Yes cathie,they are super cute.Fishlady,my usual routine is to do a 20% water change every Friday after feeding and then have a fast day on the Saturday.As i'll now be adding food more often would it be ok to feed twice a day,everyday,and do a 20% change every 6 days instead of 7?

Well,roughly 6 weeks after getting my little guys and i now have some even LITTLER guys Yes,at least 3 fry were spotted by my wife and i last night.Really tiny.I know they breed like rabbits but its still really exciting when it happens.Just wondering about feeding now.Will they take flake if i crush it small enough? The only other food i have,apart from frozen,is a trial pack of Hikari Gold i had free with PFK.
Secondly,am i still ok to keep one day as a fasting day or should i be putting something into the tank everyday? I like to do this to help keep nitrates low but i don't want to starve the fry to death. Thanks.

What is that sand you have in the photos Fishlady? Looks really cool! I do a 20% waterchange every friday after feeding and then have a fast day on the saturday to help keep nitrates down.Waterchanges aren't a chore for me.I love the way the fish come alive after a bit of fresh water is added.I'm getting a Aqua One Aquanto 182 for christmas.Really nice looking 4 footer.I had a Roma 240 a while back but always thought it looked too deep.The aqua One is 18 inches deep,4 less than the Roma.I'll be sacrificing about 60l in volume but as long as i don't overstock and keep on top of my waterchanges i'm happy to do so as i think this tank will suite the low ceilings we have in our living room better.
I'll be transfering my multi's in there on their own for a bit so they can increase the colony in peace,then i will introduce a small group of young comps.(my favourite looking fish),so to keep the multi numbers down.

So is there a substrate that is darker in colour than coral sand but would still do the same job? I think fish colours show up far better over a dark bottom ?

I asked on another forum if there was a darker substrate that has the same buffering capabilities as coral sand.I was told that it is a myth that coral sand buffers the water and that if i added a commercial buffer to the water i could use any substrate that i wished.Is this true ?

I am due to remove the poly carbon pads from my Fluval U2 shortly and i don't realy want to put new ones in.I've read that they wont actually leach toxins back in to the tank once they stop working as i always believed,but will act as another foam pad on which bacteria will grow.If this is the case i would just leave them in.If not,am i ok to take them out and just leave the compartment empty ?

I have a Fluval U2 in my 67l cube and my multi's seem to love the slightly excessive current it puts out. The only problem comes at feeding time when the flake or frozen food i put in gets blown around the tank too quickly for their liking.They are still young fish and i have had them for just a week and they are still a bit shy with there just being the three of them at the moment.They don't come up very high in the water column to take food and by the time it is waterlogged enough to get down to their level it goes wizzing past too quickly and ends up in or under a shell or rock.
They dont seem to go looking for it then so i have to keep an eye where its going and try to remove it after an hour or so.
Would i be able to switch the filter off for feeding ? We are only talking a couple of minutes a day.Would this have a detrimental affect on my filter bacteria ?

The gang are all fine. Just tried to measure them.Their just about an inch long so quite a bit of growing to do. Just done the first water change and their was a lot of uneaten food.I haven't been over feeding but they haven't eaten a lot,partly because they are new and partly because their so small.
Obviously, with just over 50l of water in the tank after displacement,i want to keep things as clean as possible.I always have a fasting day when i have fish but was wondering if i could just feed 5 days a week instead of 6 ?

Day two and my multis have been out of their shells for the majority of the day,even if they havn't strayed more than an inch away. How long in general before they start behaving as they do in the wild ? I realise that they need a few days to get use to their new surroundings.

Thanks for the link Fishlady. Cathie,if you'd told me that yesterday i would of bitten your hand off. Never seen them locally before. Couldn't believe it when i walked into Bridgend MA this morning. Two fo the three have made an appearance now.I've got 39 escargo shells in there,so plenty of choice for them.