Kanzekatores' 40 breeder community

[kanzekatores]

Hi all

Just yesterday I got some of my equipment for my new 40 breeder. I have the tank and stand set up, and also have: a 30"-36" LED light, an AquaClear 50 filter, and a bottle of Tetra QuickStart. Soon I will be going to my lfs for a heater, some sand, some rocks/driftwood for decor, maybe some plants, and some Dr. Tim's ammonia. I will get pics up once the tank has water in it.

For the hardscape I am planning on getting some manzanita driftwood and seiryu stones. I will get lots of plants, I'm not sure of everything that I want right now but am so far planning on some anubias and swords.

Here is the planned stock:

4x sunset platies
2x bolivian rams
8x neon tetras
10-12x panda corydoras
2x agassizi fire red apistos
1x albino bristlenose pleco

It's possible that I will also try some cherry shrimp and another bristlenose. This is my second large tank and I'm super excited!

 

[Hugooo]

Following! Interesting combination of fish! Don't forget to update us and include pics

 

[Zeeth29]

I am by no means an expert. But I see two potential problems. The cherries won't last very long before becoming an expensive snack, and the two different cichlids might compete for space with one another, especially if breeding happens.

 

[Hugooo]

I am by no means an expert. But I see two potential problems. The cherries won't last very long before becoming an expensive snack, and the two different cichlids might compete for space with one another, especially if breeding happens.

Agreed. You might be able to keep the cherries alive if you add lots of security, but there is little chance they will breed. Not an expert in any way, just going off of what I've read on this forum. Food for thought!

 

[Phormist]

Definitely keep us updated on how this comes out!

I agree with everyone else that the cherry shrimp will not last most likely because of their size. If you are wanting to shrimp I highly recommend the Bamboo and Vampire Shrimp. I like the Vampire shrimp because it gets to be a bigger species and even does well with Angelfish and Bolivian Rams.

I would suggest heavily planting your tank so that everyone has their own territories to inhabit to avoid spats between the cichlids. All of them are fairly peaceful cichlids but just to keep tensions low add enough focal areas for them.

Also please use sand or fine gravel as the Rams will enjoy sifting through it as well as the Cory cats LOVE foraging through the substrate for food too.

 

[kanzekatores]

Definitely keep us updated on how this comes out!

I agree with everyone else that the cherry shrimp will not last most likely because of their size. If you are wanting to shrimp I highly recommend the Bamboo and Vampire Shrimp. I like the Vampire shrimp because it gets to be a bigger species and even does well with Angelfish and Bolivian Rams.

I would suggest heavily planting your tank so that everyone has their own territories to inhabit to avoid spats between the cichlids. All of them are fairly peaceful cichlids but just to keep tensions low add enough focal areas for them.

Also please use sand or fine gravel as the Rams will enjoy sifting through it as well as the Cory cats LOVE foraging through the substrate for food too.

Thank you for the input! Yes, I was aware of the possibility of the cherries becoming an expensive snack and if you really think it's not worth my money I won't buy them. I just thought I'd try them out since I really liked their red color.

I figured out the stocking here on a seperate thread, and I thought if the apistos and rams don't get along, I could return one of them. I'll be on the lookout for any aggression.

 

[kanzekatores]

Yesterday I set up everything, still waiting for the cloudiness to go away. The plants are an amazon sword, moneywort, and this red one which I forget the name of.

There are these bubbles in the sand - does anyone know how to get rid of them?

 

[Phormist]

Yesterday I set up everything, still waiting for the cloudiness to go away. The plants are an amazon sword, moneywort, and this red one which I forget the name of.
View attachment 759112
There are these bubbles in the sand - does anyone know how to get rid of them?

Did you rinse the sand/substrate before putting in the tank by chance?
Typically some movement of the sand will get rid of the bubbles or they also will go away by themselves.

 

[kanzekatores]

Did you rinse the sand/substrate before putting in the tank by chance?
Typically some movement of the sand will get rid of the bubbles or they also will go away by themselves.

I tried to rinse it, but I think a lot of the sand at the bottom of the bag stayed dry, which must be what caused the bubbles. From what I've read it's best to just run the filter and they'll slowly drift to the top and go away. Once they're gone I'll add the Tetra QuickStart and Ammonia.

