When we lived in an apartment, we had a 55 gallon tank set up on each side of the dining room table. I was wonerful to eat breakfast and watch the fish, and it made a great moving picture while talking to guests over dinner. There was something deeply pleasing about eating in an area that was fully of life. We decided for this reason to put this new 55 gallon tank next to the table where we eat.
We debated about what to put in the tank, and finally decided to try breeding out Geophagus braziliensis. These are my personal favorite for reasons I can't exactly explain, and they're one of my spouse's favorite fish as well. We put about 1" or so if pool filter sand in, a piece of driftwood, a bunch of java moss and riccia, 3 starry night ancistrus (they needed a better tank than the 5 gallon they were stuffed into anyway), and our 5 Geophagus braziliensis.
They took a while to get used to it, but now they swim all over the tank. The aquaclear 200s did not provide adequate oxygenation of the water because the java moss kept plugging their intake tubes. I could tell because the fish were constantly pulling water through their gills (they looked like they were.. not gasping, but just .. eating imaginary food constantly). We added the powerhead (no pre-filter, just a loose strainer.. I'll add a prefilter when I get the chance) near the surface of the water and threw in a bubble strip to add to the agitation of the water. The fish splash and swim around much more now.
The ancistrus did well in the tank for a few months, but one day in August of 1999, I found one dead on the bottom of the tank. It looked healthy and plump, but all of its pigment was gone, and it had obviously been badly savaged - it had no fin tissue at all, and most of its soft tissue externally had been eaten off or scraped at. I couldn't tell whether it had died first and been picked at later, or been picked on to death. I had never witnessed any aggressive behavior in this tank, and the Geophagus seemed to not even notice the ancistrus. The ancistrus were in a tiny 5 gallon tank for months and months, so I'd think that they would have been more aggressive there than in a big expansive tank. Perhaps it was territory related. I have no idea. Now, I can only seem to find one ancistrus in the tank, so I have no idea what happened to the other one. The tank has a thick layer of riccia in loose balls rolling around on the surface of the water (the feeding braziliensis constantly break it up, but it provides a night bright green canopy), and the bottom 1/2 of the tank is pretty much full of java moss, so I'm sure the ancistrus could be hiding. I haven't wanted to stress everyone out by looking, but I might just dig around a bit soon to see if I can find the other one.
Another thing - the Geophagus have been pretty violent toward each other. There is one fish who is significantly bigger than the other four. Presumably a male, he picks on all of the other fish constantly. They typically have split fins, missing chunks of caudal (tail) fins, bite marks on their bodies, etc. This is worrying me. I'm tempted to take all but two out to see if they'll pair up, but I don't know how to sex them. They ALL seem to have a vague lump on their forehead, and their fins and other features are very similar. I might try looking at them from above to see if any are more plump, but that too could be due to an assertive eater rather than a female full of eggs. We'll see.
In total, we currently have the following fish in this tank:
The Geophagus had been looking really sulky since they arrived in this tank. Though they hadn't been fighting very much, they all seemed to be perpetually hiding, and the largest one was starting to show signs of some sort of body infection. Also, the 2 aquaclear 200s were just insufficient. They would clog with slimy stuff in just a few days (though the tank looks clear), and the fish seem.. just listless. We decided to move 3 of the geophagus back downstairs, leaving only the largest and smallest (hopefully this will be a heterosexual pair). We also tied some of the big mats of java moss to some driftwood, so now the tank doesn't look like an endless clous of moss. This will hopefully cut down on the rate at which the filters get clogged with plant material.
We moved an Aquaclear 300 upstairs and added that to the tank (removing one of the 200s). The 300s are my favorite filter - the sponges are well-proportioned and easy to clean, it's not too heavy or clunky when full of water, and it has an impressive flow rate. So far it's only been a day, but things look better. We did a 75% water change after removing the other three fish.
In addition - I can only confirm the existence of one of the Ancistrus. This is really disheartening, since they are wonderful fish that I bought from a TFCB speaker, and I'll probably never be able to get more again. He called them "starry night plecos" and I think they were collected from the wild. Sigh. The one left is beautiful - about 4" long, quite wide at the pectoral area, and is dark brown mottled with little pale yellow/white speckles all over the body. It's adorable and seems healthy. If only I knew what happened to the other one. I haven't seen any fish in the filter or on the floor.. though I haven't looked carefully, for fear of what I might find.
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Last Modified January, 2000
