If you want to drive that far, "A Fishy Business," here in Colorado Springs has Panda Cory's, Peppered Cory's and other types as well. I think Mel, at A&J Aquatics still has some real, no kiddin, true SAE's as well. And if you come down to check these stores out, stop by Tropical Treasure's down the street from A&J and talk to Nathan. You should see the Cichlids he has.
working on a planted tank with cichlids
- Thread starter MySpace Mike
- Start date
Good for you on ditching the SAEs. They get very large and are not suitable for your small tank. I agree with previous posters. For an 18 gallon:
1 pair blue rams
1 school tetras (pick the neons, since you like them and they're smaller. I love my rummies, but I have a 60 gallon tank for them)
1 small school of small cories
otos later is a good call.
You'll have a very nice SA-themed tank. BTW, if you do regular water changes and water tests, why would you need to rely on a rummy red noses to tell you if your water is bad? Frankly, by the time their noses fade, you're already in big trouble water-wise IMHO.
1 pair blue rams
1 school tetras (pick the neons, since you like them and they're smaller. I love my rummies, but I have a 60 gallon tank for them)
1 small school of small cories
otos later is a good call.
You'll have a very nice SA-themed tank. BTW, if you do regular water changes and water tests, why would you need to rely on a rummy red noses to tell you if your water is bad? Frankly, by the time their noses fade, you're already in big trouble water-wise IMHO.
Well I ditched the 18 gallon plan, and have decided to turn my 55 gallon into a planted cichlid tank with the following stocklist
2 Black Veil Angel fish
2 White Angel fish
2 GBR's (male/female)
12 Giant Danios
6 snails
2 SAEs
6 Peppered Cory Catfish
1 Rubberlip Pleco
what do you think of it?
2 Black Veil Angel fish
2 White Angel fish
2 GBR's (male/female)
12 Giant Danios
6 snails
2 SAEs
6 Peppered Cory Catfish
1 Rubberlip Pleco
what do you think of it?
Well I just ordered my eco-complete from drsfostsmith.com plus I got a couple people intersted in buying my cichlids I'm trying to sell to change the tank over to planted, so far so good, still need to hit homedepot to get the play sand, and petsmart to get someseachem flourish. Still need to order my coralife 2x65 watt 8,000k lighting system from bigalsonline.com
As for the co2 I'm going with two DIY 2 liter bottle mix, with wooden air diffusers.
As for the co2 I'm going with two DIY 2 liter bottle mix, with wooden air diffusers.
Oh well, you asked, so if it were MY tank:
Ditch danios for tetras
Do albino long-finned BN instead of the rubberlip
Ditch the SAEs (they do serve a purpose, but they always seem to get big and ugly quick and ruin the "fung shui" of my tanks!!)
As for the angels, I think two pair should be OK in a well planted 55. I personally love black veils. I might go for two pairs of those for dramatic effect rather than black and white pairs. I'd also do my darndest to get to matched pairs, but I don't know how to sex angels . . .
I'd plant with lots of big swords and a dramatic piece of driftwood with anubias glued to it!
Ditch danios for tetras
Do albino long-finned BN instead of the rubberlip
Ditch the SAEs (they do serve a purpose, but they always seem to get big and ugly quick and ruin the "fung shui" of my tanks!!)
As for the angels, I think two pair should be OK in a well planted 55. I personally love black veils. I might go for two pairs of those for dramatic effect rather than black and white pairs. I'd also do my darndest to get to matched pairs, but I don't know how to sex angels . . .
I'd plant with lots of big swords and a dramatic piece of driftwood with anubias glued to it!
Well I was going to go with a school of Neon Tetras however the Angels will slowly pick the off as they get bigger, so I think the Giant Danios school will be ok. The snails I'm going with are nerite snails which dont produce in freshwater so thats a thankful decision lol. As for the Rubberlip, I already have one in my 18 gallon tank so I figured I'd use gim in my big tank, the SAE's I'm for sure going with because they eat all kinds of algae. I actually love how they looke when grown.
As for plants I'm going with 2 large Amazon Swords, around 20 Corkscrew Val along the back wall, Java Moss attached to 2 medium size pieces of drift wood, and some grass plants along the front. Also a couple Cabomba plants by the back corners, I love them because Cabomba grows like crazy and its easy to clip off and start a new group in the tank.
As for plants I'm going with 2 large Amazon Swords, around 20 Corkscrew Val along the back wall, Java Moss attached to 2 medium size pieces of drift wood, and some grass plants along the front. Also a couple Cabomba plants by the back corners, I love them because Cabomba grows like crazy and its easy to clip off and start a new group in the tank.
Also going add in a couple Onion Plants to the tank, as they are gorgeous when they grow out. Maybe a couple Java Ferns too.
no, the convict fry are in my 18 gallon tank, and are only 1/4" in size. I just sold all my cichlids in my 55 gallon tank, along with a 8" pleco, and all of my fake plants for $60. Now I can clear the gravel from the tank, and add in the eco complete and play sand with a couple live plants to start it off.
Wooohooo Can't wait to get it planted so I can add in the Angels and GBR's
Wooohooo Can't wait to get it planted so I can add in the Angels and GBR's
I'd go with a school of rummynose over the giant danios. They should be large enough as not to get eaten by the angels. Make sure you have a backup plan in case you have attitude issues with 4 angels in the tank. It may work well, it may not, esp if 2 pair off.
