS's. I do the Facebook videos for a LFS and can't repeat enough how important the LFS store is to this hobby. The knowledge as pure love of fish simply cannot be matched by a corporate big box store.
Omgosh! Glad I came across your vids! Your info is clear and thorough. I decided to pull out my 50 gallon tank- I only have4 African cichlids. I don’t plan on adding more Right now. My tank got chaotic and now I’m trying to stabilize. This video helped me sooo much. I bought the special blend and though something was wrong with it so I bought another one. Lol Funky! Thanks to you I know it’s supposed to be funky. Now I’m doing daily WCs, seachem prime & the funk- special blend.
Hi Richelle, I really enjoyed this video. I think many of us have made these mistakes at one time or another.I also wanted to let you know that I am so pleased that you’re back. Also, I just purchased one of your T-shirts last week and expecting it to come by next week. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next video
Hi Denny. Thank you for encouraging me 🐟🤓 I figured many of us would identify to these mistakes. No judgement though. We all go through a learning curve.
Good evening Richelle. 😊 Welcome back, I have missed seeing you around. I hope you are well. Awesome video, I agree with everything you said. #Like92 is now up! Stay safe and take care my friend. Greetings from the U.K.
@@QuebecCichlides My pleasure Richelle. It it a pleasure to have you back my friend. I think it is taking off because people missed their very good friend. 😊
Great video thanks. My daughter has a 10gal tank with a Betta and a Nerite Snail. Would like to add some pals for the male Betta. Any first hand experience and suggestion guys?
Thank you for the info. I look forward to the next one. I have a 60 gallon all males mbuna tank. My biggest problem is high nitrate. Some peoples say that you shouldn't do more than a 30% water change. What is your opinion?
I change nearly 75% of my water every water change. It's about getting nitrates down, if you have 20ppm weekly, a 30% change is only going down to 14ppm, then you add about 20ppm. It is individual according to the bio loads of the tank
The rest of my 55 tank fish(6 out of 11) all survived my stupidity last month and are doing well right now... so the 30 gallon babies will be more than enough to transfer to take the place of the lost ones once bigger. Water changes this weekend yay. Thanks kiddo for all your advice.
Water changes are not only for removing nitrates it also adds minerals and elements that are depleted if you do once a week and test water i personally do 25% minimum to 80% depending on stocking also match parameters for water your taking out to water your putting in including PH always great advice on this channel i would use dechlorinated water to clean a filter myself
Very nice Information my friend I have to shifted my house to another place can I add my fishes to the bucket and make new cycle with carbon for them? And when it's safe to re deploy them back in the tank?
For the experienced aquarist, it is far better to cycle robustly artificially and then add all or most of the fish you want to keep at once. This keeps down on aggression. If you cycle robustly, your filter will handle all possible ammonia generated by all fish many times over. Get your filter to process a great deal of ammonia before adding fish.
You are 100% right. Cycling with Dr. Tims ammonia, for example, not only promotes responsible fish keeping, but more importantly your filter will be super charged with BB to handle the load
One addtional question. I have the aqueon quiet flow 75 filter with two filters. Should both filters be changed at the same time and if not, how far apart ? Ty
Back mount filters have an overflow passage to let you know how clogged your filters are. Should we let it bypass a little while before pulling and rinsing out or rinse when noticed.
Hi Richelle, Great beginner advice! Where we’re you (and youtube) 30 years ago when I started keeping fish? My 1st tank was a 55 gallon community tank. I had no idea about the cycle. I bought the tank at night. Set it up with a cheap HOB filter rated for a 40-60 gallon tank. Also had an air pump with a treasure chest that opened and closed with the bubbles and an air stone. The next morning I went back to the store and purchased 55 fish. Worst part is nobody in the store even questioned me buying than many fish. Well I don’t have to tell you what happened. Total carnage! Crazy part is even as bad as it got the 1st fish I picked out was a moonlight gourami. Not only did he survive he lived 10 years! Tough 🐠
How long should I wait to clean my new tank for the first time ? I don't want to lose any beneficial bacteria and my levels are all perfect at the moment.
