Ogre's Tank - almost here

You have a nice tank Ogre. Did you get your cichlid tank yet??? I am new to the hobby, and found a 55gal with stand and accesories for $80Cnd. 4 months ago. This thing had lava rock, penquin filter, the whole shebang. The poor fool wanted more money for it, but i was born to haggle. Anyway, after a fishless cycle and some helpful advice from the AC community, i made it a cichlid tank and i couldn't be happier with it. I have 4 yellow labs, 4 maingano johanni and 2 upsidedown catfish. When i get my camera fixed i'll post some pics, but the tank is in my avatar. Let me know how it goes, and im curious what cichlids you will select. I did LOADS of research, there are so many wonderful fish to select from. Mine is a Malawi tank. Your child and wife(you) will be very happy with thier(yours) tank.
 
Any additional tanks are on permanent hold. My wife was accepted into a Master of Fine Arts (Studio Art) program, so we get to try to pay for that and I've (we've) decided that we hate the area where we live and would like to move. No sense in trying to move two fish tanks.

In other news, the algae bloom is totally gone. The tank is as crystal clear as before the event. The powerhead has really made a difference in the tank. But now, I have to get another thermometer. One of the cats chewed through the probe wire.
 
Sorry jpappy, here's the update. Real Life has taken an interesting turn and I've been dealing with that.

My wife has been accepted into a Master of Fine Arts Program in San Francisco. It's an online program, but we've decided that she should not be full time employed while working on the degree. She tends to overwork herself and since I'll be paying about $14,000/yr, I want her overworking on the degree. We'll see if we can make it on my teacher's salary alone for a while... weee...

Anyway, I've got the algae bloom under control (meaning no green water) and have taken some great pics. I would appreciate your support for POTM... hopefully, you'll know it when you see it ;)

Best otocinclus picture ever!
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2/3 tank shot
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corydoras in high speed travel configuration
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otos schooling... or is it shoaling :)
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Outstanding Otto shot, Ogre!
 
Thanks, I took about 80 shots to get that one. That's one of my new ones. The older two have more black tops and a bolder black stripe. They hide though. The new three are all over the place. They look like little tiny sharks.
 
Pretty sweet Ogre, it takes me 80 shots to get a decent tank shot, I'll never get as good a fish pic as that.
 
Latest update. I lost three otos to Hurricane Humberto. I found one floating and something (a gold gourami) ate the other two. The snail is still alive and almost 3/4" across. It's grown.

The swords are beyond huge. I'm having to clip leaves to keep them in the water.

Since I'm down to two paradise fish and the one (queen ***** of the universe) gold gourami, I need to start thinking about an addition. I'm thinking that some platinum gouramis (larger ones) would be appropriate. I'd like angels, but my tank is too crazy for that.

The other choice might be a shark of some kind... a little one.

ideas?
 
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