Last December, I was looking for a used tank because my daughter's fish were getting too big for their tank. I found someone selling a 46g bowfront for a good price so I went to buy it. The catch was that it contained a 7-8" cichlid. The seller told me it was a Red Devil hybrid. Well, I didn't want to turn the fish over to a pet store, so now we have this cichlid; my daugher has named him "Gulp." He must like the way we take care of him because he's grown over an inch in length and his forehead bump is much larger now than it was 4-1/2 months ago when we got him. I know that the 46g tank is too small for him, so I've bought a used 72g bowfront.
Some of the things I've learned since owning "Gulp"...
1. He's become much more aggressive since we've had him. At the beginning, I could put my whole arm in the tank to clean, arrange decor, etc., and Gulp would avoid me, going to the opposite side of the tank. Now he tries to attack me. I let him bite me once because I didn't think it would be a big deal and he broke skin, like a bad road rash the size of a penny, and leaving a nice scar on my arm. Now I am much more wary and have to constantly be on guard when I have my arm in the tank.
2. He will not coexist with other fish. We have a 9-10" common pleco and I was hoping the pleco could hold his own because of his size. I placed a large rock shaped like a half pipe that the pleco can fit completely inside so he has a place of refuge. But Gulp can't seem to get along. He is constantly trying to get into the cave from either end, even though it's impossible to fit. The pleco is fine, but he's going to stay in the 46g tank; I'm not going to move him into the 72g tank when I get it set-up for Gulp.
3. The 46g tank came with gravel (horrible red & black clown puke). At first, Gulp didn't do too much with the substrate, just a little digging and spitting, mostly in the same place so the gravel stayed fairly level. Now that he's grown and become more aggressive, he's performing major excavations. He takes all the gravel from the two ends of the tank and piles them up against the center of the front glass, making a giant mountain. I think part of this is he's trying to dig out the front/back of the cave to get the pleco, and part of it is just to annoy me because the front center area is where I have some plants and he constantly buries them. (He doesn't move the gravel to the back of the tank where there are no plants.) When I move him into the to 72g tank, I'm going to put black sand which will really accentuate his bright red-orange color. But I know he will always dig, so I'm trying to figure out how to keep him from exposing the glass floor, how to keep him from making a mountain against the front of the tank, and how to keep him from burying plants and rocks.
4. One of the reasons I wanted the pleco in the tank was to help keep algae under control. Fail. I never have blooms: the water is always clear. But there is algae always growing on the glass. It used to be green, but is now brown since adding much brighter LED lighting. It grows fast! How do I control this when I have a fish that won't tolerate algae cleaners (or my hand/arm in the tank)? I've got one of the large magnetic glass cleaners, but it really doesn't work all that well. I've looked at Aqueon's telescopic cleaning pole, and that will probably work better. But it still wont allow me to scrub things like filter intake tubes.
5. I know that cichlids are considered incompatible with plants, but I am determined to find a way to make this work! I like plants in my aquariums, both for their natural beauty (no fake plants for me) and because they help condition the water. Gulp hasn't really chewed up the plants, but he has uprooted them or buried them. I've been thinking of potting my plants in shallow trays, putting a screen over the top of the tray (with the plant stems sticking through) and then burying the tray under the sand. But that still won't stop him from uncovering the trays or from burying the plants. Although if the plants are big enough and dense enough, that may mitigate those issues.
6. Gulp poops like a mad man! I feed him Hikari Gold small and medium pellets and he drops huge feces. I bought a Hydor Koralia 750-850, and positioned it near the top of the tank pointed down at an angle to help circulate the water and stir up debris so it would get sucked into the filter intake, but that doesn't really work too well. Most of the poop just stays on the gravel and works it's way into dead zones. I was thinking of trying to add under-sand jets to the 72g tank, but I'm sure Gulp will just uncover all the piping. Perhaps I could lay pieces of slate all over the bottom of the tank with the piping running in the gaps between the pieces, and then bury everything in sand. That way, he can dig down and expose the slate, but the tank bottom and the piping will still be hidden.
7. The 46g tank came with a Marineland Penguin 350 HOB filter. To that, I added an API Filstar XP-M canister. I really wanted to get rid of the HOB because they are unsightly and force me to keep the tank 3" from the wall. They are also noisy if the tank water drops below the return outfalls. But the one thing I do like about the HOB is that it's water through-put never diminishes the way the canister does as it collects debris. When I move Gulp to the 72g tank, I will use an API Filstar XP-L canister, and keep the XP-M on the 46g tank for the pleco and my daughter's other fish. I'll probably buy another Marineland HOB for the 72g tank.
