My NPT Fishroom

Next my 80 gallon + 20 gallon x 3 setup.

These tanks are my "ugly" tanks. I try different plants out and house mostly dwarf cichlids. I don't worry much about algae or aquascaping.

First the 80 gallon is an acrylic former fish store tank that is divided into 4 20 gallon sections. It has an overflow box. Recently I bought some used drilled 20 gallon tanks from a fish club member. I built different height stands and plumbed them together so that water would flow passively from one to another. A pump is in the last 20 gallon that pumps water back upto the 80.

Up top I have a 24" 2 bulb T5HO and a 48" 2 bulb compact flourescent. The tanks are open top. Underneath I bought 3 clamp lights and put 100 watt compact flourescent bulbs in them. I thought I would try it as a low light setup. Each light and bulb combo was less than $10 so I thought it was worth a try.

Finally, my rack of 30 gallons.

I have 4, and 3 of those are divided in half with home made dividers. The dividers and the 80 setup are all an attempt to maximize space for dwarf cichlids and minimize maintenance. These are also "ugly" tanks that are functional for trying to get dwarf cichlids to breed. When I set these up I bought a variety of plants and I've just kept what works. Not all plants will grow with the soft water in these tanks.

These are soft water tanks with TDS 80-150. The 80 gallon setup is getting soft as I'm using RO water for water changes now.

3 have 36" 2 bulb T5HO lights and one has a 24" 2 bulb T5NO light.

I'm happy to discuss more specifics if anyone is interested.

Wow, Jeremy! This is awesome! You have great set-ups! Do you find that the dwarfs breed easily in the 15 gallons (30 split) tanks? I see you have hornwort in them, any other plants you can list for me that you have found to be good with soft water?

I will consider you to be my advisor on my dwarf tanks!! If that's ok? Maybe I can run some ideas by you. I have a 15g set up already, waiting for them to arrive, here is a picture:

This is mostly a holding tank, as I am working on the specs for a 29 for a permanent home. It has black diamond blasting grit for the substrate. I've been told it's supposed to be completely inert - well, not for me. It raises the PH considerably. I ran a water softening pillow in it, and have it down to GH 0, KH ~20, and the PH is hard to read... looks like about 7.0.
Here's the idea I'm toying with - let me know what you think - instead of using just the black diamond sand on the 29, using a layer of peat, and maybe a layer of miracle grow organic, then cap with the black diamond sand. I have tons of the sand left, so I'd really like to use it. I have NO money for anything else right now. What do you think?

Advisor? I'm pretty new at breeding fish though I have had some initial success. I have been keeping planted tanks for several years and I know what works for me. I have read a lot about keeping planted tanks and dwarf cichlids, but I'm just short on experience on the breeding side of things. That said I'm happy to try to help, and I know some good resources.

So I haven't had any cichlids breed in my 30's yet. They have been running since Oct/Nov. I have had harlequin rasboras and fundulopanchax gardneri N'sukka (killie) breed in them. I have one pair of a. cacatuoides and I've had 2 pairs of pelvicachromis taeniatus (Lobe (sold them) and nigerian red (my favorite west african cichlid)). When I took the Lobe out of their tank they had just laid eggs, but I didn't try to take care of them. I have about 50 or 60 p. taeniatus moliwe fry in the 80 and a grow out tank, so I want to find them new homes before I add more p. taeniatus fry. My p. taeniatus spawned in a 20 gallon section of my 80 gallon. My a. cacatuoides spawned in my 75 gallon display tank. My nannacara anomala have laid eggs in every tank they've been in, but I never see free swimmers. My pseudocrenilabrus female is holding eggs (they're mouthbrooders) in a 20 gallon section of the 80.

For all my NPT I use a base of plain topsoil covered with plain aquarium gravel. This has worked for me. I probably wouldn't use a peat base because I would worry that you would have difficulty controlling the pH and it could get too acidic. I haven't used miracle grow. I basically follow Diane Walsted's book's advice on substrate. Plain topsoil works for me and the pH stays around 7.0. I add driftwood and I'm just experimenting with adding peat to my RO reservoir to acidify the water. This way I can easily control the pH of the tanks without things getting out of control. Maybe you could try thoroughly rinsing the sand to try to limit its effect on the water hardness.

Your tank looks cool. It looks fine for breeding one pair of apistos. You might get a. cacatuoides to spawn with a KH of 20 but I have never been able to get apisto eggs to hatch in hard water like that.

OK plants that have worked for me in soft water (TDS 80 - 200):

hornwort
egeria densa
crypt wendtii
hygrophila polysperma
java moss
moss balls (I tore one apart and made a mat that seems to be working fine)
sagittaria subulata
hemianthus micranthemum (spreading slowly across the bottom)
bolbitis heudelotii
hydrotriche Hottonii flora (doing very well)
various anubias

plants that are living but not thriving:

hygrophila difformis
hygrophila augustifolia
java fern
narrow leaf chain sword
dwarf hair grass
marsilea quadrifolia

Hope that helps.