425 Litre Cichlid Community Journal

I'm always wanting to post pictures or stories about this tank so I thought I'd start a journal to keep all the developments since I love reading other peoples tank journals.

The first form of the tank:


Hit a few speed bumps in the beginning. There was a whole fiasco with the cycle which was 100% my fault that cost me my gold nugget pleco (still sore about that) but I wont go into all that again. I also lost a gold severum to unknown causes, though I suspect it was not in the best of health when I bought it.

Had a move around;

But decided pretty quickly I liked it better before. I did have a Geophagus Tapajos and a Albino Threadfin Acara in here but both were too placid to hold their own against the Convict. Once the other fish caught wind that they were being bullied by the Convict they joined in, so they had to be taken out and put in one of my other tanks.

Having some brown algae issues on the towers, which honestly doesnt bother me too much, but drives my partner insane. So last water change, we pulled out the towers to clean them. Sounds simple enough. But no amount of maneuvering could get the 3 tier tower out of the tank. So a few hours, choice words and a hammer later the 3 tier tower is now a 2 tier tower, and we have 2 mini towers not in use...


I hate the plants tbh they dont go with the tank and they all have holes in them where the sev and silver dollars are eating them, if it were just up to me I'd take them out.

Tank is now 3 months old.
Stocking:
- 1 Electric Blue Acara
- 1 Firemouth
- 1 Convict (Satan)
- 1 Red Spotted Severum
- 1 Electric Blue Jack Dempsey (Blue)
- 1 Angelfish (Celeste)
- 5 Denison Barbs
- 3 Silver Dollars
- 4 Pictus Catfish
- 1 Albino Longfin BN
Each cichlid is being kept individually because I dont want any breeding.

Since the geophagus/acara incident the tank has been pretty harmonious. Satan does still throw her weight around but she isnt consistently picking on individual fish and I havent seen any damaged fins. Cichlid personalities are amazing; each one is a complete individual. The last 3 months have been really fun (albeit bumpy at times)

Some videos of them eating. Videos is the only way I can show off the pictus because they're impossible to photograph.

 

Nice.
Wow, those barbells on the "Pictus" are huge nearly as long as it's body.
Good Luck!

 

I need to name the firemouth, EBA and sev. Weird how my sev is my favourite fish and I havent managed to name him yet

 

Beautiful fish. Man the electric blue dempsey... highly considering one for my next aquarium!

 

It is a stunning fish, mine is very placid too so bonus there

 

It is a stunning fish, mine is very placid too so bonus there

That's always good. I noticed you had some roseline sharks too...I didn't know they were also called Denison barbs. You taught me something new haha

 

That's always good. I noticed you had some roseline sharks too...I didn't know they were also called Denison barbs. You taught me something new haha

They're also called red lined torpedo barbs; why a fish needs 3 names I do not know lol

 

They're also called red lined torpedo barbs; why a fish needs 3 names I do not know lol

Haha good to know. Probably the most fitting out of the three lol

 

Got a new light to replace the cheap led I had in there before. Fluval Aquasky, it is a lot better. Much less reflection and better quality photos of the fish.. although it doesnt encourage them to stay still

 

I just think it looks so beautiful who wouldnt want to look at this all day

 

My geo isnt actually in the cichlid tank anymore as mentioned but I'll post him here anyway

 

The fluval Aquasky thunderstorm setting. Pretty cool but really unnecessary? I doubt I'll ever actually use this other than to say 'hey look what my tank light does'

 

Agree,
When I first started my "Underwater Gardening" journey. The Aquasky was "Highly" recommended with all the bells and whistles. Used it on a 55g, it's decent for low light plants, just depends on the depth of the tank.
Really, did not care for all the programmable settings, gimmicks, ended up using a timer with a split photoperiod @ 80% white with a bit of red. Plants struggled until I added a Finnex Stingray with it. I now use Chihiros A-Series lights, best bang for the buck. IMHO
Different strokes for different folks.
Nice Looking Fish!

