# 160 gallon Mixed Community



## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Hey everyone!

Its about time I post a Journal on here again. Its been awhile! This is my 160 gallon mixed community. Tank has been running for around a month.

Equipment:

Tank: 72"L, 18"w, 30"T
Ehiem 300 watt heater
Ehiem 150 watt heater
Marina Optima Air pump
Fluval FX5
X4 3' T5 Bulbs - Will be upgrading soon
Standard gravel
3m S grade sand Brown/tan mix.

Decor:

The Idea behind this tank was to have a main sand bed where plecos and other bottom feeders would have room to dwell without bothering plants towards the outside. Using two kinds of substrate brings lots of possibilities . I also wanted to create lots of places to plant on wood. The wood in the tank is from my apple tree we cut down a few years back, finally all dried out! Also have a few Pieces of mopani wood in there. Can't wait to plant it. I would like to add Some Jungle vals, maybe a crinium species, windelov fern, and moss!

Fish:

X2 Electric Blue Jack Dempsey
X2 Ghost Knife fish
X1 Glass knife fish
X6 True Rummynose tetras
X4 Espei rasbora
X1 lemon tetra
X2 Driftwood Catfish
X10+ Busheynose
X5 Sterbai cory

I would like to add another 4 Ghost knife eventually, and maybe another 6+ glass knife. Maybe some dwarf rainbow fish of some type. Might look for some lady friends for the Jacks But I wont breed them in this tank.


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

Alex i like your new glass knife fish and of course the albino female long fin pleco. I found my black ghost knife loves...loves... dried black worms. Did you get that canopy at the auction....if so it looks amazing!

Nice looking aquascape. Thanks for sharing.


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## target (Apr 21, 2010)

Looks good. I like the branches.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

djamm said:


> Alex i like your new glass knife fish and of course the albino female long fin pleco. I found my black ghost knife loves...loves... dried black worms. Did you get that canopy at the auction....if so it looks amazing!
> 
> Nice looking aquascape. Thanks for sharing.


Thanks Drew. Yeah the glass knife is amazing. He is so active compared to the two ghost knives I have... and so fast!! Yeah, This is the canopy from the auction . So pleased with it! Who ever built it did a great job. Fit like a glove, within 1/16th.



target said:


> Looks good. I like the branches.


Thanks!


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## m_class2g (Apr 21, 2010)

Very nice shots of your fish. Where did the super red severums go!?


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

m_class2g said:


> Very nice shots of your fish. Where did the super red severums go!?


Decided to take the tank in another direction. They are plant eaters


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Glass knife is cool as they are active fish. They come out in the open with light on. And they like to social with each other. You can actually get a group going together. Though eventually, your ghost knife will not like the glass knife. And you might have an aggression problem with the ghost knife toward the glass knife when your ghost knife starting to mature.


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## m_class2g (Apr 21, 2010)

AWW said:


> Decided to take the tank in another direction. They are plant eaters


lol. all they were fed was pellets. maybe they saw the plants as a treat. hope they found a good home! i raised those babies from 2-3 inches to 10 inch.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

I really like how the red looks like a splash of red paint on your rummynose.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

charles said:


> Glass knife is cool as they are active fish. They come out in the open with light on. And they like to social with each other. You can actually get a group going together. Though eventually, your ghost knife will not like the glass knife. And you might have an aggression problem with the ghost knife toward the glass knife when your ghost knife starting to mature.


So far I have seen no aggression. I will monitor this. I have only noticed aggression between the two ghost knives.
I may have to come grab a few knife fish off you :bigsmile:


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Don't wait too long, I have 8 left and someone might come to pick up 3 soon.


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Damn you and those Electric Blue Jack Dempseys :3

They look amazing, the tank looks great!


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## bonsai dave (Apr 21, 2010)

Hey Alex 

Tanks is looking great. I have to stop by and check it out in person.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

The color of your fish are so vibrant. Great job!!!


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Well I was going to stick to weekly updates

BUT I couldn't resist. My two largest busheynose just laid a clutch of eggs  The male is defending them vigorously lol.

They actually laid them in a very photogenic place. Everyone, get ready for nightly updates until they hatch!

Eggs Laid within 6 hours.


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Very nice. You might find the black ghosts will stop tolerating each other even when they're smaller. The glass knives are definitely shoaling, and extremely social with conspecifics.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

DBam said:


> Very nice. You might find the black ghosts will stop tolerating each other even when they're smaller. The glass knives are definitely shoaling, and extremely social with conspecifics.


Yeah, I am thinking might have to re-home the ghost knives. The first severe spat And ill bring them out. I think it would be cool to see an adult shoal of glass knives... What do you guys think??

Now as far as busheynose go, the mom is Long fin, and the dad is short fin. What should I expect from the babies? I need to get working on my fry saver!!!


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

Kacairns bred his long fin with a short fin and I believe you get a lot more short fin compared to long fins. Probably like 75-80% short fin to 20-25% long fin


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## Phillyb (Jan 18, 2011)

That's AWESOME mang keep posting updates!


