My 240gal Semi planted Amazon - General Aquarium Plants Discussions

Joefish · 03-07-2005, 06:06 PM

Just wanted to hsare some pics of my 240gal amazon setup.. i dont have alot of plants in it, for being the Altifrons and Tapajos will get large over time , i guess i will see what will work and what wont but for now the plants make the tank... The tank is 96X24X24

I am no green thumb by anymeans and can use all the help i can get..

Not sure of all of whats in it for plants.. but your more then welcome to comment..

I will be adding more substrait to it this week and changeing somethings around... in a few pics you can see how some of the leaves are turning white.. not sure why.. but im sure i am missing some vitel things.. i would like to nip that in the butt as soon as possible to ensure the best for my plants..

Thanks for looking

Joe

dwhite645 · 03-07-2005, 06:12 PM

mighty impressive! The white leaves might be caused by lack of iron. Are you running Co2? You should start liquid fertilizing, adding root tabs and mix in some laterite or flourite into the substrate if you haven't already.

Joefish · 03-07-2005, 07:03 PM

Thanks i aure am as far as Co2 and liquid.. as well as onyx sand but the one thing that i havent added yet wich will be added as soon as it arrives is the tabs.. so as soon as i get them they will be ploped in.. i also run 6 36" Flor plant lights and 2 36" 96watt pwr compacts for 12 hrs a day.. by th eway i am useing a carbo block for my Co2..

thanks again for your intput..

Joe

**John P.** · 03-07-2005, 07:15 PM

Joe, where do you live? If you're in the U.S., I could send you some clippings of nice, rare, fast-growing hygrophila.

By the way, does that Cichlid feed on the scissor-tail rasboras and the bloodfins?

What a great, huge tank. Lots of possibilities there!

Joefish · 03-07-2005, 08:45 PM

Thanks alot!!! , this tank used to house Zaire Frontosa's but it got old.. anyways im in the chicago land area home of the GCCA.. nah all colombian tetras and scissor-tail rasboras are left alone and have the tank for them selves.. one thing i like about the schooling fish is that it helps my Plecos come out more ofton..

for fish as of now in it.. here is the list..

20 Syno petricolas.. "wich will be removed to there own tank soon"
12 Geophagus Tapajos
2 Geophagus Altifrons Rio Xingu "More on the way"
24 scissor-tail rasboras
12 Colombian tetras
1 Acarichthys Heckelii
2 L25 Scarlet Pleco's
1 L114 Red tail Leap pleco
1 L273 Titanicus pleco
1 L255 Spotted Medusa Rio Xingu

jcolletteiii · 03-09-2005, 11:56 AM

That Geophagus will get large - very large in that very large tank. Those rasboras and tetras will not. The Geophagus can easily reach 12", and will eat any fish which will fit easily into their quite sizable mouth. Also, many south Am cichlids are very aggressive among themselves, something else to keep in mind if your going to plant heavily. Also, i beleive they are gravel feeders. I had a pair of large jack dempseys a long time ago. Couldn't keep anything planted in that tank... You may eventually end up w/ a cichlid only tank. FEED THEM CICHLIDS WELL!!!!

Good luck with the little guys.

-joe

tsunami · 03-09-2005, 01:06 PM

Joefish,

I think you have a tank with a lot of potential but needs a bit of a refocus. For CO2, I think you would really need pressurized CO2 with a HUGE reactor to get it to lower your pH for an extended period of time. The CO2 block system just does not work for tanks this large.

I am not sure if your aim is to recreate a biotope or a planted tank with South American fish species? If your goal is too recreate a biotope, then I would pull the plug on the CO2, decrease the amount of lighting, weed out all the crypts/ferns, and grow only Echinodorus species which are tough enough to survive the digging of the Geophagus.

Otherwise, I would remove the Geophagus, upgrade your CO2 system, and start learning about fertilization. There are plenty of great plants AND fish for a nice South American themed planted tank -- and you have a tank large enough to effectively use Echinodorus sp (sword plants)!

Carlos

arellanon · 03-09-2005, 01:55 PM

I would LOVE a tank like yours! Those dimensions give you SO MUCH to work with! Two feet wide can house really big plants and pieces of driftwood and two feet tall can let nice tall plants like vallisneria, aponogeton, and cabomba show all of their beauty. Congrats on your tank and plant it dense baby!!!

Joefish · 03-09-2005, 10:07 PM

Thanks all for the input.. as for the main fish in this tank is the Tapajos.. not the altifrons.. yes the altifrons can get 12" plus.. but NO big deal.. the Tapajos maybe around 8" max.. as for the tatras there just filler .. and as for the plants,, well they came easy they can go easy.. my biggest focus on this setup is the Sa cichlids and the Almighty L25 Scarlett plecos.. i am by no means unaware of the size that altifrons can get.. keep in mind at one point this tank held 13 Zaire Kapampa Frontosa's even get bigger..

As for the plants doing well.. well the ferns are sprouting like no other.. anyone want some? but like i said there filler for now.. most of the plants will become potted as the Geo's get larger or just moved to a tank just for plants and tetras.. i don't mind really.. i would rather look at that tank housed with a bunch of 15" monsters then a bunch of plants waving back and forth.. But not saying i don't love green , i really do like planted tanks.. and down the road just devote a tank just for plants.. trying to use a 240gal tank for a all planted tank is not easy.. so in good time they will have there own house to live in.. with some nice tetras to swim about not to harm them..

Glad you all liked..

Thanks again for all the input..

Joe

tsunami · 03-10-2005, 07:36 AM

People with planted tanks can keep big fish, too, actually. Just not Geophagus.

It is a delicate interplay between fish and plants. At least for me.

Carlos