55 Gallon River Setup
- Thread starter NoodleCats
- Start date
I thought I responded but apparently it got lost in the void lol
I think it came down to a gut bacteria loss issue, the stomach was black and smelled of rot. Poor guy, seems to be a thing with grazers. The ladies are putting on weight, coming out now at food time and chasing one another for prime locations to catch the food falling.
Oops, with his hilarious finnage
Group pics, 10 and 11 of them in one pic. Missing a few who were among the plants lol
Video of them eating spirulina flakes.
So I did a thing
They are from the same river systems as both my tetras and my cories, and opportunity came up... besides Bolivian ram, I've not had cichlid experience. First foray into apistogramma, going with apistogramma borelli "opal"
Toning flow down slightly anyways, the tetras are a little iffy with it, and my Bolivian ram in my blackwater contends great with the same flow rate there, so I'm expecting similar. Plus seeing wild videos of these guys, they contend with flow already naturally, more than we expect in aquaria.
They are from the same river systems as both my tetras and my cories, and opportunity came up... besides Bolivian ram, I've not had cichlid experience. First foray into apistogramma, going with apistogramma borelli "opal"
Toning flow down slightly anyways, the tetras are a little iffy with it, and my Bolivian ram in my blackwater contends great with the same flow rate there, so I'm expecting similar. Plus seeing wild videos of these guys, they contend with flow already naturally, more than we expect in aquaria.
I'm hoping it goes well. I've been wary because cories, but been told borelli is one of the most docile out there. So that's a bonus.
That's what I read too. But ya know, corys don't understand that territory thing at all. Just have a bunch of cave-like places & hope for the best. Even if (heaven forbid) any cichlid eggs get eaten, it will still be amazing fun to watch.
A. borreli are pretty small even for apistos, you might need a 10g to actually breed them & raise fry. Females do most of the fry care...until they get bored too & want to breed again in 2 weeks or so. I also read borelli can have fry of different colors, that might be extra fun if you get fry & raise them.
I love apistos for the diversity between males & females. It's almost like a "bonus" species. Females are mostly yellow but males can be much more colorful. Of course they "know" who to breed with (like most fish)...unless there isn't a conspecific & they have to go with "close enough". I'm not a fan of hybrids but I understand how easily it can happen sometimes.
I'm needing pics ASAP! I'm excited for you!
A. borreli are pretty small even for apistos, you might need a 10g to actually breed them & raise fry. Females do most of the fry care...until they get bored too & want to breed again in 2 weeks or so. I also read borelli can have fry of different colors, that might be extra fun if you get fry & raise them.
I love apistos for the diversity between males & females. It's almost like a "bonus" species. Females are mostly yellow but males can be much more colorful. Of course they "know" who to breed with (like most fish)...unless there isn't a conspecific & they have to go with "close enough". I'm not a fan of hybrids but I understand how easily it can happen sometimes.
I'm needing pics ASAP! I'm excited for you!
Once they arrive I'll get pics, hoping no DOA, but I usually have good results with this store--its my favourite place. But I also know stuff happens.
They'll be subadults, based on the pic on their Facebook update of new stock.
The store's Facebook photo:
I don't judge their fish based off their photos taken though. They don't take the best photos, it's comical. But many of my fish have been ordered from this store (corydoras eques, rasbora sarawakensis, pseudomugil gertrudae, corydoras sterbai, pangio semicincta, hoplosternum punctatum, etc). This store has very good quality fish nearly every time.
I have a couple caves already in the tank that I put in for the chaetostoma, but the chaetostoma chose to use the rockwork instead and dug themselves burrows. So the caves are sitting unused lol the cories don't use them now they're more settled in as well, they prefer the swords lol so I think if the apistos choose to use the caves, they shouldn't have competition for them.
Unless they try to use one of the burrows the chaetostoma dug. Then there's a potential problem, but the chaetostoma would chase them out.
So started working on the *external* background of this tank, I feel the fish would prefer something as a background. I've got space between the wall and tank anyways lol
Made a clay rock as a 3D background sorta thing, just a start.
Cardboard support base. Used some twigs and dried moss for details. Used a stick to make texture on the rock. Rubbed sand into the wet clay for extra texture.
After it dried a bit, i painted it to give more texture and depth.
Then just put it behind the tank
Sorta experimenting around. As said I also added tannins and I'm not sure how I feel about them with this setup.
The clay rock adds a bit of depth though, so kinda liking that. Perhaps over time I'll continue to add on.
Made a clay rock as a 3D background sorta thing, just a start.
Cardboard support base. Used some twigs and dried moss for details. Used a stick to make texture on the rock. Rubbed sand into the wet clay for extra texture.
After it dried a bit, i painted it to give more texture and depth.
Then just put it behind the tank
Sorta experimenting around. As said I also added tannins and I'm not sure how I feel about them with this setup.
The clay rock adds a bit of depth though, so kinda liking that. Perhaps over time I'll continue to add on.
