Congo Swamp Monster (750l biotope)

[Angus]

is it just me or does anyone else want to see a looooong photo down the length of the front glass? this tank is absolutely amazing, great work @gltjc

 

[gltjc]

Love this scape.
Have you thought abour having a nice large group of Armoured/Vampire shrimp in here.

I’ve never kept them, but could be a good add. I think I need to make some more caves and structure for future cichlids in any case - a bit short of hiding places for much more at the bottom level right now

A suggestion for the Banked area. Have you thought about putting in the Clear acrylic pipes.

This is an excellent idea! Not sure I can do it now, though - the bank is mostly a big cage made of eggcrate that would be difficult to re-engineer to make caves, or at least I don’t think I’m brave enough to do so!

Also a few butterlyfish to catch any flies that may fall into the water. You could watch them hunt for mealworms and crickets.

I would love some, but I fear they’d jump/fly straight out of the tank?

 

[gltjc]

Apologies if you know this already... That's a great shop to buy fish from, the fish are always properly quarantined and in fantastic health. (I'm lucky to live very close by, so have the same water supply which makes acclimating easier.)

It is a great shop! Sadly not quite as convenient for me. I had a pair of Betta channoides from there that I loved dearly and lived for a number of years in a 12” cube that was so overgrown with Cryptocoryne and peat stained that I hardly saw them.

 

[sonicninja]

What a wonderful tank. I’m stressed about your tv falling in though!! ️


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[Gill]

TBH with enough cover to feel safe ABF dont jump. I had a 400Gallon Open Top and never had any jump. They tended to stay in amongst the lotus pads.

 

[gltjc]

TBH with enough cover to feel safe ABF dont jump. I had a 400Gallon Open Top and never had any jump. They tended to stay in amongst the lotus pads.

Good to know. May well try a pair!

 

[gltjc]

What a wonderful tank. I’m stressed about your tv falling in though!!

️

Thanks. I’ve at least not been brave enough to change the angle of the TV since the tank was installed in case it jumps off the bracket.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Looking great.

P.S. if you've lost your iPhone earbuds one of your fish has them

 

[gltjc]

I thought it was strange that I had some long calls to the Congo on my bill

 

[gltjc]

So I broke the bank and bought another 4 Phenacogrammus sp. ‘red’/‘fantastique’/‘phantastique’/‘red makoua’ (all seem to be the same fish), 6 Phenacogrammus aurantiacus, and a lovely pair of Enigmatochromis lucanusi.

It is nice having cichlids at last! The tank is starting to feel a bit busier now and I quite like the daily cycle that the fish will race around the full tank in the morning and will relax under the lily pass as the lights crank up.

The group of sp red where bright cherry red in the store and have already switched off their colours a bit in my tank - working out why is one of my top priorities. They were in a small dark and relatively fast flowing tank that was a 2/3 rap and 1/3 RO at the store. I’ll add a bunch more leaf litter when I can find some that is not mushy - may even have to resort to buying it rather than wait until autumn - to darken the substrate - add some peat to the filter. Will also bring down the pH and hardness a bit but I’m sceptical that is the answer given how they were kept in the store. I partly bought more to confirm it isn’t diet or size linked..

Feel like I am almost there with fish now! Still want a decent sized group of a ‘showstopper’ killie, perhaps 2 more pairs of dwarf cichlid and I’m tempted by a pair of Pantodon, but I think that will be it!

 

[Tim Harrison]

Pictures?

 

[Edvet]

Killies are jumpers as far as i know

 

[zozo]

As are Pantodons, amazing jumpers.. Almost equals flying through your room, only finding back the tank is not their best skill..

 

[a1Matt]

I’ll add a bunch more leaf litter when I can find some that is not mushy - may even have to resort to buying it rather than wait until autumn

Beech leaves decompose slowly enough that you can pick them now and they will still have good integrity.

 

[Edvet]

Hornbeam (?)(Carpinus betulus) leaves should be on the plant still, you can even cut of twigs with the leaves on.

 

[PARAGUAY]

Killies are jumpers as far as i know

I learned this to my cost after being warned,the pair were shy when first in the tank the male in particular started to get confident first for food ,it developed beautiful breeding colour ,a couple of days later found it on the carpet. In such a large tank as this with the plants and surface floaters might get away with it but it’s a risk

 

[mort]

Killifish are something I've never really kept but I recently got interested in them because of their colours and live cycle. Pretty much ever breeder that I've looked at has a cover glass or the water level dropped to a half or a third to stop them jumping out. You may get lucky with a more natural setup but I'd at least wait until you have more foliage to block their escape.

 

[gltjc]

I suspect all surface dwelling fish have evolved to jump as a defence against attach from below, so I think I have the choice to either leave that part of the tank empty or to take a bit of a risk. I’m a bit more willing to do that with killies than butterflyfish

 

[gltjc]

I am going to wait until the Floscopa on the right have established themselves as emergents and I’ve put some plants in shower caddies on the right. I can then reintroduce some more floating plants on that side and will have a lot of cover...

 

[Angus]

Hornbeam (?)(Carpinus betulus) leaves should be on the plant still, you can even cut of twigs with the leaves on.

Depends what part of the country, south east they are all leafless, however hornbeam and beech hedging still generally have leaves on, i wouldnt pick any leaves off the floor after rain or snow, they need to be propperly dry before collection. Hope that helps.

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