To recap, I recently took down 3 of my tanks, a 45 tall that had only a single leopoldi angel in it after a TRAGIC mishap while I was at work (moved the leopoldi down with the geos in the 150), then I took down my 37 that housed a recalcitrant pair of N. leleupi that were not breeding for me (sold 'em), then, lastly, with heavy heart I took down my 40 breeder planted tank that has been so special to me for so many years. It just got to the point where I could not maintain all these tanks while working full time, and also I needed to clear out my office/fish room because we were thinking about giving that room over to one of my daughters as a bedroom. I moved all inhabitants of the 40 to the geophagus tank, including some electric blue rams, a bolivian ram, and various tetras and a small school of het rasboras.
This left me with the 150 geophagus growout tank, which includes an angel, rams and some dithers, and Otis' 20 long that remains in my office, as well as a 10g snail tank for Otis. I also still have the 20 high in the kitchen with my fantail goldfish - a tank that is doing great, with lots of color, activity and interest in a busy kitchen.
My plans include selling off a good majority of the Geophagus sp. orange-head "Tapajos," which would provide the necessary funds to purchase a small group of wild scalare or leopoldi angels. I have tasked Rama at skoolzoffish.com with finding me some wild angels, which he assures me he will be able to do, though not right away. I'm definitely in no rush as I wait for the geophagus to mature a bit. In the tank currently the geos occupy the bottom of the tank, and the lone angel occupies the middle and the top, and they seem to get along beautifully, so I think this combination makes sense. Even when geos spawn they don't get terribly aggressive to other fish like many cichlids, so I'm confident I can create a peaceful community, depending on the temperament of the angels. My group of wild leopoldi stuck together always and never paired off, which, as I've said, was almost a blessing in terms of an attractive display tank.
I will need a quarantine tank set up for the wild angels, since I like to treat for parasites before introducing wild specimens. I admit I'm not so fastidious about it with domestic fish. I also had an idea that I'd need a good-sized tank for a breeding pair of geos, eventually. This would be a dedicated tank once I identify a mated pair in the 150.
I therefore rearranged the furniture (I'm
always doing this at home so nobody even noticed) and set up the 45 in the same room as the 150. This way when I do a PWC on the big tank I can easily move over and do the same for the 45 without much hassle. I got it moved in and set up last night, and spent the rest of the evening rinsing out sand from the 40, which was quite mucky, having been in the tank for years with rooted plants. Now I have a shallow layer of sand and nothing else, and tonight I'll hook up a couple of Eheim Ecco filters and get a fishless cycle started.
Today I found some awesome branchy, rooty (is that a word?) driftwood on ebay for under $10, so I've ordered that and look forward to getting it in the tank with minimal plants, maybe only floating plants. I have plenty of smooth river rocks to choose from, and that will be all the tank needs. For Q I don't like any decor or substrate, but I can't bring myself to leave the tank completely bare! I have to try to make it somewhat attractive, and the wild angels will appreciate some vertical branches of wood and the floating plants, with dim lighting.
