135g Peruvian biotope.

[GrantA94]

Update:

The tetras are numbered at 6, but two don't look so good so I hold little hope for them.

The SD's are looking good they have all grown. Some more than others. Two have tatty fins - I put it down to establishing a hierarchy. It's no wonder they have grown, as they have stripped a full grown 2ft tall plant to just stems. However, they don't seem to like the swords or the reeds. The hairgrass has recieved a haircut though.

The GT's have all grown the smallest is likely 2" TL now. All are developing great colours now - the white in their tails is becoming more prominant. They all have increased in aggression but they seemto take it out on whatever is nearest - no single fish, which is good I suppose. I am confident there are male and females or at least one or the other of each. Due to the varying colours they display.

The Cories are as active as ever. Swimming up and down the glass, over rocks and througb the wood. My fear was that they would become fat and sit around doing nothing - but... so far so good!

The tank in general is doing well. My nitrates jumped up to 25 - which is the highest they have been so far. I put it down to the extra bio-load and the couple of deaths. However after a 40%ish W/C they are down to nearer 10ppm.

I will try and get some pictures soon. But I don't have a camera at the minute and my phone doesn't do it any justice.

 

[Mr. Rain Cloud]

Nice update Grant. Do you know the reason why the tetras aren't looking so good? Are they not aggressive eaters or do they just get harassed?

It was similar when I had 5 SDs, their fins were all nipped up the wazooo. I'm down to two and no nipping whatsoever. Who knows though, maybe now that the hierarchy has been established they won't nip at each other anymore. What will you do with your bare plant? Keep it there or just completely take it out?

Hurry up and take that FTS man, hahaha. It sounds like it's coming along nicely, you're starting to understand what works and what doesn't on your setup

I think you might end up with a big group of cories and SDs, a GT pair and a flash pleco or two

 

[GrantA94]

Nice update Grant. Do you know the reason why the tetras aren't looking so good? Are they not aggressive eaters or do they just get harassed?

It was similar when I had 5 SDs, their fins were all nipped up the wazooo. I'm down to two and no nipping whatsoever. Who knows though, maybe now that the hierarchy has been established they won't nip at each other anymore. What will you do with your bare plant? Keep it there or just completely take it out?

Hurry up and take that FTS man, hahaha. It sounds like it's coming along nicely, you're starting to understand what works and what doesn't on your setup

I think you might end up with a big group of cories and SDs, a GT pair and a flash pleco or two

I believe the tetras weren't looking so good because they spent a day or so in my sump. However, one died and one revived itself and is now fighting fit!

I do have a sad update though! The largest one of my GT's was dead yesterday, I don't have any idea as to why. It showed no signs of any illness or disease and was fine when I went to bed. The only thing I can think of is that it has injured itself attack the tetras. I say this because I have seen its hunting method which consists of darting into the shoal as fast as possible. And many times I have heard a bang and seen a dazed fish. I am a very gutted about it, but, this one was probably an inch or so larger than the others and gave everything a hard time. So maybe it happened for a reason!? The other three have become more active and colourful since, and the tank is much more calm. So who knows!? The water quality seemed to suffer visually because of this, the params are still ok and I did a 30-40% WC afterwards to be sure.

As for the SD's they are all looking really healthy! I cannot begin to tell you how piggy they are! As school of five they are like piranhas and will eat whatever falls in the water. They are very protective of their food and will often swim around the tank with a algae wafer to themselves. They have all put on some considerable size and seem to have established a heirarchy as there is no more tatty fins.

The plant was ruined and had no chance of revival so it was removed. But, they hate the taste of amazon swords and love the look of them! So that worked out well! I am going to supplement veg into their diet with cucumber, lettuce and such by using a thing called a screwcumber. I have ordered one so it will hopefully be here soon .

Finally, I added an extra sword plant in the centre which has grown huge already! Please excuse the clouding, I took the pictures after the WC I did yesterday.

 

[pcfriedrich]

Update:

The tetras are numbered at 6, but two don't look so good so I hold little hope for them.

I've had lilttle luck with cichlids and tetras, if you want tetras, silver dollars are your best bet. In my experience, smaller tetras always get tormented/eaten.

You think the tetras are fast, but your big cichlid is faster, and smarter.

 

[GrantA94]

I've had lilttle luck with cichlids and tetras, if you want tetras, silver dollars are your best bet. In my experience, smaller tetras always get tormented/eaten.

