Harem in 120 gallon 4ftx2ft

[yukondog]

I would not toss the drift wood, soak it a good strong bleach solution then rinse very well, toss it somewhere to dry for a month or two.

 

[MacZ]

Because that strength type of antibiotic - if it existed - belongs in special biohazard waste treatment and not the normal sewage system. In any case there are more than enough reasons nothing like that exists.

If it’s killed, why not drain it?

 

[Fig1]

Thanks for the tips on fertilizing the tank, I'm gonna start with minimal ferts and likely Under dose going forward. I also wanted to give an update on the tank. I manually removed a lot of the cyano as well as changed the flow more towards the substrate. I added the ultra life blue green slime stain remover I mentioned. It's been 10 days and all the cyano appears to have died, including the red variety. I've been siphoning out most of it as it falls off plants and the driftwood. The "stain remover" packaging said it contains no algaecides or erythromycin. I don't plan on adding fish until mid June so I will continue to monitor the tank and update this thread.

On an apistogramma related note; would it be a smart idea to have one pair of wild caught fish in the group? I was thinking adding a wild caught male and female could improve genetics but I'm not sure if wild fish would be a mistake with triple reds.

 

[MacZ]

On an apistogramma related note; would it be a smart idea to have one pair of wild caught fish in the group? I was thinking adding a wild caught male and female could improve genetics but I'm not sure if wild fish would be a mistake with triple reds.

I give you two reasons against it:
a. F1 generation fry will "fly off the shelf", if they breed, which is one reason to keep them separate from the domestic strain.
b. It's possible the domestic fish and the wild caught fish don't recognise each other as the same species anymore. Seen that with some Malawi cichlids before wouldn't expect that to be much different in Apistos. Many species in the wild distinguish only through the preferred display structures (fins and colours).