60 US gallon semi-aggressive journal

Today I start my 60 gallon tank journal. Yesterday I rehomed all of the cichlids except for the redhump geophagus, with plans to convert the tank into a community of semi-aggressive fish. The current stocking is:

x1 angelfish
x1 red rainbowfish
x1 yellow rainbowfish
x1 boesemani rainbowfish
x1 redhump geophagus
x1 pleco

I plan to get one more of each type of rainbowfish in there and maybe some more cichlids. I've been considering some peaceful cichlids such as thoricthys ellioti. The geophagus "Doug" is completely peaceful and is quite confused over all of this. He's fully grown at eight inches.

Other plans include maybe getting more sand in the future so the plastic plants can be fully buried. I want to get some easy rhizome plants for the wood and rocks but I'm not sure if my parents will allow me; they have a strange aversion to live plants...

This stocking is somewhat inspired by a community tank owned by a worker at my LFS. His tank is also four feet long but holds many cichlids and community fish that all coexist in harmony. We both run several times more filtration than is necessary for this sized tank.

Stay tuned for more!

 

Did you get the rainbows and angel from a private source? The rainbows look fully grown, and a single angel so I'd assume they were leftovers in somebody's tank. I would eventually decide which rainbows to stock up and leave 1 or 2 of them alone, as three groups of rainbows might be too much for this tank.

Otherwise good decision to move away from the cichlid tank.

 

Hope it goes smoothly with the new stocking. If I had a bigger tank I would definately try rainbows with my angels

 

Did you get the rainbows and angel from a private source? The rainbows look fully grown, and a single angel so I'd assume they were leftovers in somebody's tank. I would eventually decide which rainbows to stock up and leave 1 or 2 of them alone, as three groups of rainbows might be too much for this tank.

Otherwise good decision to move away from the cichlid tank.

I’ve had them for quite a while, especially the red rainbowfish, who is now in his third tank with me. They’re all originally from my LFS and I’m making an effort to give them better lives.

Moving away from the cichlids was definitely a good decision. I feel so much better after letting them go.

Hope it goes smoothly with the new stocking. If I had a bigger tank I would definately try rainbows with my angels

Thanks! So far things are going very smoothly. The rainbows are using all of the space in the tank, so they must be grateful for being moved into a bigger home. I also didn’t expect the geophagus to be so docile!

 

Other plans include maybe getting more sand in the future so the plastic plants can be fully buried. I want to get some easy rhizome plants for the wood and rocks but I'm not sure if my parents will allow me; they have a strange aversion to live plants...

Stay tuned for more!

Thats weird. Is it just aquarium plants or any household plant?

 

Thats weird. Is it just aquarium plants or any household plant?

Aquarium plants. I try to tell them that they’re easy and beneficial but they seem to think they’re not... I rarely touch the crypts in my 30 gallon.

 

Aquarium plants. I try to tell them that they’re easy and beneficial but they seem to think they’re not... I rarely touch the crypts in my 30 gallon.

My mother was kinda the sane when I first got into plants. I would show her a anubias flowering and she was amazed. "Its just like a real plant!" My brain kinda stopped at that one.

 

The red rainbowfish is being quite boisterous. I’m hoping he settles down over the coming days.

I went and added three small rainbow cichlids to the tank. Although they’re only young the LFS worker serving me tried to pick all females. They were floated for a while and began schooling together by the wood. Already they’re showing new colour. Now that they’re in there I’m not looking to add the ellioti anymore.

I was going to get more rainbowfish but the fish shop I went to has some strange policy about picking only pairs. Also their rainbowfish were high priced and mostly not the ones I’m looking to add. Eh, maybe another day.

 

The red rainbowfish is being quite boisterous. I’m hoping he settles down over the coming days.

I went and added three small rainbow cichlids to the tank. Although they’re only young the LFS worker serving me tried to pick all females. They were floated for a while and began schooling together by the wood. Already they’re showing new colour. Now that they’re in there I’m not looking to add the ellioti anymore.

I was going to get more rainbowfish but the fish shop I went to has some strange policy about picking only pairs. Also their rainbowfish were high priced and mostly not the ones I’m looking to add. Eh, maybe another day.

So much for no more cichlids eh?!

nice choice, i actually picked one up yesterday to replace my elderly bolivian rams that passed recently.

the rainbows they had in came in as juveniles and had been on sale for 9 months (!) and had grown up in the shop. So underrated and i cant understand why when they have so much going for them.

 

So much for no more cichlids eh?!

I mean, the more territorial cichlids.

nice choice, i actually picked one up yesterday to replace my elderly bolivian rams that passed recently.

the rainbows they had in came in as juveniles and had been on sale for 9 months (!) and had grown up in the shop. So underrated and i cant understand why when they have so much going for them.

