# 120 Gallon African Tetra Aquarium



## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

My new 120 Gallon Visio Aquarium has arrived at the shop so I went in to pay for it and took a photo. Figured it would be a good time to start this thread. It is being delivered on Tuesday and I will probably set it up as soon as I can. I've already started prepping RO water for it and getting the hardscape ready to be cleaned. The whole point of this aquarium is to provide a home for my existing African tetras and to maybe add some more. 

New 120 Gallon Aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

The story with my African tetras is a prime example of don't buy fish now for a large tank you don't have yet. I just had to have these fish several years ago and was afraid they wouldn't be available retail again. I was convinced I was about to buy a larger house and would have room to buy the huge tank of my dreams. Well as with all such big dreams there were delays and setbacks and soon I ended up with a bunch of big tetras in a 46 gallon aquarium that they quickly outgrew. And then when I finally did buy the big house my Corydoras collection won the prize of first big tank and ended up in a 5 foot long 100 gallon. Recently my Steatocranus casuarius (lionhead or buffalohead cichlids) had babies (for the first time in 3 years of owning them) and I realized I couldn't hold out any longer. It was cruel to keep these fish in a tank that was too small (at this point one of my 40 breeder quarantine tanks) and I made it work and ordered a 120 (4' x 2' x 2').






Existing fish that will be making the move over eventually:

11 x Phenacogrammus aurantiacus (lamp-eye Congo tetras)
3 x Bathyaethiops breuseghemi (red-cap moon tetra)
2 x Nannaethiops unitaeniatus (African one-line tetra, some of my oldest remaining fish)
1 x Brycinus longipinnis (Alestes tetra)
1 x Microctenopoma ansorgii
6 x Pelvicachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' (probably about 6 generations from my original pair)
2 x Steatocranus casuarius and their babies

Phenacogrammus aurantiacus by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Steatocranus casuarius by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

I'm going with leftover natural sand from Buceplant (ordered twice as much as I needed for the 100 gallon), Ohko/Dragon Stone and some large pieces of Malaysian driftwood for the hardscape.

Assorted pieces of hardscape gathered for the 120 gallon. by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And I bought a bunch of plants already during Cyber Monday and Holiday sales from Buce Plant and Planted Aquariums Central which I have had potted up in one of my quarantine tanks. Hopefully they will survive this abuse.

More plants for future build by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

I also ordered 10 very expensive Alestopetersius brichardi (red-cherry Congo tetras) during The Wet Spot's holiday sale. Those Holiday sales really got me this year.

New aquatic plants and Alestopetersius brichardi in quarantine by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Filtration will be dual canisters and I'll be injecting CO2 via a new GLA CO2 Reactor.

More to come when the tank arrives and I start setting up.


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## DaveKS (Apr 2, 2019)

aponogeton boivinianus and longiplumulosus will look spectacular in that size tank. Their such a ignored large format plant.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

DaveKS said:


> aponogeton boivinianus and longiplumulosus will look spectacular in that size tank. Their such a ignored large format plant.


Yah I love them. I have been growing A. longiplumolosus for years. One of my favorites. But this is the first time I was able to get my hands on A. boivinianus. Excited to see how they will look in such a big tank. And hopefully I can get the Crinums going as well. I have had the Crinum natans for years now smooshed into a small tank but it it looking a bit sad now. I hope it will bounce back.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

120 was just delivered. It looks so much more massive in my house than in the store! The pictures don't even do it justice but I got my 45's in the shot to compare. In the big empty space between them I plan on getting a 180 but that probably won't be for at least a year unless I win the lottery. 

Pinched a nerve in my neck last night so probably won't be setting this up for a few days but I have been prepping the stone and the wood in the meantime. 

New 120 gallon aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

New 120 gallon aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Bit of a setback getting the tank ready. I scraped my thumb pretty deeply (enough for lots of blood) on my iMac (don't ask) so since I prefer not to do any work in my tanks whilst having open wounds I have had to wait for it to heal. It is mostly better now so I started getting everything ready. 

I have been soaking the wood since I received it. Most pieces sunk right away but the smaller of the two large pieces was annoyingly floaty. I wedged a large river stone into it and that seems to have done the trick. I checked today and it is pretty water logged. From past experience though I know to leave the wood in water until I am ready to use it. 

Cleaned of all my dragon stone by soaking it in a diluted bleach/water mix for a few days and then scrubbed off any old algae and gunk.

