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The tank, immediately after start. The "rocks" are modules from Back To Nature, in "Faxekalk" finish, and the substrate is coarse sand.
The 3 images above illustrates various stages of the maturing of a Tanganyika setup. The decoration is a compromise between a rocky coast and a sandy bottom. The plants are potted Cryptocoryne wendtii. The fish are: Aethiomas-tacembelus ellipsifer, Altolamprologus calvus, Callochromis stappersii, Ophtalmotilapia ventralis and Paracyprichromis nigripinnis.
The first breeding of Aethiomastacembelus ellipsifer, which confirms that it is a pair. Unfortunately the breeding took place on an open patch of sand, and the 4 mm large eggs, were eaten by both the parents and their tankmates. The eggs are very sticky, clustered and were covered with sand when I saw them.
The tank has been assigned to be a Central america tank. In accordance to this, all Tanganyika fish has been removed. 8 Paracyprichromis nigripinnis has been transferred to akvarium1.htm, and Altolamprologus calvus "Black pectoral", 6 Callochromis stappersii, Ophthalmotilapia ventralis (Mpimbwe) and 3 Synodontis sp. " petricola dwarf" (it should have been 4, but 1 managed to hide, and was left behind) to akvarium5.htm. The 2 Aethiomastacembelus ellipsifer has been transferred to akvarium6.htm. They have been replaced by a pair of Herotilapia multispinosa from akvarium5.htm and a pair of Thorichthys ellioti from akvarium4.htm. Hopefully they will later be joined by a pair of Archocentrus sp. "honduran red-point", and some live-bearing cyprinodontoids are also planned.
The tank shortly after conversion to American cichlids. Most of the rocks are gone, and replaced by more plants and a couple of roots. The fish are Archocentrus multispinosa and Thorichthys ellioti.
A pair of Amatitlania sp. "Honduras redpoint" has been introduced to the tank.
A few bushes of Hygrophila difformis has been introduced.
Both Thorichthys ellioti and Archocentrus multispinosa have spawned. The Thorichthys ellioti pair was the last to give up, but today, 10 days after the fry was free swimming, the spawn was gone.
Things are happening in this tank! The HRP-pair have free swimming fry in the back, and the other 2 pairs, have newly hatched wrigglers, fully visible from the front glass, no more than 2-4 inches away. There are quite a lot of skirmishing, but each pair seem to hold their own, in securing their territory.
5/2 2008
A month has passed since the last image, and a group of Hygrophila difformis, planted 3 weeks before, has grown enormously in the tank. The T. ellioti pair are tending fry, a scenario that would unfortunately repeat itself constantly for all the cichlids in the tank. In addition to the previously mentioned species, a pair of Amatitlania sp. "honduras redpoint" (hidden behind the plants) in the tank.
A month has passed since the last image, and a group of Hygrophila difformis, planted 3 weeks before, has grown enormously in the tank. The T. ellioti pair are tending fry, a scenario that would unfortunately repeat itself constantly for all the cichlids in the tank. In addition to the previously mentioned species, a pair of Amatitlania sp. "honduras redpoint" (hidden behind the plants) in the tank.
It looks like there is a little too much circulation in the tank, so to fix this, and save a little on the Electrical bill, one of the Aquaclear 70 power heads, have been replaced with an Aquaclear 50. The used sponge is needed in akvarium3.htm so it is replaced with a new. As for the fish, things have settled down a bit. Only the A. multispinosa are still tending fry, and They look like it will not last much longer.
It seems like 3 cichlid pairs are too many in this tank. Especially the HRP pair are fairly aggressive right now, because of their large batch of freeswimming fry. Consequently, the Archocentrus multispinosa has been moved to akvarium4.htm.
During the last week or so, I have had an opportunity to witness some pretty unusual behavior; As is almost routine now, both remaining pair of cichlids, breed at the same rate, but staggered, so that the HRP have free swimming fry, the same day the Ellioti lay their eggs. I noticed some unusually heavy fighting around the Ellioti "nest", and upon closer examination, it turns out, that acouple of HRP fry have strayed into the Ellioti nesting site. Contrary to expectation, the Ellioti parents totally ignore the intruders, concentrating on defense of the territory and nursing of their eggs. Fast forward to the day, where the Ellioti fry are free-swimming. This coincides with the HRP having lost their last fry, but evidently not their parental instinkts, as they resort to "stealing" ellioti fry, to keep as their own! As of today, the situation is, that the fry are more or less free to roam around the tank (the HRP female is still vainly trying to gather them in a school) protected by both pairs, which still are very territorial against each other.
The Hygrophila difformis plants have been cut back, and a large Echinodorus sp. has been introduced. As usual, a lot of fry is present in the tank.
New fish: 6 Nematobrycon palmeri which hopefully in a couple of days, will decimate the fry, that the cichlids keep getting. New plants: Hygrophila sp.
Apparently the 6 Nematobrycon palmeri has been reduced to 4. This is most likely the result of the cichlid parents reaction to their attempt at stealing fry, so that plan was not the brightest I have come up with! The remainders do seem to have learned their lesson, and stay as far away as possible! Unfortunately it also appears, that the balance between the 2 pairs are shifting towards total dominance to the Amatitlania sp. "Honduras redpoint", which are pushing the Thorichthys ellioti pair very hard, resulting in torn fins. Consequently, I have removed the HRP pair, and replaced them with the Archocentrus multispinosa pair I removed to akvarium4.htm earlier.
New plants and fish are tried out. The plants (Hygrophila sp.) did not thrive at all, and was quicly removed again. The fish (Nematobrycon palmeri) were primarily intended as fry control, in an attempt to keep the number of cichlid fry down to a minimum, but unfortunately they had a habit of just hovering around, after they had done their job, and the cichlid parents` retaliation often proved lethal...
