135g peruvian biotope.

[GrantA94]

I have recently purchased a 3x3x2, 135g aquarium. And in which i plan to do a peruvian biotope.

The substrate will be sand, and i will add some smaller pebbles to merge into the larger river rocks. I will add some thin stick like wood falling in from the rear corners. I plan to have some live plants including but not limited to: amazon swords, dwarf hair grasses and hopefully a floating species (water lettuce). No CO2 and low level lighting. I intend on basing this upon a clearwater stream. Not too much of a flow to disturb the tank.

Now, the inhabitants (these are negotiable):
A breeding pair of gold or silver saums.
5 Silver Dollars.
10 Bleeding heart tetras.
2 L numbered plecs (not BN's!)

These are what i am toying with:
A small group of geos?
A small group of corydoras?

Let me know what you think, what i could change, include, remove etc. I will keep you posted as it progresses.

 

[cacichlids]

I think you mean 6x3x2.

I've tried both water lettuce and water hyacinth and they're both exceptional at sucking nutrients from the water and grow really fast (one water lettuce can become 4 in a couple of weeks, and so on) but they are very messy plants and fish love to eat the roots - since the roots act as an anchor, when they're gone the plant can't stay in place or float properly and might end up dying and fouling the water. When I said messy I mean they produce a lot of dead leaves (some leaves grow underwater and die), old roots, and debris, and since they grow really fast it's hard to keep up with all the mess. I also got an aphid infestation that completely destroyed 90% of the water lettuce (water hyacinth seemed to be immune) and I ended up getting rid of both because I got tired of cleaning dead plant matter.

As soon as I got rid of them, the pond started growing duckweed on its own (I never bought any) and I like it much more. It almost covered the whole surface in a few weeks and there's no mess, it's thriving.

 

[GrantA94]

No, the tank is a 3x3x2.
Thanks. I will have to keep an eye on the water lettuce. The reason i chose it was because its native to peru. I will have to find some more floating plabta sgould it become 'messy'.

 

[GrantA94]

Bump

 

[GrantA94]

Nothing? Kinda thought there would be more assistance.

 

[Skepsis]

Can't help but seems to be a nice idea good luck


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[GrantA94]

Can't help but seems to be a nice idea good luck


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Thankyou, i hope it gies to plan.

Has anyone got experience keeping GTs with cories and/or geos? What other catfish originate from peru, that would be suitable for the tank size?
Thanks.

 

[Stratoquarius]

the problem is, the GTs as a pair will become really aggressive, some GT's can be aggressive others more mild but by choosing an aggressive fish like that you are limiting your options, if you had another less aggressive cichlid as an idea for a pair then you could have all kinds of different fish in there, smaller cichlids, sword tails other characins etc.

just have a think and see if the GT are really that important to you, because its possible you could get a particularly nasty pair that wants to wipe out all their tank mates.

 

[GrantA94]

the problem is, the GTs as a pair will become really aggressive, some GT's can be aggressive others more mild but by choosing an aggressive fish like that you are limiting your options, if you had another less aggressive cichlid as an idea for a pair then you could have all kinds of different fish in there, smaller cichlids, sword tails other characins etc.

just have a think and see if the GT are really that important to you, because its possible you could get a particularly nasty pair that wants to wipe out all their tank mates.

It is the GTs that are the definate stocking. As i already have my pair ready to go in. My pair seem really timid to fish they don't see as a threat. My male will only attack the largest of my Oscars which is only slightly smaller than him. Everything else he doesn't seem interested in. But as is with all cichlids it will be trial and error.

I figure i will pass on the geos, the only two species that are native to peru are the proximus and altifrons, both of which are large growing. Also, if they do end up challenging the GTs they will likely end up dead. I know they are more of a peaceful species but i have heard they can becone somewhat teritorial.

Instead of the geos i think pictus cats are my next choice. They don't grow too large from what i read, and work well with GTs. I will see how the cories and pictus cats go. As for my mid level fish the bleeding hearts grow around the 3" mark, which i believe are too large to be eaten but not too large enough to be seen as a threat. I hope the SDs dont get beat on too much, but i hear they are quite tough and do well with aggressive cichlids.

At the moment i am replumbing my sump so it isn't going as fast as i had planned. Waiting for all the equipment to arrive is crippling!

Anyone have any experience in keeping pictus cats with cories and/or larger tetras?