Ohko Stone (Dragon Stone) for 120 gallon by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Then I decided to start placing them in the tank with the sand to see if I have enough. The sand is leftover Natural Sand from Buceplant (larger grain size) I bought for my 100 gallon which they are out of stock on. I considered buying a box of the finer grain size they sell but I would rather not spend the money if I don't have to. Placing the stone and sand in the tank today I think I will be OK. I am creating a sort of wall between the back and front of the tank with the rocks set on the glass (because the cichlids will dig) so I can have the sand deeper in the back where the rooted plants will be an an open area in the front of the tank where the sand is very shallow. I have two half coconuts I am going to place toward the front of the tank for the various cichlids to adopt as homes in the hopes they won't do too much digging. We'll see how that goes. Probably not well. In my old 46g they all used to dig like crazy.

This is not the final layout obviously I just wanted to see if I had enough material to do what I want. Once I am ready to place the two large pieces of driftwood I will shift the rocks around a bit and try to make more of an aquascape out of things. I'm not the best at scaping though and that really isn't my focus so much. I am just happy to have healthy fish and plants that are growing well. If I accidentally make it look pretty I'll be happy. 

Getting 120 gallon ready by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Getting 120 gallon ready by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Next step is to prep the water. Since I am dealing with my RO system and it makes water faster than I have room in the pressure tanks to store it I am going to have to do this over a few days. I may go to the RO place in town and buy 40 gallons on Monday to speed things up. I had asked the company I am working with to get me an estimate on a better storage system but they are short staffed and never got back to me and I have had other expenses come up with my house so I probably don't have the cash to deal with that now. So I haven't been on them to give me a quote. But I will have to eventually because soon I will have almost 400 gallons of aquariums that need water changes.


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## Matt69 (Jul 9, 2017)

Sounds like a fun project, I’ll be following


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

Looks like quite the fun project! Good luck with it, and enjoy the setup process!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

80 gallons of water waiting in my trash bins. I will probably go buy the other 40 gallons tomorrow and maybe set the tank up in the morning. We'll see if I am feeling motivated.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Had to go to the grocery store today and spent some time on the phone opening a new bank account so I did not feel motivated. Tomorrow though! Definitely, probably, maybe tomorrow.


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## cackal (Jul 15, 2014)

Looks like it's going to be an awesome tank. I love the Lionheads, I had a pair when I was kept rifties, they had a great personalities.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Working on the 120. At first I was just going to add a little bit of water, set up the hardscape and then add plants. But I realized I really need to fill the tank to get an idea of how the hardscape is going to work and look fully submerged so I am completely filling it with the 80 gallons I had on hand and am prepping another 40 gallons now. I may set up one of the filters and heater and sit on it for a day or two while I think things over and move things around and take my time. This is generally how I have worked in the past with my outdoor gardens. Place plants and leave them in pots and think about it for a few days and move them around a bit if needed. I don't have a super clear vision of how I want this tank to work. I am not in love with dragon stone and am not sure it goes well with driftwood but at the same time I already had it and was not about to go buy new rocks so it is going to take some time.

I also find setting up filters/heaters/etc. super annoying and my least favorite part of the hobby. I just want the plants and fish to be in the tank so I can enjoy them!

Filling up the 120 gallon aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Today I got an alert that the natural sand I used from Buceplant is back in stock. I feel like I just barely had enough sand for this tank but I went ahead and ordered another 25 pounds just to be safe. Also looked over my existing plants for the tank and decided to add a bunch more Anubias and a few more Crypts. Hopefully it will all arrive by Friday and I will continue setting things up. In the meantime I have my Magnum water polisher moving the water in the tank since I don't have the water full or the filters set up yet. 

I have become much more patient with this sort of thing as I've grown older. I don't like to rush things.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Will probably finish setting up the tank today. My order of additional sand and plants from Buceplant should arrive this afternoon. I have to decide ultimately what I am going to do about my African cichlids. The male Steatocranus has HitH so I am going to move him to a 20 gallon and try to treat him. But how many babies should I put in the 120? All of them and let them duke it out like the kribs have in the past? Just a few? And I have 6 kribs currently. But the female is in one of the little caves guarding wrigglers. It is possible they won't survive long once out of the cave with all the other cichlids in the tank. She lost her last batch once the Steatocranus babies were free swimming.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Ooof. I am about halfway through. Placed all the plants (including tying Anubias to driftwood which is always tedious), moved around hardscape, currently filling the tank with the last 40 gallons of water. So tired. Setting up a new tank is hard work but when it is over 100 gallons it is even harder. I still have two filters, a heater and CO2 to set up but I just want to take a nap. Photos will have to come tomorrow or later in the week because right now the tank is too cloudy to even see.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

I'm beat. Still have one canister filter to setup but I can do it tomorrow. The water should clear up in a day or two. Not easy to set up a tank this tall (25 1/2") and deep (24"). I definitely wouldn't want to go any taller. Not sure how people deal with 30"+ deep tanks. 