Only 3 Nematobrycon palmeri remains and nothing seems to be wrong with them. The recently added Archocentrus multispinosa has fry inside one of the modules! The Hygrophila sp. that was planted 4/4, has not been a success. They probably need more light. as of today, they have been discarded, and replaced with some Echinodorus, cannibalized from akvarium1.htm and akvarium5.htm.
New fish in the tank; 10 Hyphessobrycon columbianus, that are supposed to do the job the Nematobrycon palmeri failed at (fry eaters).
The last Hygrophila difformis has been removed, to make room for some more permanent plants, assoon as I can get some. The free bottom area was sifted, which helped reduce the number of Malay snails somewhat.
Since the Nematobrycon palmeri were not so succesful, they were replaced by a school of Hyphessobrycon columbianus who turned out to be a lot more efficient, both in decimating the cichlid fry and staying alive afterwards! The plants have been augmented by a lot of Echinodorus spp. which I got for free.
The situation from 17/4 2008 is repeating itself, except that this time, the T. ellioti pair are on top. Hence the A. multispinosa are moved to akvarium3 where the competition will be almost nil. While I was at it, I removed the last N. palmeri. There was also a surprise! While messing around, I found an app. 1 inch long Synodontis sp. "petricola dwarf"! It must be a result of a spawning of the catfish that was removed 17/12 2007.
The T. ellioti pair has been transferred to akvarium4 and replaced with 7 juvenile T. meeki from that tank.
Several Echinodorus "ozelot" and asingle Echinodorus "rosé" has been transferred from akvarium2.htm. An Echinodorus sp. which is already present in a single specimen (ref. 7/5 2008) has been transferred from akvarium4.
A couple has paired off from the Thorichthys meeki group, and they have spawned today or yesterday.
In an attempt to get curb the ever increasing number of snails in the tank, I have added 6 more! It is the species Anentome helena which supposedly eats other snails.
As evident, the Echinodorus spp. plants do very well, and is starting to get in the way of each other. All the previous cichlids, have been replaced by a group of Thorichthys meeki "laguna de las illusiones".
All fish, except 1 Ancistrus, have been moved to Akvarium4.
1 pair of Archocentrus multispinosa (the same pair, that was removed 25/5 2008) has been transferred from akvarium3 and app. 15 Poecilia melanogaster has come from akvarium5.
Though the tank might look empty, it is not! The A. multispinosa pair, that have been here before, is back, this time accompanied by a group of Poecilia melanogaster. Most of the Echinodorus spp. have been moved to other tanks, leaving the 3 most impressive specimens.
The tank is now more or less self-developing. I can`t say that I am particularly happy with the decoration, but on the other hand, it is hard to take action against the large Echinodorus spp. that is the primary problem, as they simply take up too much space.
After almost complete neglect for app. 6 months, I have finally gotten around to removing a large (way too large!) Echinodorus sp. and placed a couple of roots in the tank. This tank does not look satisfying, but I will attempt to correct the situation during the next few months.
After a very long break (it is the first time in this tank) the Archocentrus multispinosa pair spawned today.
Finally I have pulled Myself together, and done a total makeover of the tank! Everything not glued in place, has been exchanged. The tank will now hold a group of 8 Rio Manacapuru scalare (Pterophyllum scalare), and a school of rummynose tetra (Hemigrammus bleheri). The tank has been planted with surplus from Akv. 2.
The tank has been completely remade, including substrate. Fish, plants and roots are from the now disbanded Akv.2.
New fish. 10 Corydoras adolfoi has been added. Also some more plants has been added, again from Akv. 2.
As a consequence of disbandment of Akv. 1, 2 C. arcuatus have been moved to this tank.
1 C. adolfoi have been found dead. The remaing 9 seems to be OK.
The Corydoras are giving Me a lot of grief. 6 out of the 10 C. adolfoi have, without any visible cause, died over the last month or so. All other fish in the tank are doing fine.
The tank has settled in. A bit of dirt has accumulated in the right side, at the front glass, but I leave it alone, since the catfish loves to mess around with it. The Module in the right side of the tank, is right now (in addition to housing the filter sponge) home to a newly hatched litter of Ancistrus.
After a pretty uneventful period, the tank has been moved today. It was only a couple of yards, and was done by, after removing the angelfish to a cooling box, emptying all water except for app. an inch from the tank, sliding a couple of towels under the legs of the stand and dragging the whole setup over to the new spot. The tank was quickly leveled and refilled with tap water and the angelfish put back. The whole operation took abount an hour and a half.
New tubes in the lamp. I fear that I have been somewhat remiss regarding this. They were last replaced July 2007! The difference is very visible.
For the first time since the tank was moved a pair of P. scalare was breeding this evening.
New fish. 10 4-5 cm long Geophagus sp. "Tapajos redhead" juveniles have been added to the tank. The fish will grow too large for this tank, but will suit a planned larger tank perfectly.
After some consideration, I have decided to increase the number of G. sp. "Tapajos redhead" to 14.
The tank is leaking! Close examination does however, reveal that the water is coming from the top, actually spilling out over the frame. This is caused by a crumbling leg on the stand, that causes the tank to tilt, allowing water to seep over the top and down the side. This has apparently been going on for some time, because the plywood is showing signs of rot. For the moment, I have lowered the water level an inch, while I ponder the possible solutions to the problem.
Since the tank is already scheduled for disbandment within the next year or so, and since the lamp for a long time has been the cause of irritation, We (the Mrs. have a strong word here) have decided to simply scrap the tank. Fish and plants are placed in care of good friends, and the roots are removed.
Below a last picture, taken immmdiately before it was taken down.
The tank is now completely emptied and handed off.