Good Luck!

 

I picked up another gold nugget pleco. It is such a gorgeous fish. This one is considerably bigger than my last; I'm hopeful size makes them more likely to survive... is that even a thing?

 

Little Blue is acting strange... he's spending all his time at the top of the tank and seems to be having trouble swimming straight. Hes kind of swimming sideways then looks really unbalanced when he tries to straighten up. One of his eyes is swollen and glazed. He hasn't left the same area of the tank for a while now. He's still eating but I'm worried about him

 

Little Blue is acting strange... he's spending all his time at the top of the tank and seems to be having trouble swimming straight. Hes kind of swimming sideways then looks really unbalanced when he tries to straighten up. One of his eyes is swollen and glazed. He hasn't left the same area of the tank for a while now. He's still eating but I'm worried about him

Awe - I hope the little guy pulls through!

Your tank is gorgeous! Well done on it! I love your Acara! I can't wait until mine are a bit bigger and bluer!

That gold nugget pleco is stunning also!

 

Got some Giant Colombian Ramshorns delivered for the tank today, with a bit of luck they will eat the brown algae I have growing literally everywhere. First time having livestock delivered too hopefully they're all okay



Update

All 4 of them came out of their shells and starting moving about, so that is great. But one of them fell off the tower and landed on the sand at the bottom; I'm hoping falling off the decor wont cause them any injury. They obviously have pretty hard shells... he's gone back into his shell since he fell so hopefully he will be out and roaming around again soon.


Update 2.0
Alright I don't think the snails are going to work out. The EBA and Satan have been trying to eat them the entire time

 

Got some Giant Colombian Ramshorns delivered for the tank today, with a bit of luck they will eat the brown algae I have growing literally everywhere. First time having livestock delivered too hopefully they're all okay

View attachment 748295
Update

All 4 of them came out of their shells and starting moving about, so that is great. But one of them fell off the tower and landed on the sand at the bottom; I'm hoping falling off the decor wont cause them any injury. They obviously have pretty hard shells... he's gone back into his shell since he fell so hopefully he will be out and roaming around again soon.


Update 2.0
Alright I don't think the snails are going to work out. The EBA and Satan have been trying to eat them the entire time

Dang that’s a bummer. I’ve had various kinds of snails and the minute any fish is interested in them the snails don’t do well and will stay in their shell or try to float away in hopes to escaping to a new place. Sometimes if I don’t notice the fish picking on them, I will find out because they are more inactive or their antennas have been chewed short. Hope you get it worked out!

 

They've been in their shells all day. I've moved them to a less high traffic area in the tank but yeah I don't think the snails will do well. I'm not sure what my next move is because my other tanks are heavily planted so these snails will destroy them.

 

Severum digging a huge hole in the corner for some reason

 

My red spotted severum when I first got him (3 months ago) vs now

 

Gold nugget died AGAIN! No more plecos for me

 

Pleco are pretty hearty fishes. Is there anything you can identify that would have caused the death? Has any pleco been able to live in your tank? Is this the new one you just posted the other day - could it have been unhealthy?

Gold nugget died AGAIN! No more plecos for me

 

Pleco are pretty hearty fishes. Is there anything you can identify that would have caused the death? Has any pleco been able to live in your tank? Is this the new one you just posted the other day - could it have been unhealthy?

No he looked physically fine. I was putting food in for him in the evening because he was completely nocturnal. Yes there's a bristlenose doing fine in there. Yes it's the new one, it seemed completely fine until it just randomly showed up dead?

 

Can you check with the store how long they had him - also does your store include any kind of warranty (the ones i my neck of the wood have 2 to 4 weeks where they will give you credit for the dead fish). There are lots of things that could have killed it - assuming it wasn't ill and water parameter issue it could have been shocked esp if the store just received it and then turned around and sold it a day later. I try to make sure the local stores have a fish at least a week before i buy it so it can be adjusted before i have to 're-adjust' it. I've not owned gold nugget but i do have l204, l333 and bn and only 1 pleco has died in 2.5 years (the one that died i had for over 2 years - she was a young female - my oldest fish and just died one day.

