my 125 gallon Central American cichlid tank

[Stanzzzz7]

I

Thanks Darren.

Yeah, goldfish are the worst. I don't see the appeal. Maybe a big outdoor koi pond, if I lived in the south. But even then I'd probably do a "cichlid pond".

I think even with the swords my tank still looks reasonably natural, and I'll probably remove one to thin it out a bit. Five is a bit much. But the fish and the family both love them, so they stay.

I have a koi pond and I love it,but fancy goldfish suck.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

After a month, I decided to make some changes. More changes to come, but this how it currently stands. All the pictures in this post were taken on 8/18/2016.

I'll start with the mixtecos since they are the centerpiece. They have grown out a lot, and there is a definite dominant male who is about 3" now. Already doubled in size. You can see he is starting to show his adult colors and patterning, with a yellow body, some pink around the face, red on the dorsal fin, and the characteristic blue spangles. I hope he keeps getting better and better.

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Here is another shot showing his face better and also one of the smaller fish to show the color contrast.

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I was getting complaints from the family that the tank was boring, or in my wife's words "I know you you are going for the natural look, but it's kinda ugly." The kids wanted more plants and more than one kind of fish. So I caved and picked up some swords from the LFS. I let my 10yo pick out which ones, and he wanted these Radican swords.

Here is a FTS showing what the new scape looks like. I may have overdone with the swords, may remove one. I was gonna ditch the valls, but I decided to move them to the right to create another little area of interest in the tank.

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Those red tiger lotus will look great when they put on some size.I had the green type some years ago and it grew like crazy.



You can see it just starting to take off in the pic above.I used a rabbit dropping as food for it,pushed in by the roots.I had to prune it every week it grew so fast.

 

[Hendre]

Thanks Vinod. Yeah, I caved, but it is fun including them. They seem to enjoy going to the LFS and looking at pictures of fish online. My 10yo really wanted me add an EBJD, but I've not caved on that one ... yet.

Everyone wants "colorful" fish. I think beauty is about more than just color, and I also want the fish to get along.

My only colourful fish is a pink tail chalceus. Fancy goldfish are very nice but not for everyone. Very nice looking tank

Also Stanzzzz7 what are those tall background plants? I have some but have no clue what its name is or how to split it

 

[Stanzzzz7]

It's elodea, it grows best floating.
Just cut it in half and re plant the other end to get more.

 

[Hendre]

It's elodea, it grows best floating.
Just cut it in half and re plant the other end to get more.

I just buried the end under gravel. I saw the pieces that fell off started growing, thanks

 

[adamsfishes]

Those red tiger lotus will look great when they put on some size.I had the green type some years ago and it grew like crazy.

Cool. They are growing pretty good, but they seem to have stalled recently. Right now I'm not using fertilizer, just Excel about once per week. I don't think I have access to rabbit droppings , but I'll pick up some root tabs and maybe some liquid fertilizer.

I want the lotus to fill out and balance out the swords. There is already one leaf on the surface. The plant shot one long new stem all the way to the surface in like 2-3 days. The existing leaves are just staying where they are now.

Another interesting thing about the lotus is that I bought six, but only three are growing. Two are staying tiny, and another pretty much disappeared. It's not the lighting. Seems like some are just duds. Maybe ferts will bring them around.

 

[adamsfishes]

I have a koi pond and I love it,but fancy goldfish suck.

I wish I could do a pond, but winters are brutal here. It would end up a solid block of ice covered in two feet of snow.

 

[Hendre]

I wish I could do a pond, but winters are brutal here. It would end up a solid block of ice covered in two feet of snow.

Wow. I would love a pond for my goldfish but my dad crammed them into a small tank and there is not much i can do about it till he gets an IBC

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I don't think I have access to rabbit droppings ,

Just pop in the local pet shop and say "can I have a bag of rabbit crap please" They won't think your a weirdo,honest.

 

[Hendre]

Just pop in the local pet shop and say "can I have a bag of rabbit crap please" They won't think your a weirdo,honest.

i would think it would affect water quality? my plants seem to be doing fine in flourite