Rest in peace to your rams. I used to keep a pair of German blues when I was inexperienced and they didn’t last long. Beautiful fish, I wish I’d cared for them better and done more research.

I agree; I’ve never known a cichlid to be as docile as the rainbow cichlids and Doug the geo. The only issue with the rainbow cichlids is that I can’t just call them “rainbows” for short because there’s already rainbowfish in there! I also can’t call those “rainbows” either...




Once I get some more rainbowfish in there I’m gonna leave the stocking at that.

 

Everyone is beginning to settle down now. The rainbow cichlids are travelling across the tank in a shoal, the rainbowfish are calming down and Doug is more confident around his new tankmates.

The rainbow cichlids are difficult to photograph because they're camera shy. Right now they're eating some flake at the surface and are playing with each other. They're a burgundy sort of colour with a black spot on each side.

Tomorrow I might feed them a cube of frozen lobster eggs for breakfast.

 

I like the scape of your tank. Very simple, but appealing at the same time, good job. = )

 

The driftwood makes the tank look smaller. Nice scape

 

The rainbow cichlids are sneaky fish I’m telling ya! They only come out of their spot when I don’t have my phone on me to take a good picture of them. They’re smart, but I’ll get em’ one day...

 

Finally managed to get a picture of a rainbow cichlid in the open. I think I'll use one as my avatar because they look nice IMO.




I knew I'd get them one day! Now that they're comfortable with exploration they'll become easier to photograph.

 

The rainbow cichlids have been quite active today! Sometimes they travel together in a shoal, sometimes two travel together and abandon one. I had a thorough look into the tank earlier trying to spot all three at once!

The fish enjoy eating the frozen lobster eggs. This morning I gave them a mix of krill pacifica and lobster eggs.

The plastic plants used to be swamped in diatoms and some form of thin, protruding growth (doesn’t look like hydra). Ever since I added the rainbowfish and rainbow cichlids these growths have disappeared for the most part, likely because the diet of these fish is comprised greatly of algae and other plant material.

I want to say more, but that’s all really.

 

Moving away from the cichlids was definitely a good decision. I feel so much better after letting them go.

I’m curious as to why you decided no more cichlids ?

 

I’m curious as to why you decided no more cichlids ?

Cichlids were stressing me out. Then I discovered the world of more placid cichlids such as the rainbow cichlids and geophagus.

 

Get ready for some more photos! Here are photos of the fish whilst they were eating their brine shrimp. Taking pictures of fish feeding is difficult because they're very excited, so I've included failed attempts:

Successful attempts:




Failed attempts:




I particularly like Doug's failed attempt. I was expecting to get a great picture and suddenly he dashes! Just a part of fish photography...

 

Today I did a 50% water change and siphoned some black stuff from out of the sand. I might get some more fish tomorrow; I really want to get trumpet snails so they can sift the sand.

 

Added more fish as planned yesterday and I also added lots of trumpet snails from my 30 gallon into this tank today. I want to use them to aerate the sand because they do a great job of this in their original tank.

The rainbow cichlids are very settled in now. I was hoping for all females but I’ve seen some minor fighting incidents today, which could suggest that this hasn’t been achieved. This fighting and how two stick together and leave one alone could suggest that perhaps there is at least one male among them.

When I added the new rainbowfish into the tank I noticed they seem to have some missing scales and one of them looks to have lymphocystis. I suspect they were hurt on their way to the LFS. For those who are unaware lymphocystis is a disease caused by a virus entering a wound on the fish, creating white or pink bulges on any part of the fishes body.

Note: it’s not to be confused with ich, where the mortality rate is far higher and the white spots are smaller, shiny and never pink. The spots caused by ich on the fishes body are the pathogen’s feces, not bulges.

There is no known cure for lymphocystis although the immune system of the fish usually finishes it off within some weeks. I’ve had fish with lymphocystis make full recoveries several times before although they would usually wound each other during fights.

The tank looks beautiful with the new fish in. The aggression between rainbowfish has been diluted now that there are more of them and despite the mixing of species they all school together.

My mum is trying to name all of the fish! I don’t like naming fish! Help, please! Quick!

 

Very nice. I missed the beginning of this thread before...if two rainbow cichlids are sticking together and chasing the other one I suspect you probably have a pair though.

 

Very nice I’ll be following with interest as I am a big fan of both Rainbowfish and the smaller American cichlids. I sold my pair of Rainbow Cichlids last year after raising a few batches of fry. This is a pic of them (non breeding coloration):

 

Ok umm, a bit of a plot twist coming up... forget “60 gallons.” I put the dimensions of inside the tank into several aquarium volume calculators and it’s closer to 75 gallons. My tank is growing!

