dizzydirk

I told my boy there could be some issues with introducing smaller fish...these are just the first ones I've found that are close to the synodontis we have. You make great points about the variety of fish...my tank from many years ago was a 55g with african cichlids. I remember the pair of convicts spawning like crazy. I'm basically starting over here...I didn't really consider preferred water parameters. We were shooting for a community cichlid tank where everyone would be 5'ish inches when mature. On the bags of coral...could I stash some mesh bags of it inside the FX4? The center of both trays has bio rings & rocks. Originally we thought a single 125g tank would be plenty to keep us busy, but my kiddos are already asking for their own tanks. Is this how everyone ends up with a tank room? Ha! I could see some additional tanks in our future...at least to keep the breeding pairs from fighting everyone else in the big tank.

Yeah...he wants all the huge plecos at every store we visit. Ha! I did find something close to the Synodontis cat we have, but not sure it is exactly the same...the LFS has some ones labeled as Dwarf Cuckoo Cats. Google says that is a Synodontis petricola. They look really similar, but my cat has white on all sides of the fins and these are only white on the leading edges. Would these be good little homies for the one we have? They are a tad small. The tank parameters held steady for over a month, but donked out on the Ph & buffer when I bought 2 new chunks of the TIKI wood. I guess I will try to work the coral angle...maybe add another bag of it to my 2nd HOB too. Wasn't trying to add it into the sandy substrate.

Oh...well then my small mesh bag full of coral in the HOB isn't going to do much for the 125g then...ha!

Heyo...I haven't had a tank for 20+ years, but my kiddos (8 & 6) decided it was time. Started doing some research and found Aquarium Co-Op online & realized they were local to me. Brandon @ the store has been very helpful with all my questions. We picked up a used 125 gallon setup in January. Go big or go home...right? It was cycled & running when we grabbed it. Came with everything we needed: tank stand, FX4, 2 HOBs (tidal110 & aquaclear110), Hygger 800w heater, LED light, plants, wood, net...he even gave me a clean 5 gallon bucket! Added a bunch of fish and have been learning as we go. We ended up with 3 electric blue acaras, 3 jack dempseys, 6 odessa barbs, 5 roseline sharks, 2 german rams, 2 golden rams (female died), 1 redtail shark, 3 pimelodus pictus (F0), 1 Synodontis Piedratus, 2 bristlenose plecos, 1 other smaller pleco. If it was up to my son, we would only have plecos & catfish 🙂 Also added a bunch of live plants, more wood & a pile of dragonstone. I'm new to plants...so trying to figure out fertilizer & how much light is needed has been a struggle. Upgraded the lights to a pair of Fluval Plant 3.0s. Have been using the test strips from Aquarium Co-Op to monitor water. Issues so far: Noticed the Ph & buffer drop when I added the 2 new chunks of wood...trying some crushed coral in 1 HOB to see if that helps. The golden rams were trying to spawn, but the female suddenly died overnight. The next morning we noticed that one of the acaras had layed eggs on a plant...pic attached. Our first attempt at having pictus cats shipped in didn't work out with the cold snap we recently had...they didn't make it and my boy was crushed 😞 However, the 2nd attempt seems to have worked great...pic attached. The 3rd acara is being bullied around by the bigger male...not sure if it is sick yet, but it still eats & poops. Just super skinny...so hoping it pulls through...pic attached Having trouble finding a couple more Synodontis Piedratus...at least that is what it was labeled as. Anyone confirm from my attached pic? I have all kinds of newbie questions...any advice or tips are appreciated. Hoping this is the place to get info & learn! Bryan