South American Setup

[fischkopp]

About 2+ years ago I got two bags of Geophagus altifrons fry in an auction, silver fish about an inch in size. Originally they were supposed to be dither fish in a tank with plecos. But as they grew over time I decided to give them more space so they could develop to their full potential. The fish is starting to show some colour now that they are hitting 5-6 inches.

This setup is running for over a year now and I really like how it came together. Enjoy!


[embed=800,500]<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mGCAVAobTGI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed]


The tank is a 180gal with 75gal sump. If there is interest I can post a bit more about the setup.

[exv152]

Cool looking fish. Looks like your dither fish have become the main attraction and can use some dither fish of their own. Almost looks like you're going for a rio negro biotope. I'm interested in seeing more.

[charlie]

Good job, thanks for sharing.

[Al]

R,
Awesome setup and the fish look spectacular - must look even more impressive in person. You must be happy with how your patience paid off.
Tell me more people shouldn't be trying their hands at south americans !! there is such a great diversity of fish.
I have switched everything over to SA from Africans and am enjoying the change.
Please do tell us a little more about the parameters, the co-habitants, etc if you don't mind.
Al

[fischkopp]

Thanks guys. I spend quite a bit of time in front of it watching fish TV.

The setup used to be planted and housed discus. I had started a post about the tank before, but never quite finished it before taking it down. I basically reused everything, except for the CO2 and UV.

The tank is setup to keep maintenance time as low as possible. I basically just feed the fish, and clean some sponges every month or so. Everything else is automated and controlled via Profilux. The most important tasks are daily water changes: the sump will drain about 20gal every night and is filled back up, straight from the tap with dosing pumps adding Prime to dechlorinate the water. That keeps the water quality pretty stable; the parameters are basically the same as Ottawa tap water that has settled (pH 6.5~6.8, cond ~170uS). The temperature is kept at 26 deg Celsius with 2x 300W titanium heaters. Sump and back are insulated to lower heat loss in the winter time. Main filtration is done via fluidized sand bed (Lifeguard FB600). There is an Eheim 1260 running as return pump, and a 1250 is dedicated for the the fluidized bed. These are hassle free, quiet pumps, highly recommend.

The light is custom: there are 8x 54W T5HO and 4x 25W LED installed, but only the LEDs are currently running. The LED consist of dimmable 2700K/6000K/red/blue channels to enable mood lighting and light mixing. The Profilux is pretty nice for that since it has vast option to setup custom light scenarios. It also allows cloud simulation, something that happened while I was taking the video, and pretty neat overall as it gives the tank more dynamic.

I will have to take some "under the hood" pics one day.

There are a range of plecos in this tank. Most notably are maybe Scobinancistrus aureatus between 8-12 inches. Pretty cool fish, have to try to get them on video as well.

Here is a complete stock list:

• 8 Geophagus altifrons
• 6 Chalceus macrolepidotus
• 1 L007 Leporacanthicus cf. galaxias
• 4 L014 Scobinancistrus aureatus
• 4 L128 Hemiancistrus sp.
• 6 L134 Peckoltia Compta
• 4 L200 Hemiancistrus subviridis
• 6 L340 Hypancistrus sp.
• and the odd dwarf cichlid

[Stussi613]

I'd love to see the under the hood pictures.   I wish I was able to put my sump in the basement at my house, automating my water changes would make my life so much better...

[anotherfishkeeper]

Very nice set up.

[fischkopp]

Thanks! The tank is doing well, the Geos are growing. Should cut down on feeding ...

Winter is coming, so I might find some time to have look under the hood again.