New aquascape!
I would post before and after photos, but it turns out no before photos actually exist. This is probably a really good thing, because the tank decorations before reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally sucked. Now it sucks much less, and is even kind of passable!
The big difference here is the addition of the six large grey rocks (they were SUPPOSED to be slightly green, but then, landscaping places just make up whatever BS name they want for their rocks) and the removal of all the artificial decorations (a large castle with most of its paint scraped away courtesy of pleco and a terrarium log) and a couple of seashells. Seashells are actually useful because they slowly dissolve into the water, buffering it and increasing its hardness, which is a good thing for cichlids. But they're not exactly biotope compliant. Next, let's just ignore that there are at least six different kinds of rocks in there, shall we? The landscaping place didn't have any smaller rocks in the new kind, and I'm too chicken to try to break rocks myself. Thus hideout-condo in the center. Moving on.
I've decided that biotope aquascaping a 48" 55 gallon tank for Lake Malawi is impossible, because the tank lacks desperately needed depth. And 6" fish are too big for a tank only 12" deep. No plans to upend this community yet, though; we'll see how the complete redecoration affects territories and harassment before I start shortlisting fish to sell or give away. The Tank Boss for this one is on the list of potential cuts, simply because he's so big; but removing him would cause the whole tank dynamic to change as the others work out who's the new boss, so that's kind of dangerous. I like my bristlenose pleco, but if I want to go biotope, I'd have to get rid of him and the flying fox, my dynamic algae-eating duo.
On keeping species numbers down, I might want to get rid of my two socolofi, sole survivors of The Great Heater Disaster, as I already have 10 cichlids besides them in the tank, but I really like how they contrast with the electric yellows, so I'm really torn. Maybe if I downsized my acei school from five to three (getting rid of the Tank Boss and whatever male steps up to the plate next) the tank balance would work out. Now I know why fish geeks have so many tanks - so they can swap fish in and out of their display tanks at whim!
The big difference here is the addition of the six large grey rocks (they were SUPPOSED to be slightly green, but then, landscaping places just make up whatever BS name they want for their rocks) and the removal of all the artificial decorations (a large castle with most of its paint scraped away courtesy of pleco and a terrarium log) and a couple of seashells. Seashells are actually useful because they slowly dissolve into the water, buffering it and increasing its hardness, which is a good thing for cichlids. But they're not exactly biotope compliant. Next, let's just ignore that there are at least six different kinds of rocks in there, shall we? The landscaping place didn't have any smaller rocks in the new kind, and I'm too chicken to try to break rocks myself. Thus hideout-condo in the center. Moving on.
I've decided that biotope aquascaping a 48" 55 gallon tank for Lake Malawi is impossible, because the tank lacks desperately needed depth. And 6" fish are too big for a tank only 12" deep. No plans to upend this community yet, though; we'll see how the complete redecoration affects territories and harassment before I start shortlisting fish to sell or give away. The Tank Boss for this one is on the list of potential cuts, simply because he's so big; but removing him would cause the whole tank dynamic to change as the others work out who's the new boss, so that's kind of dangerous. I like my bristlenose pleco, but if I want to go biotope, I'd have to get rid of him and the flying fox, my dynamic algae-eating duo.
On keeping species numbers down, I might want to get rid of my two socolofi, sole survivors of The Great Heater Disaster, as I already have 10 cichlids besides them in the tank, but I really like how they contrast with the electric yellows, so I'm really torn. Maybe if I downsized my acei school from five to three (getting rid of the Tank Boss and whatever male steps up to the plate next) the tank balance would work out. Now I know why fish geeks have so many tanks - so they can swap fish in and out of their display tanks at whim!