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Steve said:


> Kacairns bred his long fin with a short fin and I believe you get a lot more short fin compared to long fins. Probably like 75-80% short fin to 20-25% long fin


Was more like 90% short fin =)

With that said that 10% was between my chocolate long fin and silvertip regular fin with all spawn being silvertip, my albino long fin and calico regular fin had 0% long fin but came out with a mixture of calico and albino's


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

kacairns said:


> Was more like 90% short fin =)
> 
> With that said that 10% was between my chocolate long fin and silvertip regular fin with all spawn being silvertip, my albino long fin and calico regular fin had 0% long fin but came out with a mixture of calico and albino's


10% is low. I need my other long fin male to grow quicker haha.

Plecos hatched! They retreated farther into the cave, Will post pictures if I can get them.

Dempseys are flaring for breeding..... I am starting to think These are Male/female for sure. I need to get some more regular gene jacks. And I need to get them out of this tank before the plecos come out of the cave!


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

you can get more glass knife fish in there  Congrat on the spawn. If you have a LF x regular fin, you will get all regular fin unless your regular fin parent has the LF gene in it.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

charles said:


> you can get more glass knife fish in there  Congrat on the spawn. If you have a LF x regular fin, you will get all regular fin unless your regular fin parent has the LF gene in it.


I don't really mind either way. I am just happy this female finally bread  Its been like 4 months. The change to this tank finally prompted her to breed. Now its time to find a big longfin male.

Do you think the knife fish will take out the baby plecos if they are well fed?


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Beautiful setup Alex. FISh looks real healthy and great photography skills.


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## Phillyb (Jan 18, 2011)

Good luck with the fry!


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

AWW said:


> I don't really mind either way. I am just happy this female finally bread  Its been like 4 months. The change to this tank finally prompted her to breed. Now its time to find a big longfin male.
> 
> Do you think the knife fish will take out the baby plecos if they are well fed?


THe glass knife will not bother the little pleco. But your black ghost is a different story.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

A quick DIY and an update

FRY SAVER

Items used:

Water pump and plumbing used in an old desktop aquarium with an overhead filter.
Medium piece of Tupperware
4 suction cups
Mesh

To make holes in the plastic to install everything, I used a saudering iron. Took around 30 mins to put everything together. Slits needed to be sawed in the tubing inside the main tank to reduce flow. I also added a pot inside to offer rest area's.

So far I have managed to siphon out 25. I still see more, but dad's getting too defensive. I don't want to hurt him. Next time these guys breed, I think Ill let the babies grow in the tank. Or, I will breed them in a different tank with pleco caves so fry extraction is easier. Either way, that means a stock change 

The top is down, ready to move some babies!






I also picked up 4 2.5" longfin silvertips from kacairns. They are fitting in great, but all the other plecos are a bit bigger, so they are still a little shy. They are loving the apple wood though! Always munching in the shade There fins split a little in transit and they are already healed up perfectly  Will get some good pictures asap.


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

Congratulations on breeding her! The tank looks awesome, too.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Elle said:


> Congratulations on breeding her! The tank looks awesome, too.


Thanks Elle! this is just the beginning  Next step is plants... and eventually my grown out discus will be in here


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Update!

So things have been changing in this tank. The ghost knife fish got to aggressive, as did the Jack dempseys, so I moved them to another tank. staying with the electric blue theme in my tanks, I got 4 gold face electric blue balloon rams. Sense last update, I have also added 4 small clown loaches, as well as plants.

Unfortunately I lost all the fry this time from the BNP breeding, The container overflowed, and babies got released into the tank.

I am struggling to keep the plants planted, The longfin busheynose are very rough with them. I am hoping some start to root soon. I have also removed the mopani wood.

Here are some pictures:


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## Phillyb (Jan 18, 2011)

Nice brotha, it's all looking great!


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

So this thread is going to get a monthy update. I have changed a few things in the tank sense last month, and added some stock. Might post an update mid February as I want to get more practice with the camera.

I changed the substrate to fluval stratum. Its better for the plants, and looks nicer. Also, I planted the rock wall with a bunch more Java fern. This is the giant variety, so eventually it should grow to the top of the tank. I still want to add more anibias, and attach it to the wood.

I added 10 new calico busheynose. Finally found some at the right size, and price. Hopefully I can breed some long fin calicos at some point too. They are all still hiding so pictures are a no go this month ahaha.

I also got an awesome group of fish from Dave. One wild discus, 2 domestic discus, and 3 wild angels. They are still getting used to the tank. hopefully weekly water changes at 50% will keep these guys happy. The plants should help too. These were the smallest from dave's tank, so they are a little skinny. they are already pounding back the blackworms haha.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Great pictures. Tank looking good. Need more plecos!

Sent from my LT30a using Tapatalk


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

Hey looking good Alex! Like the look of the tank. 

Sent from my gigantic Samsung Note 2


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## Momobobo (Sep 28, 2010)

Damn Alex, your tank is killer! :bigsmile:


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## kacairns (Apr 10, 2012)

Nice looking pleco =) how big are they now?


