Upper Bladen River, Belize biotope

[stiker]

Recently scaped one of my new aquariums to replicate the Upper Bladen River, Belize

The tank is 72 x 36 x 28 - 1150L (300G)

My plan is to add more branches as well as dried leaves

Current stocking is;
- 3 Vieja Maculicauda (2 males + 1 female. I plan to remove 1 of the males)
- 4 F2 Trichromis Salvini

I plan to add a group of Cribroheros Robertsoni once they have grown out enough. I toyed with the idea of adding a pair of Cryptoheros Spilurus but unsure if I want the aggression of them constantly spawning.


(Images were taken before filling the tank)

After the addition of the first lot of leaves

Vieja Maculicauda female above, Vieja Maculicauda males below


F2 Trichromis Salvini below


Few pictures of the future residents, Cribroheros Robertsoni

 

[Toiletcar]

Very nice ??Especially love the salvini and robertsoni.
Have been thinking of doing a Belize them w/ v. Melanura, c. Robertsoni, and t. Aureus. All from the same local or close geographically.

 

[stiker]

Very nice ??Especially love the salvini and robertsoni.
Have been thinking of doing a Belize them w/ v. Melanura, c. Robertsoni, and t. Aureus. All from the same local or close geographically.

Thank you.

I cheated a little with the Salvini. They are F2 Rio Candelaria, descendants of Rusty’s wild caught group. They are really growing nicely in this aquarium and starting to colour up

Sounds like an amazing aquarium! You should definitely do it! I love Thorichthys, my most desirable species are Pasionis and Socolofi currently.

 

[Toiletcar]

Thank you.

I cheated a little with the Salvini. They are F2 Rio Candelaria, descendants of Rusty’s wild caught group. They are really growing nicely in this aquarium and starting to colour up

Sounds like an amazing aquarium! You should definitely do it! I love Thorichthys, my most desirable species are Pasionis and Socolofi currently.

Doesn’t matter they are gorgeous ?
It can be really hard finding all the species from the exact location.
I would have to start all over and my biggest tank is a 150g, and currently stocked w/ c. Robertsoni, t. Meeki, t. Pasionis, c. Rostratus, and F2 t. Panchovillai.

 

[stiker]

Doesn’t matter they are gorgeous ?
It can be really hard finding all the species from the exact location.
I would have to start all over and my biggest tank is a 150g, and currently stocked w/ c. Robertsoni, t. Meeki, t. Pasionis, c. Rostratus, and F2 t. Panchovillai.

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You have some absolutely stunning fish. Love them all especially the C. Robertsoni and C. Rostratus.

As well as the C. Robertsoni I have growing out I also have a group of T. Meeki growing out. Both seem to be slow growing species but loving watching them grow. I’ll move some of the Robertsoni in the 300G Bladen river aquarium soon as they’ll grow much faster in there. The Meeki I plan to house a group with my M. Argenteus

 

[Toiletcar]

You have some absolutely stunning fish. Love them all especially the C. Robertsoni and C. Rostratus.

As well as the C. Robertsoni I have growing out I also have a group of T. Meeki growing out. Both seem to be slow growing species but loving watching them grow. I’ll move some of the Robertsoni in the 300G Bladen river aquarium soon as they’ll grow much faster in there. The Meeki I plan to house a group with my M. Argenteus

Thanks! Yes they all are very slow growers. Especially robertsoni. Worth the wait though ?I had a female robertsoni that grew to 11” before. Hoping that male gets that size or bigger. It takes 10 years + to achieve that size. The rostratus is about 10” and probably around 12 years old now.

 

[stiker]

Little update.

I have added and changed around a little bit of the driftwood, added some more leaves, as well as 8 Cribroheros Robertsoni

Vieja Maculicauda




Trichromis Salvini male above, female below


Cribroheros Robertsoni

 

[Toiletcar]

Those robertsoni are going to be stunning when they get older if they look this good now. Mine don’t and thinking of selling them and getting them from somewhere else. The Wet Spot usually has quality fish, but these are meh…very little blue on them.

 

[stiker]

Those robertsoni are going to be stunning when they get older if they look this good now. Mine don’t and thinking of selling them and getting them from somewhere else. The Wet Spot usually has quality fish, but these are meh…very little blue on them.

I am really enjoying having them, more so than I expected. They currently range in size from approx 3-4 inches (7-10cm). It is cool to watch them interact with each other and to see their colour flash really nicely (as pictured below). They have only been in the aquarium 4 days so I look forward to seeing them once they settle in more and begin to put on some size.



Tangled up in Cichlids is selling their breeding group as they are no longer spawning the species so you could possibly pickup some exquisite specimens from Dan

 

[stiker]

I am really enjoying having them, more so than I expected. They currently range in size from approx 3-4 inches (7-10cm). It is cool to watch them interact with each other and to see their colour flash really nicely (as pictured below). They have only been in the aquarium 4 days so I look forward to seeing them once they settle in more and begin to put on some size.

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Tangled up in Cichlids is selling their breeding group as they are no longer spawning the species so you could possibly pickup some exquisite specimens from Dan

Apologises, I meant Cichlids of the America’s not TuiC