My two sparsely populated peaceful SA tanks
- Thread starter DaveB
- Start date
I'm still working on that. The orangeheads are much more aggressive feeders. The discus will eat from my hand, though.
What works best is feeding a sinking food (ie blanched zucchini) to the OHs and while they're distracted down below, introducing the bloodworm or whatever. But sometimes the stupid discus try to eat the veggies instead of the delicious worms.
Do you have any tricks? Or are your discus still by themselves?
I think the discus would definitely be better off with the Leucosticta than the Orangeheads. I just don't like the match between Orangeheads and Abalios, which is what I'd have downstairs if I traded them. All three breeds look great alone, either Geo looks great with the Satanoperca, but the two geos kind of clash, at least to me, if I kept just those two together.
Plus the orangeheads were picking on the Abalios when I had them together. They're larger (for now).
What works best is feeding a sinking food (ie blanched zucchini) to the OHs and while they're distracted down below, introducing the bloodworm or whatever. But sometimes the stupid discus try to eat the veggies instead of the delicious worms.
Do you have any tricks? Or are your discus still by themselves?
I think the discus would definitely be better off with the Leucosticta than the Orangeheads. I just don't like the match between Orangeheads and Abalios, which is what I'd have downstairs if I traded them. All three breeds look great alone, either Geo looks great with the Satanoperca, but the two geos kind of clash, at least to me, if I kept just those two together.
Plus the orangeheads were picking on the Abalios when I had them together. They're larger (for now).
Tanks look awesome! love the layout!
We've also been looking at some discus for when the big tank is set up! I do like the Red melons! We also like red turqoise, pigeon bloods and the bright yellow ones ( not sure on the name as we have just started researching them
) what temp are you keeping your tank at?
Im not so sure how well a red severum will get along with the eartheaters. We did once have 3 severums and they just chased the crap out of our geos, altho that may have been because it was a little tank that was completely over stocked or the severums were trying to make a little love..not to sure tho..but we ended up getting rid of them anyways.
As for the tetras, cardinals, black neon, and rummy nose are my favorites..leaning more towards the rummy nose tho...love the red head and checkered flag tail! so adorable!
arnt baby leucs just the cutest thing!? have 4 now and I completely adore them!!
We've also been looking at some discus for when the big tank is set up! I do like the Red melons! We also like red turqoise, pigeon bloods and the bright yellow ones ( not sure on the name as we have just started researching them
) what temp are you keeping your tank at? Im not so sure how well a red severum will get along with the eartheaters. We did once have 3 severums and they just chased the crap out of our geos, altho that may have been because it was a little tank that was completely over stocked or the severums were trying to make a little love..not to sure tho..but we ended up getting rid of them anyways.
As for the tetras, cardinals, black neon, and rummy nose are my favorites..leaning more towards the rummy nose tho...love the red head and checkered flag tail! so adorable!
arnt baby leucs just the cutest thing!? have 4 now and I completely adore them!!
Both layouts are just temporary. I like the simple emptiness of the downstairs one, but when the 220 gets set up I'm going to try to get a big (like 5+ foot) bow shaped piece and a bunch of branches to make it really comfy for everyone without taking away too much of the available sand space for the eartheaters. I feel like a heretic saying this, but I find Takashi Amano's feature tank before the plants very inspiring for the 220. The 120 needs some way to create shade and take attention away from the center overflow... that's going to be tougher, but I'm hoping for some kind of tree-like piece I can use.
Also, I hate having the lava in the downstairs tank with eartheaters. It's unnatural. That spot needed something though, and for now all the wood is upstairs. It had all been downstairs before...
No severums now. The 220 will have some wild discus. They fill the colorful round thing void... I can't bring myself to get rid of the Uaru though, so there'll just be Uaru and Discus, kind of like Joey's ridiculously cool tank.
Good luck choosing which discus to use. They're all great. There's no Discus I don't like... The bright ones here are Red Melons. The lights aren't even on and they look like orange highlighters. The San Merah, when colored up, are plenty bright, but nothing like these.
The Sans and orangeheads look really good together, like they belong with each other. The OHs also have some blue, which matches the blue diamonds. An Alenquer cross or something wild (or wild-ish) with brown/orange but also some blue striations, would be a cool blend between orange and blue while also mirroring the colors in an orangehead's tail. But then the red melons and white guy would be out... and I feel bad about that because they're great too.
Anyway, trust me. I've been thinking WAY too much time about this stuff and it has gotten me nowhere. All I've decided is that I'm getting MORE discus and that gets expensive fast.
Tetra-wise I have ruled out black neons and cardinals for not matching and rummies for being too small. I'm not even sure I want tetras. But I do think Lemons might fit well.
They won't work downstairs, though... Surely the Uaru and Arowana would eat them...
This baby leucosticta is really nervous so far up here. But I lost his buddies downstairs and I didn't want to lose him too. The African babies he was in with went from food sized (he swallowed one once) to his size.
