tank progress - mixed africans

Here's a few pics of my now one year old set-up and how it has changed...mixed african rift lake.

January 2007 ; emmmmm...no fish in there...that's about all I can say about this



couple months later...cycling...that's what nature looks like : a wall of rocks with plants on either side



beginning to get the hang of some of it now :



changed over to a black background - preferred it, things looking more dirty and natural :



added bubble wall...that came out...apparently too noisy...I liked it



January 2008...got rid of all those 'orrible fake plants...just the sand, the rock and the fish. tweaked the lighting to a slightly pink tinge and a white light...the effect is not so hot in the pics but great in real life :


although looking back I like the pics with the fake plants, in real life they were pretty naff...my own preference is for the current theme...anyway, all your suggestions/comments most welcome (and if anyone can have a look in the health forum at a thread about an acei, most obliged to you).

I want to take your rocks out & scrub them! lol does that sound odd?

Looks good! I'm a bit manic about keeping the rock in my tank clean though - every 3 weeks it comes out
(I'd say over 60kg of it) & gets scrubbed.
The body is aching today from doing it yesterday.

Doesn't look like you have many fish in it? What size is it & what are the inhabitants?
The black Acei is a stunner.

Coler don't you even think about taking those rocks out and scrubbing them! It has taken a year for those dazzlingly bright rocks to achieve a natural look and in my opinion makes for a better display than the scrubbed ones. Plus it gives the fish something to chew on! Long live the green rocks!

i agree

Don't listen to those scruffy louts.
Scrub scrub scrub I say!!!

thanks lads - very kind comments.

not going to be scrubbing the rocks one bit; I do rinse them off in a bucket of tank water every now and then because detritus builds up in the nooks and crannies but I like that darkened natural look especially looking back at the 'brand new shiny pics'.

plus...since there is now genuine green algae growing on some surfaces, I've been referring to this tank as my lightly planted low tech set up

complete stock - mix of tang and malawi, plus one other (not textbook, but has worked so far :

1 leilupi (nice little fish, spawns frequently, have had viable fry, can't tell what mix as they have not made it past fingernail size but I want to try and get one or two out next time and see what they are out of curiousity because nothing in there should be breeding with a neo. leilupi...plus...its an all male set-up...so either I deserve a nobel prize in fishology.........or perhaps she is female )

1 neo. tretocephalus - 5 bar cichlid

1 juli transcriptus

1 Aulonocara OB...that jacobfreibergi in the last shot, top left, unfortunately got beat beyond redemption in one of those unfortunate displays of cichlid 'character' (i.e. murderous intent)

1 Aulonocara/hap hybrid that I would love to get rid of but the missus likes him and I've nursed him back from the edge a couple of times

1 Ps. Acei 'Black'

1 Ps. Socolofi

1. Albiino Ps. Macropthalsmus 'Orange Cheek'

1. Lab. Caereulus juvenile

1. Cyno afra - very small juvenile...doing very well so far and will need to be watched for being a nutter as he matures.

1. Lab. Hongi juvenile

1. Ps. Elongatus/Zebra type hybrid...Pseudotropheus Hybridicus Muttica...

1 very controversial juvenile Jewel cichlid; my OB Aulonocara is Peacock intolerant, except for that Hybrid which he tolerates (reckon the OB did for the Jacocfreibergi)...and I wanted some red in the tank, but didn't want to try one of those 'Sunburst' Peacocks that are available...the Jewel is being carefully monitoring and will go back if not thriving...fingers crossed.

In the last pic, all fish in the tank at that time are visible, bar one, making 9 total of which say 7 were pretty well grown on - is this under stocked ? (my filtrations is ok but not maxed out; the internal Juwel Filter plus a Fluval Four Plus Internal...due to not knowing what I was doing when I set it up I have made adding an external very complicated...) I ask because I had started having some aggression problems (see above re Aulonocara OB

Since then, I've put the four juveniles in (afra, lab, hongi, juwel) which seems to have spread out the dominant peacock and the acei, which is presently the tank boss.

should have said in answer to 2pocs question, its only a wee 180L Juwel Vision...not ideal, again.

I want some of that rock. Nice looking tank.

thanks tom...its whacker's finest...although they don't seem to have the nice holey tufa stuff, just the heavier 'blockier' moon rock - mine's a mix.