My African Oddballs

[aether.ed]

Hello all.

I disapeered for a while so thought id let you all see my fishys to show you how they are getting on. Alls going well, my big tank due in 8months or so!

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7wBd59WYco

120gal, 2 x fluval 405, fluval u4, 36w light.

Inhabitants: 1 x mbu puffer, 1 x Elephantnose, 1x African brown knifefish, 3 x Spotted bush fish, 1 x african butterfly fish, 6 x featherfin synodontis catfish, 2 x upsidedown catfish, 1 x female kribensis, 25 congo tetras.

Plants: Java fern, Anubias, Vallis.

Heres my african themed aquarium, some huge feisty congo tetras and 6 large syno catfish that somehow remain invisible. Also a baby mbu puffer havin a munch, got an 8-10ft tank planned for him! Id say its a semi aggresive set up, fiesty yet peaceful, a joy to keep!

Enjoy



Ed

 

[aether.ed]

Click on the youtube button to see the vid fullscreen with the option to watch in 1080p, the fish look stunning in full HD, especially those tetras!

 

[nmonks]

Beautiful aquarium. You are right about the Congo Tetras; in the right tank, there's NO fish in the hobby more beautiful or elegant. Shame they don't really show their colours when they're small and stuffed into retailers' tanks! It's also nice to see the Elephantnose is bold and out there looking for food.

Good luck with it all, Neale

 

[Wills]

Wow just wow, I mean obviously its not a great long term home for the Mbu but Im more than sure you know that. But what a stunning tank! Makes me realise quite how much Im not enjoying my own tank right now...

Wills

 

[aether.ed]

Wow just wow, I mean obviously its not a great long term home for the Mbu but Im more than sure you know that. But what a stunning tank! Makes me realise quite how much Im not enjoying my own tank right now...

Wills

Thanks for the kind words. Im more than aware with what needs to be done with the mbu, il even be moving house just to accomodate it . just didnt want to start another im getting a 10ft tank thread, done all that haha. Just wanted to keep the good people posted on the little puffer and to show the more spacious layout, i removed over 50% of the java ferns, tryin to phase em out altogether and replace with more anubias to make it all abit more authentic.

Wills man, the end of your comment makes me sad, its a sad day when ur not enjoing ur fishes. time for rescape maybe!

It always amazes me the comments I get. I know i put alot of effort into it but knowing what the internets like i expected people to be flaming me about an overstocked tank or keeping the mbu in there but its been the opposite, actually alot of people are amazed i can keep an mbu with anything at all!

Ah Neale you noticed mr. elephantface, yeah hes a big bold brute not the fragile things you usually read about, he trys to batter the big catfish, the most dominant aggressive fish in the tank, good thing he cant do any damage! Had him 3yrs an not a single issue except his catfish bullying but theyre huge bulky things and he sometimes gets what he deserves, bless him. hes the biggest fish in there getting close to a foot. To be honest i hardly see him unless hes chasing catfish or if foods about.

Thanks again!

Ed

 

[Wills]

Wills man, the end of your comment makes me sad, its a sad day when ur not enjoing ur fishes. time for rescape maybe!

Indeed, me too I have had a rough time with a disease and lost a fair few big fish. Think I have finally worked out what it is and meds on the way. Then to get a house move out the way, I will thin down the stock a little once the meds have been dosed and then give 2-3 weeks rest time then rehome before we move and rebuild once we are settled.

Anyway enough about that back to your tank

It is excellent

Wills

 

[MBOU]

Wow!! What an amazing tank!!!

I love seeing the fish so obviously happy with their environment!! And for everyone saying that their African Knifefish or their Ctenopoma are all shy and hiding all the time... this just goes to show that it means the tank/lighting/inhabitants just arent right.

Love how they are all begging for food!! Your mbu must be tiny tiny to fit in that shell!

I have two at work, one about 4-5" who is blind as a bat and has to be hand fed, he has a special home to go to soon. He lives with a trio of amano shrimp that clear up his tank LOL, he hasnt eaten any shrimp before, let alone fish.

The other is more like 14-15" and he has killed a clown loach before, but from the bite, it looks like the clown loach swam over him and slowly enough to get bitten, he'd have looked like food being dropped in.

But big puffer is in a sump tank with a breeding pair of angels (they do beat him back into place occasionally!), a syno, a few scissortail rasbora and odessa barbs that i ouldnt for life of me catch, same with the small clownloaches and the red tail black shark in there.

Mbus just arent aggressive, its just more a case of making sure they get their food and the other fish arent stupid enough to get between the puffer and its food.

Our big puffer sucks in the whole cockle in shell, crunches down and spits out bits of shell! Hilarious to watch!

Your tank is just so beautiful! I love the vallis and the african knifefish and just look at those congos!! Just wow!! Makes me want a tank like that!!

 

[aether.ed]

Thanks MBOU

Yeah set up is very important, I doubt id see half my fish from hiding if there wasnt so much plant cover for them to feel safe. The mbu is around 5inches from tip to tip so still tiny. Will be amazing to see him crunching shells when he's bigger, got a 10 x 4ft tank planned, got the funds and a guy to build it, just need to move house so I have the space for it! Got quite an adventure ahead of me!

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[MBOU]

Make sure you get step by step photos!! Can make a lovely journal out of it!

(and when I win the lottery... i will replicate it!

 

[brittani299]

I see that you have 3 African leaf fish in there (believe you called them bush fish). I have one right now that's about 4 inches long. So can you house more in a tank without them attacking each other? I love my African leaf fish and want more but didn't know if I could have more then one together

 

[aether.ed]

I see that you have 3 African leaf fish in there (believe you called them bush fish). I have one right now that's about 4 inches long. So can you house more in a tank without them attacking each other? I love my African leaf fish and want more but didn't know if I could have more then one together

Haha, they do constantly attack each other, it seems more playful than anything as they are always hanging around together, maybe they just feel the need to assert their dominance alot. The chase, nip, display, flare up at each other but no one gets hurt, when theyre hungry they will group together and hunt as a pack so ultimately they are social fish, just need space and cover so they can have their alone time. Id say a minimum of a 4ft tank for a group of 3 or more. Judging from their behaviour id say just having 2 of these fish may result in the weaker getting bullied. Best kept singular or in groups of 3 or more given adequate space and plaant cover.

Been having a few odd moments with leaf fish and kribensis battling it out, almost as if the krib is feeling broody and trying to determine if the leaf fish would be a suitable mate. mad seeing 2 different species interacting like they do, all the displaying and odd body shapes and whatnot.

Anyways got a new video i just posted on youtube, might aswell post it here. Its mainly of the puffer but can see a nice big catfish, cant belive i have 6 of them in there, all that big! Also managed to capture a cute little puffer yawn!
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaobfzvqRA4

Tried filming from a distance zoomed in so not to disrupt the peace with fish begging for food so please excuse abit of camera wobble. I think the puffer was still trying to get my attention tho!

 

[Davo86]

This is genuinely one of the most stunning setups I've seen in a while, Amazing!