Having had it with my Blue Acara formed couple (Andinoacara pulcher, electric blue variety), who loves to pull out all my plants when they get in the mood for romance, I convinced the missus that a separate tank for breeding them could be a source of mild income. I'm not sure she was convinced, but I've made a good deal on a used tank and now it's there. It is a standard 200L tank, 1.0x0.5x0.4m, but it came with a sump that adds maybe another 80L of water. I removed one of the partitions of the sump to create a nice reserved room for the fry to grow when I separate them.
My plan is to create a stone heavy layout using leftover stones from my previous setup, add a bunch of dried leaves, and add hardy plants. I'm thinking echinodorus and anubias. Substrate is fine sand.
My question is if I could add other fishes to the tank. The acaras are in my community tank and frequently breed (although there are more failures than successes). Ideally, they would be fishes that don't pose an immediate threat to the newborn fry. The tank is quite tall, so I think that any fish that stays in the upper half of the tank won't bother the fry at all. If it were a fish that could eventually breed in there, that would be a bonus. I'm also considering choosing one pleco species and maybe one corydora species. Tap water comes with neutral pH and is on the softer side. Temperature will probably be between 25ºC and 27ºC most of the time. And since I'm always trying to optimize and condensate my MTS urges into the limited number of tanks I'm allowed to keep, would it be OK to try to breed some shrimps in the fry room?
It also crossed my mind to add some sort of fast growing weed to the fry compartment, acting as an extra layer of filtration in the sump and something to keep the fry feeling safe. But that would require a light source. Given all the new understandings on aquarium biofiltration, is the light still seen as something that could deter biofiltration? Not that I'm overly concerned about biofiltration given the reduced fish load, but again... optimization urges.
My plan is to create a stone heavy layout using leftover stones from my previous setup, add a bunch of dried leaves, and add hardy plants. I'm thinking echinodorus and anubias. Substrate is fine sand.
My question is if I could add other fishes to the tank. The acaras are in my community tank and frequently breed (although there are more failures than successes). Ideally, they would be fishes that don't pose an immediate threat to the newborn fry. The tank is quite tall, so I think that any fish that stays in the upper half of the tank won't bother the fry at all. If it were a fish that could eventually breed in there, that would be a bonus. I'm also considering choosing one pleco species and maybe one corydora species. Tap water comes with neutral pH and is on the softer side. Temperature will probably be between 25ºC and 27ºC most of the time. And since I'm always trying to optimize and condensate my MTS urges into the limited number of tanks I'm allowed to keep, would it be OK to try to breed some shrimps in the fry room?
It also crossed my mind to add some sort of fast growing weed to the fry compartment, acting as an extra layer of filtration in the sump and something to keep the fry feeling safe. But that would require a light source. Given all the new understandings on aquarium biofiltration, is the light still seen as something that could deter biofiltration? Not that I'm overly concerned about biofiltration given the reduced fish load, but again... optimization urges.