I'll label all the plants when I can get a clearer picture. I also have a big problem in my fish room of the reflection of my other tanks when I try to take pictures. I need to get some sort of large photography black screen or something to shield them since I don't want to run around turning lights on and off every time I try and take photos. 

120 gallon aquarium set up by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Added the second canister filter this morning. The heater is on the first one (ISTA Inline 300 watt heater on an Eheim Pro filter) and the GLA CO2 reactor is on the one I set up today (Eheim Classic 600). Water is clearing up but still another day at least until it is completely clear. I'll list all the plants once I can get a super clear photo. 

Second filter and CO2 reactor added to my 120 gallon by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

I am curious how the GLA Reactor will work out. It is definitely pretty noisy but over the day it has been slowly filling up with water so hopefully once it is completely full the noise will diminish. Added a drop checker to monitor and see if it is working effectively. I will wait to add the fish when I am sure the CO2 is stable.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Some good news. The GLA Reactor has completely filled with water over night and is now silent. Hopefully it is going to do a good job getting the CO2 into the tank. If it works well I will get one for my 100 gallon too. My regulator is an old model GLA that I bought about 5 years ago and has been a bit problematic for me in the past but seems to be working well at the moment. Fingers crossed that continues since I don't want to spend another insane amount of money on a new regulator. I'll probably post a photo of the tank labeling all the plants this evening once it gets dark enough to post photos. So eager to get the fish in this tank but must be patient! 

Under the hood of the 120 gallon by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

OK pictures of the plants with labels. 

Here is an overall view of the tank with the background and a few foreground plants labeled. Basically this tank has Aponogetons, Crinums, and Vallisneria as background and centerpiece plants, Anubias on the driftwood, and some Cryptocorynes in a few foreground spots.

120 gallon aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

The driftwood on the left side of the tank.

120 gallon aquarium left driftwood by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

The driftwood on the right side of the tank.

120 Gallon Aquarium right driftwood by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green Gecko' on the left front corner.

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green Gecko' by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' in the right front corner. I also have Cryptocoryne blassii in the center of the tank but it melted pretty bad so isn't much to look like at the moment. Hopefully it will make it.

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Tropica' by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Considering removing the center stone and placing a smaller piece of driftwood with some leftover Anubias barteri 'Coffeefolia' on it. We'll see. I ended up not using any of the Bolbitis I got. I just decided I didn't want to use it in this tank with so much Anubias already on the wood. Incidentally all the Bolbitis in my 40 breeder quarantine tank which I have had for about 4 years died when I dosed the tank with Furan 2. Weird.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

I really like your tanks and what you're doing with them. Pretty excited to see all those different Anubias grow up next to each other and see the differences side by side. I've always liked Anubias, but when I started using CO2 I really appreciated them more. The growth rate was way faster and older leaves stay mostly BBA free. In a few months that should be a great gallery of Anubias bushes!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

KayakJimW said:


> I really like your tanks and what you're doing with them. Pretty excited to see all those different Anubias grow up next to each other and see the differences side by side. I've always liked Anubias, but when I started using CO2 I really appreciated them more. The growth rate was way faster and older leaves stay mostly BBA free. In a few months that should be a great gallery of Anubias bushes!


I hope so. In the past I really only had luck with Anubias nana and Anubias 'Coffeefolia'. None of the others did well for me. So I'm hoping now that I know what I am doing more I'll have better luck with these species. My 45 gallon Crypt tank is pretty much algae free at 4 months so I am hoping I have the same results with this 120.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Based on the drop checker it looks like the new GLA reactor is working fine. I'll probably be moving some of the fish over to this tank soon. May wait a few more days or maybe not. Exciting stuff.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

One final change to the layout. I removed the awkward piece of dragon stone resting on other rocks in the center and put a small piece of driftwood covered with Anubias barteri 'Coffeefolia' in its place. Also added a few small dragon stone chips at the bases of some of the other stones. Water is very clear now so will probably add fish toon. 

Very happy with the GLA CO2 Reactor so I will most likely order one for my 100 gallon. I've been wanting to add a canister filter to that tank anyway because even though the sump works fine as a filter I feel like another filter with an intake pipe down toward the bottom of the tank would be helpful for removing small particles from the water. And even though the plants in that tank have been growing OK and are perfectly happy with a low tech setup the CO2 will definitely help them grow faster. 

Final layout for 120 gallon aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Was tempted to add the fish today but for I had such a busy week last week I was super tired today and not feeling motivated. Plus I did a water change on the 46 and cleaned the filter intake strainers and outflows so that took up all of my tank energy. Maybe tomorrow. Though a part of me thinks I really should let the plants grow in a a bit like I did with the 45 (actually I waited two and a half months on that tank. Not sure I have that much patience). Super busy with work so maybe I should at least wait until the weekend. Hmmm...what will I end up doing?


