Hello friends,
Today I would like to bring you on a short tour through a small space in my house I have poured a ton of attention and love into: my freshwater habitat. I've been keeping this tank for a little under a year now and it has exceeded all the goals I had for it.
This is a one of a kind tank containing highly intelligent African cichlids, mysterious bichirs, and some truly beautiful species of catfish. I have never heard of anyone else keeping this combination of species in a single tank.
Still trying to figure out how to photograph the full tank without glare, haha
The reasons this tank has been successful are compromise, hard work, and perseverance. Fishkeeping, especially this level of fishkeeping, is not for the faint of heart of those without a lot of time and attention to devote to it. As I am a hermit, work from home in the tech field, and have a obsessive level of interest in my hobby I'm built for this.
This month the tank has needed a lot of love. There have been multiple issues that, if not caught right away, could result in fish deaths. I'm happy to report I noticed everything promptly and we've had no losses since we last spoke.
Whats happened in the past month:
- Our pregnant fish, Miss Mustard, has given birth and raised up her frye. We kept her in a hospital tank for nearly 3 extra weeks to feed her and help her gain strength as she has had two pregnancies back to back and is very skinny.
We're trying to deal with this concave stomach but her color indicates she is very healthy.
We found Miss Mustard and her Fryes hospital tanks not getting fresh water when we returned from a weekend away to help my in-law's move. Because this was noticed right away all fish were saved.
The main canister filter in the main habitat got over-dirty and stopped cycling. This was noticed right away and I ordered the parts to fix this issue. The tank and it's filtration are now better than ever.
Snow White, the most aggressive fish in the tank, has been re-homed. He was only getting more and more mean and had claimed about 1/3rd of the tank for his own. As there are nearly 20 fish in the tank that was a problem once he started fighting to protect his turf. He was brought back to the store I trust and they were happy to welcome him back.
- The tank has had a redesign to reduce overall aggression. Additional hollow cichlid stones have been added and stacked in a way to provides a ton of nooks and crannies for smaller folks to relax in. The removal of Snow White and tank redesign has produced a noticeable drop in aggression. The cichlids are swimming and playing as a school again!
Now for some pictures:
This is a group that were fighting last week playing in the wave maker. This warms my heart to see. The front fish is a Star Sapphire Cichlid and will develop shimmering spots all over as they age.
Our single common bichir relaxing in his tunnel. Id really like to give the tank a good scrub and get that line of algae that's developing under the crushed coral but that can really effect the tanks ecosystem.
Juvenile male Frontosa. As he grows that lump on his forehead will grow and become more pronounced. His coloring is beautiful and he is a very calm and friendly guy. I've found him protecting smaller fish from aggression repeatedly.
Walkabout, one of two ropefish who live in the tank relaxing in the back corner under some bio-bricks. I cannot deal with how cute these guys faces and nose-antenna are.
Cichlid frye growing strong enough to be transferred to the store so they can complete their growth.
Thank you for following along on this adventure with me. Please follow my profile for more of this type of content and please ask any questions you may have. Cheers.