My Juwel 600

[Gavin3171]

How it did look from i first set it up.

Then i had a bit of a move about.

Some of my livestock

One of my two pakistani loaches and the larger of the two plecs. Is it male or female and what type is it? my guess is its a female. I was trying to get a straight pic of the plec but my loaches are very nosey.

one of 4 panda corys

one of two Rams

My male molly and one of the platys bellow

I have all in all

2 female mollys
1 male molly
2 male plattys
2 molly fry
2 male guppies
3 female guppies
2 pakistani loaches
2 plecs
4 panda corys
2 Blue rams


I wanted some shrimp for my clean up crew but i was told the loaches will eat them.

Tank has internal filter with 50w heater in the filter unit and External APS 400 air pump with a long stone on the edge and small stone inside the barrel.

Thanks for looking

 

[ZoddyZod]

just a word of caution on those plecs.....they look like 'commons' to me. They can reach 2 feet in length and grow at a fair rate.

 

[mattyeatsmatts]

Hey Gavin nice looking tank, I have one myself. Have you ever thought about changing the Gravel? IMO A black substrate would bring the colours of the fish out my better.

 

[Gavin3171]

I have thought about it but it was the mrs choice so i dont think she will be happy with me changing it just yet!

My LFS said they will take on the plecs if they get too big. I think the bigger of the two has grown half an inch in the 6-8 months we have had the tank.

 

[minnnt]

Its not the colour that bothers me, its the size of it.

Your rams are mikrogeophagus which are part of the earth eater family of cichlids which means they like to move substrate. They also like a temperature of 28c-30c which would be too warm for their tankmates so not really a good mix of fish. The higher temps mean that they are less likely to suffer health problems and live longer.

The cories also prefer sand as their natural feeding method is to pass the top layer of sand through their gills so they can sift out any bits of uneaten food.

I agree that black sand will make the colours really pop.

 

[Gavin3171]

black sand or small black gravel?

These are the things that they dont tell you at the LFS or P@H

 

[minnnt]

Lol, yeah its a common story Gavin. Sand will be better for the reasons I mentioned above. I would rehome the rams or set up another tank with the higher temperature. What are your water conditions btw? They require soft acidic water.

You could replace them with a pair of Apisto's which are more forgiving of any mistakes or water parameters that aren't quite right.

 

[Gavin3171]

They seem very happy where they are though. I may locate them to the tank downstairs.

the current temp is 26.5 and my water levels are spot on. PH is 7.8.....

 

[minnnt]

Wow. They are much happier in 6.5. Really. They have the potential to live for around 5 years, cooler water can dramatically lower that to around 1.5-2.

 

[Gavin3171]

they weren't sold in a separate tank either. they were in with a few mollies at the shop.

 

[minnnt]

Like you said, the LFS never tell you that.

 

[Gavin3171]

got any links as to where i can get the fish you mentioned? my LFS wont be able to get them in

 

[minnnt]

Apistogramma's? If there is a Maidenhead Aquatics near you then they will stock a couple of varieties. If not then there is plenty of them on ebay atm. Also try aquarist classifieds.

 

[Gavin3171]

theres one near cambridge. thanks

 

[ZoddyZod]

here's a fish shop finding tip

use google maps - bring up your local area - search for 'aquatics' and it should show you most of the LFS you have locally.