Cichla + Potamotrygon Tank : I need your help in conception

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
not a real problem... I first feed the cichla and arowanas, and then, I provide other bites (smaller for the moment) for the rays... the first days, I had to use a pvc pipe to get the food on the bottom without the "monsters" to eat it in plain waters... it works quite well... food sinks to the bottom inside the tube and get very close to the mouth of the rays...

But this early this morning, I was able to almost "hand feed" the rays... I won't ever do that (handfeeding) with rays... but I practiced a very cool alternative : feeding with a Eheim pliers plant (not sure about the word) along the glass... Very awesome to see the rays eat a whole bite of shrimp and to chew it 2-3 times...

I aim to feed them with this tool everyday... to kind of domesticate them, in a safe (and dart away) way...
 
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This is an amazing tank build you have done. im new here at MFK and just from your thread alot of my questions were answered on doing a large tank build like this. i loved how u made video updates on your fish and i have really enjoyed watching them grow and those Rays r very nice addition. any plans on new fish u wanna add? im a few years away from my build i hope i have as much luck as u have had and im pretty sure with the support and ideas i have seen here at MFK i wont be alone im very excited and cant wait. again congrats on an amazing build.
 
thank you, very pleasant to read such feed-backs...

considering new adds into this tank, I though it would be enough with the actual population...

But the point is that when people know you have such a tank, they always have "a soooooooooo nice and big fish to give away... too big for me..." And so on, I have a friend who offers me 6-8 Astonotus ocellatus form Iquito Peru. He caught the "original" specimen around 10 years ago in Iquito and still have a breeding pair. Moreover, he recieved "back" from another cichlid's addict some F2 of his own fishes... and the whole group will join my tank on May 12th

And I always have this old and very addicting dream of a Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum that haunts me from such a long time... tomorrow, I'm going to see a small semi-private LFS who has absolutely wonderful 1 foot pups of tiger Shovelnose... I'm not sure I'll be able to resist one of them...

I'll keep in touch soon...
 
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If I was you I would stay away from the tiger shovelnose. And maybe venture towards gettn a tigrinus cat that will suit your tankmates much better. And they look so much cooler. How big are the kelberi now?
 
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gangster said:
If I was you I would stay away from the tiger shovelnose. And maybe venture towards gettn a tigrinus cat that will suit your tankmates much better. And they look so much cooler. How big are the kelberi now?
Click to expand...

Totally supported and Oscares also produce too much waste. Get "True Parotts" ;)
 
I would have bet you'd say that... :-(

I'm still going to go tomorrow to the LFS, just to see the "beasts"... I'm quite sure I won't take it, as I already have some "big monsters" inside this tank... Moreover, my Cichlas are probably too small (15-18 cm / 6-7 inches) to risk a piscivore predator on the same tank. And the Panaque, even if already much thicker and higher (shouldn't be a problem these next months), could finish as feeders in a while...

I've tried to get a "false" Tigrinus (Brachyplatystoma juruense) a few weeks ago, but it was in too bad health and too small (2 inches) for me to have success in acclimatation. It died after 7 days, having only eaten once, living tadpoles.

I'd probably stay responsible with my actual population and the "only" addition of the Astonotus, next week...

thanks for your advices, it will be taken into account.
 
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I'm quite proud of me b-) I've been able to resist the temptation and I didn't get the 1 foot Pseudoplatystoma fasciatum, neither the 10 inches Phractocephallus which I saw this afternoon... Even if they were splendid and thriving...

it really wouldn't have been responsible... I'm still learning... but damn, it was hard !!! particularly for the TSN...
 
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wow, i understand the temptation is great lol. there are alot of great fish out there and we all have our dream fish and tank setups that is impossiable to have everything we want. im sure u will be very carefull to your current stock they are beautiful and we dont wanna disrupt that which is going great for you. im jealous and hope i have this much success when i start my build. thank you for keeping us posted great thread here and i will keep checking back often to see what else u have done. i would love to see some large amazon sword plants in your tank. keep up the great work
 
Excellent job on resisting the temptation.
Over the years it gets easier....mainly cause i know exactly what I want :)
 
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;)would love to see some more recent pictures of the top half of the tank to see how the planting has grown and developed. this is a great setup you have there well done:thumbsup:
 
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