my 125 gallon Central American cichlid tank

[adamsfishes]

Hi all,

I'm starting this thread to update progress on my tank and grow-out of the CA fish I'm stocking.

The first image I'm going to share is what it looked like during cycling back on 6/23/2016. You can see the initial scape and also the Kessil lights. You can see the vallisneria on the left, and there are tiger lotus on the right side, but they are so small you can't even really see them yet.



I received my first fish on 7/8/2016, some nice little 1-1.5" F1 Thorichthys mixteco blue Almoloya.

Here is a full tank shot a couple days later. I had added some floating plants, which I later removed because they were a mess.



And here are the mixtecos on 7/19/2016, already starting to grow a bit:

 

[Kayzee]

nice setup, should add a bunch of swordtails.

 

[adamsfishes]

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.



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



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.

 

[adamsfishes]

Here is another one of the larger mixtecos, I'm thinking it may be the alpha female, not sure yet but there is a definite spot on the dorsal fin.



Also wanted to show the F0 parent from the seller so you can kinda see where these fish are heading.



Edit: I should note I ran that F0 picture through Picassa because it was washed-out looking. All my pics are natural, no processing.

I really love the way Thorichthys look. The shape, the proportions, the graceful way they move. Beautiful fish IMHO.

 

[adamsfishes]

Here is a shot of the new vallisneria area on the right, which some mixtecos chilling among the grass.



I also added some new CA fish, but they are still being skittish, not cooperating for pictures. You can see some in the FTS above... I'll update later.

I'll also show more of the swords. They give the tank a lot more of a "3D" feel, and the fish really love swimming among the swords and the branches. The mixtecos have been a lot more outgoing since I added the new fish and the swords.

 

[vinod_uthaiah]

Nice set up.... hope the family is happy or you still getting picked !!!
It is fun having the family get involved...
My elder daughter always felt that the Dovii pair were boring...so she pestered me long enough to add some live bearers( Guppy with colorful tails on it ).
Without my knowledge she added a male and she learnt it the hard way....and both ( Dovii and daughter) are not the best of the friends.

 

[adamsfishes]

nice setup, should add a bunch of swordtails.

That is actually the plan, but I'm on a waiting list for the ones I want. Could be a couple more months...

 

[adamsfishes]

Nice set up.... hope the family is happy or you still getting picked !!!
It is fun having the family get involved...
My elder daughter always felt that the Dovii pair were boring...so she pestered me long enough to add some live bearers( Guppy with colorful tails on it ).
Without my knowledge she added a male and she learnt it the hard way....and both ( Dovii and daughter) are not the best of the friends.

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.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Nice set up Adam. It can only get better as the fish grow.
My wife says that my tanks are boring."can't we have some colourful cute fish like those Goldfish with the big eyes"she says.
I have found that completely dismissing everything she says is the best way forward. Cute bloody Goldfish! Never going to happen.
Stick with the natural look Adam,it looks great.

 

[adamsfishes]

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.