Alright, first off, thanks for kind response on both youtube as well as in pm. DMD is correct in this tank is no longer setup. I agree with Aclockwork on the research, it is vital to setting up a biotope. The more you do, the better you will be able to recreate nature. And really, nature already did it, we cant do it better then nature. Our job is to recreate it in our homes. Many people dont take the time to put together a biotope, they instead do research in other areas though. And each of us kind of have our niche in the hobby. I like biotopes, its what I do. I dont know why, but it is just more appealing to me. Aclockwork gave a great example of two lakes from the area you are intrested in, I would go with one of them or Lake Managua is good as well. Also, its fun to pick a habitat within the lake or water system. For instance, there is very little info on a fish I keep from Lake Nicaragua. A. sp "red" Isletas, but what we do know about it is, it is only found in one area of the lake and the area it is found in is mostly sandy/muddy shallows by a beach area with some rock here and there around the beach. Well since that is what I had to go off of I thought to myself, with know useful area of the lake going to wasit, I am sure the rocks are used to spawn on. I then looked at my list of cichlid species from the lake to find another sand dwelling species that would appreciate the rocks here and there. And decided to go with nicaraguensis. These guys use the sand to spawn instead of the rocks. So then my brain goes to cohabitation, how the fish get along with other fish. I make sure the two fish I decided on can handle eachothers level of aggression. If that checks out I go to the next one territory, can I create definate bondries within the tank, that are both natural, as well as purposeful. Well, with both being sand dwelling cichlids, obviously, lots of sand with a few rocks here and there in the tank with some distance between them will give them natural lines and points in which to establish as a specific territory. And then food, well thats easy, NLS is perfect for all fish so its an easy decision for me. Last is spawning, is there enough spawning locations for both potential pairs. Well in the case of rock/cave spawners I like to provide 2or3 per pair. But with the two I chose for this setup, they will never have a dispute over a spawning site since one spawns on rocks, and the other spawns in sand pits. That is not to say they wont fight over an area within the tank that might be the "perfect" spot in the sand, that happens to be right next to the "perfect" rock in the tank. But that all comes down to tank size. I dont know if i got side tracked or if I stayed the course here, my brain goes a million miles a second. But there is my response, please keep us up to date on your biotope. Cheers.
