280 gallon Blackwater Update

jjohnwm · Apr 10, 2020

Gorgeous tank! A bit crowded for my tastes, but almost all tanks are; I like 'em sparse.

I love the wood, and beautiful lighting.

Two questions: No plants aside from Pothos?

And...is this beautiful tank actually...unbelievably...catfish-free? Is that even allowed??? (Pleco-types don't count...)

mrrobxc · Apr 10, 2020

baseballman1321 said:
Nice ??

Thank you

mrrobxc · Apr 10, 2020

jjohnwm said:
Gorgeous tank! A bit crowded for my tastes, but almost all tanks are; I like 'em sparse. I love the wood, and beautiful lighting.

Two questions: No plants aside from Pothos?

And...is this beautiful tank actually...unbelievably...catfish-free? Is that even allowed??? (Pleco-types don't count...)

The tank is 34” deep and the fish all hang in the front making it look more crowded than it is. I have 10 gallons per discus or Altum and still have 130 or so gallons for the geos and Crenicichla.

That said, I removed the Geophagus Winemilleri group into my 600 and have a group of Geophagus Gurupi growing out in a 40 that’ll go into this setup when they’re big enough. I got the gurupi since they’re supposedly a mellower Geophagus and they are among the smallest species. In the meantime, I’m going to fatten the discus up on some live Blackworms since they still aren’t too fond of prepared foods and have gotten skinny over the last few weeks.

I just added some water lettuce. I don’t know if I want to plant the tank because I keep it lower light and decided I don’t want any non SA plants (java fern or Anubias) in here. That said, I’m growing out some Brazilian Pennywort and I may attempt to add it tangled at the top of the woodwork. It all depends on how it grows out.

Lastly, I don’t have any catfish and don’t intend to add any. The geos make cories redundant and would rather save the bioload for more discus if I ever end up with a surplus.

mrrobxc · Apr 11, 2020

Quick video. I finally got my water lettuce delivered. Took the refugee swords I had in my 40b grow out, did a minor adjustment on the left corner wood placement, and added some tannins. With the Geophagus Winemilleri now in my big tank, the roots on these swords should be able to grow. Issue may be the lighting.

Anyway. Let me know your thoughts.

PrymeTyme-716 · Apr 11, 2020

mrrobxc said:
Quick video. I finally got my water lettuce delivered. Took the refugee swords I had in my 40b grow out, did a minor adjustment on the left corner wood placement, and added some tannins. With the Geophagus Winemilleri now in my big tank, the roots on these swords should be able to grow. Issue may be the lighting.

Anyway. Let me know your thoughts.

Might have to borrow(or steal depending where you're from lol) another idea from you, what is the sand/substrate mix you use or do you buy it like that? I'd like to add a little more texture and color to my PFS.

mrrobxc · Apr 11, 2020

PrymeTyme-716 said:
Might have to borrow(or steal depending where you're from lol) another idea from you, what is the sand/substrate mix you use or do you buy it like that? I'd like to add a little more texture and color to my PFS.

Hi. It’s two grades of sand. PFS and Lapis Lustre which is basically beach sand. I throw in two grades of natural gravel...just a few 20lb bags of each. Not too much so that it’s overbearing.

I always like to mix different grains to create that look. Feel free to “steal” away!