350 gallon iphone pics

**Tom Barr** · 07-03-2012, 06:05 PM

FTS was blurred due to low light in the place, also, reflections made many cheap iphone pics stink.

Strange look, no algae eaters..........also, the fish ate them all.
Except for the larger plecos.

I'll be thinning the coffeefolia more and allowing the needle leaf java to come back again. Color on plants and general growth is quite nice now, even with the massive feeding and bioload in this tank. The larger Malawian fish dig also, so it's a challenge.

After a year or so, I'll redo the tank again and use a large pack of cardinals and more stems.

**Tom Barr** · 07-03-2012, 06:06 PM

Oh yea, there's a lot of fry (mostly the peacocks) in the tank and a blue discus that I cannot catch.

**Yo-han** · 07-03-2012, 10:20 PM

Your tank Tom? Doesn't look like a good combo, cichlids and plants... but it looks good nontheless. Except from the digging, do they eat the plants, and how about the diffence in water needed between the plants and cichlids (soft acidic vs hard alkaline)?

**Tom Barr** · 07-04-2012, 03:04 AM

These are all tank bred tough old cichlids, no different than other tank bred fish as far soft vs hard water.
They dig a little, not a lot, and they do not eat plants.

It's a very unorthodox combination.

I think some tall Vals and the general scape etc.....with the D compressiceps would look good though.

**Htomassini** · 07-04-2012, 06:50 AM

Tom is right, these guys will do ok in water that's in the 7's they do color up with good gh which is also good for plants

Henry tomassini
www.theplantedaquariumstore.com
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**Tom Barr** · 07-06-2012, 07:06 AM

As far as hardness, GH seems to be the main thing vs KH as far as what's in the lake water, it reads very much like GH booster.

**Tom Barr** · 07-10-2012, 05:32 AM

This is what I walked into 10 sec after turning the lights on the next week:

**dutchy** · 07-10-2012, 08:17 AM

Very nice.

**Tom Barr** · 07-10-2012, 05:43 PM

Growth is clean and decent, but the tank is filthy truthfully, the Starou is a bit ragged from the fish and detritus. The tank would be much much cleaner with Card's and shrimp.
I got stuck this time with the client wanting large colorful fish that stay out front....and they wanted some specific pieces of wood.

Not easy overall. I have some changes to be made still with some of the plants, but it will take time. I'll reduce the Anubias in the upper part and replace with needle leaf fern which was added a month and 1/2 ago and are starting grow well finally.
Bolbitus has not faired well due to the larger, very active fish and the CO2...........the CO2 is reduced in this tank because I cannot observe the fish for more than 1 hour after the tank is up and running.
I tweak, but there's only so much I can do and I do not want to get a call later with fish gasping. I cannot add more current since they do not want any other equipment in the tank. I might add something to the overflow and use that and a small loc line etc.
There is also another loop for a canister filter, a large 2260 Ehiem old school but its a PITA to clean and I only run at a time. I think I might get a mech cartridge, say a 100 sq ft and run another Iwaki pump on that loop.

When I redo the tank this Fall, I might do that for the filtration.

**Tom Barr** · 07-17-2012, 04:41 AM

So I saw some beaten fish today when I worked on this tank. Management wanted some removed lest they die. I managed to net 4 fish. 2 sub dominate males and a 2 females, there are still 2 females in the tank. Need to get them out, otherwise War.
I noticed 3-4 small 1.5" D compressiceps fry in the tank today also, they are breeding and this is likely why they are fighting. I'd assumed many of the fish were all males when we got them, nope.........

So that's, Sturisoma, Gold peacocks, now D compressiceps that have bred this year in the tank.

I'll have to remove 2-3 more of the D compressiceps still...........I'll replace with some other colorful Malawi less digging type of species.