My Amazonian Set Up

[Betta5]

I have 3 angels in a 30 UK gallon. I was going to get another but my pair are having 'marriage problems' The male is beating up the female and she just hides away now but they still have eggs all the time. Also rams are better than keyholes. I have had both, keyholes were very aggressive, tryed to kill a few of my fish and in the end the male killed the female and then tryed it with my angels and lost, they died a few days apart. Rams are much prettyer but less hardy.

 

[Gnatfish]

Keyhole cichlids will also eat small tetras (and indeed other small fish) so care has to be taken there.

True Amazon set ups don't include substrate rooted plants, the heavily coloured waters of the Amazon allow very little light to penetrate which supresses the growth of submerged aquatic plants, it is only in the peak of the wet season when rivers flood into the forest that plants are in abundance, and these are mainly terestial plants which are able to survive a few months submerged. A true Amazon set up will be made up using roots and vines to form tall structures in the tank with a few pieces of riccia (or java moss if riccia isnt available) tied to them close to the surface and floating plants such as salvinia on the surface.

Ooo i didn't really think about that. Your probably right. But i always thought that Cardinals were more comfortable among plants, and in all the "Amazon Biotope Tanks" articles they seem to be themed around lots of plants.

I just watched a video about the Amazon becasue i was curious, and it looked like the fish like cardinals dwelled in the flooded forests among the roots, is this only at the peak of the wet reason? I also saw what looked like a Arowana jumping quite high out of the water for food, that was quite interesting.

 

[14gtr14]

i make it you've got roughly 90 inches of fish in there, which is well overstocked.

Are angels something that you want for definite? Are you set on keeping the plecs? I would say just the keyholes and not them + rams.

what about something like this:


6 x hatchets
6x largish tetra (bleeding hearts, penguins, buenos aires, diamond, bloodfin, emperor)
6x cories
2x plecs
2x keyholes
3x ottos

which'll give you roughly 6 + 12 + 12 + 12 + 10 + 3 = 55

...which is still overstocked, but you may be ok with if you overfilter it alot!


greg


EDIT- or....you could get a bigger tank

 

[Fighterfish]

Don't wprry guys and gals. I have loadsof bogwood in the tank and vallis to give cover etc. And ricia floating on top.
I changed my stocking plans as well.
In the tank now i have.
2 Plecs
2 keyholes ( 2 of my first fish never seen them attack anything)
6 Lemon tetras
3 Angels
6 peppered coris
1 emerald cory
1 sae ( i no it isn't amazonian but i can't catch it to give to my friend.)
And some cardinals.
I think that is my final stocking idea.
Pics coming soon. Later this month.
Thanks,
SF

 

[14gtr14]

it's not really about the cover though. it's about how well you maintain it with so many fish in it! you are still very overstocked i would say.


greg

 

[n3ont3tra]

The very minimum for 2 angels is 30g. If you have so much trouble with the fish you already have, and aren't able to get rid of them you should get a bigger tank.

 

[LisaLQ]

What type of plecs are they? If they're commons, you'll have to return them or rehome them, as they need much bigger tanks as they can and do reach 18". You could have one bristlenose in there. But only if you lowered the stocking level a bit....

 

[Glod]

Like Lisa said which plecs ? 30g should be big enough for one small plec, 2 may be too heavy on the filtration. I'd also reccomend cutting the angels down to a pair or even a single angel. Angels will eat cardinals when they get big enough, just a reminder

Sounds like a nice tank, just too heavily stocked in my opinion.

 

[blackeyes]

That's way too many fish for a 30 gallon tank. I would pair down to maybe 2 of each fish you suggested, given the chosen fish specimens aren't too large when you buy them. Either way plan to upgrade to a bigger tank when the fish get bigger like a 55 g

 

[Fighterfish]

I am overfiltering and do 30% water changes every week. I have 2 externals on the tnak. Plecs are bristlenoses. And i won't go down to two of each fish as lemons and cardinals nedd to be in groups of 6+.
I am probably gettingf rid of the smaller angel though as the 2 already look as if they have paired up as they are consatantly together.