Update on my 12'x4'x4' 1400 gallon cichlid tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
trace said:
As you know the pair spawned. But a day or two after they laid eggs I noticed the males lip looked pretty swollen and sore. So I pulled him out and asked Dan of COA what he thought. He said it looked like flagellates were attacking the lip ( which they were) where he was ripped up from pair lip locking. I began treatment and as dead flesh fell off it looked more and more like half of the upper jaw was dislocated. It wasn't. It was broken. About a month later that half fell off and he recuperated fully other than the missing portion of his jaw. He isn't able to be in a community setup anymore so he is now a wet pet in a tank upstairs. I sold her after I pulled him out hoping he would go back in after he healed because I didn't want to risk that again. I wish I'd have waited on that. Big thanks to Dan for helping me save the big guy. Here's some pics of him right before and after the jaw fell off.View attachment 1001713View attachment 1001714


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WOW! Man I'm sorry to hear about the big guy. I've had a very similar problem. My wild male from Dan was insane. He had a female that was 1-1/2" bigger. I had a heater fail. And the tank got cold. The male recovered quickly. Female not so fast. So he killed her. Got him another female divided them. And he killed himself trying to get her through the divider for three days. His lips swollen and red just died quick. Never seen something like that before. Looked very similar to your male. But alas Dan Helped me out too! Got me a new pair and the male is 13" female is 9" and the pair is doing well. That was over a year ago now. Keep us posted on his progress. Seems like when ever I think I know it all misfortune slaps the *@!*!# right out of me.

Drew
 
Incredible setup. That pearsei is a stunner!

I will say though, I never understood why it seems individuals that build these massive setups (whom have obviously put in tons of time, money and effort into it) never seem to take the extra bit of time to put together a good looking aquascape. There is so much potential there, you could really pull off an incredible scape. Large boulders, root balls, limbs, ect.. Just a thought.

Again, great setup.
 
cjdesmit said:
Incredible setup. That pearsei is a stunner!

I will say though, I never understood why it seems individuals that build these massive setups (whom have obviously put in tons of time, money and effort into it) never seem to take the extra bit of time to put together a good looking aquascape. There is so much potential there, you could really pull off an incredible scape. Large boulders, root balls, limbs, ect.. Just a thought.

Again, great setup.
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There are several reasons actually.
#1. It's about the fish for me. Besides this tank I maintain 6 other setups. Aqua scraping takes a lot of time. Especially in a setup like this.

#2. Husbandry. This tank sits at ground level. That means I cannot vacuum without a pump. I have had too many other things to buy to get a pump yet. Therefore I rely heavy on current to flush debris into the filters. I am adding another 4200gph of filtration this week. If that helps as much as I hope, it will give me more freedom as far as scaping goes.

#3. It's hard to catch fish in a tank this size without many places to hide. Add too many large boulders and it's impossible. It's just too much work to move all that stuff out to catch a fish.

#4. Death. I have yet to lose anything on mine yet but I know people with big setups like this that have. There are just times that with this many fish in this size tank it's easy to overlook small fish for long periods. If you can't see them you assume they are hiding in some nook or cranny. They however may be dead or worse sick and hiding and without removing the scaping, how do you know their status. A headache I don't want.

I too love an awesome scape, and I do plan on adding more as time goes on. But it won't ever be heavily scaped. It's just not worth it to me.


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All good points.. I figured a lot of it had to do with catching fish and keeping an eye on smaller grow outs.
 
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