My 150 Amazon CA cichlid tank

[SmokinCoCo]

Hi all, was out of the hobby for about 5 years.
Finally got a new tank going. 150 glass bow front. Only a few weeks in so plants still need to fill in. Got my lighting and co2 dialed in now. Going to let it cycle through and settle in for a bit now.

Stock:
8 angles
2 German blue rams
2 EBJDs
15 rumy nose tetras
6 albino corydoras
1 lemon bristle nose pleco
20 Amano shrimp
25 red rili shrimp (not sure how many survivors left lol)

Let me know what you think!

 

[Gourami Swami]

Tank looks amazing man. Welcome back to the hobby. That driftwood really makes it.

 

[SmokinCoCo]

Tank looks amazing man. Welcome back to the hobby. That driftwood really makes it.

Thanks man! I’ll post some new pics after it matures a bit more. I actually picked up the driftwood first and planned the tank around it! I didn’t even own a tank yet when I found the two pieces, just had to buy it and build one. Ahaha

 

[SmokinCoCo]

Lights
2 x 72" Beamswork DA FSPEC LED .50W
1 x 48" LED Blue/White I can't remember the details...lol It's from my old setup.

Weekly dosing: Flourish Excel, Flourish Potassium, Flourish Nitrogen after water changes

Co2: 5lb tank roughly 1-2 bps

Plants:
Cryptocoryne crispatula
Cryptocoryne flamingo
java fern
couple other random fern varieties that were gifted to me
christmas moss
variety of anubias
Dwarf hairgrass
Moneywort
Ludwigia
random sword
onion variety also gifted to me so not exactly sure which variety

 

[tiger15]

Something is missing. I don't see you dose for iron, micro nutrients and phosphate. For 150 tank, 1-2 bps is too low CO2 rate and it will be a lot cheaper to dose dry fert.

 

[SmokinCoCo]

I can grab those extra ferts. What do you suggest for micro nutrients? What bps do you suggest? Should I double it? Also curious about adding oxygen. I’ve been running air at night but not sure if I need it during the day as well. I hadn’t been so that I don’t lose co2.

 

[tiger15]

For micros, I dose SeaChem Flourish (comprehensive) and chelated iron I bought from Green Leaf.

http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizer.html

If you have a good circulation system, you may not need to turn on aeration at night to drive off co2.

I run 3 to 4 bps for my 75 to achieve 30 ppm co2. For 150, you need double the bps to nearly continuous and better off to split into two diffuser for more even distribution.

Sounds like you run your co2 continuously without a solenoid to shut off when light is out. So increasing the bps will drain your co2 tank quickly.

 

[SmokinCoCo]

I have a solenoid and only run co2 during the day. I had two diffusers going initially but very little was coming out of the second so I just pulled it out. I just bumped up to about 8-10 bps and have started adding iron, phosphate and flourish. Per recommendation from my lfs I also adjusted my filter output so they are directed to increase the surface agitation. Thanks for the advice! Will keep this tread posted on progress.

 

[SmokinCoCo]

 

[SmokinCoCo]

One month update...lost most of the smaller angles to the EBJDs and added some larger angles that they can’t beat up as easily. Plants have grown significantly.