'the Slow Burner' - Pics & Vid 21/08

[ZoddyZod]

filling it right now. Heater cable is annoyingly short . Will need an extension

 

[ZoddyZod]

Filled. Lights illuminate the entire lounge!

Heating it overnight and Will look to add some of the fish tomorrow.

 

[Proxo]

Sweet, can't wait to see this - i'm pretty excited for it not even been my tank haha!!
Nice trick with the bucket lol. Also have the problem with short cables on pretty much everything

 

[Joller]

what strain of angels did you go for?

P. Scalare - silver and black stripes. I already have 1 adult of the same colour.

they're my fave strain been looking for some for a couple of months but can only find white, black, koi and marble

 

[ZoddyZod]

Bit worried about the brightness of the lights + sand. A little concerned that my fish aren't going to enjoy the intensity. My vallis provided all the shade in the old tank and I had black gravel so much much darker.

Doesn't really fit with the amazon theme I had in mind.....

 

[ZoddyZod]

Plants all moved across

that was about an hour ago. Obviously the scape needs work but this will happen over time.

New angels now in

all jumper risk fish still in the old tank with the adult angel. These will be moved once i make a perspex lid and it gives the new angels time to settle before introducing the elder statesman.

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Looking good Zod, any chance of some other angles, gotta turn my brightness down with those T5s Can you lower them aswell?

What was the other stocking?

 

[ZoddyZod]

Looking good Zod, any chance of some other angles, gotta turn my brightness down with those T5s Can you lower them aswell?

What was the other stocking?

you're not wrong! It looks like the final scene from Close Encounters! Already got some frogbit on order to try and dim the tank a little

Rest of the stock is pretty random. Eventually it will become purely South American with more corys, some additional smaller cichlids and a group of larger tetra. All in good time though. Got to buy myself an additional external first.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Right, now the tank is finally online I can think (again) about the stocking direction.

Currently it's a very haphazard mixed community consisting of

9 neons
9 harlequins
1 dwarf gourami
1 golden panchax killi
5 albino bronze cory
2 white tip rosy tetra (lost one 2 days ago)
2 bolivian rams (not a pair)
5 juvi angels (P.Scalare)
1 adult angel (also P.Scalare)
1 BN - probably male

I still want to head down the South American route. The killi and gourami will go, but I am loathe to remove the harlequins as I really like how closely they swim together - maybe they will stay as an exception to the SA plan.

White tip tetra - unsure about increasing their numbers again - was never very impressed with their behaviour/interaCtion, quite a dull fish to watch although aesthetically very pleasing. Might look at other similar sized tetra for a group of 10-15 - emperor or diamond spring to mind.

Bolivian rams - such a shame I can't have more of these, would love to get a breeding pair and be able to watch that specific behaviour.

Albino bronze corys - don't really stand out well on the new sand substrate! May look to add non-ablinos to them, but not sure I would like the visual effect. Have also read that they need shorter tanks than the 2' I currently have as they need to dart to the surface. Is this true? I did see one struggling to reach the surface this morning.

POSSIBLE ADDITIONS.
In an ideal world I would love to have ANY other cichlid additions. Something like a flag or red breasted acara or two, or any dwarves. Are any an option with the existing Bolivians and angels?

1 or 2 more BN - need some move caves in the tank first though, not a lot of hiding/resting spots in there at all currently.

And then I think I would be happy!

ALL OPINIONS/ADVICE GREATFULLY RECEIVED!

 

[KittyKat]

The harlequins will be fine to stay, I also keep them in a "South American" type of setup.. but I do recommend that in a tank that size, you aim at at least 15 fish per schooling species, anything less is not fair on the fish, especially as you have the space.

Cichlids are territorial fish, and I don't think you have enough bottom area for any more of them. If you get two pairs of angels spawning, where will the rest go? As it is now, there probably will be space, but with more cichlids.. probably not.

Some people probably mentioned neon and angel issues already, but my well fed angels always left the 4-5 cm neons alone. If you decide to try the two together in the long term, I recommend you get more now, before the angels are big enough to eat them, and feed them well enough so that they grow quickly.

One thing you could really do with is a lot more plants, of course

 

[ZoddyZod]

The harlequins will be fine to stay, I also keep them in a "South American" type of setup.. but I do recommend that in a tank that size, you aim at at least 15 fish per schooling species, anything less is not fair on the fish, especially as you have the space.

I think they will be my 'guilty pleasure' for this tank. Yes, will gladly be looking to up the numbers

Cichlids are territorial fish, and I don't think you have enough bottom area for any more of them. If you get two pairs of angels spawning, where will the rest go? As it is now, there probably will be space, but with more cichlids.. probably not.

fair point - I wasn't thinking about the territorial breeding issue.

Some people probably mentioned neon and angel issues already, but my well fed angels always left the 4-5 cm neons alone. If you decide to try the two together in the long term, I recommend you get more now, before the angels are big enough to eat them, and feed them well enough so that they grow quickly.

I'm not that fussed about keeping neons long term. They worked with my current adult angel (grew up with them) but I think they would need to be in numbers of 30+ to make an impact in the tank, and I'm not prepared to give that space over this species.

One thing you could really do with is a lot more plants, of course

very much so - into the murky world of horticulture I go. Can't say I'm massively excited about the prospect

 

[Wills]

I have to disagree Kittykat with the cichlids - in 320 liters, 4 Angels and 2 Bolivian Rams is no where near a territory limit - especially when we are considering Angels with Dwarf Cichlids. Also given the height of the Osaka I would think the dwarfs would be pretty safe.

I would perhaps be more bothered about the Neons and the Harlequins with the Angel but as you say it has been working so far

What are the plans with the Angels long term? Are you planning to keep 2 pairs or just one? In a 320 I think 2 pairs are a possibility as would be increasing your numbers of Bolivians.

Bolivian Rams are part of the Geophagus family and as such (though there is little evidence either way) I would think they would do well in groups, though pairs do work. I think a group of 5 would work nicely if you can 2 males 3 females.

So I would do a stock list like

4 Angels
5 Bolivian Rams
15 Harlequins (just thinking if your not bothered about the Neons why not bump these up while your juggling the stock?)
10 Albino Cories (or a mix of Albino and Bronze)3
3 BN (what ever mix you can find)

And then still some decent amounts left to stock with others - I would always suggest Headstanders and Spotted Headstanders would work great! If you want to keep it mainly South American lots of options - a larger Calyicthys (spelling) type catfish like Portholes or Hoplos would work great alongside the Cories you have. Fancy plecos are nice lots of options there as well - though I prefer Whiptail Cats, much less poo and IMO much much more active!

Wills

 

[SchottayB]

Looking good mate. Love that tank, expencive new though

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Thought they were discontinued now Thought it was replaced by the 'profile'

 

[minnnt]

I saw the smaller 155 in a shop near me and it was very striking. Had alot of presence, so can imagine that the 320 has even more!