Creating natural, functional cichlid display tanks

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tiger15 said:
I can accept green algae, but not black beard algae which is fluffy, ugly and aggressive. It can take over, covering even heater and filter intakes. I hate it in my planted and non-planted tank, and have to combat BBA with H2O2 and Excel.

Stanzzzz has another thread on "natural habitat of cichlid".

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/natural-habitats-of-cichlids.670096/#post-7526143

In review of the the "natural habitats" of CA/SA, they aren't prettier than man made aquascapes. Many have dusty water, debris, and objects heavily covered with fluffy algae, not the pretty green ones, but what appear to be brown or BBA.

The few pleasing natural habitats I've seen are African rift lakes with crystal clear water and green algae covered rock, and coral reef.

So the beautiful nature aquascapes, bioscape tanks, nature aquariums, etc are all man made fantasy.
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That's a matter of opinion,not really a fact.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder .
C/a and s/a biotopes in nature are so varied that the dusty type you describe and underwater paradises can be found.

When I wrote this thread I did infact point out that people have different tastes and the leaf littered natural look will not be for everyone.
From the feed back I have received so far,it seems quite a few do like it.
In fact you are the first to show any views to the contrary.
You can't please everyone and I didn't expect too.
 
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tiger15 said:
Stanzzzz has another thread on "natural habitat of cichlid".
Click to expand...
I just flicked through the first 4 videos in the thread above. I have to say in all honesty,they look beautiful to me.
These are the type of aquascape this thread is trying to imitate.
I really can't see where your coming from if you think they are ugly,algea,twigs and leaves included.
Each to their own.
 
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tiger15 said:
I can accept green algae, but not black beard algae which is fluffy, ugly and aggressive. It can take over, covering even heater and filter intakes. I hate it in my planted and non-planted tank, and have to combat BBA with H2O2 and Excel.

Stanzzzz has another thread on "natural habitat of cichlid".

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/natural-habitats-of-cichlids.670096/#post-7526143

In review of the the "natural habitats" of CA/SA, they aren't prettier than man made aquascapes. Many have dusty water, debris, and objects heavily covered with fluffy algae, not the pretty green ones, but what appear to be brown or BBA.

The few pleasing natural habitats I've seen are African rift lakes with crystal clear water and green algae covered rock, and coral reef.

So the beautiful nature aquascapes, bioscape tanks, nature aquariums, etc are all man made fantasy.
Click to expand...

Sorry but what a load of rubbish that statement was.

Not only do I disagree in principle,but dude, nice way to reply to a thread designed only to help people.
Natural habitats are beautiful,stanzzzz7's tanks are beautiful and this thread is very inspiring.

Maybe you can post your tanks to show us how it's done?

I could only congratulate someone who takes the time to contribute to the hobby and forum the way stanzzzz7 does.

Have a word with yourself and sort out the negativity dude.:p:p:p
 
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KellyElizabeth said:
Sorry but what a load of rubbish that statement was.

.:p:p:p
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Are you trying to impose censorship on me to express my honest opinion.?

I love the bioscapes demonstrated by Stanzeee and think his advises all make sense. But I am not impressed by the natural habitats shown in his other thread. Of the first 4 habitats, I only like the second one where a colony of festivus swim gracefully through green leaves. The other 3 habitats, though interesting, look dirty to me with leaf and stick litters covered with fluffy monochromatic brown algae. Planted tank folks try hard to get rid of brown and black beard algae. Stanzeee pointed out that leaf litter scape is not for everyone, and I am one of them.

I recently came back from a trip to the Amazon River in Iquitos Peru. I swam in the black water where beautiful discus, angel and tetras came from and hoped to capture some natural scenery, but couldn't see more than 6 inch away due to heavy tannin stain. Angels, discus and Tetras are common in Amano's Nature Aquariums, but those beautiful Nature scapes aren't common in nature.

Pristine natural habitats are harder to find. River and lake bottoms are often human debris collectors. The Iquitos section of Amazon is a big garbage dump as the government only picks up trash a few times a year, and I am sure you will find similar situation in many habitats.
 
I don't think that's the side of nature most fishkeepers are trying to capture.
Should I be putting coke cans and shopping trollies in my tanks?
I get you went diving in a small part of the Amazon . I can see you were let down by what you saw. Can you really assume that the rest of south and central American water courses are the same.
That's like taking one bite from a pizza with 1 gherkin on it,spitting it out and saying, I don't like pizza,but really you don't like gherkins.
You mention amano style aquariums ,I agree they don't resemble nature at all,they are too pretty,well arranged and do not look like many natural biotopes.
The tanks in my thread are nothing like those tanks so I'm not sure why your referring to them.
I have seen enough footage of natural biotopes to know they are not all ugly dumping grounds.
I will also add,any tank set up is just Trying to mimic nature. The nature I have seen footage of is not how you describe.
I know a lot of black water habitats have poor visibility and are full of beautiful fish you can hardly see. However there are many tannin stained areas of clear tea colourd water with excellent visibility .
You must of just jumped in the crappy bit, many a wildlife documentary will prove you wrong.
Personally I like dead leaves ,twigs algea and all the other organic matter that accumulates in natural habitats, I don't find it ugly and will continue to try to achieve a similar look in my tanks.
 
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Stanzzzz7 said:
I don't think that's the side of nature most fishkeepers are trying to capture.
Should I be putting coke cans and shopping trollies in my tanks?
I get you went diving in a small part of the Amazon . I can see you were let down by what you saw. Can you really assume that the rest of south and central American water courses are the same.
That's like taking one bite from a pizza with 1 gherkin on it,spitting it out and saying, I don't like pizza,but really you don't like gherkins.
You mention amano style aquariums ,I agree they don't resemble nature at all,they are too pretty,well arranged and do not look like many natural biotopes.
The tanks in my thread are nothing like those tanks so I'm not sure why your referring to them.
I have seen enough footage of natural biotopes to know they are not all ugly dumping grounds.
I will also add,any tank set up is just Trying to mimic nature. The nature I have seen footage of is not how you describe.
I know a lot of black water habitats have poor visibility and are full of beautiful fish you can hardly see. However there are many tannin stained areas of clear tea colourd water with excellent visibility .
You must of just jumped in the crappy bit, many a wildlife documentary will prove you wrong.
Personally I like dead leaves ,twigs algea and all the other organic matter that accumulates in natural habitats, I don't find it ugly and will continue to try to achieve a similar look in my tanks

If anyone can make coke cans and trolleys look good in an aquarium I think you are the man to do it
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