# My 190L corner



## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

never blogged before so here we gooooooooooooooooo...







this is where it all started








one month later 19-11-2012.
4.0ppm ammonia disappearing to 0.25/0ppm in 10 hours, waiting for the nitrites to hit 0ppm then we good to go..
will update once the fish are in and happy 
want to add a bit more decor so other fish have their own happy place, do have a large bogwood but waiting for the tannins to leach out completely (taking forever)


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

added decor and bogwood for my plec, will have to put up with any more tannins for time being, nitrites nearly 0 so few more days and ill transfer my plec, one of the silver dollars become unwell so treated with melafix and pimafix and a dose of aquarium salts so hopefully he will make a good recovery and ill transfer him in a week once the treatments finish


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

aquaworld nitrate remover arrived today.... let it run for the 1st 20l and discard and took sample and tested for nitrates and it reads '0'
not bad seeing as my tap water test reads 20-40ppm


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

That's a cool aquarium. Looks nice.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

aquaworld nitrate remover reduced nitrates but it seems it increases nitrites and now i seem to be waiting for the tank to cycle again to get rid of nitrites so the nitrate remover not as good as everyone seems to believe, did a 20% water change on my 64L tank with same water and has increased nitrites to .25ppm whereas it was 0,
so now ive purchased a V2 Pure 50 Advanced and may change the water again in the 190L with R.O and start the cycle again.
Gutted as i was getting excited as i really want to go buy my Blue Acaras and to get the silver dollars and the plec i brought last week into the 190L and out of the 64L.
The silver dollars are growing fast as they keep stealing the plecs algae discs and cucumber lol.
Gong to buy the fittings today so i can install R.O so it is removable rather than use the fittings that come with it that make it a permanent fixture


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

plumbed my v2 pure ro filter in today, slow process but seems worth it, ammo=0 nitrites=0, nitrates somewhere between 0 and 5ppm, ph=6.6
in all = happy fishes


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

You don't want to remove all of your nitrates, you need nitrates to deal with the ammonia and nitrite. The only tank that should have 0 nitrates is a planted tank. Otherwise there will always be some nitrates in there. I try to keep mine at under 20 ppm, and usually under 10. They are not bad for the fish at lower levels. 

The extremely shortened version of your cycle: 1. Ammonia source= ammonia. 2. Ammonia turns to nitrite. 3. Nitrite turns to Nitrate. Once nitrate is present it converts ammonia through this "cycle" very quickly, thus your tank is cycled.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It took rereading. But it looks like its a nitrate filter on the new water as the tap has nitrate in it.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

LOL good catch emc- totally slipped past me. That explains a lot!


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

the nitrate in the tap water is about 50+ppm hence why im trying to reduce it, long term i know the nitrates will rise naturally in the tank that is why im trying to keep them low so the initial tapwater + nature together make the nitrates go off the chart...
good news is my nitrites are dropping daily


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

finally my tank has cycled whoop whoop.
going for a big water change to drop the nitrates add a little more ammonia to make sure i have not killed the bacteria and start stocking... cant wait


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

trip to [email protected] today and returned with 2 blue acaras and a bristlenose plec to add to the mega clown plec and 2 silver dollars.
put the dollars and clown plec in this morning and as expected they have gone into hiding and have not moved, the clown plec does all waht he wants in pitch black as ive caught him darting back to his hole when the lights go on lol.
the bristlenose since being added a few hours ago went straight to the glass and started sucking all it could get and the acaras have been checking the place out quite happily, dont know if they are male/females as yet, may have got lucky and got one of each but far too early to tell.








heres the silver dollars playing peek aboo









1 blue acara










2 blue acara










and the bristlenose plec


the other plec is hiding around the back of the cave so i cant get a pic, im sure he will get evicted once the acaras decide they want to live there.
I will get better pics in due course


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

heres a pic of the 2 acaras together
The acaras keep going through the tunnel of the cave and it seems the clown plec has adopted it as his home so it keeps chasing the acaras out, am wondering how long its gonna last as i recon once the acaras decide they want it i recon the plec will be jogged on lol


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

It's looking really good!!!!!


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

thanks....