No he looked physically fine. I was putting food in for him in the evening because he was completely nocturnal. Yes there's a bristlenose doing fine in there. Yes it's the new one, it seemed completely fine until it just randomly showed up dead?

 

Can you check with the store how long they had him - also does your store include any kind of warranty (the ones i my neck of the wood have 2 to 4 weeks where they will give you credit for the dead fish). There are lots of things that could have killed it - assuming it wasn't ill and water parameter issue it could have been shocked esp if the store just received it and then turned around and sold it a day later. I try to make sure the local stores have a fish at least a week before i buy it so it can be adjusted before i have to 're-adjust' it. I've not owned gold nugget but i do have l204, l333 and bn and only 1 pleco has died in 2.5 years (the one that died i had for over 2 years - she was a young female - my oldest fish and just died one day.

The store had them in for 2 weeks because we were there the day they got the delivery and were waiting for them to be available; they kept them for a 2 week quarentine period. The 'warranty' is only 48 hours. Tank is 0 ammonia 0 nirite and 20 nitrate and I change 60% of the water every Wednesday. I have no idea what the problem is - perhaps gold nuggets are just a fragile species. I won't get another; they're far too expensive

Edit: 0 nitrite not 9

 

Little Blue has been moved out of the tank and into my 160 community. He was hiding in the corner of the tank all day and only coming out occasionally to eat. He had popeye but that went away with treatment. I noticed his tail fin was shredded too.

Its been a few days since the move and he's like a new fish. Very active, he's exploring every inch of the tank and I see him feeding every day. His colouration is much brighter and his fins are already showing signs of healing too. I don't feel like I'm going to lose him anymore.

They've been in their shells all day. I've moved them to a less high traffic area in the tank but yeah I don't think the snails will do well. I'm not sure what my next move is because my other tanks are heavily planted so these snails will destroy them.

The fish ate 2 of the snails so I removed the last 2 and put them in my snail tank with my ramshorns. Snails apparently not compatible with cichlids.

 

There's a real nice 4/5 inch red tailed shark at my local maidenhead in for rehoming... Its tempting I love red tailed and rainbow sharks. But I don't want to disrupt the harmony in my tank.

Edit: i did some research on RTS and there's too many horror stories about their aggression. The fact its in for rehoming tells me its probably aggressive, so I won't do it.

 

I love red tails and have lost count of the number of times that I have added one over the decades but each time they have turned into belligerent jerks and I've had to get rid of them. One of my LFS has a full grown one in a tank with large cichlids and it's fine. It knows it can't bully cichlids and it's very calm. Maybe that's the ideal setup for them so it might work in your tank unless it decides that it doesn't like any of your other fish.

 

That seems to be a common experience with them just from the last 5 minutes of googling RTS. I love them too and this particular fish is gorgeous; however it is already bigger than my Firemouth and my convict. Satan I'm not too worried about because she can handle herself but my Firemouth is already somewhat timid, adding an almost fully grown RTS to the mix probably isn't wise. Perhaps a baby one would be an option though. Hmmm...

 

Perhaps a baby one would be an option though. Hmmm...

They grow very fast though, faster than your cichlids. Adding a small one is a good idea but I'd wait until your fish are bigger if you want to try one.

 

They grow very fast though, faster than your cichlids. Adding a small one is a good idea but I'd wait until your fish are bigger if you want to try one.

Ahh my nemesis; patience...

Waiting until I get a quarentine tank is probably a good idea too. I'll leave the stocking as it is for now then

 

I picked up an RTS before I knew what I was doing. He was "Beautiful", as mentioned mine was fine initially. But they grow fast and he decided the tank was his, chased everyone relentlessly. "Yes" traded in to the LFS.
Here is a pic


Good Luck!