Return My New Tank?

[FishCat_16]

And then there were plants...
 

 

[Akasha72]

ooh looking good 

 

[FishCat_16]

Thanks!  I've got two more nice bits of spider wood but of course I couldn't be so luck  as I was with the first set.  They don't want to sink despite having been boiled.  I'm using my planter/grabber to hold one of them down and the other one is just floating.  I'm thinking that I might use some rocks I just picked  to hold them down but that might be tricky with how deep the tank is.  Once I can get the new wood to stay sunk and I can see how I want them arranged, I'll plant the other side.  I do have some water wisteria floating as well as some bits of duckweed I missed after soaking them in the salt water snail solution.
 
It's coming along slowly but surely.  Hopefully I don't kill all my plants!

 

[Zante]

If it was my tank I'd be happy with the wood and go for a few rocks on the right side, including a spawning cavern for the elliotis.

 

[FishCat_16]

I picked some rocks this afternoon that I boiled and which are now cooling that I was going to try to incorporate in as a caves for them.  I might need to go out and see what else I can find depending on how I can get them arranged once they are cool.
 
The new wood I have is a bit taller than what's in there now, with the tank as tall as it is, I want to try to add some height to the scape besides what I hope the plants will provide. 
 
I'm also thinking, if I'm going for two pairs that I may try to build two territories into the scape but, I don't know if that's how fish brains work... if they would identify two separate areas each containing what they would need as far as cover and such and sort it out between them.  Is 2:2 the most peaceful sex ratio?  I know that the shop will try to send what is requested but they do not guarantee male or female.

 

[Zante]

If the shop will take extras back get six juveniles.
They will pair off naturally once mature. Once the pairs are formed take the extra fish back to the shop.
Six will give you a good chance of having at least 2 males and 2 females. If you get a third pair out of them, it will have a higher value than two fish, and the shop might take it back more willingly.
 
As for the creation of territories, visual barriers are very good for this. When I had only two pairs of discus a log was dividing the tank in two nice territories.
Now there are 20 discus in there the problem of territories doesn't even start
 
A piece of wood, some rocks even plants can be used as territory separators, as long as the fish have a clear indicator of where the territories meet.

 

[FishCat_16]

If the shop will take extras back get six juveniles.
They will pair off naturally once mature. Once the pairs are formed take the extra fish back to the shop.
Six will give you a good chance of having at least 2 males and 2 females. If you get a third pair out of them, it will have a higher value than two fish, and the shop might take it back more willingly.
 
Unfortunately, my LFS has a tank full of "Assorted South American Cichlids" and even on asking the staff have no idea what is what.  I could see at least what appeared to be firemouth in there and some other similar looking fish with pale stripes and spots on the gill plates.  They told me that they could maybe try to find some for me and order them but they didn't really know.  I'm not sure if I'd end up with firemouths.  The online shop I found that carries them as a regular part of their stock is unfortunately on the other side of the country... I don't think I'd have room for 6, I might be pushing it with four.  I wonder if I could just sell the other two to the LFS... maybe worth exploring.  I don't plan on fish until early March if I had to guess, it will depend on how well I can get these plants to do.  I want to run low tech so I'm guessing it will take longer.

 
A piece of wood, some rocks even plants can be used as territory separators, as long as the fish have a clear indicator of where the territories meet.
 
I have another piece of bogwood I took out this afternoon which might serve me well here if I can figure out a way to position it so it doesn't look exactly like that is what I'm doing. 

   Plus the rocks I have already boiled and I have many more I can sort through for options.  I need to find some decent pictures of some Thorichthys habitats that aren't focusing in on the fish.
 
I'm so glad I have something in the tank now even if it's just plants. It's so much nicer to look at.

 

[Akasha72]

 you boiled rocks? Never boil rocks ... they can explode and boiling doesn't make them necessarily safe to use. Do you have any white vinegar? That's the distilled stuff. If you do, take your rocks and drip the vinegar over them. If it fizzes they're not safe to use.

