75 Gallon South American Cichlid Tank

[SeverumKeeper]

It's been a while!

I've had this tank for a very long time now - 5 or 6 years? And it has gone through quite a few iterations. This is the 4th house I've had it in, but I hope it will finally be able to stay where it is for a long time now. 

After the move, it was extremely bare - the nice, thick pieces of wood I purchased years ago had rotten and been chewed on by plecos to the point where they were basically nasty twigs. I threw those out.

I was also low on fish. The first move I made with this tank was flawless, I lost no fish. The second (a much longer move) took a heavy toll, especially on my tetras. I knew a third move was coming, so for the last year and a half, I hadn't really gotten any new fish. I also didn't really lose any, until the week before the move, when one of my two remaining angelfish suddenly sickened and died over a day or two. 

You can see most of the big fish I had left in the photo above. A severum, an angelfish, five corydoras, two Bolivian rams, a geophagus, and a pleco*.

**I forget the exact type - he should be getting 8-10 inches based on what the LFS that sold him to me said, and on my research, but I forget the name and you know how pleco common names are...*

Well, I knew a tank that bare simply wouldn't do. The fish would not be happy there for long, and there is nothing to break up sight or aggression. It was time for a rescape.

My new house had an old pond in the backyard that had been filled years ago. It was filled with decomposed gravel and capped with round river stones. I happily raided this new source or hardscape material for my tank. I also got a couple of plants, some pieces of real wood, and some fake roots to complete that river feel.

After a week or two I also added some new fish. Seven red eye tetras (so far, that was all the LFS had) and two more geophagus.

The wood has also released some tannins, and I added even more plants. The water level is getting low - it may be time for a water change today.

 

There are a couple of floating planets I gotta fix, and the severum dug a big pit over on the left side (which is totally fine, I left the sand as a playground for him and for the geos).

All the fish seem much happier with the rescaped tank. The rams especially have colored up, and one swims out in the open much of the time, perhaps advertising for potential females? The other ram colored up very similarly, so I wonder if I have two males.

 

I'm planning to add some more plants - I'm thinking some Val in easy planters along the back wall. I also want to add just a bit more stock - more of the red eye tetras, obviously, maybe a couple more angels. Or maybe something else...

[SeverumKeeper]

Here is what the ram looks like - the colors don't really show up on camera; in person he looks very blue on the back. 

 

 

[SeverumKeeper]

Gave the tank a quick water change on my lunch today, since I had the Python out anyways for... Reasons... another thread might come out soon to explain why.

I fixed some floating plants, moved some anubias on rocks around, and gave the glass a once over. I think the tank looks a lot better!

Still full of tannins from the new wood - I don't mind, but my wife hates it, and the tank *is* in a public area now rather than my office, so I'll probably throw in some activated carbon (or maybe try Purigen).

 

Edited April 4 by SeverumKeeper

[Odd Duck]

On 4/4/2024 at 3:53 PM, SeverumKeeper said:

Still full of tannins from the new wood

Meh.  Tannins are good for the fish.  They’ll water change out . . . eventually.  😆  Tell her it’s a blackwater tank!  It’s supposed to look that way!  You might change your mind at some point just for her.  Then when it water changes out she’ll know you did it for her.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Agree with the Carbon and or filter floss like the Coop white, Purigen feels like overkill in this scenario I’d keep it on hand but I’d only deploy it if the carbon or the cheaper filter floss doesn’t get you there. If you want some pops of color I’ve had good results with fair sized cichlids and lillys/ lotus. I’ve had full sized EBAs and Krobia do well. I’ve heard Severums can be plant pullers as I suppose can the goes but I like what you’ve done so far! 

[Tony s]

On 4/4/2024 at 4:53 PM, SeverumKeeper said:

activated carbon (or maybe try Purigen

not sure what your filter type is. but chemi-pure green is great for tannins in a planted tank. I used mopani wood my first tank. had 75 gallons of tea. my wife was not impressed. cleaned it right up

[SeverumKeeper]

On 4/4/2024 at 4:45 PM, Tony s said:

not sure what your filter type is.

Just a humble HOB filter, rated for a somewhat larger tank

[Tony s]

I think you can still use the chemipure green in it. just a slightly smaller pouch

[SeverumKeeper]

On 4/4/2024 at 5:21 PM, Tony s said:

I think you can still use the chemipure green in it.

Looks like it comes in jars? Do I just pour the contents of a jar into a media bag?

[Tony s]

It’s in a bag. Kind of like purigen

[SeverumKeeper]

Thanks for the tip. I ordered some.

[SeverumKeeper]

So! Some updates on the tank.

The Purigen worked wonders! Tank is pretty darn clear. Although I may be due for a water change again.

Other than that, I've kept growing my red eye tetra school, with 21 of them now they are finally swimming together in a tight group regularly. I'm probably happy with this number for now.

I also want to get some more Cory cats. Like the Tetras, I want to abandon my previous strategy of mixing and matching 6 each of a few different kinds, and instead go all in on one Cory. 

Right now I have 4 Sterbai corydoras and 1 Julii corydoras. (Originally I had 6 of each plus some bronze corydoras, but as I mentioned in my earlier post, the move ~2 years ago really took a toll on my smaller fish). So I've been wanting to pick up a bunch more Sterbais. 

I was at the fish store last weekend, but both Sterbais and Julii were over $10 *discounted when buying 3*! I was happy to get a large number, so 6 or 9 would have been fine, but that just felt a bit pricey for those fish (especially since the rest of the store's prices were very reasonable - I picked up 5 red eye tetras for $15!).

I also got mystery snails (I'd love it if they started breeding so I can feed the babies to my pea puffers) and a surprise for my 20 gallon (check the other thread soon to see what!).

 

Finally, I've completely given up on live plants in the 75. I bought this *beautiful* Anubias with gorgeous huge leaves for $15 and the severum absolutely destroyed it. So I rescued nearly all the plants and took them to my 20 gallon pea puffer tank, where nothing is going to eat them. 

My poor anubias!