As a fellow Canadian, I'm thrilled that you make such informative videos and share them with us. I also like that you are not pushing so many "Brands" as the big American sites. I'm very interested in ordering fish from you in the future as well. I am so frustrated with not having fish shipped to me from the USA (aside from Covid restrictions) They tell me things like "we only ship FedEx Air" to which I reply, We have FedEx planes landing in Calgary airport all day every day" ....then no more communication from them. What is your webpage, please?
Thank you for your message. I think some Americans don't know we have planes 🤣 Send me an email here and I'll give you a shipping quote once I get back to the office. www.quebec-cichlides.com/contact-us You can also find my stock list on the website.
How about plants in plastic cups with pothos in them to keep nitrates down. UV to keep aquarium clean and healthy. eBay has all kinds and aquaphonic filters. Will they help.?
We did testing at Cornell University we started aquariums with a sponge filter and aquaponic plants pothos etc. after cycle 2 months took out filter tripled the fish load. Plants got established algae died off all readings were zero the longer the system was up the aquarium became self sufficient. We did a lot of experiments in school marine and freshwater biology have degree in both subjects. Thank you for answering me your a lovely young Lady. We kept marine fish no filters that’s a story for another day. I’m still in the Hobby brought in Africans 50 years ago had 3 whole sale houses in Bronx N.Y.. now a Snowbird Florida, New York Best wishes Freddie 😎
I feel like you left out one very important procedure for regular maintenance, when I do water changes I use a gravel vacuum when I extract old water to be flushed. Uneaten food particles and fish waste will find secure places in the substrate and accumulate in it.
Please help i have a breading group of yellow labs water perimeters are perfect they breed for fun but im having problems with fungus on there fins iv tried treatments but it wont go away i dont know what to do
@@QuebecCichlides my daughter is 10. Animal crazy. She got a new cichlid and she is very upset with herself because it died. Blaming herself for it. She knew that she shouldn't put more in the tank because there's a social order and it might die. And we don't have a 'safe' tank setup, yet. Lol but a lesson learned the hard way.
I decided to change my sponge filters to a new set and new clean HoB filter pads at the same time. 15 min after the water change and filter swap the ammonia spiked so hard the entire tank started to re-cycle. my fish went from swimming to floating almost instantly. Luckily this tank is my main living room tank so i noticed it right away and did a 50% water change and added some bio media to control the ammonia. Thankfully none of my Mbuna died and the tank is crystal clear again.
What about using too much aquarium products?..I started a new tank about 2 weeks ago and I only have 2 goldfish in it now but I often find myself tempted to pour this product that product etc in almost daily even tho it doesn't need it. Fortunately I've resisted but what about those who dont
Hello and thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.. I have a problem, a big one.. I wanted A tank with some fish, that's it.. Instead, I have created a baby factory.. My Mbunas are mating constantly.. One of the ladies are always holding.. When the first female, that was holding, let her babies out for the first time, the other fish darted in and started eating babies.. Right in front of me.. I think that scarred me in my soul.. I bought a bunch of plastic plants and took them apart.. I cut all the pieces the same length from the end to my cut.. I made a baby forest that the adults could not get into and that would give the mothers a place to let their fry out, no one could eat them and I would feed the fry, in the baby forest.. Well, it worked much too well.. I have created a monster.. There are hardly any mom and pop shops around anymore and mostly there are the big chain stores.. They don't want to take fish from people even if they are free.. There is one shop near where I live that I have already given 20+ to.. I am setting up a larger tank because there are way too many people in there.. I only wanted An aquarium with some fish.. Help.. Any suggestions from anyone about what I should do.. I can't have a hundred new fish every month.. I'm not a fish store, I'm just someone who just wanted a fish tank..
I got albino snow white cichlid and I think I accidentally killed it by feeding it to much protein please get bk to me if this isn't possible and it's something else
In 2017, I added some CO2 to my tank to help out with my plants. My next water change all of my fish were like 😵😵😵. I mean some were jumping out of the dang thing. Killed them all in no time flat. I had the tank for years and I've been in the hobby since the 80s. So now I know the whole CO2 carbonic acid thing.... Ya. I mean my friend did it. Oh and Rochelle how do I find how to buy a shirt? Can't seem to find it on the site.
