My 'big' tank

Surprisingly I dont have a journal on this tank, though I have posted many questions over the years, as I have had many problems with the tank
the tanks dimensions are 120x50x60 cm (lxwxh) and in october 2021 I remade it from a shelldweller tank to a "south american fish " tank which I since broke into "community mish mash" tank as most of us tend to do

Stocking is as follows:
4x bolivian ram (Mikrogeophagus altispinosus) since 02.2023
7x Pearl gourami (Trichopodus leeri) 2 since 11.2023 3 juveniles since 02.2024
7x Otos (Macrotocinclus affinis) since 05.2022
13x Corydoras sterbai half since 11.2022, half since 10.2021
5x hatchetfish (Carnegiella marthae) half since 12.2022, half since 10.2021
10x rummynose tetras (Hemigrammus bleheri) since 12.2022
10x ember tetras (Hyphessobrycon amandae) must be some weird stock, I started with around 50 purchased since 10.2021
5x kuhli loaches, since 02.2024, rookie mistake, too short quarantine, brought ich ot the tank, killed off few rummynose, embers and few of the kuhlies

I am no longer fan of tetras. I was super excited, I loved the rummynose too when I got the in the beginning, but seeing my other tanks, my pseudomugil behavior, my whiteclouds and their behavior, tetras are BORING and they eat too much. Is hard to feed this tank, corydoras especially, because of the gluttony of the tetras. Initially I though I would add more, but I will wait for them to die out and will see. I love the pearl gouramis, I got disappointed in the corydoras (they dont do much), I love the bolivian rams too.

I have to trim the cryptocoryne leaves regularly, though I cant take too much or it will yellow and melt, and I think the plant grows so much only when you dont want it to. Most of the newly added kuhli loaches live in the surface plants, same with some of the amano shrimp

What I love about the tank is zero agression. None of the fish will chase, nip, hurt or hunt any other fish. Hatchetfish work well with pearl gourami, no jumping, no scaring. Bolivian rams and corydoras eat together, no issues

Looks awesome! Thanks for starting the journal and going into so much detail!

That last pic looks like a gourami is swimming upside down but it’s just a ver clear reflection

Thats a lovely looking set up

I remade it a bit, mostly just plants

4x bolivian rams
6x pearl gouramis
5x otocinclus, 5x amano shrimp
7x rummynose tetra
4x kuhli loach

In quarantine 10 more kuhli loach, 4x red lizard whiptail catfish

The tank got a silver feeling now, I was initially thinking about another schooling fish, but I think I will just up the rummynose as they look good even though I am not in love with them anymore
back of the tank

front

Nice! What are the reddish plants in the front?

Tiger lotus I believe. Nice plants. In a smaller tank, they’ll send some of their leaves all the way to the surface like a lily pad.

Yup, a lotus, even here they send leaves all the way to the surface (60cm) and you have to trim them. I bought one and all the others are it's offsprings which surprised me

JackGulley said:

Tiger lotus I believe. Nice plants. In a smaller tank, they’ll send some of their leaves all the way to the surface like a lily pad.

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Beastije said:

Yup, a lotus, even here they send leaves all the way to the surface (60cm) and you have to trim them. I bought one and all the others are it's offsprings which surprised me

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Thanks! Will have to see if I can get some for my tank

nice tank

what do you feed your plants on and how long are your lights on for?

gorgeous tank omg!!! i love the otos

simonas said:

nice tank

what do you feed your plants on and how long are your lights on for?

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I recently replanted, changed the substrate and added root tabs to all the swords. Before I never realy used fertilizer, now I have some "generic" one and I just guestimate the amount I add during water changes. The plants are now losing their leaves, some of them were newly purchased so they are just switching forms.
Will see in few months

Two months after the replant, all seems ok. I started fertilizing a bit, the swords seem to not have died off. Pennywort, for the first time ever, didnt melt and die so that is a nice plus. The frogbit boomed too much. I scrub half the tank of floaters every two weeks and I could throw out buckets.
All and all, everything works, and I added 4 loricaria and I love them. I planned to add a new schooling fish, but I guess I will just increase the rummynose. I dont love them love them, but I like them enough

Nice tank. You should enter it in one of our tank of the month contests. How many us gallons does it hold.

Fishmanic said:

Nice tank. You should enter it in one of our tank of the month contests. How many us gallons does it hold.

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This one is a 95 gallon

November’s tank of the month is for 31 gallon and larger tanks. Starts accepting entries around the end of october.