Feeding time for the bigger fish

[andywg]

Well, since I have the halides on again at the moment I can take some pretty good pics.

Amazingly Dude, our Gibbi plec came out for a picture

For comparison, this is him when we first bought him some time ago

Here's one of the Chalceus

And another with them all queing up for prawns and flakes. In this you can see the different shape of the snout of the Chalceus erythrurus (the two on the outside) and the Chalceus macrolepidotus. Other than this the only difference is that the C. erythrurus have golden anal and pelvic fins

And even Slinky the Black Ghost Knife made a guest appearance for the camera (his two little cousins didn't stay out for a photo though)

Finally: some of the school of Balas all tucking into the bloodworms together

 

[Bloo]

Wow fab tank ! and gorgeous gibby

 

[Fiori]

Great pictures - especially of the balas feeding. Thats a nice bit (or 2?) of bogwood on the left side of the tank.

 

[ecto1]

The tank looks really nice, it reminds me of the zoo exhibits about rivers. Great setup you've got!

 

[andywg]

Thanks peeps. That is two of the four bits of bogwood in the tank you can see. Each one cost £20 but they're worth it. attached is a pic showing all the bogwood (and the tank) from a little while ago.

This tank (72" x 18" x 18" - 85 UK gallons) is going into storage in a few weeks and being replaced by my new tank (72 x 24 x 24 - 150 UK gallons) though I will be using the same lights and sump filtration.

Tha balas (I'm hoping) should form a nice school. At the moment the three larger ones hang out together and the three smaller ones keep to themselves. the sizes range from 2" to around 6" at the moment so plenty of growing left in them (I'm hoping at least one breaks into 14" territory).

 

[mandi]

WOW I really love your tank ... it looks so natural. And the first pic of your pleco is fabulous!!

 

[CFC]

Fantastic looking tank and great selection of fish

 

[Jo and Gra]

loveing that dude.........i thought it was a zoo pic too!

 

[Paul_MTS]

top stuff andy!

have you still got your hundreds of watts of lighting over that? I would of thought the chaleus would like it on the dull side?

 

[andywg]

Thanks all.

My only problems with the tank at the moment are:

Plants: I can't quite get the CO2 working properly. Am going to try a welding bottle to release CO2 in a better wy than yeast. The algae is growing better than plants and needs careful monitering. The sump system also helps in getting rid of CO2 from the system. But I'm determined to get it right.

Size/Decoration: There are a couple of fish in there I almost never see very well. An L264 that always lives under bogwood, the two smallest BGKs and the bush fish are somewhat difficult to spot and nigh on impossible to photograph.

Glass cover sheets: This is my fault. At the moment the Metal Halides are positioned a little close to the tank and have so far broken 3 cover sheets of glass through over heating. But this will be sorted when I install the new tank.

Thanks again for the compliments. The congratulations of one's peers is always gratefully accepted.

 

[andywg]

top stuff andy!

have you still got your hundreds of watts of lighting over that? I would of thought the chaleus would like it on the dull side?

Owing to one of the T5 connection leads setting itself on fire last week ( ) I am now down to 300W of Metal Halide and 108W of T5 (from a total of 516W). The T5 is at plant growing temperature (aracadia FW tubes, forget K) and the MH is at 4,200K. I think I can be fairly certain that lack of wattage is not the problem with the plant growth)

The Chalceus don't seem to mind the light too much, occasionally even sunbathing in it. However they are so skittish that they make bala sharks look brave. A couple of times I have been looking other fish and then moved my eyes to one and he has run away to the other end of the tank But once the food is in the tank they have a different manner entirely with an attitude not far off the pictus.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

the ablas lok great in a schaoltogetrh have never seen them like tat befoer

 

[waynemc]

Great tank and pics

Are the Chalceus agressive or fin nippers?

 

[KentBlokey]

Great photo and fantastic Fish.

Your moss ball thingy, looks massive, I have flattend mine out and attached to it a rock, didn't realise they got alot bigger.

 

[andywg]

The Chalceus erythrurus has occasionally darted at the C. macropelidotus but nothing major, just establishing pecking order. I haven't seen them take a go at any fins but have only had them for a little over a week or so.

I put the moss balls in a while ag and just left them hoping they would grow in place of some algae. They have grown a bit and provide a great place for live daphnia to hide so the fish get a snack later on.