@@AQUAGUYUK I had cicled water (since petco gave it to me to fill my aquarium with it) but after two weeks nitrite and ammonia peaked.... I've been making daily water changes for four days already, it has decreased a little but I still have ammonia and nitrite :( .... I'm not adding bacteria, just Prime cause I was not sure...
@@karenceballos5196 Its not the water that needs cycling its the filter and substrate this can take a month to six weeks for the bacteria to be able to deal with ammonia and nitrite
Even us old-timers have to be careful adding lots of fish at the same time. I do a waterchange (my usual 90%) the day before and don’t feed my fish. When I add the fish, I don’t feed for a couple of days. I’m not worried about starving fish from shipping etc because they have been fattened up in quarantine for a few weeks before ever going in my display tank. This makes it easier for the filter to adjust to the new bio-load. Wait... there are people with only one tank? I know there are heretics that have zero tanks, but one tank? That’s blasphemy!
Yes... but if the fish are still alive, you need some beneficial bacteria...unless you have a spare filter on another tank, you're stuck with the one you have
@@QuebecCichlides keeping a 10 gallon with zebra danios always a must have as a quarantine or emergency tank. Would you drive around with no spare tire?😎
Water change every Sunday because Sundays are boring for me. Nothing good on TV get it done during the god hour 😂🤣 buy the way I am JustMyFish change of Name 😊👍🏻💞
It drives my wife nuts doing water changes. So I tell her do you want your angle fish to die? I told her I'm buying a phyon and now so don't mind me doing water changes
It depends on your fish. Unless you have a saltwater or discus, or any other fragile fish tank, you can make them less frequently :) Just check your nitrate to make sure you're safe
Great videos! Just recently got into the hobby with my children. Next time I'm in Montréal I'll stop by. Cheers from Newfoundland.
Building a new one now. Thank you for all of your videos.
My pleasure! 🐟🐟🐟
I’m so pleased you are making videos again, there’s so much rubbish out there that people unfortunately pick up on and think is right when it’s not, you always speak the truth and give everyone the benefit of your knowledge and experience
That's so kind of you. Thank you :) I have so many more videos that I'm preparing for you guys...and projects in the works. :D
Im new ciclids lovers, i subscribed to get more tips and just want to thank you now im ready to buy ciclids
Love you LFS's. I do the Facebook videos for a LFS and can't repeat enough how important the LFS store is to this hobby. The knowledge as pure love of fish simply cannot be matched by a corporate big box store.
Aww Thank you 🤓🐟
Lol...love the straight forwardness and love the channel.
Thank you🤓🐟
Omgosh! Glad I came across your vids! Your info is clear and thorough. I decided to pull out my 50 gallon tank- I only have4 African cichlids. I don’t plan on adding more Right now. My tank got chaotic and now I’m trying to stabilize. This video helped me sooo much. I bought the special blend and though something was wrong with it so I bought another one. Lol Funky! Thanks to you I know it’s supposed to be funky. Now I’m doing daily WCs, seachem prime & the funk- special blend.
Hi Richelle, I really enjoyed this video. I think many of us have made these mistakes at one time or another.I also wanted to let you know that I am so pleased that you’re back. Also, I just purchased one of your T-shirts last week and expecting it to come by next week. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next video
Hi Denny. Thank you for encouraging me 🐟🤓 I figured many of us would identify to these mistakes. No judgement though. We all go through a learning curve.
Hope you didn't go through the bonus one though. That one is BRUTAL!
My glad you are back stay safe
Thank you 🤓🐟
Good evening Richelle. 😊
Welcome back, I have missed seeing you around. I hope you are well.
Awesome video, I agree with everything you said.
#Like92 is now up!
Stay safe and take care my friend.
Greetings from the U.K.
Ah yes, I forgot to mention. That male Frontosa looks awesome! 😊
Thank you :) I'm so happy to be back...and I'm happy that my frontosa are putting on a good show!
Wow...this video is really taking off! Houray!
