7 Foot, 1074 Litres, 284 Gallons.

[dave_oddballs]

yeah but i don't have the money to pay nearly £200 for the new female without selling this female! this is ray keeping on a budget this is! for now anyway! ha, they eat more than me! ha

 

[gasmask]

Hey Dave and T1, have you guys looked into crushed Garnet stone?

It has a nice earthy red tone, is slightly more course than sand, but the stuff is so heavy!
I now use on all my tanks, and it is great. The tone brings out the colors in all my fish, and little if any gets sucked up the filter.

Here is a close up pic: (I have mixed mine with black sand as i like my fish to have a slightly darker tone, but the garnet olone is not dark at all.)

Here is some without black sand mixed in:

 

[MadMan-JaMeS]

it looks slightly sharp but it may be the phone i'm using lol

 

[dave_oddballs]

it looks really nice, but it looks quite sharp to me too, i don't think i'd trust it for the rays. shame because it looks different, and tidy!
going to bury tomorow to pick up a couple of fish from indigoj, so will pop into bas on the way back, see what fish and gravel they have in there!!

 

[dave_oddballs]

oh i forgot to add, i picked up the four geophagus surinamensis today, the smallest is a similar size to my dat microlepis and the biggest similar size to my dat quadrifasciatus, bigger than i thought, seem to be settling in nicely.
will get pictures when i can!

 

[dave_oddballs]

took a few pictures of the big geophagus surinamensis i acquired, very nice colours, even in the dark! will try and get some more in the light but need to get the good camera! there is 4 altogether, and between 7-8 inch's long. stunning fish, i got them to add a bit of movement to the tank as the rays are on the bottom and the tigers just lurk around in corners, it worked as these guys are constantly swimming around!

and just a couple of shots of the tank also with lights out, there seems much more life in the dark!

Dave

 

[dave_oddballs]

and, as you do, i got carried away and took some more! the lights came on so they are a bit better 'i think'...
geophagus surinamensis;

polypterus lapradei;

The rays;

Dave

 

[Littlemonkey]

Love the new arrivals, stunning and look very healthy too.

 

[dave_oddballs]

yeah they are very healthy, very chunky too, they aren't interested in any sort of food apart from cichlid pellets, its good though as they contain all the cichlids need! i have a feeling there is 3 males and just 1 female though as the biggest, which i presume is the dominant male chases two of the others off all the time and just stays with on, which i presume is the female! but for the most part they all swim around together, will have to see if i can find a couple more large ones to add to them, hopefully females, might spread aggression within the group!

 

[dave_oddballs]

been trying to get some good pictures of my datnioides microlepis, it always hides, well until i move away from the tank! im pretty sure he and the datnioides quadrifasciatus don't get along too well, they have an end each! hopefully if i get a couple more big tigers it will stop it by spreading out any aggression!
this is the best i could do!
you can just about see his mate in this one, the little datnioides undecimradiatus, follows him everywhere!

here he is again, still with tag along!

and 1 more, the little guys trying to hide this time, but still lingering like a bad smell!!

Dave

 

[AinsyC]

amazing dave! glad you started posting again, nice to see someone with a tank that many of us aspire to!

 

[dave_oddballs]

well its not as big as i want but we will make do with what we have! haha
thanks anyway! im still trying to find/decide on, which substrate to go for, quite fancy a dark ony, maybe solid black, but the ones i have seen look sharp and i need it smooth, so i'll keep looking!!

 

[bae1994]

i think tiled bottomed oddball tanks look great

also the new additions look great

is your tank siliconed to your stand?

 

[dave_oddballs]

no! haha why would it be siliconed to the stand? its heavy enough on its own!
no i see what your saying, you can see the dots of silicone, its got a double glass base, so 2 sheets of glass siliconed together, its an inch thick, which also wouldn't of helped when carrying it! haha
i wouldn't like a tiled bottom! may aswel just keep it bare, i want something for the fish to 'play' in and bury in, but it needs to be heavier than sand, too heavy to waft about and get sucked up the filter.

 

[indigoj]

Collection is looking good Dave! Nice to see the Lapradei, hope he's settled in ok.