A few tank photos

[jafo]

Just thought I would share photos of 5 of my tanks that either currently house Apistos or will this week. All are moderate to heavy in plants, have plenty of driftwood, and are full of caves and rockwork.


My 30 gal has a trio of A. nijsenni breeding along with 2 week old fry.

The oldest of my 20 gal long tanks housing a pair of A. agassizii (dbl red).

The newest of my 20 gal long tanks is home to the newest apisto additions is a trio of A. trifasciata.

I will be adding a trio of A. viejita to this 29 gal this week. Hopefully they won't have problems with the Koi Angelfish that have already spawned twice there.

Last but not least I have a quad of A. cacatuoide in this 55 gal community tetra tank.

Larger photos in slde shows along with info on tanks and fish alonmg my my ramblings are at Jafos Fish Room

 

[animalmgc]

Nice gotta love planted tanks.Actually was my first interest be4 becoming addicted to Apistos.As far as Apistos I now have a 60 gal thats awaiting some triple reds from Apistodave.Also a 100 gal set up that I plan on housing some aggie fire reds also that will be courtesy of Apistodave

 

[animalmgc]

Tank specs

wondering what you're using for substrate and Lighting.Are you using CO2 and maybe a list of plants

 

[jafo]

Thanks animalmgc. This is my 2nd go around with Apistos. I kept A.hongsloi and A. sp Maulbrueter several years ago and I have always loved planted tanks. A few of my current Apistos came from Apistodave.

Lighting is with full spectrum compact flourecents: 55 has 110 watts, 30 and 29 have 55 watts, and both 20s have 18 watts. All the tanks except the 55 have laterite under small black gravel. It has flourite instead. I don't add any CO2 and rarely add fertilizer.

I couldn't begin to name all the plants I have but here ya go. Crypts: Wendtii, Spiralis, Pontederiifolia, Cilitia, Crispitula, Lucens, Balansae. Swords: Pygmy chain, Amazon, Red Melon, Marble Queen,Tropica, Narrow leaf micro, and Compacta. Other plants include Naja grass (planted and floating), Ambulia which is slowly replacing the Anarchis, dwarf sag, Water Sprite (planted and floating), Red Tiger Lotus, Java fern and moss along with Salvinia and Water Lettuce floating. I know I'm forgetting some even looking right now but I transplant cuttings and runners from tank to tank.

 

[animalmgc]

Well have to admit some real nice growth without CO2.ApistoDave seems to make his way around.Hopefully I'll have some pics soon.Please keep us updated on your tanks

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Richard, lovely tanks and a good range of fish and plants (like the shellies and Julidochromis, as well as the Apistos). You wrote

"Lighting is with full spectrum compact fluorescents: 55 has 110 watts, 30 and 29 have 55 watts, and both 20s have 18 watts. All the tanks except the 55 have laterite under small black gravel. It has fluorite instead. I don't add any CO2 and rarely add fertilizer."

I like this approach to plant growing in tanks with fish, good light with lots of PAR, and a substrate with a high CEC, but without CO2 or liquid feeding.

I'm a botanist by training, and I've worked for over 20 years in an ecology lab. in a small university, and before that in the horticulture department of a larger University but I'm still struggling to persuade people (on some other forums) that the good lighting and the "low tech., clean water approach" is a viable option for planted tanks.

cheers Darrel

 

[jafo]

Thanks Darrel. Nothing better than a low maintenance plant setup. I literally throw handfuls of trimmings away every week or 2. I've had several friends tell me they don't want the hassle of plants til they see I do very little to mine. Just trimming and transplanting while doing water changes.

I actually got out of the rift setups due to lack of plants lol

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Richard wrote:
"I actually got out of the rift setups due to lack of plants lol".

I know the feeling, when I wanted fish for animal observation in the lab. I was always going to get some "Shellies", our tap water is extremely base-rich,
and I'd sourced some Neolamprologus signatus, but when it came to it I "needed" a tank with plants so I went with rainwater and Apistogramma.

cheers Darrel

 

[Csababá]

Sorry for being off.
I don't really understand "I actually got out of the rift setups due to lack of plants lol" Could somebody explain what it means to me?
Thx,
Cs

 

[jafo]

I used to keep cichlids from the Rift Lakes of East Africa (Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika). The water is salty, very hard, and the many of the fish fish eat plants. They only plants I could keep in the tank that didn't get destroyed were Java Fern and a couple of Anubias.

 

[Csababá]

Thank you. Sorry for my poor English.

 

[blueblue]

It's always nice to see apisto tanks which are "green"! Well-done!!