40 Breeder (45 gal) South American inspired planted tank!

I wouldn't put those in there. Also very expensive if you want the real deal (L046) and not the "cheap" ones (L129) are also not really a fit. These fancy plecos have some bioload and with the right group size you'd have to ommit another species for the tank.

I'll stick with the lizard catfish then

 

I'll stick with the lizard catfish then

Sorry one more question, is there any dwarf blackwater plecos you'd recommend for this tank if I decide to move away from the lizard catfish?

 

Not really. Many L-Numbers might proof not suited for your project.
I'm not that much of a pleco guy.

I'm not bad at ecosystems, but some groups are just not my thing. So are plecos.

 

Not really. Many L-Numbers might proof not suited for your project.
I'm not that much of a pleco guy.

I'm not bad at ecosystems, but some groups are just not my thing. So are plecos.

No biggie, lizard catfish it is! I'm excited for this tank and I hope the corys and tetras breed in this environment!

 

Spawn yes. Successfully breed: I doubt it. The stocking has a balanced number of micro predators.

 

Spawn yes. Successfully breed: I doubt it. The stocking has a balanced number of micro predators.

Yeah I don't really want to breed for profit or anything, if I get a few babies that get eaten it would still be cool to see the spawning behaviour



Almond leavea came in! Tank is a lil cloudy still so hard to see the scape on camera but it looks good to me atleast! I got some banana leaves, Almond bark, bakuli pods and apple pods coming in next week! So excited

 

Did the first round of testing today,

Ammonia >0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 6.0

 

Update: had to do an 100 percent water change, which will reset my cycle. I didn't boil the driftwood or botanicals and the water turned so black that light couldn't pass through it. After 3 days I knew I messed up and had to change the water.

 

Things like that happen, but would you mind taking fotos without lensflares?

 

Things like that happen, but would you mind taking fotos without lensflares?

Sure thing

 

Sure thing

cant wait to get this bad boy planted. Most of the plants will be at the back

 

What types of plants are you considering?

 

What types of plants are you considering?

Jungle val, cabomba, frogbit, tiger lotus, penny wort. Any other south American plants I missed?

Jungle val, cabomba, frogbit, tiger lotus, penny wort. Any other south American plants I missed?

also amazon sword***

 

I have heard that vallisneria prefer harder water. I’m not sure if that’s true I just want to let you know
Also apparently the red tiger lotus is from Africa.

 

I have heard that vallisneria prefer harder water. I’m not sure if that’s true I just want to let you know
Also apparently the red tiger lotus is from Africa.

I am aware but MacZ suggested it as an alternative to the south American tiger lotus which looks exactly the same but is harder to find, I think it looks cool and it gets to an impressive size so I'll get it.


First round of plants on the way!

 

Ah ok i must have missed that. I can’t wait to see the tank with plants

 

south American tiger lotus

Tiger Lotus is african and it is the alternative to the South American species which is hard to get.

 

Tiger Lotus is african and it is the alternative to the South American species which is hard to get.

Close enough for me haha
I've been reading up that black mystery snails can tolerate a lower pH and are from south America, would it hurt to add a few of them?

 

Close enough for me haha
I've been reading up that black mystery snails can tolerate a lower pH and are from south America, would it hurt to add a few of them?

Just that they are south american doesn't say much. Snails and blackwater just don't go together. The continent is big and so are the countries the snail comes from. In a clearwater biotope or something like a Pantanal biotope, ok, they would be a fit, but for the direction you are moving with the tank right now, they are no fit.
Also, they would eat your plants and leaf litter as there will be no other food sources for them, once they grazed the biofilms. And adding snail food messes up the water parameters.
I can't say much about Pomacea snails otherwise, they are listed as an invasive species in the EU and as such are prohibited to keep.

I have heard that vallisneria prefer harder water.

Quite right.

 

Just that they are south american doesn't say much. Snails and blackwater just don't go together. The continent is big and so are the countries the snail comes from. In a clearwater biotope or something like a Pantanal biotope, ok, they would be a fit, but for the direction you are moving with the tank right now, they are no fit.
Also, they would eat your plants and leaf litter as there will be no other food sources for them, once they grazed the biofilms. And adding snail food messes up the water parameters.
I can't say much about Pomacea snails otherwise, they are listed as an invasive species in the EU and as such are prohibited to keep.

Quite right.

