My New 1.60m South American tank

[Gertbl]

After working for some months on my new project,I can say it's almost finished.
The tank has a water level of 35cm but the tank is 50cm high. The reason is because I want to keep the Copella arnoldi in this tank together with some dwafcichlids and some Loricariidae. The reason why the water level stands on 35cm is because above water I want let Philodendron sp. or Syngonium sp. grow to let the Copella's show their natural behaviour of spawning. Underwater I used a lot of wood and some plants. The plants that I used are:
4 Echinodorus radicans
some Eichhornia diversifolia
6 Echinodorus parviflora tropica
2 Hydrocleis nymphoides

The tank has two filters on it and a external heater. I used two 50W GU10 halogen lights above the tank and I will ad one or two more 25W GU10 halogen to create some light for the Philodendron or Syngonium.

Fish that I want to let swim in this tank are:
2m 5f Dicrossus maculatus (Already got three)
2m 6f Copella arnoldi
25 Nannostomus unifasciatus
6 Hypoptopoma thoracatum (already got three)
4 Hemiloricaria teffeana or sp. Amazonia
few Taeniacara candidi

[apistomaster]

Very nice setup for the intended inhabitants. The Radican swords should produce some emergent leaves for the Copella arnoldi although you may need somewhat more intense lighting to get the emergent leaves.

[bigbird]

very nice. i think it is stunning. well done .cheers jk

[Lloydy]

That is a nice looking tank and some good photography to show it off. Good job

[MIKESHELEF]

Very nice!!! Good job.

[Gertbl]

Thanks everyone.
I just transferred the three Dicrossus and Hypoptopoma that I have in this tank. The Hypoptopoma went straight to a piece of wood and the Dicrossus are exploring the tank right now. I will try to make photo Friday when I got a day off.

[apistomaster]

I really like the Hypoptopoma but I have only come across two once at my LFS which I jumped on. Very nice algae eaters which are a little out of the ordinary.

[Gertbl]

Before the Hypoptopoma's I only had Otocinclus sp.
But when I saw the Hypoptopoma at the lfs I was, I was really amazed about their size and look. Here are some pictures I've taken when I had them in my 1.20m tank.

[Gertbl]

[Shane]

Beautiful tank and beautiful photographs. I have always been a big fan of using "spotlighting" as it looks far more natural than fluorescent tubes.
-Shane

[Gertbl]

Thanks Shane. Above my other tank I got fluorescent tubes and when I compare it now with this tank then the other tank's light look unnatural. I'm thinking of putting a small spot in the middle of this tank to get it just a little bit lighter in the middle.

[Gertbl]

[Gertbl]

Yesterday I bought four Sturisoma festivum. Here are some pictures taken after let them in my tank:

[Gertbl]

Some pictures of my Hypoptopoma sp.

[Gertbl]

[Gertbl]

[sidguppy]

you should put in the overal view shot like the one on the cichlid forum...that'll give em here the impression on how the entire tanks looks like

besides, it's a great pic.

[Dan*]

Very nice Gert

[Gertbl]

you should put in the overal view shot like the one on the cichlid forum...that'll give em here the impression on how the entire tanks looks like

besides, it's a great pic.

You mean this one:


@Dan, thanks

[Shane]

Yes, I love that shot. I hope to set up a west African version of your tank this summer. Just replace the South American plants with Anubias spp, Bolbitis, and Nymphaea and the fishes with small west African cichlids, tetras and catfishes.

-Shane

[Gertbl]

Thanks.
The only trouble I've got with this tank is that the Philodendron scandens won't hold long. I started with 8 yearlings and their are 2 left over. Now I'm looking for a way to get enough humidity for the Philodendron scandens.

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Philodendron scandens won't hold long

Try Epipremnum aureum, it is more tolerant of low humidity/brighter light. All these Aroids are extremely easy to grow from cuttings, if you need "spares".

cheers Darrel

[Gertbl]

Thanks, I will keep that plant in mind if the Philodendron doesn't grown anymore.

During making photo's I found out that the Dicrossus maculatus has eggs.

[stumac]

stunning tank with a very nice selection of fish, did i see P.weitzman in there also?

[Gertbl]

stunning tank with a very nice selection of fish, did i see P.weitzman in there also?

Yes indeed. There swimming three Poecilocharax weitzmani in this tank.
Over a few days I hope to add some 6 more Poecilocharax weitzmani to this tank.

[stumac]

very nice, one of my fav characins, are you going to try and breed them?

[Gertbl]

I haven't thought about breeding them specifically, but I hope they will start breeding in this tank. There are lot of caves and hiding places in this tank, so that wouldn't be a problem. Maybe later I will put them in a special tank to breed.

[Gertbl]

[Gertbl]

An update from my side. I've changed they lights above my tank from three GU10 spots to 2x 5W LED floodlights. Because of the warmth that the GU10 lights produce, their was no plant that would hold one above water. Hopefully with the LED floodlights this would be over. On the photo the LED floodlight seems to give a blue light but that is because the WB wasn't right.


Next to this a introduced three Copella's to the tank. One is a Copella meinkeni together with to Copella arnoldi.




The three Hypoptopoma species that I've introduced a few moths ago, are growing well.


This is a photo of a old species that I have together with one of the new species:

[Gertbl]