# 90g High Tech south american



## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

One of my latest projects...

So Ive been working on this tank at a local nursing home, built from the ground up about 2 months ago. WOW... I'm getting good at these planted tanks I think! 

Oh, and the F1 angelfish are breeding! last photo is their 1st spawn.























































Video of Angelfish Spawn


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

nice! I like the website too, good luck with that, I will def toss u some bidnaz if ppl like my tank at the clinic. What kinda angels are those? are they f1 of p altums? Where are they purchased from? And are you going to raise some angels? Ill grab some when my tank is done if they are up to par.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

jimmyjam said:


> nice! I like the website too, good luck with that, I will def toss u some bidnaz if ppl like my tank at the clinic. What kinda angels are those? are they f1 of p altums? Where are they purchased from? And are you going to raise some angels? Ill grab some when my tank is done if they are up to par.


If you're saying you may need services, sweet! Let me know anytime. Its going quite well so far.

They are F1 scalare, one is from Franks the other three are from BA Vaughan. I am going to let the parents raise them, so there will be some likely.


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

wow looks great! Congrats on the spawn!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

The rasboras are from asia though, not SA! You need to replace them with some rummynose or cardinals


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> The rasboras are from asia though, not SA! You need to replace them with some rummynose or cardinals


haha! You are totally right about them being from Asia, HOWEVER they were chosen because cardinals and rummynose will get eaten, harlequins on the other hand are just big enough to avoid getting eaten, usually.

The pleco's and angels are from SA 

I think I might throw in some dwarf cichlids at some point as well.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Eaten by the angels? I don't think you need to worry about that!


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> Eaten by the angels? I don't think you need to worry about that!


Have you ever had large angels? They tend to eat small fish... in fact, they think that angelfish prey heavily on cardinal and neon tetras in the wild.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I keep hearing that, but have yet to experience it. For the most part, I find them very peaceful towards anything other than each other.

I still think that in the wild they prey mainly on insects and small invertebrates.

Since this tank isn't yours though, might be best to play it safe! You could also try some larger schooling tetras if you are worried, like bloodfins.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> I keep hearing that, but have yet to experience it. For the most part, I find them very peaceful towards anything other than each other.
> 
> I still think that in the wild they prey mainly on insects and small invertebrates.
> 
> Since this tank isn't yours though, might be best to play it safe! You could also try some larger schooling tetras if you are worried, like bloodfins.


Oh ok, I've seen it happen. Even these angels are quite agressive towards everything in the tank. You can even see in all of the images that the angels are keeping the entire rest of the population on the right hand side of the tank, constantly darting at the other fish to keep them away.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

This is because they are spawning - most cichlids will defend their brood in the same manner, whether or not they actively seek the smaller tetras as food would be a different story.

However, small tetras are absolutely brutal in regards to picking off free swimming fry. If you plan on having the angels raise a large brood - tetras will put a huge kink in your plan! Rasbora's are a little more laid back, but may still hunt down any strays.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> This is because they are spawning - most cichlids will defend their brood in the same manner, whether or not they actively seek the smaller tetras as food would be a different story.
> 
> However, small tetras are absolutely brutal in regards to picking off free swimming fry. If you plan on having the angels raise a large brood - tetras will put a huge kink in your plan! Rasbora's are a little more laid back, but may still hunt down any strays.


Yeah cichlids get more aggresive when they have fry, thanks for the info lol ...this isn't my first rodeo man, I feel like you're talking to me like im a noob. I've been in the game for 20 years, and have managed aquarium stores, animal holding facilities, worked at zoo's, etc. Heck, I even bred angels on a large scale, see:










Most fish will pick on fry, not too worried about it.

Sorry I hope I don't come off sounding like an ass, but you're making me feel like you think I'm dumb.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

No worries my friend, just trying to add some info to the thread. Not my intention to knock on you or your experience!

The threads on GTA are purused by many, including those with much less experience than yourself. More info/discussion never hurts. 

Also, I don't know you, so I have no idea what your experience consists of. I have no intention other than to help if I can, so please don't think of my posts as attacks or anything.

Cheers!


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> No worries my friend, just trying to add some info to the thread. Not my intention to knock on you or your experience!
> 
> The threads on GTA are purused by many, including those with much less experience than yourself. More info/discussion never hurts.
> 
> ...


Ok cool man  Sorry I get kind of defensive online; its easy to misunderstand (same goes with texting)

You're right, adding info to the thread is good for those less experienced.

Hey, have you got any threads showing your tanks?


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Probably some old posts from long ago. My fish room now? Well, it is functional, but far from pretty. I'll take a picture for you =)


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Here you go, a couple of pictures of my ugly fish room! Only shows two angles, but that is most of it.









and


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> Here you go, a couple of pictures of my ugly fish room! Only shows two angles, but that is most of it.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice! Mad scientist!


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Auto water change makes my life much easier 

Top row of tanks are holding/QT tanks for clients - empty right now!

The other eight are my growout tanks.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Chris S said:


> Auto water change makes my life much easier
> 
> Top row of tanks are holding/QT tanks for clients - empty right now!
> 
> The other eight are my growout tanks.


I've always wondered what was involved in auto changers. I'm doing a planted Discus tank in the next 6 weeks and was thinking about trying it.

How does it work? Water from resevoir or direct from tap w/solenoid control....?

All of my tanks are on auto top offs, but none are auto changed.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I just use a reservoir (well 2, one RO, one tap) that have ATO's attached to them. From there, I use a delivery pump to pressurize the lines to the tanks (also goes through a pressurized holding system so the pump isn't running all the time). The pump monitors the PSI, so when it drops below x psi, it will kick on again and pressurize the lines.

Each tank has a valve to control the water flow. I typically just drip all the tanks, then open the valves to do a larger water change as needed.

Each tank has an overflow, so excess water flows back down to the drain.

My breeding tanks aren't connected, as I need to change water parameters on a frequent basis. Also, it is sometimes necessary to let the tanks sit without water changes for a few weeks to trigger spawning. Silly fish!

The system works well for many tanks, but is a bit much for a single or just a few tanks. Unless your discus tank is going to be like 100g+, I wouldn't bother. I still do manual water changes on my "display" tanks too, which are in the living room and family room. Just easier that way.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Very similar to auto-water-changers are constant-drip systems. An extremely slow and steadily constant drip drip drip from a tap or large reservoir fed into a tank with an overflow to a waste drain. The flow could be adjusted so that every week, somewhere between 1-100% waterchange is done, or even having the entire water volume change out multiple times in that period. Some commercial fish farms raising fish such as tilapia employ this technique in order to feed as much food as the fish will accept and grow them at ridiculous rates, without having to stress over the excessive pollutants.

But I'm sure you veterans know about this, just posting for others... 


Back to topic- I really like your aquarium, but agree that you could easily replace the rasboras for a south american native schooling fish. It's not like you are limited to cardinals! Eitherway, I'm sure that the patrons of the nursing home really enjoy this beautiful aquarium.

Your small angels look to be defending the rock site vigorously, fish wuv is in the air... erm water.


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Oh I definately COULD replace with small tetras....but I love harlequin rassboras


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

Well, its xmas, and everyone is asleep, and I took some new shots of this tank today...so... enjoy!


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## camboy012406 (Jun 11, 2010)

very neat and clean!!!! beautiful tank!!


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## sujeev87 (Oct 17, 2010)

Great set up!


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## acropora1981 (Aug 21, 2010)

thanks for the kind words!


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