8. Where do you guys buy slate, large rocks, and big pieces of driftwood? The local pet/fish stores don't have much selection, they are all small, and their prices are too high. I haven't found a good online source, and it seems you're at the mercy of what the seller picks for you.
I'd appreciate all the advice I can get.
Some of the things I've learned since owning "Gulp"...
1. He's become much more aggressive since we've had him. At the beginning, I could put my whole arm in the tank to clean, arrange decor, etc., and Gulp would avoid me, going to the opposite side of the tank. Now he tries to attack me. I let him bite me once because I didn't think it would be a big deal and he broke skin, like a bad road rash the size of a penny, and leaving a nice scar on my arm. Now I am much more wary and have to constantly be on guard when I have my arm in the tank.
2. He will not coexist with other fish. We have a 9-10" common pleco and I was hoping the pleco could hold his own because of his size. I placed a large rock shaped like a half pipe that the pleco can fit completely inside so he has a place of refuge. But Gulp can't seem to get along. He is constantly trying to get into the cave from either end, even though it's impossible to fit. The pleco is fine, but he's going to stay in the 46g tank; I'm not going to move him into the 72g tank when I get it set-up for Gulp.
3. The 46g tank came with gravel (horrible red & black clown puke). At first, Gulp didn't do too much with the substrate, just a little digging and spitting, mostly in the same place so the gravel stayed fairly level. Now that he's grown and become more aggressive, he's performing major excavations. He takes all the gravel from the two ends of the tank and piles them up against the center of the front glass, making a giant mountain. I think part of this is he's trying to dig out the front/back of the cave to get the pleco, and part of it is just to annoy me because the front center area is where I have some plants and he constantly buries them. (He doesn't move the gravel to the back of the tank where there are no plants.) When I move him into the to 72g tank, I'm going to put black sand which will really accentuate his bright red-orange color. But I know he will always dig, so I'm trying to figure out how to keep him from exposing the glass floor, how to keep him from making a mountain against the front of the tank, and how to keep him from burying plants and rocks.
4. One of the reasons I wanted the pleco in the tank was to help keep algae under control. Fail. I never have blooms: the water is always clear. But there is algae always growing on the glass. It used to be green, but is now brown since adding much brighter LED lighting. It grows fast! How do I control this when I have a fish that won't tolerate algae cleaners (or my hand/arm in the tank)? I've got one of the large magnetic glass cleaners, but it really doesn't work all that well. I've looked at Aqueon's telescopic cleaning pole, and that will probably work better. But it still wont allow me to scrub things like filter intake tubes.
5. I know that cichlids are considered incompatible with plants, but I am determined to find a way to make this work! I like plants in my aquariums, both for their natural beauty (no fake plants for me) and because they help condition the water. Gulp hasn't really chewed up the plants, but he has uprooted them or buried them. I've been thinking of potting my plants in shallow trays, putting a screen over the top of the tray (with the plant stems sticking through) and then burying the tray under the sand. But that still won't stop him from uncovering the trays or from burying the plants. Although if the plants are big enough and dense enough, that may mitigate those issues.
6. Gulp poops like a mad man! I feed him Hikari Gold small and medium pellets and he drops huge feces. I bought a Hydor Koralia 750-850, and positioned it near the top of the tank pointed down at an angle to help circulate the water and stir up debris so it would get sucked into the filter intake, but that doesn't really work too well. Most of the poop just stays on the gravel and works it's way into dead zones. I was thinking of trying to add under-sand jets to the 72g tank, but I'm sure Gulp will just uncover all the piping. Perhaps I could lay pieces of slate all over the bottom of the tank with the piping running in the gaps between the pieces, and then bury everything in sand. That way, he can dig down and expose the slate, but the tank bottom and the piping will still be hidden.
7. The 46g tank came with a Marineland Penguin 350 HOB filter. To that, I added an API Filstar XP-M canister. I really wanted to get rid of the HOB because they are unsightly and force me to keep the tank 3" from the wall. They are also noisy if the tank water drops below the return outfalls. But the one thing I do like about the HOB is that it's water through-put never diminishes the way the canister does as it collects debris. When I move Gulp to the 72g tank, I will use an API Filstar XP-L canister, and keep the XP-M on the 46g tank for the pleco and my daughter's other fish. I'll probably buy another Marineland HOB for the 72g tank.
8. Where do you guys buy slate, large rocks, and big pieces of driftwood? The local pet/fish stores don't have much selection, they are all small, and their prices are too high. I haven't found a good online source, and it seems you're at the mercy of what the seller picks for you.
I'd appreciate all the advice I can get.
I know other species can get them I just figured we gotta start somewhere.