Ok I'll stay away from them

 

I hope you don't take it as too harsh. Biotope aquariums are somewhat restrictive by default.
It's just that when you look only at South America you have dozens of biotopes and so a lot of fish and plants that don't mix.
Now that I looked again at the plants, I would have probably not taken the Lilaeopsis and the Vallisneria. Floorcovering plants are also a specialty of the Pantanal as are the Pomacae snails, with all the other plants taking away the light I would expect that stuff not to live long. Plus, when a plant covers the substrate how are fish like Corydoras or
dward cichlids supposed to eat?
The Vallisneria, as mentioned above, will likely get problems due to lack of hardness.
For a biotope, please ignore plant typing like "background" "midground" or "floor cover". Those are aquascaping terms and definitions.

 

I hope you don't take it as too harsh. Biotope aquariums are somewhat restrictive by default.
It's just that when you look only at South America you have dozens of biotopes and so a lot of fish and plants that don't mix.
Now that I looked again at the plants, I would have probably not taken the Lilaeopsis and the Vallisneria. Floorcovering plants are also a specialty of the Pantanal as are the Pomacae snails, with all the other plants taking away the light I would expect that stuff not to live long. Plus, when a plant covers the substrate how are fish like Corydoras or
dward cichlids supposed to eat?
The Vallisneria, as mentioned above, will likely get problems due to lack of hardness.
For a biotope, please ignore plant typing like "background" "midground" or "floor cover". Those are aquascaping terms and definitions.

I'll omit the valisneria for Amazon sword, I already bought the lilaeopsis so I'll give it one try, I also don't plan on covering toouch ground with them, I'll trim them back if they grow that much, but after what you just explained they probably won't have that much success anyways

 

What type of Echinodorus are you looking for? The really big ones are unlikely to thrive.

 

I'll omit the valisneria for Amazon sword, I already bought the lilaeopsis so I'll give it one try, I also don't plan on covering toouch ground with them, I'll trim them back if they grow that much, but after what you just explained they probably won't have that much success anyways

Not to confuse things, but I have Vallisneria in really soft water (GH 1-2) and it does very well, the leaves are now nearly all the way across my 1.6m long, 60cm deep tank, and they are always sending out runners and look very healthy.. Echinodorus the common green type does well for me, but I have 3 of the more unusual types and although they appear healthy their growth is extremely slow, they get new leaves but they stay small. I also have a red tiger lotus and that has grown a lot though has never sent a leaf to the top.

 

What type of Echinodorus are you looking for? The really big ones are unlikely to thrive.

Any suggestions? I was just gonna go with the basic Amazon swords

 

Any suggestions? I was just gonna go with the basic Amazon swords

i might still try to the jungle val and see how it does

 

It should work I think. The val even does well for me in another tank I have that at one time was stained quite dark with tannins (it isn't as dark now as I have not been able to get the leaves lately and apparently all the tannins from the wood are now gone), this tank is also virtually covered with water lettuce so the val does well for me in quite a dark tank as well as the other that is fairly bright (but it grows more quickly in the brighter tank). My pH is 6.6-6.8. It makes a good background, and the small runners appear in apparently random places.

I have also been thinking about one of your earlier posts, you said you read that neon tetras keep mostly at the bottom. In my experience they like the middle of the tank best, and certainly do not interfere with any bottom dwellers (or any other fish), I know a lot of people here think they are boring, but I really like them and they would be especially attractive in a blackwater tank. I love the pencilfish too though.

 

It should work I think. The val even does well for me in another tank I have that at one time was stained quite dark with tannins (it isn't as dark now as I have not been able to get the leaves lately and apparently all the tannins from the wood are now gone), this tank is also virtually covered with water lettuce so the val does well for me in quite a dark tank as well as the other that is fairly bright (but it grows more quickly in the brighter tank). My pH is 6.6-6.8. It makes a good background, and the small runners appear in apparently random places.

I have also been thinking about one of your earlier posts, you said you read that neon tetras keep mostly at the bottom. In my experience they like the middle of the tank best, and certainly do not interfere with any bottom dwellers (or any other fish), I know a lot of people here think they are boring, but I really like them and they would be especially attractive in a blackwater tank. I love the pencilfish too though.

Thank u for the thorough response. Everyone on this thread has been very helpful.

I think I'm going to stick to only a handful of plant species:

Frogbit
Amazon sword
Tiger lotus
Lillaeopsis brasilensis
Cabomba

I won't gamble on the jungle val, instead I'll use the lilaeopsis brasilensis as a replacement

Thank u for the thorough response. Everyone on this thread has been very helpful.