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Went ahead and added the fish! I'll post more details and video soon but for now a bit of a teaser. The female and dominant male Pelvicachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' are still in breeding color and instantly the female started displaying for the males. This short clip shows her with her bright pink belly displaying and the dominant male is more brightly colored than the rest of them and lacking the dark bar across his body. 

I am interested to see how the kribs and Steatocranus and up setting up their territories in the bigger tank. Right now it seems to be a free for all while they case the joint and they all seem to be getting along OK but that will change if they lay eggs. I moved the female Steatocranus with 7 of her babies to this tank (the male is in a 20 gallon hospital tank being treated for HitH) and there are 6 kribs. This pair of kribs has had several unsuccessful broods the last just a few days before I moved them didn't make it past wriggler stage but maybe in the larger tank she will have better luck.


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## KayakJimW (Aug 12, 2016)

Beautiful fish!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

First look at all the fish in the 120. So nice to finally be giving them the room they deserve. I'll post some video soon.

New 120 gallon African tetra aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

And finally a video of the fish in the new tank. Super excited to see how the A. brichardi will develop over time. They are still pretty young and there finnage and coloring is not fully developed. They should get longer fin extensions in their dorsal and anal fins and center tail streamer. I only have males so I am hoping that they will still develop their intense red and orange coloring without females present. From video I have seen it looks like the most dominant male will have the reddest coloring with each male below him less intense until it fades to orange. But mine currently only have the faintest of orange in their fins. I do love the pale iridescent green band above the dark lateral band on their bodies though.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Was trying to get a good photo of the Alestopetersius brichardi with my Nikon but they swim back and forth too fast so this is the best I could come up with. I wanted to show how nice the iridescent green stripe is above their dark lateral band. You sort of get the idea here. 

Young male Alestopetersius brichardi (red Congo tetra) by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Some big beautiful new leaves on my Aponogeton boivinianus and A. madagascariensis. They grow so fast. Especially now that they have CO2 supplementation. I've been trying to figure out how to position the power head on the other side of the tank so that these guys don't get beat down. I tried it out in a few different placements and angles earlier today. This is a little better than it was earlier.

Huge new leaves on Aponogeton boivinianus and A. madagascariensis by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

Fantastic looking tank, I really like the fish and plant / scape combo, only thing that would make it better is if it was a 180 gal


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Quagulator said:


> Fantastic looking tank, I really like the fish and plant / scape combo, only thing that would make it better is if it was a 180 gal


Yeah I really wish I had these particular fish in a larger tank. Unfortunately all I could afford now was a 120. The 180 would have been dramatically more. Especially since when I do get a 180 it will have a sump. I already had the filters I am using for this tank on hand so that saved me some money. My plan is to get a 180 next with angelfish and other South American fish and then down the road I want to get something even bigger. 300 maybe? And move my African fish to that. Then maybe use this tank for SE Asian fish like rainbows or something (or just have two African tanks since I love them so much).


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

Triport said:


> Was trying to get a good photo of the Alestopetersius brichardi with my Nikon but they swim back and forth too fast so this is the best I could come up with. I wanted to show how nice the iridescent green stripe is above their dark lateral band. You sort of get the idea here.
> 
> 
> Young male Alestopetersius brichardi (red Congo tetra) by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr





These look exactly like mine ( Well, I have one left now after that ich debacle. Need to get some more). These fish are so beautiful-- rival any other freshwater fish out there.

Bump:


Triport said:


> Some big beautiful new leaves on my Aponogeton boivinianus and A. madagascariensis. They grow so fast. Especially now that they have CO2 supplementation. I've been trying to figure out how to position the power head on the other side of the tank so that these guys don't get beat down. I tried it out in a few different placements and angles earlier today. This is a little better than it was earlier.
> 
> Huge new leaves on Aponogeton boivinianus and A. madagascariensis by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


Amazing shot! I wish I had your talents for photography!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Oh I wish I was much better at it. I just take a lot of photos and sometimes I get lucky. My biggest issue now is that since I have tanks all over the room the other tanks often reflect in the photos. So I have to get creative with my angles and I have the lights off time staggered so I can take pictures later at night. I am looking into getting some sort of big black backdrop screen to help with this issue.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