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

have now added real plants.
am loving it now


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## ZebraDanio12 (Jun 17, 2011)

Very nice, looks great


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

mmmm curious....
the blue acaras are going round pecking at the gravel for food so alls normal there, been feeding them cichlid floating pellets and they dont seem too bothered by them, and when they do get a taste they spit them back out, so i tried some bloodworms thinking they gotta go mad for them but they do the same, they have a roll round the mouth by the looks of it and spit them out..
god knows what the store been feeding them lol, guess i gotta wait till they real hungry so they realise its all food lol


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

btw.. the mega clown plec now lives in the bogwood... figured that will happen once he finds it lol


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

been watching the silver dollars and they are always hiding, was happier in my other tank, not sure if they are agreeing with the acaras, was warned against putting them with the acaras as they can be boisterous and the dollars are too placid, the 64L too smal lfor them so it looks like ive gotta find them a new home... 
ill ask the shop if they can rehome them when i go get the missus some female dwarf gouramis to keep her males company


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

the dollars have gone to the fish shop  all they did was hide from the acaras and wasnt fair so i hope someone else can give them a better home.
so now its a case of waiting to see if i have a male/female or male/male or female/female
one does chase the other and also shimmys sideways to it so it could be territorial or saying be my girl lol


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## Vayurules (Dec 7, 2012)

Very nice. I like the Acaras. Those are some pretty nice specimens.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

swapped one of the acaras with another because of bullying, and bully was potentially a Green Terror, now new one being bullied worse 
Rearranged decor an waiting to see what happens when lights go on tomorrow.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

the bullying still happening but is more hiding places so now its not continuous.
how tanks looking now


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## Vayurules (Dec 7, 2012)

Very nice. Might need some tank mates for the top level though, it's kind of barren. But otherwise, looks like you have a nice setup.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

its more of a species tank bud, the blue acars will get quite large and eat any smaller fish, they spend a lot of time hiding at the bottom as they are only small at the moment themselves, give it a few months and all the fish in there will be more visable


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You could put in some small, fast top-dweller as a "dither fish" such as hatchets to make the cichlids less shy and give them something to chase other than each other, but you are right the acara may eventually eat them or just kill them to protect a spawn. 

new world cichlids will usually work out territories and pecking orders among themselves. Any change will be greeted with a flurry of aggression, but then they should settle down. 

Pull any fish that has no "place" in the tank (say one that is laying sideways on top of plant to stay out of sight) or is not allowed to eat, has visible blood, or significant fin loss. I don't think 2 or 3 are too many for that that tank, but cichlid aggression can vary a lot between individuals and a spawning pair could easily want the whole tank (its 50 gallons, but only 2' in any direction, right?)

If your acara do get too big or mean for the tank, look for rainbow cichlids, heterotilapia multispinosa or a laetacara sp.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

the tank looks bigger than it actually is, it has depth being a corner but is still smaller by the litre than a 4ft tank, the tank size should be fine (fingers crossed) and the fish grow large hence why im keeping it low stocked, the stock calculator recommends leaving as is too for when they are fully grown, the acaras could get to 8" and the pleco's about 6" each, all being messy fish long term im thinking more of the health issues, my plans long term for filtering will ease the pressure on the filter as i intend on getting a fluval 406 and add my 206 to my 64L then i can add a few more smaller fish for the missus.
As for the territory.. they are fighting for territory now with the 2 thats there and being to young to sex them that may change for the worse or better, maybe its m/f or f/f or m/m, time will tell
the plecos are left alone which is good.
Also a friend has the same tank and has 4 parrot cichlids and a few others and where they are larger fish they look like they need more space imo.
The Acaras are going to be the feature, they are beautiful fish, once they all grow it wont look empty anymore 
It has been suggested i should breed guppys as feedersin the smaller tank, i know its nature but it feels cruel and wrong to do it 
think i would rather pay for the feeders and not feel so guilty


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Cichlids really don't need feeder fish, they will do fine on pellet. If you want to treat them, try live blackworms . But if you want to feed fish, breed your own. Paying money for a fresh batch of "disease of the week" carriers is not a good idea.


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

guess thats why my bud said breed guppys cos they breed like mice lol, so i guess its not something i should feel bad about then.
anyway reason to celebrate now... got my nitrates to 20ppm or there abouts  after 70/30% ro/tap water changes, now if i stick at 50/50% hopefully i will get it to stick around there


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## weedkiller (Nov 18, 2012)

got some pics of the stars of the tank 









this is the bigger of the 2 with the smaller hiding just behind with no arguments lol 









and heres the smaller, they are both having their xmas dinner


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