@@QuebecCichlides My pleasure Richelle.
It it a pleasure to have you back my friend.
I think it is taking off because people missed their very good friend. 😊
Great video thanks.
My daughter has a 10gal tank with a Betta and a Nerite Snail. Would like to add some pals for the male Betta. Any first hand experience and suggestion guys?
Thank you for the info. I look forward to the next one. I have a 60 gallon all males mbuna tank. My biggest problem is high nitrate. Some peoples say that you shouldn't do more than a 30% water change. What is your opinion?
I change nearly 75% of my water every water change.
It's about getting nitrates down, if you have 20ppm weekly, a 30% change is only going down to 14ppm, then you add about 20ppm. It is individual according to the bio loads of the tank
If I had watched this kind of knowledge 11 years ago, it would have saved many fish lives ....
Thanks cichlid queen ...
The rest of my 55 tank fish(6 out of 11) all survived my stupidity last month and are doing well right now... so the 30 gallon babies will be more than enough to transfer to take the place of the lost ones once bigger. Water changes this weekend yay. Thanks kiddo for all your advice.
Very helpful and informative video 🤓
Thank you 🐟🤓
Water changes are not only for removing nitrates it also adds minerals and elements that are depleted if you do once a week and test water i personally do 25% minimum to 80% depending on stocking also match parameters for water your taking out to water your putting in including PH always great advice on this channel i would use dechlorinated water to clean a filter myself
Very nice Information my friend I have to shifted my house to another place can I add my fishes to the bucket and make new cycle with carbon for them? And when it's safe to re deploy them back in the tank?
Keep your filter cycled and you should be fine to put them back in the tank. There isn't a lot of beneficial bacteria in carbon.
@@QuebecCichlides Many thanks.
For the experienced aquarist, it is far better to cycle robustly artificially and then add all or most of the fish you want to keep at once. This keeps down on aggression. If you cycle robustly, your filter will handle all possible ammonia generated by all fish many times over. Get your filter to process a great deal of ammonia before adding fish.
You are 100% right. Cycling with Dr. Tims ammonia, for example, not only promotes responsible fish keeping, but more importantly your filter will be super charged with BB to handle the load
One addtional question. I have the aqueon quiet flow 75 filter with two filters. Should both filters be changed at the same time and if not, how far apart ? Ty
Back mount filters have an overflow passage to let you know how clogged your filters are. Should we let it bypass a little while before pulling and rinsing out or rinse when noticed.
Hi Richelle, Great beginner advice! Where we’re you (and youtube) 30 years ago when I started keeping fish? My 1st tank was a 55 gallon community tank. I had no idea about the cycle. I bought the tank at night. Set it up with a cheap HOB filter rated for a 40-60 gallon tank. Also had an air pump with a treasure chest that opened and closed with the bubbles and an air stone. The next morning I went back to the store and purchased 55 fish. Worst part is nobody in the store even questioned me buying than many fish. Well I don’t have to tell you what happened. Total carnage! Crazy part is even as bad as it got the 1st fish I picked out was a moonlight gourami. Not only did he survive he lived 10 years! Tough 🐠
You're too kind🤓🐟 The hobby has evolved so much since then.
For your sanity, I won't tell you where I was 30 years ago.
I can guess! You are about my daughters age. 😂
Hi thanks for the video can’t wait for the next one
Thank you.🤓🐟 I'm working on it. There definitely will be one for next week.
Hi😊
In your opinion what's the minimum tank size is good for frontosa and how many fish is good for it?
How long should I wait to clean my new tank for the first time ? I don't want to lose any beneficial bacteria and my levels are all perfect at the moment.
As a fellow Canadian, I'm thrilled that you make such informative videos and share them with us. I also like that you are not pushing so many "Brands" as the big American sites. I'm very interested in ordering fish from you in the future as well. I am so frustrated with not having fish shipped to me from the USA (aside from Covid restrictions) They tell me things like "we only ship FedEx Air" to which I reply, We have FedEx planes landing in Calgary airport all day every day" ....then no more communication from them. What is your webpage, please?