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## Ra's al Ghul (Apr 28, 2010)

Nice setup, just wondering were you got the giant java ? I have windelov,Needle,Philippine,Trident. Never heard of that variety

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks for the comments guys. Haha, I don't know if I need more plecos Ming. I Have around 20 busheynose in there now. Might consider a different species, But I would want a group.

Ra's al Ghul, the Java was brought in by a costomer at Island pets. I have only seen larger java fern for sale a few years ago, the leaves were 15" tall. I am not sure if its a variant, or how its grown. There are several variants of java fern I would like to add to the tank, Slowly but surly I want to make a low tech planted Jungle 

Here are some more shots of the younger longfins. Kevin, Including fins, they are all well over 3". My adult Female albino longfin is around 5.5". I am thinking they will be ready for breeding in around 3 months. I am hoping to pair the albinos with the calicos.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Your calico bnp's likely have some long fin gene in them, so you should see a few long fins regardless of which ones get paired off.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

So much for monthly updates... I was taking pictures of the discus and couldn't resist.



I guess they like to eat together??? 



Here are a couple shots of the calicos 


and an Update on the angels now that they have settled.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

Just keep the photo updates coming, perhaps videos in the near future.

Sent from my LT30a using Tapatalk


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

jobber said:


> Just keep the photo updates coming, perhaps videos in the near future.
> 
> Sent from my LT30a using Tapatalk


So eager... and always asking for more haha :lol:


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## The Guy (Nov 26, 2010)

Hey Alex your tank looks awesome, liken those plecoes


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

Alex, clear out your inbox.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Foxtail said:


> Alex, clear out your inbox.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


Inbox cleared


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Alright, Time for another update!

Lots of things added in the past couple weeks! The tank is coming along great.

2 Giant blue discus
3 Blue diamond discus
1 L028 (I think lol) - Still hiding and cant get a picture
1 Wild angel 
More Anubias
More Java fern
More bolbitis
Needle leaf Java fern
8 assorted pleco caves
2 more powerheads

There is always more items on the bucket list though! I plan on getting in the near future:

20 amano shrimp
20 otto cats
2 Longfin Calico Busheynose

Anubias Nana
Anubias nana Pitite 
Windelov fern
more bolbitis
Micro Sword

Cobalt canister filter

Down the road I would also like to add more schooling fish too. And probably Anubias Gigantia If I can find it.


Group Shot

My favorite Angel of the group. The new Angel is behind

The last remaining Goldface Balloon ram. The rest passed weeks ago.

The new condominium. I want to plant a lawn of micro sword in front of all the caves. The idea is to keep all the plants low light and slow growing for ease of maintenance, and great stability.

Giant blue discus, There is a blue diamond swimming along side behind 

Turquoise discus

And finally the wild  I love this fish.


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

Time for another update.

This tank is evolving nicely, but not without losses. Unfortunately I lost the wild discus, and No Electric blue rams have survived. I added a school of glowlight danios, and some ottos. The plecos are now breeding weekly. I am growing the babies in a separate tank. I have added 90% of the Java fern I would like in here, And probably around 75% of the anubias. Then I can start selecting some taller plants for the sides. If The Dwarf Hairgrass does not survive, I will try Micro sword. I have also added an ehiem professional filter, and a UV sterilizer. The scape is nearing completion!


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## m_class2g (Apr 21, 2010)

Beautiful scape and nice stock!


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## AWW (Apr 22, 2010)

I can't believe it Has been so long sense I posted an update on this tank!

This tank has come a long way, And now almost sits fully stocked. The list includes:

X2 Turquoise Discus
X5 Banded Rainbowfish
X3 Kabutu Rainbowfish
X8 Glow Light Danio
X20 Rummynose tetra
X15 Cardinal tetras 
x5 Espies Rasbora
X2 sterbai cory
X5 Otto cats
X1 Driftwood catfish
X6 Albino longfin Bushynose pleco
X10 Silvertip longfin Bushynose pleco
X2 Calico Bushynose pleco
X2 silvertip bushynose pleco
X4 albino bushynose pleco
X2 clown pleco
X2 King Tiger pleco
X2 royal pleco
X1 L29 (I Think)
X10 ammano shrim
X5 nerite snails 
x3 Yellow rabbit snails

Also the Equipment, I have upgraded a few things:

X4 54 watt T5 bulbs with reflectors
Ehiem 2260
Ehiem Professional 2 
80 watt UV sterolizer (Hooked in line to the Professional 2)
Jeabo Water mover with controller 
Tunzie water mover
300 watt heater
150 watt heater

Please excuse the Black Algae on the plants. Despite the algae eaters, it still has a good hand hold. I hope once introduce more plants and pressurized Co2 it will be gone for good.


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## djamm (Sep 25, 2010)

what a wonderful looking tank alex!!!


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## hi-revs (Nov 3, 2010)

Beautiful work! I love it!


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