My latest dominant pair of Pelviachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' bred a few times in the holding tank they were in but were never successful. The one time they had free swimming fry the timing was awful with their rival cichlids, Steatocranus casuarius, having free swimming fry the next day. The Steatocranus came out on top of that battle.
From the moment I moved all the fish to the new 120 the female has been chasing the male around and trying get get his attention. Sometimes he returns the favor but neither seemed that serious about setting up a spawning site.
It seems they finally have chosen one of the half coconuts in the tank to start a family. Since the tank is planted I was very specific about how I set up the hardscape hoping to prevent the kribs and Steatocranus from unearthing plants. All the rooted plants are at the back of the tank with a wall of dragon stone and driftwood separating the two areas. Half coconuts were set up in front of the driftwood near the shallow sand at the front of the tank in hopes they would find these suitable and not go digging around at the back.
It worked! They have been moving sand around since yesterday and today seem to be in the act of laying eggs. Going in and out of the cave, flaring at each other, and pushing around more sand. Hopefully babies to come and they have better luck this time now that there is plenty of room for the other cichlids to be able to keep their distance and the tetras too far above them to be any threat.

Pelvicachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' courtship by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


A bit of video of their courtship to come soon.


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

Triport said:


> My latest dominant pair of Pelviachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' bred a few times in the holding tank they were in but were never successful. The one time they had free swimming fry the timing was awful with their rival cichlids, Steatocranus casuarius, having free swimming fry the next day. The Steatocranus came out on top of that battle.
> From the moment I moved all the fish to the new 120 the female has been chasing the male around and trying get get his attention. Sometimes he returns the favor but neither seemed that serious about setting up a spawning site.
> It seems they finally have chosen one of the half coconuts in the tank to start a family. Since the tank is planted I was very specific about how I set up the hardscape hoping to prevent the kribs and Steatocranus from unearthing plants. All the rooted plants are at the back of the tank with a wall of dragon stone and driftwood separating the two areas. Half coconuts were set up in front of the driftwood near the shallow sand at the front of the tank in hopes they would find these suitable and not go digging around at the back.
> It worked! They have been moving sand around since yesterday and today seem to be in the act of laying eggs. Going in and out of the cave, flaring at each other, and pushing around more sand. Hopefully babies to come and they have better luck this time now that there is plenty of room for the other cichlids to be able to keep their distance and the tetras too far above them to be any threat.
> ...


Cool! Those are beautiful cichlids!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Yeah they have been really fun. So great seeing their spawning behavior and them rearing their young in a community tank.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Bummer man. I placed an order with the wet spot for another 8 Bathyaethiops breuseghemi (red cap moon tetras) to go along with the 3 I have had for several years but they said there is a problem with them so they can't ship them. They must just be a really delicate fish that ships poorly because this is the 4th time I have tried to order them and there has been a problem. In fact the reason I only have 3 is the first time I tried to order 6 there were only 3 healthy enough to send. Hopefully I will be able to get more at some point in the future.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Oooh my fish order has arrived in San Luis Obispo and is on its way to me now. Following on the little UPS map. Yay!


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## lamyers3 (Oct 17, 2017)

The tank looks great and the fish are beautiful. I'm a big fan of tetras also.

Thanks for labeling your plants. I'm always looking for something different and when I see a plant I like it's hard to match the name from a plant in a tread. I guess I could always ask. 

Enjoying your tank build, will continue following along.


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## Grobbins48 (Oct 16, 2017)

Triport said:


> Oooh my fish order has arrived in San Luis Obispo and is on its way to me now. Following on the little UPS map. Yay!


Hope everything arrived healthy and happy. Those Cichlids above are absolutely stunning. Very nice shot!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

The 120 has cleared up a great deal the past couple of days. Just look at the size of those Madagascar lace plant leaves.

120 gallon aquarium by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Quint (Mar 24, 2019)

Tank looks great.

Big fan of the Kribensis, we use to always have them at my parents shop but now a days I never see them in any of the LFS (well before they closed down anyway).


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Ongoing saga of my Pelvicachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' parents. After laying their eggs in the half coconut I posted the photo of above it seemed to me that the parents guarded the coconut cave until they hatched. They then suddenly started guarding the hollow branch of this large piece of driftwood in the photo below. I would often see the female swimming head first into the hollowed out left branch as if she was tending something. I assumed that she moved the wigglers there (wigglers are what baby cichlids are called after they hatch but before they become free swimming) but I wasn't 100% sure because I wasn't able to see them. I just had to wait and see but I was certain she was using defensive behavior so I was pretty sure this was the new spot for the young.

Pair of Pelvicachromis kribensis 'Moliwe' by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Then yesterday I noticed she had moved to the small piece of driftwood resting on rocks in the center of the tank. Her behavior was still guarding behavior so I was pretty sure the wigglers had been moved again. Early today I finally had confirmation when I saw some free swimming babies following her out of the little protected area she had brought them.






