Return My New Tank?

[FishCat_16]

In that tank you'd be able to easily keep a couple of pairs of ellioti cichlids (Thorichthys ellioti), and a colony of platies.
 
The elliotis would keep to the bottom of the tank, and the platies would add movement in the mid-top.
The platies would breed, but the ellioti will take care of that.
 
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7uXMQjzCK8

Well, isn't that a beautiful fish!  Does that genus all have similar characteristics as far as behavior and environment requirements?  If my tank is long enough, the appear to root around in the substrate so I'd guess sand, which I would like for aesthetics, would be appropriate.  That video shows them with plants and from reading, they are one of the less voracious plant nibblers as far as cichlids go and most of the plants that seem to be able to withstand their grazing, fall into the very easy and easy to grow categories and driftwood has been mentioned for their habitat as well.
 
As much as I kind of dig the idea of letting platies pop out fry and have cichlids eat them, I'm just not big on platies.  What about some rainbowfish for the upper levels?  I do like the type of aquascape in that video far more than what I envision for an African tank.

 

[Zante]

It's not a big genus, but yes they are quite similar. Firemouths (Thorichthys meeki) are more common in the trade but bigger and more aggressive. The elliotis are the smallest and least aggressive of the genus, but they are still cichlids, it's like saying that it's the least fattening chocolate cake. They are lovely fish and full of personality.
 
They do indeed need sand, and I'd decorate the tank with a few rocks too, to give it a kind-of river look.
If you like plants (and who doesn't?) go for plants like java fern or anubias that grow tied on wood or rocks. They like digging a lot.

 

[Akasha72]

Ellioti's are lovely fish 

 

[Zante]

Sorry, I missed the last part of your message.
 
Sure, go for some hard water rainbow fish if you prefer. I suggested the platies mainly because they are from the same area as the elliotis and I usually prefer to keep together fish that are geographically close if not in the same biotope.

 

[FishCat_16]

Ok... thank you Zante, I am once again excited about this tank!  And you have turned me onto cichlids even though I don't really have room for most of the New World guys... I do have a basement..

I've located an outlet that sells ellioti and put an email out to them to see how often their stock changes and what their availability would look like once I'm up and ready to go.. hopefully 2-3 weeks?
 
I picked up some play sand and ordered a light, filter, plants, and some Dr. Tim's One and Only (and a small bottle of ammonia.)  I've read a lot on cycling and it seems if I can get it planted well enough and let them establish (I think the Dr. Tim's is still part of the equations.. I've read a lot of TwoTankAmin's posts regarding cycling but I may need to go back and double check if I do or do not need to add that as well as the plants) I should be able to test the breakdown of, if I recall 1ppm of ammonia in 12 hours?
 
I think I'd like to find some spiderwood to try to mimic tree roots undercut on a riverbank.  I'm not sure how long those pieces take to sink though.. I've read (seeing a theme here?) here different people have had different experiences with that too...  maybe I can just anchor it down with some rocks in the meantime.
 
I had thought about keeping to the same general geographic area as well, but I guess I just don't know enough different families yet.  Killifish are new world right?  I found the Jordanella floridae, but the more I read they may inhabit the same tank level as the ellioti... I don't really want conflicts...  my water might be a little hard for the other killis.  Maybe I will end up exploring the different platies, I didn't figure I'd be looking at cichlids either, I thought I'd be having a tank full of corys and rummynose tetras... ah well.

 

[Akasha72]

I can't wait to see this tank when it's up and running 

 

[FishCat_16]

Neither can I Akasha!
 
Turns out I got an alert that the plants I tried ordering this morning cannot be shipped to my state.  Bummer.  I'll just have to go clean out the LFS and Petsmart.  I was concerned about the possibility of bringing home snails, but after some more reading, I suppose I shouldn't be too worried about them other than they may be eaten.
 
I've got some some pieces of bogwood on their way that should be here Saturday.  If I bought plants on Friday would the survive until Sunday?  It could make a nice little Superbowl Sunday project... putting the tank together if... my filter gets here in time...  Then perhaps a week to let them start getting established and I can add the Dr. Tim's and start my cycle and hopefully that will go well and I'd like to think I could start safely stocking it before the end of the month?
 
All I have been doing is reading about fish and learning as much as I can.  Turns out there are more variations on the platy than what I have seen in pet stores before... The only ones I had ever seen were the plain red and the mickey mouse versions.  I've found some they're calling rainbow platys that look a bit like teeny tiny yellow perch to me and another that are being called gold twin bar.  So, those are possibilities now.
 
