Following on from this thread, I've decided to go with one big tank dedicated to South Americans. Its not going to be an authentic biotope like Japes tanks (its hard enough trying to limit myself to fish from one continent, let alone one river!), but the stock will be strictly South American, at this stage plecos and cichlids.
Dimensions are 240cm long, 97cm wide, 63cm high. Filtration will be a big DIY trickle filter, and perhaps an FX5 for good measure if I can pick up a second hand one for cheap enough. I'm planning on building a 400mm high stand so its an ideal height for viewing while seated, and easier to get in to for cleaning, and will be putting a hole through the wall between the fishroom and the garage so all the filters can be located in the garage inside a purpose built cupboard. I'll be making a simple polystyrene background for the tank, and it will have sand substrate and several large pieces of wood.
At the moment, the fish I have to choose from are;
Cichlids:
G. altifrons x7, 4-12cm (possibly picking up another 6 2"ers as a trade for one of my dats, but I'll thin the number down as they get larger)
S. leucosticta 10cm
A. heckelii x2 16cm
H. sp. Rotkeil 4 12-14cm
Uaru amphiacanthoides x3 6-10cm
P. scalare 'Peru Altum' x3 body ~6cm, over 6" tall.
Plecs:
Royal L190 12cm
Blue Phantom L128 15cm
Flash L204 3cm (can get more, new shipment coming in soon)
Hypancistrus L066 x3 4cm
Hypancistrus L270 4cm (might get more)
Royal whiptail x3 ~8cm
I'm open to all suggestions, I'll be keeping my 210g with the clown loaches so some of the "left overs" can go in there. I'v got a pink tail chalceus I'm considering adding for some variety, and may consider some Anostomus or other Characins depending on how it looks with the cichlids and plecos.
With the altifrons, I'm unsure of the final group size I'll keep, although I don't want the tank to look crowded. I was discussing it with a friend who also has a large group of them, and although the usual advice seems to be to keep them in a group with 2-3 females for every male to spread aggression, has anyone tried them in a group of all males? I have two male heckelii around 16cm and there is very little aggression between them, certainly a lot less than I'd expect if there was a female involved (isn;t that always the way with guys?!).
Dimensions are 240cm long, 97cm wide, 63cm high. Filtration will be a big DIY trickle filter, and perhaps an FX5 for good measure if I can pick up a second hand one for cheap enough. I'm planning on building a 400mm high stand so its an ideal height for viewing while seated, and easier to get in to for cleaning, and will be putting a hole through the wall between the fishroom and the garage so all the filters can be located in the garage inside a purpose built cupboard. I'll be making a simple polystyrene background for the tank, and it will have sand substrate and several large pieces of wood.
At the moment, the fish I have to choose from are;
Cichlids:
G. altifrons x7, 4-12cm (possibly picking up another 6 2"ers as a trade for one of my dats, but I'll thin the number down as they get larger)
S. leucosticta 10cm
A. heckelii x2 16cm
H. sp. Rotkeil 4 12-14cm
Uaru amphiacanthoides x3 6-10cm
P. scalare 'Peru Altum' x3 body ~6cm, over 6" tall.
Plecs:
Royal L190 12cm
Blue Phantom L128 15cm
Flash L204 3cm (can get more, new shipment coming in soon)
Hypancistrus L066 x3 4cm
Hypancistrus L270 4cm (might get more)
Royal whiptail x3 ~8cm
I'm open to all suggestions, I'll be keeping my 210g with the clown loaches so some of the "left overs" can go in there. I'v got a pink tail chalceus I'm considering adding for some variety, and may consider some Anostomus or other Characins depending on how it looks with the cichlids and plecos.
With the altifrons, I'm unsure of the final group size I'll keep, although I don't want the tank to look crowded. I was discussing it with a friend who also has a large group of them, and although the usual advice seems to be to keep them in a group with 2-3 females for every male to spread aggression, has anyone tried them in a group of all males? I have two male heckelii around 16cm and there is very little aggression between them, certainly a lot less than I'd expect if there was a female involved (isn;t that always the way with guys?!).
