I see, that makes sense with the water change increasing gradually. It's a great idea. Any luck with your vacuuming the sand during water changes?
I do like the busy look, it gives it more character. Besides, your current arrangement is what you think is best for your current situation/fish and that's what matters. Things will happen, the fish will grow, and the tank will change with them as the tank becomes more beautiful. Once again, just be careful on how long you wait to add your dither/schooling fish because as the terrors grow, the more territory they'll claim. You have to get them used to tank mates as well while they're young so when they grow, their tendency of just attacking will be less likely. That's my opinion anyway, my terror has yet to reach that monster size.
I'm looking forward to seeing your flash pleco! I actually just realized that the sultan pleco of mine was from Brazil and not Peru, but at least my SDs are found there too. Anyway, I do have one suggestion for your tank deco, and that is adding one more driftwood, but this piece has to be a thick one with a lot of character. It will be a nice contrast of thin and thick. More importantly it has to be tall and sticking out of the tank, if not, almost as tall as the tank and it would make your biotope look more natural IMO.
I hope your SDs behave and not touch your plants, but they are known to be herbivores so plants may be eaten. Just one warning on them, they are pigs(piranha's cousins)! They hogged all the food so I had to put in a lot more extra so my other fish could get a chance to eat. So that's one reason I only have two in my tank...
Like you said, the BHTetras are hard to come by, so just keep that in mind. You never know when the next batch will come.
Great job so far
So far so good as regards vacuuming. The flow seems to push all the poop around the tank counter clockwise then force it up into the overflow. So it mainly gathers only in the far corner. I was a little worried about the collection of the filter being on the surface but so far so good! I know as my fish get larger the poop size will increase. So I will have to keep updating that one!
I agree that the tank will change around a lot. Besides the initial stress I believe it to be good for the fish. Especially cichlids which can become bored. The lfs didn't have any SD's so I requested they reserved 5 and let me know when they arrive. I am concerned about introducing the schooling fish, but I believe that there is only the alpha who may be a problem, the others are very small. Alpha only attacked the kribs, never once chased the cories - so hopefully it was only a dominance issue between the cichlids. However, I agree that sooner rather than later is the best option.
I have been looking for a thicker piece of wood. As my thoughts were the same! Although the thinner wood is good and looks like roots, I need a heavy branch! I also thought I could grow some plants off it to add a little more interest. I have kept my eye out, but the prices at the lfs ar ridiculous and I have yet to see any pieces I like by the lake! I have decided to thin my plants down to only three species. Dwarf hairgrasses, Amazon swords and some reed-like plants. Possibly a plant which will grow on wood also - not sure yet though. As I know some of my plants are not native to peru and this bugs me a little.
I have heard silver dollars are big eaters! The ones I will be getting should be no larger than a coin. If these guys don't work out it is possible to exchange for larger ones. However, i'd like them all to start off small. Hopefully being this size they wont out compete the other fish dramatically. I have decided on 5 because they like to school. Although if yours are happy as a two, I may reduce the numbers if need be. The BHTetras have been ordered from my lfs so hopefully they will arrive soon also. As you've said nows the best time to get them in.
I must say, I thought the sultan was from brazil - but didn't really want to rock the boat. I am very eager to see the flash pleco, from the pictures I have seen online and in books they can become quite the feature. They also don't grow too large which is typical of some of the L#'s!
I am pleased that you think it looks good! There are very few people in my local community that respect a good fish tank when they see one, so it feels good to recieve some praise! I feel like I am getting somewhere and acheiving something with this build. Moreso than any of the others I have tried. I would definately recommend a biotope to anyone!
Thanks again for checking in!