Very quickly they started making their way around the tank on the hunt for food. They ended up on the large piece of driftwood grazing on biofilm. This becomes a danger because the further up they go from the sand the more likely they are to be picked off by the African tetras who always stay in the upper two thirds of the tank. In fact after watching this next video I realized that while I was filming a few babies strayed from the protection of the parents and one of them is grabbed by a two and a half month old Steatocranus. The father chases him off but it is too late for that baby. As upsetting as this is it is actually ideal that I have confirmation that these "teenage" fry are big enough to prey on the babies. I do not have room for all of them and I have found that other young cichlids work best for keeping the population under control.

We'll see how many babies survive.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

How good are these kribensis as parents? Not the best. They are down to just 9 babies...


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## Squisher (Nov 18, 2019)

Damn! They need to up their defensive game. That must be so cool to watch though, I hope atleast a few of the little guys make it.


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## Tiger15 (Jan 7, 2018)

I have the regular Kribensis pulcher in my 75g and they are fun to watch to parent the fry. But they only guard them up to 2 months and abandon them and the fry start to thin out, not sure by predation of the parents or by opportunistic tankmates. At the end, about half a dozen manage to survive which is about the odd expected in nature. 

I really like the Kribensis Maliwe and want to stock some in my 125g. But Maliwe is less available, less domesticated and thereby more sensitive to keep from what I read. BTW, your female Kribensis looks like regular pulcher as mine, not Maliwe


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Tiger15 said:


> I have the regular Kribensis pulcher in my 75g and they are fun to watch to parent the fry. But they only guard them up to 2 months and abandon them and the fry start to thin out, not sure by predation of the parents or by opportunistic tankmates. At the end, about half a dozen manage to survive which is about the odd expected in nature.
> 
> I really like the Kribensis Maliwe and want to stock some in my 125g. But Maliwe is less available, less domesticated and thereby more sensitive to keep from what I read. BTW, your female Kribensis looks like regular pulcher as mine, not Maliwe


They are definitely both Moliwe. The females are less distinctly different than regular kribs than the males are but they are different. Two months is definitely about the cut off when the fry are on their own. In the past I have had many (too many at times) survive. Once there are young fry in the tank though they hunt the new spawns so that helps keep the number down but this is the first set up I have had where I got to see it in action. The original Moliwe pair were definitely expensive but they certainly don't seem any more difficult or sensitive. They started spawning like 3 days after I got them and I have had many generations ever since from the original pair.

Bump:


Squisher said:


> Damn! They need to up their defensive game. That must be so cool to watch though, I hope atleast a few of the little guys make it.


Not looking good for them! Maybe I should have moved fewer baby Steatocranus to this tank.


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## Tiger15 (Jan 7, 2018)

Triport said:


> In the past I have had many (too many at times) survive. Once there are young fry in the tank though they hunt the new spawns so that helps keep the number down but this is the first set up I have had where I got to see it in action. The original Moliwe pair were definitely expensive but they certainly don't seem any more difficult or sensitive. They started spawning like 3 days after I got them and I have had many generations ever since from the original pair.
> .


You much prefer the older siblings help thin out the fry. I used to keep Tanganyikan dwarf cichlid, Julidochromis and Lamprologus species. The older siblings helped defend the territory to protect the fry and soon there was over population. Since they hide behind the rock, it’s not easy to catch them without removing everything.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Yes I had to do that once with my old tank. Removed about 30 young fish and gave them to a friend. Kept only 3 and they immediately started breeding again. Fortunately I think I am down to 5 kribs now but it is the Steatocranus turn to take over.


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## FischAutoTechGarten (Jul 11, 2003)

I love your inclusion of these soft water african cichlids with your tetras. really nice combination.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

FischAutoTechGarten said:


> I love your inclusion of these soft water african cichlids with your tetras. really nice combination.


Thanks! I got into African tetras back in the 80s when very few of them were available for sale on a regular basis. There is something just very rewarding about them. By far my favorite fish. I had kept and bred kribs before as well and since they inhabit such different parts of the tank it really is a perfect mix. There are so many great African tetras and other interesting African fish available now. I can't wait to get an even larger aquarium so I can keep more of them.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Down to five baby kribs now. Maybe they will be able to guard such a small number. It doesn't take too long for the babies to become too large to be viewed as food so if they can just hold out a bit longer.


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## Quint (Mar 24, 2019)

Good luck (you and them lol). I remember having Kribs as a teenager but they were the simpler colored black white and red I think. Raised a few groups of them before selling the pair to a shop regular that had a nice big tank. It seemed they got much better at protecting the youngsters with more experience. Yours are really nice looking IMO. They are really cool little fish.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

All the babies are gone and it caused open warfare between all my kribs in the tank. They actually get along worse in the larger tank than they did in the 40 gallon. One male has been killed since the move and two others have had damage done to fins and lips. Going to just keep an eye on them and the Steatocranus and remove some if I have to.