 

[Phormist]

I tried to rinse it, but I think a lot of the sand at the bottom of the bag stayed dry, which must be what caused the bubbles. From what I've read it's best to just run the filter and they'll slowly drift to the top and go away. Once they're gone I'll add the Tetra QuickStart and Ammonia.

You can still go ahead and add both water treatments, earlier the better.

 

[CTYankee79]

Looking forward to seeing the progress. You can probably bump up the number of neons quite a bit.

 

[kanzekatores]

The tank cycle is going well, and yesterday I tested and it came up with some nitrites, so I'm happy. The plants look pretty good, but some of their leaves appear as though they're disintegrating? I have added small amounts of Seachem Potassium and Seachem Flourish, but am planning on getting a co2 kit next time I go to lfs, along with some new pants and maybe new rocks. The plan is once it's cycled to start with 6 panda corys.

 

[kanzekatores]

The cycle has finished, but I now have 0 nitrates, which is strange after seeing up to 40-60 ppm of nitrates during the cycle. I’m assuming that the plants are eating it up.
Today I got my first fish: some panda corydoras. Below is a picture. I also got some new life spectrum pellets to feed them

 

[taj13]

Now we need some pics of the panda cory's enjoying their new home!

 

[kanzekatores]

Here you go!

 

[kanzekatores]

Got some new fish and plants today: x6 more panda cories, x6 neon tetras, a melon sword, and dwarf saggitaria.

 

[kanzekatores]

Unfortunately one of my corydoras died today. But I got some new fish, plants, and snails: x4 neon tetras (completing the school), a juvinile albino bn pleco, 2 mystery snails, and water sprite, banana plant, and cardinal plant. I’ve been getting lots of brown algae on the back so hopefully the snails and pleco will help with that.

 

[kanzekatores]

Got some new fish yesterday - x4 sunset platies. They are my fish favorite so far! But I think a couple of my corydoras are missing because now I only count 9. I will get a few more next time I’m at lfs. But other than that everyone is doing great, plants are looking healthy.

 

[kanzekatores]

Three more of my corydoras died i think they didn’t get enough food. But today I got six more, bringing the number up to twelve and I think I will clean the tank this week. I also got some new plants. Everyone else is doing well

 

[kanzekatores]

I forgot to update last time but I got some last plants, cardinals tetras, and a sponge filter. Some of my cories and tetras died so now I have 4 of each (the neons and cardinals school together) they didn’t have any neons at the store so I got 6 more cardinals today, 2 panda corys, and a German blue ram (they don’t have any Bolivians either so I got gbr instead) everyone has looked pretty healthy for the last month or so, and the pleco is starting to get bigger. I also put in the driftwood.

 

[Shrimp42]

I wouldn't keep getting fish, there's definitely something going on. One fish dying happens but more than 3 is an issue. Do you know your parameters? Any symptoms with the fish before they die?
Nevermind just saw that was a month ago, could have been the un maturity of the tank. If fish start to die again then there's probably a problem. Nice tank by the way, I like the stocking and plant selection.

 

[kanzekatores]

I wouldn't keep getting fish, there's definitely something going on. One fish dying happens but more than 3 is an issue. Do you know your parameters? Any symptoms with the fish before they die?
Nevermind just saw that was a month ago, could have been the un maturity of the tank. If fish start to die again then there's probably a problem. Nice tank by the way, I like the stocking and plant selection.

Thank you, and yes all of the deaths happened at least a month ago. I think part of the problem was that the corydoras weren’t getting enough food, but it was also probably something in the water, because everyone seemed to do better after I did a water change. I will try to do WCs more often.

 

[kanzekatores]

Got two new fish today: another Bolivian ram and a juvenile apistogramma agassizi fire red. Everyone has been doing very well, no deaths recently or anything. Here there are:

 

[kanzekatores]

Got a few more neons yesterday to bring the number up to 14, a female ram, and three new plants (another melon sword, pennywort, cant remember the third one). I also have been taking a lot of good pictures! Here's some of them:

 

[kanzekatores]

Hi guys,

Unfortunately we will be closing this tank down, along with my other one. I am going to take a break from the hobby since it is just so difficult and time consuming. Thanks to everyone for all their help on here! I couldn’t have done it without you guys