I'm In Love!

[Always Learning]

As some of you are aware, I have been messing my head deciding whether to lose my Malawi tank and set up an American one.. well, I finally did it and first impressions are.... I love it! It's nice to have plants back in there, although I know they may not fare too well and I might have to get fake ones again, but for now, it's nice at least. I like the overall look, although I am waiting on some Vallis and Anubias to be delivered to fill it out a little more. The gravel.. although it looks nice, I am concerned about how sharp it is, as the Guntheri are eartheaters and the others like to dig also. I'll keep an eye on it, but I may just get some moon and and be done with it. Please ignore the pieces of slate holding the redmoor down... they will be changed and I have some nice plum pieces to go in.

Some before and after shots. I don't have no snazzy new camera though.. just my old phone, sorry.
Before

After

The fish have made me fall for them already. The Sev just swims around looking gormless, the Oscar is already a little terror at an 1 1/2" long.. knocking my thermometer about and he has found that he can make the little surface skimmer float around the tank if he knocks it up on the shaft The Guntheri have coloured up more than I have ever seen them, within an hour of adding them to the tank. The JD hasn'n't been overly shy either, nor the rainbows or the firemouth.. which was suprising, in a good way.

Here's only a few pictures I could get. They will all come and see me at the front.. but then swim away when the phone comes up. I guess they're just camera shy....

The best news of all though was from the Mrs. She had already agreed to a 6ft 180g but has now said we can double that up and have two of them! She's even going to pay for it So, sometime before the baby is here in June, we'll be in the new house and I'll get building a stand for them both. Happy days!

 

[star4]

Looks fantastic, I have to say it, the little oscar is soooooooo cute.

 

[Carlovel1]

I think it looks much beter now, good job!

 

[markandhisfish]

looks fantastic. have to admit tho i love both looks .

 

[SensesFail]

looks fantastic. have to admit tho i love both looks .

one word SMART!!

 

[Always Learning]

Thanks. Still a little cloudy and not quite finished, but it's getting there. The oscar is indeed cute.. though I can see him being a handful as he matures. He was the most active one, in a tank of slightly larger red oscars, so I had to have him..

I like them both too mark, although the picture of the africans doesn't do the tank justice. With the right lights on and actually being able to see the fish, rather than a blur, it was ace. Ended up with a bit of a mix though due to tanks merging, but it was working out... I wonder if I would be pushing it asking for another tank

 

[markandhisfish]

lol why not , id go for it now while shes in a giving mood

 

[karin]

You will have to let me know what you think of the gravel. I have a similar one that I suspect of killing 4 baby plecos. I just think it is too sharp for softbelly fish. It is in my 29 gallon listed below. I don't see it posing a problem for other fish though.

 

[Verminator89]

You mention a Jack Dempsey! where is he/she. Pictures, nay i demand!

Your Oscar is uber cute. You can tell its barely over an inch long because of its silver colouring, thats how mine was when i bought him. Mine was the only silvery one in a tank full of red/black tiger oscars. I thought mine was odd, but it was just seriously juvi still compared to the rest. Also if your Oscar is anything like mine with plants you won't be able to grow anything in there. Mine hates foliage haha, tearing around from one end of the tank to the other with a massive cryptocoryne plant dangling down.

The scape itself looks very good, the only thing i'm not so keen on which distracts my attention is the massive slate piece on the right. It looks unatural.

 

[hamfist]

Looks great at the moment, but I don't hold out much long term success for your plants. With a sev and an oscar in there, they will be very rough with real plants once they are bigger !

I fully applaud your decision to go with american cichlids though. They are so full of character, generally, compared to their african cousins. You are doing the right thing growing them out from juveniles though. There is a much better chance that they will all live happily with each other, rather than trying to mix older fish together.

Will be looking forward to more pics as they grow, and of course of the two new 180G tanks to come !

 

[Always Learning]

You will have to let me know what you think of the gravel. I have a similar one that I suspect of killing 4 baby plecos. I just think it is too sharp for softbelly fish. It is in my 29 gallon listed below. I don't see it posing a problem for other fish though.

The gravel is really quite sharp... to the point that my hands are scratched all over from cleaning it! The grain size is fairly small though, but big enough so that they spit it out, rather than trying to filter it through their gills. Looks nice though,with the glossy black and brown... it almost looks natural.

You mention a Jack Dempsey! where is he/she. Pictures, nay i demand!

I'll try and get some but my phone is terrible. Hopefully, I can borrow one. Regarding the slate, it is just a tempory measure to hold the root down, whilst I get some slate pieces to attatch to the bottom.

I'll just enjoy the plants whilst they last, but I will get some nice fakes ones if needed.. don't fancy a naked tank again.I can secure the wood in place and other things so that they don't get moved around much.... hopefully.

I can't wait to watch these little guys develop! Just got to get home from work first...

 

[hamfist]

The gravel is really quite sharp... to the point that my hands are scratched all over from cleaning it!

No way would I risk that with substrate-sifting fish.

 

[Always Learning]

I know.. I think I will try the Tahitian Moon Sand instead. It's not really much different to the coral sand I had in the previous setup though and they would sift and dig all day with no adverse effects. I'm just not comfortable with it and feel it is restricting their natural behaviour too much.

On a different note, regarding the teeny oscar. I have known fish to get more aggressive with age, but if he doesn't calm down, he won't even be able to live with himself! How much would you read into his aggressivness at such a young age? He is the smallest, or joint smallest in the tank, yet swims around trying to take chuncks out of everyone. I have the feeling that he is going to be trouble, so I'm not sure what to do really. There's more at work, but I am going to leave it a week or so to see how things settle.. but most horrible things stay that way througout their lives...

 

[hamfist]

On a different note, regarding the teeny oscar. I have known fish to get more aggressive with age, but if he doesn't calm down, he won't even be able to live with himself! How much would you read into his aggressivness at such a young age? He is the smallest, or joint smallest in the tank, yet swims around trying to take chuncks out of everyone. I have the feeling that he is going to be trouble, so I'm not sure what to do really. There's more at work, but I am going to leave it a week or so to see how things settle.. but most horrible things stay that way througout their lives...

I tend to agree with your first impressions. If he is trouble now. It'll probably get worse. If he was in with aggressive, bigger fish it would be a good sign as he would have a good chance of holding his own. But, all the fish he is currently in with are potentially smaller and more placid than he seems to be, so I would expect trouble in the long run. If you can change him for a more placid one .... personally, I would do it.