You think the tetras are fast, but your big cichlid is faster, and smarter.

I had luck keeping neons with my pair of gold saums with no issues. But these guys are very different. It was only the largest GT which would attack the tetras the rest weren't interested, so maybe now the largest GT isn't there the tetras will be okay. The SDs are great, butdon't shoal as much as I'd like. Thats why FRNTetras were great.

I know that the GTs are far superior in speed and intelligence. But ultimately they were no larger than the tetras and I believe the speed they use to attck the tetras resulted in an impact with the glass, resulting in death.

The three smaller GTs seem to get along fine with everything now and are much more placid, so hopefully there shouldn't be any more issues. Once my lfs gets some BHTetras I will add those instead of the FRN's.

 

[Mr. Rain Cloud]

Wow, sorry to hear about your GT! I actually think that it happened for a reason. You're aiming for a community tank and I think what happened is for the best. Your community could have been under a tyrant/dictator, but now it's a democracy.

Everything seems to be fixing itself and falling into place. I think every party is really happy from what I can see and hear now; it should only get better from here on out! Your GTs seems to be less stressed and so are your FRNTs(no more bully). Your cories and SDs are fattening up nicely. Your plants are thriving as well, it's looking great my friend.

I did warn you about the SDs being pigs, hahaha. The food count is really going to add up as they grow

 

[GrantA94]

Wow, sorry to hear about your GT! I actually think that it happened for a reason. You're aiming for a community tank and I think what happened is for the best. Your community could have been under a tyrant/dictator, but now it's a democracy.

Everything seems to be fixing itself and falling into place. I think every party is really happy from what I can see and hear now; it should only get better from here on out! Your GTs seems to be less stressed and so are your FRNTs(no more bully). Your cories and SDs are fattening up nicely. Your plants are thriving as well, it's looking great my friend.

I did warn you about the SDs being pigs, hahaha. The food count is really going to add up as they grow

I know what you mean, It was pretty hard for all the other fishies. Apart from the SDs, they were do busy demolishing plants to notice! In general everything is more calm. The only downside is its one less fish tk get a pair. Which isn't ideal, but from what I gather an extra inch and I can vent them. Never vented a fish before so I will be sure to document it when the time comes.

I know you did, but I never expected this! For the to eat a whole plant in a few days and be the first to anything that falls in aswell! My girlfriend refers to them as the chubby dollars, which I think is apt

I will try and get some pictures over the coming days, my girlfriend is coming over with her camera so I will be sure to post some

 

[Mr. Rain Cloud]

Hmmm, well it might take some time for one of your GTs to take charge but hopefully there is a pair there. I haven't vented a fish myself so good luck with that, hahaha.

Yeah, it's part of why I'm down to 2 SDs, too much waste. I always had to make sure that everyone else got something to eat. Even when there's a pellet still down their throat, they will grab another one with their mouth without hesitation.

Speaking of pictures, great entry! I can't imagine the next one, where you can actually see the fishies

 

[Dredshere]

Great pictures. Nice!


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[GrantA94]

Hmmm, well it might take some time for one of your GTs to take charge but hopefully there is a pair there. I haven't vented a fish myself so good luck with that, hahaha.

Yeah, it's part of why I'm down to 2 SDs, too much waste. I always had to make sure that everyone else got something to eat. Even when there's a pellet still down their throat, they will grab another one with their mouth without hesitation.

Speaking of pictures, great entry! I can't imagine the next one, where you can actually see the fishies

The Sd's are true pigs! They alone have contributed more to the bioload than all the other fish put together over several weeks! I don't really mind though, because they add a lot more activity and interest to the tank - especially whilst the GTs are still skittish.

The picture was an old one, but the more up to date pics just didn't cut it. So I figured I'd submit that one and not give too much away for the next TOTM - Lets just say I have something up my sleeve

Great pictures. Nice!


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Thankyou! Glad you liked

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I have emailed many people who have kept/bred or just know a lot about this species and I have had a lot of interesting replies. I emailed Alf Stalsberg who forwarded me a lot of interesting pdf files on the species, he also gave me a little more info on them, which was really helpful. It turns out these guys become sexually mature at 2.5-3" TL and at which size they can be vented, so I don't actually have long to wait! they begin to develop their intense adult/breeding colouration at a similar size and most people have reported they grow like weeds for the first 4-5" - which is great because so do the SD's!