Wy Renegade
Aquarium Advice Addict
I've wanted to do some German Blue Rams for a while now, but they are never available locally. I finally go the opportunity to aquire some from Severum Mumma and HN1, and they will be shipping sometime after the Holidays. So I started researching the habitat in which these fish are normally found in order to determine set-up and other inhabitants. I've decided that this will not be a biotope, but rather just a simulation of their biotope, as this is my first attempt at a true planted aquarium. So lets get started;
Tank: Aqueon 30 gallon (36" long, 12" wide, and 16.5" high)
Light: Aqueon 2x21watt NHOT5
Filter: AquaClear 30 (may update to an AquaClear 50)
Hard scape: Cottonwood and Apple driftwood
Substrate: Riparium Supply's Ionic Clay substrate
Fertilizer: Flourish; Excel, Comprehensive, and Nitrate as needed
Flora: Mosses; Christmas, Flame, Java, and an unknown or two. Plants; Crypt wendiss; red, brown, and green and Crypt pontiderfolias. maybe some anubias as well.
Fauna: Single German Blue Ram pair, and undetermined tetras (open to suggestions yet).
I used the following two sites as reference sources:
http://www.aquatic-experts.com/ARTICLE_swimming_with_cichlids.html
http://orinocobiotope.blogspot.com/
I started with a couple of large pieces of driftwood (cottonwood) and because I wanted to have an environment where they could swim in and out of the "roots" like they do in nature, I added several more branchy pieces of driftwood (apple).
Here's a couple shots of how the hardscape is currently looking, as I'm waiting for the substrate to firm up on pH before adding any plants.
I'm thinking of adding some additional branching pieces in the back right corner, but I"m open to suggestions or input at this time. Thanks for looking.
Tank: Aqueon 30 gallon (36" long, 12" wide, and 16.5" high)
Light: Aqueon 2x21watt NHOT5
Filter: AquaClear 30 (may update to an AquaClear 50)
Hard scape: Cottonwood and Apple driftwood
Substrate: Riparium Supply's Ionic Clay substrate
Fertilizer: Flourish; Excel, Comprehensive, and Nitrate as needed
Flora: Mosses; Christmas, Flame, Java, and an unknown or two. Plants; Crypt wendiss; red, brown, and green and Crypt pontiderfolias. maybe some anubias as well.
Fauna: Single German Blue Ram pair, and undetermined tetras (open to suggestions yet).
I used the following two sites as reference sources:
http://www.aquatic-experts.com/ARTICLE_swimming_with_cichlids.html
http://orinocobiotope.blogspot.com/
I started with a couple of large pieces of driftwood (cottonwood) and because I wanted to have an environment where they could swim in and out of the "roots" like they do in nature, I added several more branchy pieces of driftwood (apple).
Here's a couple shots of how the hardscape is currently looking, as I'm waiting for the substrate to firm up on pH before adding any plants.
I'm thinking of adding some additional branching pieces in the back right corner, but I"m open to suggestions or input at this time. Thanks for looking.