In the meantime did a water change today and shot some video. The electric blue Alestopetersius brichardi are coloring up nicely.


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

Fantastic mix of plants and fish, wow. Looks very nice! Makes me want to shift focus back towards a fish tank with plants rather than a planted tank with fish


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## Discusluv (Dec 24, 2017)

Loving the African Red Cap Moon tetra now that I see them in your video. I had seen them on Wetspots list and looked them up and they looked rather unexciting. But, now iIsee that pictures didnt do them justice. They look amazing in your video. 
The plants are starting to fill in nicely as well. i think you really captures the look of an African biotope. It may not be a biotope in the strict sense, but it certainly looks like one.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Discusluv said:


> Loving the African Red Cap Moon tetra now that I see them in your video. I had seen them on Wetspots list and looked them up and they looked rather unexciting. But, now iIsee that pictures didnt do them justice. They look amazing in your video.
> The plants are starting to fill in nicely as well. i think you really captures the look of an African biotope. It may not be a biotope in the strict sense, but it certainly looks like one.


The African red cap moon tetras are neat but apparently ship poorly. Every time I try to order them they tell me that they don't like the looks of them and won't ship them. In their place last order I got some more African one line tetras but those ended up coming down with Columnaris (I am pretty sure). They had that saddleback white fungus coating. Treated with Kanamycin and that seems to have gone away but several of them have white clouded eyes. They may end up staying in quarantine forever. Unfortunately I also have my (very expensive) Fantastique Congos with them in quarantine. They seem OK but I think once I have my second quarantine tank freed up I will move the Fantastique and observe them for a while. My experience with Columnaris in the past was that it seemed like it was gone but never truly was and fish would get sick and die over a period of time and never really fully get better. 

Lesson learned when buying new expensive fish quarantine them alone. 

I wish I could get better video of the A. brichardi. Their coloring is so intense in the right light.

And yeah definitely not a biotope person but most of the plants are at least from Africa/Madagascar. I think biotopes are interesting but these are tanks for my pleasure not a museum display and at the end of the day it is really about fitting in as many interesting species of tanks and plants and making it look pretty.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

A few of the more dominant Alestopetersius brichardi are really coloring up nicely so I tried to get some good photos of them with my Nikon D750. My iPhone just can't do justice to the reflective blue scales. These photos still don't quite capture their beauty but you get the idea. In time the fins should get an even deeper red on a few of the fish.

DSC_060Alestopetersius brichardi9 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Alestopetersius brichardi by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Alestopetersius brichardi by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

More photos with my Nikon!

Male Phenacogrammus aurantiacus by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Microctenopoma ansorgii by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

female Steatocranus casuarius by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

juvenile Steatocranus casuarius by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Male Alestopetersius brichardi by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

wow they're beautiful fish!


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## Quagulator (May 4, 2015)

Stunning fish, I'm not sure what my next tank is going to bring, buy I am certainly going to step up my fish game. Should make it easier to convince the misses on the new tank... (she thinks plants are boring)


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## Ken Keating1 (Nov 22, 2017)

Beautiful photos! Were you using a lens?


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Quagulator said:


> Stunning fish, I'm not sure what my next tank is going to bring, buy I am certainly going to step up my fish game. Should make it easier to convince the misses on the new tank... (she thinks plants are boring)


Pretty sure my next tank is going to be a 180 that is either totally plant free or few plants. Just angelfish (maybe altums) a few other cichlids and a big school of tetras and some cool driftwood or something.

Bump:


Ken Keating1 said:


> Beautiful photos! Were you using a lens?


If you click the photos it should bring you to my Flickr account which shows exactly what camera and lens I am using. Often if it is just tank shots I use my iPhone but when I do macros I am using a Nikon D750 and in this case a Nikkor 60mm lens. I have no idea what I am doing with photography though so I just take 200 pictures and usually a few come out OK.


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

Lovely tank and great macro shots 😎


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## fishguy1978 (Mar 20, 2020)

Wow, some beautiful fish and plants. I have never had success with Madagascar lace. I have grown crinum and other apon before successfully. The crinum I had got really large.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Sadly my Crinum natans that I had for many years seems to have rotted and died. The C. calimistratum doesn't seem to be growing much. The Aponogetons are doing well though.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Another video of the 120. Trying (and failing) to capture the brilliance of the Alestopetersius brichardi. My photos with my Nikon do a much better job capturing the blue iridescent scales than my iPhone videos do. They are getting even more intense in color now.