Thank you for your message. I think some Americans don't know we have planes 🤣
Send me an email here and I'll give you a shipping quote once I get back to the office.
www.quebec-cichlides.com/contact-us
You can also find my stock list on the website.
@@QuebecCichlides Trudeau used a plane to flee the truckers
Thanks for the content
I'm glad you liked it :D
How about plants in plastic cups with pothos in them to keep nitrates down. UV to keep aquarium clean and healthy. eBay has all kinds and aquaphonic filters. Will they help.?
Pothos eat the nitrates...but not as much as you think ;)
UV can help but buy at your local fish/pet store, not ebay. Encourage your local economy
We did testing at Cornell University we started aquariums with a sponge filter and aquaponic plants pothos etc. after cycle 2 months took out filter tripled the fish load. Plants got established algae died off all readings were zero the longer the system was up the aquarium became self sufficient. We did a lot of experiments in school marine and freshwater biology have degree in both subjects. Thank you for answering me your a lovely young Lady. We kept marine fish no filters that’s a story for another day. I’m still in the Hobby brought in Africans 50 years ago had 3 whole sale houses in Bronx N.Y.. now a Snowbird Florida, New York Best wishes Freddie 😎
Welcome back 💙
Thank you🐟🤓It feels good to be back!
I feel like you left out one very important procedure for regular maintenance, when I do water changes I use a gravel vacuum when I extract old water to be flushed. Uneaten food particles and fish waste will find secure places in the substrate and accumulate in it.
Thanks for your feedback
Please help i have a breading group of yellow labs water perimeters are perfect they breed for fun but im having problems with fungus on there fins iv tried treatments but it wont go away i dont know what to do
There's 5 tanks in my living room. 3 20g and 2 55g. 😁 The struggle is real. Took forever to get them right. Love your channel 💓
You definitely have room for more! 🐟🤓
@@QuebecCichlides my daughter is 10. Animal crazy. She got a new cichlid and she is very upset with herself because it died. Blaming herself for it. She knew that she shouldn't put more in the tank because there's a social order and it might die. And we don't have a 'safe' tank setup, yet. Lol but a lesson learned the hard way.
Welcome back!
Thank you 🐟🤓 It's good to be back!
Off topic question , Is it possible for two different types of African cichlids to mate ? . Ie , A Yellow lab and a Blue cobalt .
Some can hybridize
Are the zeo-carb filters and do I replace it with my current one?
What is the best fish to keep with Blue Ram and what size tank is best for one Ram I have a 10g tank and I like no if that ok
I decided to change my sponge filters to a new set and new clean HoB filter pads at the same time. 15 min after the water change and filter swap the ammonia spiked so hard the entire tank started to re-cycle. my fish went from swimming to floating almost instantly. Luckily this tank is my main living room tank so i noticed it right away and did a 50% water change and added some bio media to control the ammonia. Thankfully none of my Mbuna died and the tank is crystal clear again.
This comment gave me an anxiety attack! 😱 I'm happy to hear everything worked out well
What about using too much aquarium products?..I started a new tank about 2 weeks ago and I only have 2 goldfish in it now but I often find myself tempted to pour this product that product etc in almost daily even tho it doesn't need it. Fortunately I've resisted but what about those who dont
Don't pollute your tank ;) Just use products as necessary.
Hello and thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.. I have a problem, a big one.. I wanted A tank with some fish, that's it.. Instead, I have created a baby factory.. My Mbunas are mating constantly.. One of the ladies are always holding.. When the first female, that was holding, let her babies out for the first time, the other fish darted in and started eating babies.. Right in front of me.. I think that scarred me in my soul.. I bought a bunch of plastic plants and took them apart.. I cut all the pieces the same length from the end to my cut.. I made a baby forest that the adults could not get into and that would give the mothers a place to let their fry out, no one could eat them and I would feed the fry, in the baby forest.. Well, it worked much too well.. I have created a monster.. There are hardly any mom and pop shops around anymore and mostly there are the big chain stores.. They don't want to take fish from people even if they are free.. There is one shop near where I live that I have already given 20+ to.. I am setting up a larger tank because there are way too many people in there.. I only wanted An aquarium with some fish.. Help.. Any suggestions from anyone about what I should do.. I can't have a hundred new fish every month.. I'm not a fish store, I'm just someone who just wanted a fish tank..