Anyways, it’s a busy day for me and the tank today. I’m doing it’s weekly water change, siphoning out black sand and adding new sand. I have a 12kg bag of sand but I’ll probably be using about half by the looks of things. This might take a while but I’m going to do it all by myself. First I will read up on how to add new sand to the tank, hopefully without having to use tap water. From now on I will sift the sand manually during water change time.

Fish are very settled. The rainbowfish are less boisterous and the fish that had cysts is healing up fast. The rainbow cichlids have grown noticeably too; they’re more of a rugby ball shape now. It’s astonishing how fast they grow!

Edit: I finished adding the new sand. I rinsed half of the bag in a bucket of tap water and let the water overflow, dechlorinating the remaining water afterwards. This was along with a 50% water change. The new sand is in the tank and is looking good.

 

Ok umm, a bit of a plot twist coming up... forget “60 gallons.” I put the dimensions of inside the tank into several aquarium volume calculators and it’s closer to 75 gallons. My tank is growing!

Anyways, it’s a busy day for me and the tank today. I’m doing it’s weekly water change, siphoning out black sand and adding new sand. I have a 12kg bag of sand but I’ll probably be using about half by the looks of things. This might take a while but I’m going to do it all by myself. First I will read up on how to add new sand to the tank, hopefully without having to use tap water. From now on I will sift the sand manually during water change time.

Fish are very settled. The rainbowfish are less boisterous and the fish that had cysts is healing up fast. The rainbow cichlids have grown noticeably too; they’re more of a rugby ball shape now. It’s astonishing how fast they grow!

Edit: I finished adding the new sand. I rinsed half of the bag in a bucket of tap water and let the water overflow, dechlorinating the remaining water afterwards. This was along with a 50% water change. The new sand is in the tank and is looking good.

Yup, this happens to all of us at some point! At least your tank is a bit bigger than you originally intended. A 75 gallon is a perfect larger tank for many fish anyways.

 

The mood of the day went from calm to stressful. I'm panicking now. Why?

Well I just heard some disturbing news from my mum that my dad wants to replace my rainbowfish in the 70 gallon with African cichlids. Am I willing to try big, aggressive cichlids in an inadequate setup again? I don't even know anything about Africans except they will suffer in this setup and in my water, assuming he wants Rift Lake cichlids. The pH is too close to neutral, the water, while hard, likely isn't hard enough and there isn't enough structure for big territorial fish. As for West African cichlids I can't name a single one...

He thinks the current fish are boring and by rehoming the cichlids and replacing them with the current, more suitable fish I've "ruined" the tank. Perhaps I should show him what the rainbow cichlids will look like when fully grown; far better than any African cichlid. Multiple fish in the 70 gallon aren't fully grown yet.

He also previously mentioned getting a shoal of harlequin rasboras, which I would be ok with, but I can't trust the geophagus not to eat them, as peaceful as geos are. All fish will eat fish that can fit into their mouths regardless of how gentle they may be.

I'm growing sick and tired of having to steer people away from paths that will lead to failure, especially when the paths that lead to success are so much easier to take and there's no good reason not to. I'm hoping to steer my dad away from Africans and I hope he can just accept that the tank is doing good and the fish aren't at their optimum yet. From what I've been showing you the tank doesn't even look boring at all.

 

The mood of the day went from calm to stressful. I'm panicking now. Why?

Well I just heard some disturbing news from my mum that my dad wants to replace my rainbowfish in the 70 gallon with African cichlids. Am I willing to try big, aggressive cichlids in an inadequate setup again? I don't even know anything about Africans except they will suffer in this setup and in my water, assuming he wants Rift Lake cichlids. The pH is too close to neutral, the water, while hard, likely isn't hard enough and there isn't enough structure for big territorial fish. As for West African cichlids I can't name a single one...

He thinks the current fish are boring and by rehoming the cichlids and replacing them with the current, more suitable fish I've "ruined" the tank. Perhaps I should show him what the rainbow cichlids will look like when fully grown; far better than any African cichlid. Multiple fish in the 70 gallon aren't fully grown yet.

He also previously mentioned getting a shoal of harlequin rasboras, which I would be ok with, but I can't trust the geophagus not to eat them, as peaceful as geos are. All fish will eat fish that can fit into their mouths regardless of how gentle they may be.

I'm growing sick and tired of having to steer people away from paths that will lead to failure, especially when the paths that lead to success are so much easier to take and there's no good reason not to. I'm hoping to steer my dad away from Africans and I hope he can just accept that the tank is doing good and the fish aren't at their optimum yet.