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## Ken Keating1 (Nov 22, 2017)

Triport said:


> I have no idea what I am doing with photography though so I just take 200 pictures and usually a few come out OK.


Funny, I do theh same, point the camera, take a lot of photos and hope a few come out.

The blue really looks nice in the video, I can only imagine what it looks like in person. Did you purchase the fish from the LFS or they online orders?


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

All my fish (except a few females Bettas) I order online from The Wet Spot in Portland, OR.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Since my last post of photos some of my Alestopetersius brichardi have further intensified in color. The red in their fins is deeper, the reflective blue scales on their upper body show up all the time now and their faces and lower bodies show some red and yellow. I have seen that The Wet Spot is currently selling them as Alestopetersius brichardi "Blue Form" and have seen others sell them as "Electric Blue". I also recently saw some video of a cherry red type on Facebook so if you are ever wanting to keep this fish and order them online it is important to know they seem to be two distinct species. 

Anyway they are super skittish and very fast so these are the best photos I can get of them. I'll try again in the future and see if I can do better.

Alestopetersius brichardi by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Alestopetersius brichardi by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Alestopetersius brichardi by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## andrewss (Oct 17, 2012)

Beautiful fish and really great shots!


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## Mr. Limpet (Dec 26, 2010)

I hope Asian fish farms will someday produce them commercially, like they do with Phenacogrammus interuptus.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

A new video in which you get to hear my voice as I talk about my new additions to the 120 gallon tank and talk about most of the other fish in the tank as well.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Another video in which I talk about my largest African tetra and my experience with gas bubble disease.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

I guess I never posted this. This is a male Phenacogrammus sp. Fantastique I took a photo of back on June 5 when they first started to show a bit of color after coming out of quarantine and spending some time in the 120. 

young male Phenacogrammus sp. Fantastique by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Exactly a month later on July 5 I took another photo to show how much they changed in just a month. They really grow quickly and start to take on their adult coloration when you put them in a larger aquarium. Huge difference. 

Young male Phenacogrammus sp. Fantastique by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And finally a photo of one of the females. Not perfectly focused but you can see how little color she has in comparison to the male. I was hoping that the females would be just as bright as the males like Phenacogrammus aurantiacus but it seems they are more like the majority of African Alestids where the females are pretty drab. Still she does have more color than many Alestopetersius females have so I am interested to see what they will look like when full grown. 

Young female Phenacogrammus sp. Fantastique by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

It looks like all of my Moliwe kribs are dead. I am pretty sure murdered by the young Steatocranus. I never saw much violence between them but it just seems too much of a coincedence for all three to die so quickly (two I am certain are dead and the third I just found a spine with a little meat still left on it but I don't see the third krib so I am pretty sure it was her). 

A bummer as I had them for over 4 years and they all had a pretty solid truce going all those years in the 46 gallon but it just shows that violence is not necessarily dispersed in a larger tank when it comes to cichlids. Sometimes you are better off with more fish in a smaller tank. At the end of the day the focus on this tank is the tetras so I will not be introducing any more cichlids. Curious to see if the Steatocranus will all get along with each other or start turning on each other as they reach sexual maturity.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Video update on my 120 gallon African tetras!


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## keithkan1 (Jun 2, 2021)

Hi Triport! I was wondering whether you add any minerals back to your RO water after each water change? Do you use GH or KH booster (Seachem equilibrium/alkaline/acid buffers)?

Thanks in advance!


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

keithkan1 said:


> Hi Triport! I was wondering whether you add any minerals back to your RO water after each water change? Do you use GH or KH booster (Seachem equilibrium/alkaline/acid buffers)?
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Yup. I use Equilibrium and Alkaline/Acid Buffer from Seachem.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

I haven't done an update on this tank in ages. Today I noticed some baby Steatocranus casuarius so I shot some video of them.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)




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## RLee (Sep 21, 2008)

Triport said:


>


Nice little nursery you got there. By the way did you ever figure out your new RO system and the higher TDS for the output water?


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

RLee said:


> Nice little nursery you got there. By the way did you ever figure out your new RO system and the higher TDS for the output water?


Ahh yes! Forgot to update. The company had to come out four times but finally the sales rep came and he realized someone had swapped two tubes or something. So he got it sorted out and last I checked the water was at about 3 TDS (my 100 gallon tank was full of 21 TDS water so it has taken a while to dilute but every time I use water for a water change it drops lower. Pump I had installed is not perfect but I would say it is at least twice as fast as the old system so for now I am happy with it. Even though the whole thing didn't go smoothly they are really nice people and amenable to coming out and making things right. Helps that I am pretty chill about these things.


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)

Female Steatocranus casuarius guarding her eggs. by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr


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## Triport (Sep 3, 2017)




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