# 75g rimless, new journal for a new scape :)



## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Hey everyone,

I have decided to take my tank in a new direction. Rather than get into the why, I wanted to share the new game plan for my tank.

Fish:
Geophagus tapajos (7)

Plants:
Anubias nana
Needle leaf java fern
Bolbitis heudelotii

The hardscape:
Spider wood
Granite rocks
Pool filter sand

I started playing around with different layouts with the driftwood and would love some opinions.
Picking up the rest of the plants tomorrow morning. Trying to waterlog the wood (its not the actual placement), plants are just thrown in for now too.

Fish are young but they are doing incredible so far.

Thanks for following 












































































































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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

Cool project. I like some of the driftwood arrangements that were bunched together like the 3rd pic down. Any pics of the fish?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

Looking good


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks, they have been doing good so far eating really well being fairly active and exploring the tank. They're most definitely not shy. Their colors will look a whole lot better as they mature, but from what I hear they are very slow growers.

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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

Ya I have a group. Take a long time to grow 2+ years for something looking like an adult. Mine spawned around 1.5 years...I think. Just a guess though could be longer. The red heads also took long but my group seemed overly shy from the beginning. Are yours wild caught?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

I don't know if they are wild caught or not to be honest. Mine are not shy at all

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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

That's good. Anything else joining them in the tank?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

No just them 

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## Boreas (Dec 8, 2015)

That driftwood looks very nice. Can I ask where you found it?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Big Al's in Scarborough

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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

I like that wood.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Thanks me too 

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## lnguyen (Nov 23, 2014)

Nice start Phil, I recommend putting some more stones to the left hand side to cover wood's bottom.

By the way, is it a DIY tank or you buy it somewhere?


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

I bought it from.big Al's.

The wood and plants and rock in there right now is just a temp position. Once the wood is fully water log I will be scaping the tank properly.

Here is how it stands for now























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## j.thomson (Mar 28, 2014)

awesome tank but i agree with some river rock or smaller pieces around the base of the spider wood its something i wish i had done looks great though. exactly along the lines of what i want.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

So the wood is mostly waterlogged minus the one piece on the left (almost there).

I decided on a layout of wood that I liked, and tied on all the needle leaf fern. The anubias and bolbitis have been placed but not tied it. I may move some plants around as time goes on.

As for my rocks, I am having a hard time placing them within this scape. I am hoping for some advice.

Thinking of using large rocks up front and smaller ones in the back. Still trying to create more depth in the tank.

Here is a picture
















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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Been a while, here is a more recent photo. Busy summer months &#128521;
















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## cb1021 (Sep 21, 2009)

Incredible. I'm redoing my tank


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

I got eggs!!

Not sure how long I should let the parents do their thing. What age should o remove the fry?

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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

For the geos? I would remove right away once free swimming and put them in a 10 gallon. Feed mocroworms, baby brine shrimp and/or crushed flake several times a day with water changes


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Yes Geo's. Any chance the parents would be able to raise them in the tank? I have never witness the mouth brooding

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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

The mouth brooding is really cool. Once they are free swimming the other geos and fish will pick off the fry one by one. The parents will try and protect them but they really can't do it. Witness the moth brooding and then the next time they release the fry scoop them up in a net. It's super easy because the fry go into a small "ball" formation


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

Alright, sounds good. Thanks

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## j.thomson (Mar 28, 2014)

philipraposo1982 said:


> I got eggs!!
> 
> Not sure how long I should let the parents do their thing. What age should o remove the fry?
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk


If i was you, setup a grow out tank or attach a smaller breeder. Once you know they are free swimming in the mouth "strip" her of them. I used to do this with my africans all the time. It ensures the safetly of the babies and surprisingly easy to do. hardest part being catching the mother. Once you have her take a container and use something to hold her mouth open and bob her face in and out of the container the babies will all come out then put into grow out or breeder. You will achieve huge success rates this way. Tons of videos on youtube for stripping cichlids.

Just make sure you they are free swimming or even if they are not have a egg tumbler again so easy to make.

Following the progress ur tank is exactly what i wanna do after my move coming up. Great work.


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

The eggs are all gone. Any chance they hatched already? She has something in her mouth for sure! Maybe the eggs in there? Is that normal? 

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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

My altifrons had several batches of fry and I never saw the eggs on any surface


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## philipraposo1982 (Mar 7, 2014)

They were on the rock surface. Not no more though.

I guess it's normal behavior.

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