Yeah, that sounds super stressful indeed. At least when you are a little older, you will be able to stock your own tanks without your parent's intervention. I am also sick of people's thought process of "Oh, I'm older than you so I always know more than you" philosophy. Arguing with them will probably do little good since they seem to be folks with this philosophy. The only way I was able to make my own decisions with aquariums was when I grew up. Trust me, StinkyLoaf. I was in your same predicament when I was your age as well. Except the big glaring problem for me was in a much too small 29 gallon tank with an Iridescent Shark and they can grow up to 4 feet in length. Now they all listen to me as I am an adult fish guru of the family now, which that is the way it needs to be.

Sending best wishes to what ever happens, friend.
-JLAquatics

 

At least when you are a little older, you will be able to stock your own tanks without your parent's intervention.

Honestly I can’t wait.

I am also sick of people's thought process of "Oh, I'm older than you so I always know more than you" philosophy. Arguing with them will probably do little good since they seem to be folks with this philosophy.

Exactly what’s going on, even though my dad always tells me I’m cleverer than him and that I’m going to do better than him in the future. Chances are if someone thinks they’re smarter than someone just because they’re older they’re likely smarter than few people.

Sending best wishes to what ever happens, friend.
-JLAquatics

Thanks for understanding.

 

Hmm sounds like a tricky situation. At least when I was a teenager my parents did not influence me on my choice of fish - just on how many tanks I was allowed to have, and I admit I was quite good at persuading (or nagging) them “just one more...”.

It seems like your tank is doing nicely so hopefully your parents will come round to your way of thinking. Maybe the rainbow cichlids will start to breed and then it definitely won’t be boring! Sounds like your Dad is missing the big cichlids! Good luck and keep us posted!

By the way, what are the dimensions of your tank?

 

I had the idea of telling him it would just look even more boring because the African cichlids will just roam the bottom, leaving no fish in the middle or top of the water column. Also most rainbowfish and rainbow cichlids look better than African cichlids. The Africans would fight like mad.

By the way, what are the dimensions of your tank?

Inside: 118cm × 38cm × 58cm.

 

Right, so about 260 litres, nearly 70 gallons. It is quite tall. I don’t think African cichlids are boring (although personally I have more experience and affinity with South and Central Americans), and a tank can be set up with a lot of rock structure so that cichlids would be seen at all heights in the tank, there are also ways of managing aggression. But I don’t see why it should be changed now as it seems to be going so well and a change would involve virtually starting from scratch again. That would be a shame. Fingers crossed your Dad soon likes the rainbow cichlids...

 

Right, so about 260 litres, nearly 70 gallons. It is quite tall. I don’t think African cichlids are boring (although personally I have more experience and affinity with South and Central Americans), and a tank can be set up with a lot of rock structure so that cichlids would be seen at all heights in the tank, there are also ways of managing aggression. But I don’t see why it should be changed now as it seems to be going so well and a change would involve virtually starting from scratch again. That would be a shame. Fingers crossed your Dad soon likes the rainbow cichlids...

I don't think it's worth changing either. African cichlids bore me to death... I much prefer Central and South American cichlids. We don't have enough rocks for Africans either.

They'll likely bore him too. I know even if we changed the tank into an African cichlid setup he'll quickly get bored of even that too, and never pay attention to it.

 

Look at how big the rainbow cichlids are now!

 

They look great, well done!

 

Very nice fish...

 

This morning I discovered the dead body of one of the angelfish. It was the smaller one of the two, completely intact and still quite coloured. The other angel is much bigger and healthy.

I’m thinking of going to my LFS at some point and buying a decent sized group of angels as they have many medium sized ones all currently at about six inches or so in height; a similar size to the remaining angelfish. I want to come up with a stocking plan as I’m the sort of person who likes planning ahead.

Might also go for a few more turquoise rainbowfish. My mum really likes those. Unfortunately a recent shipment of rainbowfish (which I used up well for this tank) was quite beaten up, with cysts and missing scales. Luckily the initial injuries have healed significantly. There are some fully grown boesemanis currently for sale at my LFS.

I can’t say I’ve had a very good day today (for multiple reasons) and the fish loss didn’t make a positive contribution. I doubted the smaller angel would ever make it anyway.

 

Rainbowfish are susceptible to Myco, avoid any that don’t look 100% healthy especially if they have any growths or patches of discolouration.

 

Rainbowfish are susceptible to Myco,

What are the odds mycobacterium could be infecting the rainbows now? They're looking much better than when I got them.

 

What are the odds mycobacterium could be infecting the rainbows now? They're looking much better than when I got them.

I didn't realise you already got them. It may not be Myco in fact chances are it's not. But symptoms can present in a huge number of ways and I've learnt the hard way to avoid any Rainbowfish that don't look and behave perfectly. Just something to bear in mind but don't stress I'm sure they're fine.

 

Maybe later I can get pictures of them to show to you guys.