Hi all,
Well it has been a long time between postings and I hope that all is well out there in MonsterFish Land...
The tank has been doing well and I have enjoyed it very much.. That said, it is time for a change
I have asked Tom Barr to again provide a new custom scape, except this time the planned scape will be using rocks and a much more open design. I will keep the cardinals (numbering approx 350) and then my beloved dwarf cichlids...
I will replace the substrate and again will use ADA Amazonia new. This will require a full tank cycle, so all the fish will be housed in two other tanks I have. A rimless 57 and 75 pair from Deep Blue with the low iron front glass. Nice tanks. They will be fine for 4-6 weeks with lots of water changes and good care.
Tom will also assist in setting up auto dosing of fertilizers and I hope to install an ATO in the next couple of weeks for the sump. Just little things to help if I go away for a few days and to automate some small items that take a few minutes each day.
There will be a main carpeting plant assuming I can grow it (experiment is NOT going well so far

) but there are other options in worse case. Not too many species though as the goal is less maintenance and less number of plant species.
I have removed much of the manzanita hardscape over the last day or two except for the 2 trees and 2 larger burls for the ancistrus and the dwarves.. I will break down the tank completely the day Tom is due to arrive and place the fish in their temp homes. Then clean and scrub the tank as Tom will again scape it dry.
Tank looks different! I am planting a lot of stem plants to take up the space and keep the tank as healthy as possible. Also to guage plant growth and ensure all is well. Tank is finally clearing up a bit after 2-3 days of removing hardscape, uprooting and trimming ALL plants, and doing large water changes each time
Fish are fine so far. I am very excited about the new scape and will post pics and vid when it occurs.
While Tom is here, he will also rescape the two other smaller rimless tanks keeping in mind that the fish need to come out 4-6 weeks later
Thanks for listening and take care!