My goodness! That's quite a problem.
Have you tried finding Facebook communities where you could trade your fish?
I used a mr clean magic eraser. It’s not toxic but a bunch of small parts came of clogging my filter
I got albino snow white cichlid and I think I accidentally killed it by feeding it to much protein please get bk to me if this isn't possible and it's something else
Could you please do a video on how to make African cichlids grow fast?
Brilliant idea!🤓🐟 Noted!
@@QuebecCichlides Looking forward to it
In 2017, I added some CO2 to my tank to help out with my plants. My next water change all of my fish were like 😵😵😵. I mean some were jumping out of the dang thing. Killed them all in no time flat. I had the tank for years and I've been in the hobby since the 80s. So now I know the whole CO2 carbonic acid thing.... Ya. I mean my friend did it. Oh and Rochelle how do I find how to buy a shirt? Can't seem to find it on the site.
I use seasoned pads or a whole filter or get a pad from a pet shop filter that from a healthy tank😎
Should I be putting bacteria to water in everyday changes if I'm dealing a with nitrite and ammonia peak? Or just once a week??
Wouldnt hurt but has the tank been cycled Nitrite would suggest a new tank syndrome
@@AQUAGUYUK I had cicled water (since petco gave it to me to fill my aquarium with it) but after two weeks nitrite and ammonia peaked.... I've been making daily water changes for four days already, it has decreased a little but I still have ammonia and nitrite :( .... I'm not adding bacteria, just Prime cause I was not sure...
@@karenceballos5196 Its not the water that needs cycling its the filter and substrate this can take a month to six weeks for the bacteria to be able to deal with ammonia and nitrite
aquaguy is right. There isnt any beneficial bacteria in the water. That's just a myth
Feed that filter of yours some bacteria
@@QuebecCichlidesthanks a lot!!!
Even us old-timers have to be careful adding lots of fish at the same time. I do a waterchange (my usual 90%) the day before and don’t feed my fish. When I add the fish, I don’t feed for a couple of days. I’m not worried about starving fish from shipping etc because they have been fattened up in quarantine for a few weeks before ever going in my display tank. This makes it easier for the filter to adjust to the new bio-load.
Wait... there are people with only one tank? I know there are heretics that have zero tanks, but one tank? That’s blasphemy!
That's great advise. Thanks for sharing! 😁 I've read about people with zero tanks in a book... I don't believe in it though!
How to lower PH
Question won’t the filter be contaminated also?😎
Yes... but if the fish are still alive, you need some beneficial bacteria...unless you have a spare filter on another tank, you're stuck with the one you have
@@QuebecCichlides keeping a 10 gallon with zebra danios always a must have as a quarantine or emergency tank. Would you drive around with no spare tire?😎
@@freddievara8117 That's the perfect comparison! Love it!
Where have u been?????
Not too far. 2020 was a weird year:
th-cam.com/video/BtNHndclkrs/w-d-xo.html
I change 2,000litres every month my tank is 5,000 litres bit like Joeys
Oh wow! Awesome!
Great video and advice pick up your fish shit 😆 people !
Yeeesss!!!!
you mic volume is very low in every video, i can barely hear anything.
audio is so low :(
Water change every Sunday because Sundays are boring for me. Nothing good on TV get it done during the god hour 😂🤣 buy the way I am JustMyFish change of Name 😊👍🏻💞
Sunday is national water change day 🤣
I was very aggressive until my wife clocked me with a frying pan🤯
Really ?
It drives my wife nuts doing water changes. So I tell her do you want your angle fish to die? I told her I'm buying a phyon and now so don't mind me doing water changes
No more spills :D Best investment to save your marriage lol
If my nitrates are about 10 I don’t need to change every week then, right? Nitrites are 0. It means that ammonia should be also in check?
It depends on your fish. Unless you have a saltwater or discus, or any other fragile fish tank, you can make them less frequently :) Just check your nitrate to make sure you're safe