 

[FishCat_16]

 you boiled rocks? Never boil rocks ... they can explode and boiling doesn't make them necessarily safe to use. Do you have any white vinegar? That's the distilled stuff. If you do, take your rocks and drip the vinegar over them. If it fizzes they're not safe to use.

I did.  Boiling water is my go to for disinfecting anything.  I'd have boiled the plants too if I knew it wouldn't kill them.   So, I'm just sitting here with fingers crossed that the salt water solution killed all the snails.  It didn't kill something because if the slightly milky cloudiness of my water, I'm looking at a bacteria bloom.
 
I still haven't gotten a thermometer but, my heater is clearly working now.
 
Still waiting for the last piece of wood to decide it wants to remain submerged.  Some of the plants have popped up out of the sand... I didn't want to stuff them down too far so I need to replace them to where they belong.  One of my plants is a mat.  Should I separate those or leave them bound?
 
Checked the pH again tonight after letting the wood sit in there for a couple of days.  I'm looking at pH 7.6 and high range pH at 7.4.  So, it came down a bit, but not too much.

 

[FishCat_16]

 
Here is the latest.  I was out of town for a couple of days... long enough for my last piece of wood to take on enough water that burying a bit into the sand is holding it down.  I had another one in there but once I got this one in place, I decided I didn't like it so out it came. 
 
I guess I've got some fungus on the wood and since I've gotten back the cloudiness that I thought was a bacterial bloom has disappeared.
 
I'm not sure what to do about my one big plant in the back corner.  It's a mat and I am struggling to get it to stay in place... I'm wondering if I should leave it as is or split it and put half in the other corner by the heater.  I'd like to get a few more plants to fill out the other side.  I tried shooting for the "triangle" shape for my scape, not sure if I'm close or way off but I kinda like how it's shaping up.
 
I think I need a few more rocks to make the ones I have in there look a bit more natural and I'm not sure if either of the caves are big enough.  Akasha- I checked the rocks with vinegar and they were A-Okay!

 
Still need to pick up a stinking thermometer.  I don't know why that's been so hard for me to remember.
 
I can't wait until it has fish!

 

[Akasha72]

I think once the plants grow in a bit it'll look great.
 
My only pointer would be a background. Do you not like the idea? I have a plain black background on my tank and it really makes the plants and fish colours 'pop'

 

[FishCat_16]

I think once the plants grow in a bit it'll look great.
 
My only pointer would be a background. Do you not like the idea? I have a plain black background on my tank and it really makes the plants and fish colours 'pop'

I do like the idea of a background- especially since my walls are green (it gave me a small heart attack that I might already have algae in there).  I just haven't gotten one yet because I've read conflicting views on light or dark as far as which one will make the fish show their colors the best.  I was thinking black.  Figuring with the lighter sand it might not really be a problem..
 
But, that's why I've been putting it off.  I suppose I won't really know until I get fish in there.
 
Do you do the sides too or just the back?

 

[Akasha72]

black works well. I've tried various patterned backgrounds but the plain black wins every time.
 
Here's my main tank with a plain black background. You can see how the plants really stand out and fish colours too
 

 

[FishCat_16]

Ooh, that looks nice!  I see what you mean with the background.  I need to go out tonight because I WILL get a thermometer.  Looks like some black background will be in order too.  Our Petsmart has backgrounds specifically made for aquaria.  I thought I would be able to get away with poster board, but I can't seem to keep the water in the tank, so now I think that might end up looking kind of ragged.  Maybe I'll swing into the LFS too and see what they have for plants today.  My water wisteria appears to have some new small leaflets sprouting.  I've been keeping an eye out for snails but I haven't seen any, I'm thinking your salt water tip worked.  I'll put snails in there in good time but I'd like to choose what goes in.

 

[Akasha72]

if you are able to get to the back of the tank easily you could paint it with acrylic paint. Use one of those small sponge rollers and paint it top to bottom right across, let it dry fully then paint it horizontally. That way you should get an even coverage with minimum streaks. And if you ever want to remove it you can use a razor blade to peel it away from the glass.
The beauty of acrylic paint is it's wipe-able with a damp cloth and it's really cheap too!