I think I'm going to stick to only a handful of plant species:

Frogbit
Amazon sword
Tiger lotus
Lillaeopsis brasilensis
Cabomba

I won't gamble on the jungle val, instead I'll use the lilaeopsis brasilensis as a replacement

Also about the tetras: I like the way black skirt tetras swim around and school more than I like the neon tetras so I will stick with them. This tank isn't going to be very colorful but my goal is to have it look like a slice of the amazon
I said I wasn't going to buy valisneria but it was so cheap it was worth it! I got 5 assorted echinodorus sp. And 5 valisneria, time to plant!

Thank u for the thorough response. Everyone on this thread has been very helpful.

I think I'm going to stick to only a handful of plant species:

Frogbit
Amazon sword
Tiger lotus
Lillaeopsis brasilensis
Cabomba

I won't gamble on the jungle val, instead I'll use the lilaeopsis brasilensis as a replacement

Also about the tetras: I like the way black skirt tetras swim around and school more than I like the neon tetras so I will stick with them. This tank isn't going to be very colorful but my goal is to have it look like a slice of the amazon
I said I wasn't going to buy valisneria but it was so cheap it was worth it! I got 5 assorted echinodorus sp. And 5 valisneria, time to plant!

 

Thank u for the thorough response. Everyone on this thread has been very helpful.

I think I'm going to stick to only a handful of plant species:

Frogbit
Amazon sword
Tiger lotus
Lillaeopsis brasilensis
Cabomba

I won't gamble on the jungle val, instead I'll use the lilaeopsis brasilensis as a replacement

Also about the tetras: I like the way black skirt tetras swim around and school more than I like the neon tetras so I will stick with them. This tank isn't going to be very colorful but my goal is to have it look like a slice of the amazon
I said I wasn't going to buy valisneria but it was so cheap it was worth it! I got 5 assorted echinodorus sp. And 5 valisneria, time to plant!
View attachment 813251

View attachment 813257View attachment 813258View attachment 813260

Added the tiger lotus, frogbit and lillaeopsis brasilensis today!
if the valisneria doesnt do well, i will replace it with cabomba, however if it does well i think the only plant i'll add is more frogbit because the package didnt come with much

 

I have a second tank, a little 1.5 gallon planted shrimp tank with a sponge filter. I went to my lfs and found some Thai micro crabs to add to that tank! These are going in the 1.5 gallon not the 45 gallon biotope

 

Any plant suggestions? Nothing with crazy light or c02 requirements tho

Vallisneria is South American, low tech. Also Echinodorus (Amazon sword). There is a nice grassy Echinodorus I want to try as a ground cover: Echinodorus tenellum (Helanththum tenellum), which gets pink tints when it doesn't get a lot of light. I am also getting an Amazon-inspired tank set up, but just 17gallons, with no Co2, low light. Attach pics when you have them!

 

Vallisneria is South American, low tech. Also Echinodorus (Amazon sword). There is a nice grassy Echinodorus I want to try as a ground cover: Echinodorus tenellum (Helanththum tenellum), which gets pink tints when it doesn't get a lot of light. I am also getting an Amazon-inspired tank set up, but just 17gallons, with no Co2, low light. Attach pics when you have them!

Tank is fully planted now, I'll take pics tonight!

 

 

What I can see looks ok. You really have a lighting problem when taking pictures. This is a fishtank, not the USS Enterprise. Can you try another angle that doesn't make the lights feel like a stadium flood light?

 

What I can see looks ok. You really have a lighting problem when taking pictures. This is a fishtank, not the USS Enterprise. Can you try another angle that doesn't make the lights feel like a stadium flood light?

Sorry I'll try but there's not much space to maneuver around the tank, I'll see what I can do

 

Thank you, the flare is really distracting and shading parts of the tank.
You basically only have to move the camera to a higher point of view. Fotograf from the hight of the light down.

 

Thank you, the flare is really distracting and shading parts of the tank.
You basically only have to move the camera to a higher point of view. Fotograf from the hight of the light down.

Ill try but my bed is right in front of the tank so it might be tough for me to move back far enough. I'll try tho

 

You don't have to move back. Just raise the camera.

 

Do pond snails ruin my biotope?

 

Love it!

Excellent start. Looking forward to see what happens when the plants have grown in and the leaf litter has aged and accumulated.

Switching up the perspective has really helped to get an impression.