Hi all, i am quite new here and only recently discovered this nice community.
I looked around a bit without posting becaues ppl here is far more expert than me
I had an aquarium maybe 5-10 years ago and i was quite successful, it slowly evolved from a community tank (i was a total beginner) to an amazon community tank, and despite some little and big errors, in the long run the aquarium was stable and nice.
Now that i am a bit older and i have my own house, i decided to give new life to my old aquarium, but this time i'd like to be a bit more serious and creating a cichlid blackwater tank.
So, my 130 liters (34gallons) planned aquarium will be composed of sand/small gravel, some bogwood, many places to hide, some dried oak leaves, some peat in the filter (my filter is quite big so i have space for it), and a yet-to-decide number of plants to give hiding place etc.
My target water values are very low GH and KH (maybe 2-6) and low PH to encourage breeding (i think PH6 could be a reasonable value), and temperature as high as cichlids ask.
The purpose would be to have a nice aquarium in which cichlids could eventually breed.
I really like hankh setup:
http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/showthread.php?11710-My-BW-CW-50-gallon-tank/page2
it would be something similar, with maybe a bank-like side to offer some more hiding places.
My "core" inhabitants would be:
1) 1M+1F of apistogramma nijsseni (first choice)
Possible alternatives: 1m+2f ap. agassizi OR something more of ap. trifasciata (maybe 2m+3/4f??)
2) 1M+2F of dicrossus filamentosus
Dither fishes: a school of Carnegiella Marthae (8-10)
Completion of the setup: 1 school of Paracheirodon Simulans and/or 1 school of Corydoras Habrosus.
My first (of many...) question is about cohabitation.
I think that dicrossus should live with nijsseni without many problems (they are quite different).
The dither fishes school i think is ok (is it really? any suggestion welcome)
My biggest concern is about the Corydoras: will they compete with Cichlids on the bottom? will they hunt for fries? Habrosus are really really small fishes (about 3cm TL).
Second concern: do you think that Paracheirodon Simulans is a good choice? Better using a school of some species of Nannostomus? Or not using anything else at all?
Aquarium is 130L, 88cm long (Askoll Tenerife 88).
Thank you very much in advance :biggrin:
I looked around a bit without posting becaues ppl here is far more expert than me
I had an aquarium maybe 5-10 years ago and i was quite successful, it slowly evolved from a community tank (i was a total beginner) to an amazon community tank, and despite some little and big errors, in the long run the aquarium was stable and nice.
Now that i am a bit older and i have my own house, i decided to give new life to my old aquarium, but this time i'd like to be a bit more serious and creating a cichlid blackwater tank.
So, my 130 liters (34gallons) planned aquarium will be composed of sand/small gravel, some bogwood, many places to hide, some dried oak leaves, some peat in the filter (my filter is quite big so i have space for it), and a yet-to-decide number of plants to give hiding place etc.
My target water values are very low GH and KH (maybe 2-6) and low PH to encourage breeding (i think PH6 could be a reasonable value), and temperature as high as cichlids ask.
The purpose would be to have a nice aquarium in which cichlids could eventually breed.
I really like hankh setup:
http://www.apistogramma.com/forum/showthread.php?11710-My-BW-CW-50-gallon-tank/page2
it would be something similar, with maybe a bank-like side to offer some more hiding places.
My "core" inhabitants would be:
1) 1M+1F of apistogramma nijsseni (first choice)
Possible alternatives: 1m+2f ap. agassizi OR something more of ap. trifasciata (maybe 2m+3/4f??)
2) 1M+2F of dicrossus filamentosus
Dither fishes: a school of Carnegiella Marthae (8-10)
Completion of the setup: 1 school of Paracheirodon Simulans and/or 1 school of Corydoras Habrosus.
My first (of many...) question is about cohabitation.
I think that dicrossus should live with nijsseni without many problems (they are quite different).
The dither fishes school i think is ok (is it really? any suggestion welcome)
My biggest concern is about the Corydoras: will they compete with Cichlids on the bottom? will they hunt for fries? Habrosus are really really small fishes (about 3cm TL).
Second concern: do you think that Paracheirodon Simulans is a good choice? Better using a school of some species of Nannostomus? Or not using anything else at all?
Aquarium is 130L, 88cm long (Askoll Tenerife 88).
Thank you very much in advance :biggrin: