Cichlid tank 1 (new project)

[Lee Nuttall]

Well i've finally moved all the fish, except my Vieja argentea. This has given me a chance to change and add a few things to the setup. I didn't want to change to much of the layout as i think the mixture of rocks and root structures add to the overall effect. A few extra pieces of wood has been added, also when prepared i will add a few dead leaf litter.

A few photos of overall tank shot.

Right profile of tank.

Left profile of tank. I've tried to leave a lot of wood and twig debris, for a natural look.


Argentea, looks very relaxed now there's no territorial issues.

[Lee Nuttall]

New fish:

I decided to have a big think of what fish i wanted to introduce, So i decided on a more mexican theme tank. I was more interested in creating a regional specific tank rather than river system specific. So having a look through the catologue of countries, the fish i came up for mexico are:
Vieja argentea
Vieja regani
Thorichthys pasionis
Plus a large shoal of green swordtails.
The V regani had been growing on in a 3ft tank, so these were ready to be introduced. I had a small group of 5 fish from Don Conkle.
Vieja regani (Rio Jaltepec).




The livebearers i have at the moment are a small group of Pineapple swordtails, a manmade strain. These arn't in my plans and need to go, to be replaced by green swordtails. These type of swords are very difficult to source in the UK.

A few close up shots of pineapple swordtail (female)

[Bas Pels]

New fish:

The livebearers i have at the moment are a small group of Pineapple swordtails, a manmade strain. These arn't in my plans and need to go, to be replaced by green swordtails. These type of swords are very difficult to source in the UK.

You could try at the British Lifebearer association (if that is their name). Another option would be to visit Tillmann in Duisburg if you happen to be on the contiment

He does have quite a few of lifebearer strains

[Lee Nuttall]

I've tried the B.L.A, without much luck or responce. A lfs is trying to source some for me, just waiting on their confirmation.

[Lee Nuttall]

The Thorichthys pasionis arrived yesterday, i've had a group of 7 fish, not to much over 1inch.

A few photos of the fish bagged up:



Pasionis all settled in now, they have been feeding well and sifting through the substrate. I've been told these fish are sourced from Rusty Wessel.

[Lee Nuttall]

Nothing to much to report in the aquarium. The T. pasionis have settled in the tank for over a week now, they are feeding very well and seem to be coping with the activities of the larger fish. Here's a photo. Some of the subtle yellow colour is slowly developing, aswell as the black around the gill area.


Some photos of the argentea also.








The green swords should hopefully arrive next week.

[Lee Nuttall]

Finaly managed to get some green swordtails, these were imported from germany, so should be good quality fish. I brought 9 females 2 male.

[Lisachromis]

Lots of pregnant fish in there....

[Lee Nuttall]

Free live food!

[Mack Emmons]

Awesome looking tank, love the T. pasionis. The Thorichthys genus is one of my favorites.

[Lee Nuttall]

Here's a few updates photos of the T. pasionis. They are growing extremely well, i've got 5 large fish and 2 smaller fish. I've noticed one of the smaller of the group has deformed pectoral fins. The largest is around 2.5" TL.
Excuse some of the photos, as they're still quite difficult to photograph.

[Lee Nuttall]

I noticed the other morning after turning the tank light on, that one of the pasionis has a red mark. The fish was fine the night before. To me it looks like wound. I was thinking perhaps the argentea had accidently took a swipe at the fish when i turned the lights off. It wouldn't have been the first time, i've seen the fish do it before on some of the smaller swordtails, taking the head clean off in the process. I'll keep an eye on it incase infection sets in.

[Lee Nuttall]

Over the last week i've added extra inhabitants and removed some.
Whats in:
2x Vieja heterospila M/F
2X ex Cichlasoma pearsei M/F?
1x ex Cichlasoma salvini F.
Whats out:
3x Vieja regani, only 2 left.
1 Cryptoheros cutteri and nanoluteus, both gone to a good owner.
The aquascaping has been a bit hit and miss. The old aquascape collasped after chasing the 2 Cryptoheros and regani around all the wood and rock work. This is what i tried to do, but it didn't work for me:



So i resorted to going back to what it looked like before, doh.
I personally prefer this one:

[Lee Nuttall]

I noticed this on my heterospila today, is this the start of lympho?

[Socrate]

Your tank is a beautiful landscape !

[Kevin Cumberton]

I love the aquascaping! Do you do any sort of gravel cleaning via python or the like? I love the look odf the sand and gravel mix. I use a very fine gravel but would like to try sand. Im just worried about cleaning it. I currently use a python and syphon through the gravel. I imagine I wouldnt be able to do this with sand??

[Lee Nuttall]

I do use a cleaner to syphon the debris up. The beauty of fine sand is that all the dirt is kept at the top, so i carefully hover just above the sand to hoover the dirt. The sand is kept fresh through the digging activities of the cichlids.

You should try it.

[Lee Nuttall]

The little white cysts/lumps have completely cleared from both V. heterospila, so lympho sounds out of the question.

[Michael Kwist]

Nice, they look healty your fish