Also, I hate having the lava in the downstairs tank with eartheaters. It's unnatural. That spot needed something though, and for now all the wood is upstairs. It had all been downstairs before...
No severums now. The 220 will have some wild discus. They fill the colorful round thing void... I can't bring myself to get rid of the Uaru though, so there'll just be Uaru and Discus, kind of like Joey's ridiculously cool tank.
Good luck choosing which discus to use. They're all great. There's no Discus I don't like... The bright ones here are Red Melons. The lights aren't even on and they look like orange highlighters. The San Merah, when colored up, are plenty bright, but nothing like these.
The Sans and orangeheads look really good together, like they belong with each other. The OHs also have some blue, which matches the blue diamonds. An Alenquer cross or something wild (or wild-ish) with brown/orange but also some blue striations, would be a cool blend between orange and blue while also mirroring the colors in an orangehead's tail. But then the red melons and white guy would be out... and I feel bad about that because they're great too.
Anyway, trust me. I've been thinking WAY too much time about this stuff and it has gotten me nowhere. All I've decided is that I'm getting MORE discus and that gets expensive fast.
Tetra-wise I have ruled out black neons and cardinals for not matching and rummies for being too small. I'm not even sure I want tetras. But I do think Lemons might fit well.
They won't work downstairs, though... Surely the Uaru and Arowana would eat them...
This baby leucosticta is really nervous so far up here. But I lost his buddies downstairs and I didn't want to lose him too. The African babies he was in with went from food sized (he swallowed one once) to his size.
Some day I'll get a real camera instead of this point and shoot that doesn't focus anymore. But for now, here are some attempts to show how they look when the lights came on. The blurry ones are flash-free, obviously.
There's one with a flash, DSCN2969, which comes close to the true colors I see. I guess that's just a good angle.
The San Merahs are coloring up a lot. But the Red Melons are brighter than anything I could possibly describe. Just absurdly orange.
I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm considering taking the SMs downstairs to live with the Uaru since it's more natural down there and dimly lit. But they match the OHs the best, and the Red Melons are feistier and would probably be a better fit downstairs behavior-wise.
So far the orangeheads are maintaining about 90% of their color, I'd say. Hard to tell, as they're all in rock cleaning/fight with each other mode, darker bodies and less bright with the orange...
Lighting is 2x40w AquaGlo bulbs. I want to eventually just run 1x40w but this fixture is weird. If I take one out, it won't let the other one run. And my 1x40w one is too wide for the canopy to close. Need a new one.
There's one with a flash, DSCN2969, which comes close to the true colors I see. I guess that's just a good angle.
The San Merahs are coloring up a lot. But the Red Melons are brighter than anything I could possibly describe. Just absurdly orange.
I'm not sure what I want to do. I'm considering taking the SMs downstairs to live with the Uaru since it's more natural down there and dimly lit. But they match the OHs the best, and the Red Melons are feistier and would probably be a better fit downstairs behavior-wise.
So far the orangeheads are maintaining about 90% of their color, I'd say. Hard to tell, as they're all in rock cleaning/fight with each other mode, darker bodies and less bright with the orange...
Lighting is 2x40w AquaGlo bulbs. I want to eventually just run 1x40w but this fixture is weird. If I take one out, it won't let the other one run. And my 1x40w one is too wide for the canopy to close. Need a new one.
More crappy photos. Holding dom male and two shots of the younger pair squaring off. I can't tell if they're flirting or if they're both males. The one obviously is, he's the most handsome fish in the tank. The other, I'm not sure.
Flash is washing out the colors badly... They're really looking colorful lately. Especially the younger male. Couple #2 is getting busy right now on the other side of the tree from the holding couple. That may not go over so well...
Flash is washing out the colors badly... They're really looking colorful lately. Especially the younger male. Couple #2 is getting busy right now on the other side of the tree from the holding couple. That may not go over so well...
I traded my white and the two hiliter-orange ones for a few smaller but more appropriate fish - two more san merah and a wild-looking striped guy. Also put my ugly fake plants mostly up top to provide more cover. Am talking with the DBN guys about finding a background that fits this tank, and getting really impatient about aquascaping this one. I may also pick up a set of 4 stendker santarem to finish off this tank... I figure they'll be a perfect midpoint between the two blue guys and the 4 san merah... kind of a blend between them. And then downstairs in the 220, when it's set up, I'll get a school of real wilds.
Also, Couple #1 has parented their latest brood well into free-swimming stage, though I think only 4 remain. I put Couple #2 into their own breeder tank to get them to spawn and raise them... The smaller ones are officially Couple #3 and are cleaning rocks. Yay for horny fish.
Also, Couple #1 has parented their latest brood well into free-swimming stage, though I think only 4 remain. I put Couple #2 into their own breeder tank to get them to spawn and raise them... The smaller ones are officially Couple #3 and are cleaning rocks. Yay for horny fish.
hi mate what kind of arowana is that and any issues with the other fish?
and excuse my ignorance nice tanks
and excuse my ignorance nice tanks
