New Incarnation

Here's the 150-gallon, redone for my SA eartheaters and others. The water is cloudy because I just finished rearranging rocks and the sand being stirred up creates billowing clouds of tiny particles.

I really had to manhandle the rocks quite a bit, not happy with the first 50 placements of them or the wood, but finally got something that I'm happy with. The wood could be pointing 10 degrees up or down and look "off" visually, so I messed with it until I achieved some sort of visual balance, at least to my eye. I removed quite a few rocks that were cluttering things up. I don't need much in the way of rocks at all for this setup (maybe some acaras, since they like to use caves? Peckoltia compta or another "leopard" pleco type would work as well).

I will be looking for a species of Satanoperca (depending upon availability) and some wild or wild-type angels. I think they will look great in there together, with the angels occupying the middle and upper strata and the eartheaters the bottom.

I scored a sweet piece of branchy driftwoodrecently from Fin & Feather. Sometimes they don't have much in the way of wood and decor, other than plastic and colored gravel, but that time they were loaded up with wood, so I got it relatively cheap, since it was not the curly heavy Mopani wood ($$$$!!!) but just plain old driftwood. It was soaked first and is being held down with a rock for good measure.

When you go back to the beginning of the blog it seems like this tank has been so many things, and I suppose it has. I will say that I don't sit around and lick my wounds, though, and I became absolutely inspired by the idea of this next setup. The empty tank is like an artist's canvas, and I work with it and work with it until I achieve visual appeal. The aquarium hobby is an expression of art for me - living organic art - and my last project had the hardscape just like I wanted it but I was waiting for the large, full-grown frontosa to set off the monolithic rock structure and slate background - moving slowly around an almost moonscape of dim cool light, sand and rocks. Never got to see that.

Many aquarists consider themselves to have "arrived" when they are successful breeders, especially of the more delicate and unusual species. They set up fish rooms with row after row of tanks, nursing a mated pair and coaxing them into a spawn. It is almost as though this is the be all, end all for the hobby, and if you're not heading for that then you are not really serious. I don't really desire that at this point in my life, but rather I want to incorporate graceful living fish into my day to day life, like art on the wall. If the tank does not have visual appeal and does not fit in the room with the other functional and nonfunctional decor, then I don't like it.

So, for now, this tank is set up, and I'm waiting on a cycle to introduce some interesting cichlids, and I will continue to attempt to keep them alive!