I THINK the only things I have left to get for this tank besides the fish are a thermometer and a heater...

 

[Akasha72]

a tip for avoiding plant snails - run some warm water into a bucket (not too hot just slightly warmer than luke warm) and add some standard table salt, stir a little to mix the salt in and then add your plants for about half an hour. Once done rinse the plants really well under running water. The warm salty water should kill any snails and also their eggs. Washing under a running tap will also help remove anything you can't see aswell as the salt.
This is an old trick my fish keeping Dad taught me and I've used it several times and I've never seen a pest snail in my tank. They only snails I have are the one's I put there myself  
 
When your bogwood arrives soak it in boiling water for a week or two to remove anything nasty like fungus etc. It'll also help it to sink and remove some of the tannins - although not all. You'll be looking at a yellow/brown tank for a few weeks but some people like that, myself included
 
Hope that helps you

 

[FishCat_16]

I remember reading that salt water rinse for the snails in one of your other posts... and it makes so much sense that the salt would kill them... good to know it kills the eggs as well.  I assume those little hitch hikers aren't of the beneficial variety?
 
I don't really mind if the water looks stained.  If the fish I want are from slow moving rivers then it seems like that would probably be pretty natural anyway.  I know Zante mentioned, and I've read about it elsewhere, leaf litter being something some species like in the tanks.  But, I haven't been able to find any of that.  I can't imagine I just go out in my yard an collect some..  Where would be a good place to at least take a look at what's available there?
 
I should make a new thread, or change the title here... I'm no longer considering returning this tank.

 

[Akasha72]

the jury is still out of 'pest' snails. Some of us like them, some don't. Some will eat your plants, others won't. For me it's about personal choice. I want in my tank only what I've chosen so I have two zebra nerite snails as they are great algae eaters and I have millions of malaysian trumpet snails as they are great for turning the substrate and stopping the gases building up. Again these snails are another that some like and some don't.
 
If you don't want 'pest' snails then try the salt water. If you decide you don't mind having them then leave it to chance  

 

[Zante]

Regarding the leaf litter, you can get catappa leaves online, but oak leaves collected from a park, or even your yard if you have an oak tree will be fine, as long as they're not sprayed with pesticides or similar nasty stuff.
 
There are plenty of other leaves too that can be used, such as beech, for example. Not sure on any others, but a modicum of research will give you the results you need.
 
You need to collect them when they are freshly fallen though, so there is quite a bit of time before you can stock up on them. I'd have a look online to see what you can find, they'll be a bit more pricey than if you collected your own, but you won't have to wait for autumn.

 

[Akasha72]

just to add to Zante's post about leaves. If you are going to collect them in Autumn make sure you get them from an area that's well away from pollution - roads etc as the leaves will soak up pollution and you don't want that in your tank
 
You can add alder cones aswell, they're said to be good for softening the water aswell as adding some tannins

 

[FishCat_16]

So, my filter and master test kit came today.  I picked up a heater (forgot a thermometer) and a cat grabber planter type device so I don't have to go swimming at any point in this stinking tall tank.  I got sand the other night, though I'm thinking I'm going to ended up buying a second bag so I'm not quite set on that.  My plan is to get my plants Friday, I'm hoping anyway, as we are taking a drive up to a bit bigger area where I think there is a bigger aquarium store than the LFS.  Over the weekend, the LFS only had about four plants.  My lights and wood should be arriving around Saturday (fingers crossed here).
 
Is there anything else I should be thinking about that I may have forgotten?  I did find catappa leaves online for pretty cheap that I may pick up to hold me over until fall.  I have read that both the wood and the leaves can soften the water and lower the pH, should I check the pH after I add the wood and let that sit for a bit before I put the leaves in or will the effects of both be negligible?

 

[Zante]

I wouldn't worry too much about the softening effect of leaves and wood, unless you really pile them on it's negligible. 

 

[Akasha72]

some of the aquarium sands can have a softening effect on your tank. I have unipac aquarium sand in my tank and my tap pH is around 7,4 but my tank is around 6.5. When I had gravel in my tank the pH was always the same as my tap. As soon as I switched to sand the pH (and of course the gH and kH with it) dropped. 
 
Once your sand is in and settled leave it a few days and re-test pH, gH and kH and see if anything has altered