# 75 Update-Major prune and 'scape. Rottie is getting too big!



## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Well I've not posted much recently due to backwards and generally crazy work hours, so it's about time I did.

_Please click on photos to see them correctly!_

So the 75, where to start - well my _Nymphea maculata_ finished its flowering cycle and I'd decided that it was time to prune it back hard, whilst I was at it I might as well re-scape seeing as I'd have to pull up the roots to prune them anyway...

_Nymphea maculata_ - Tiger lotus flower.









I wanted to split the plant down and trim the roots back by about 1/2 -2/3 of their mass. Mainly because the lily pads had become so large that one alone would cover about 1/5th of the water surface, admittedly it did look very cool having a driftwood littered scape with a huge tangled mass of lily stems. Yes although the area I was trying to represent is exactly what I had - devoid of much light and vegetation, with dark waters, masses of driftwood and only surface plants, it didn't stop it from becoming boring. I like variety and although not quite as true to nature, it looks nice :lol:. I suppose if there were a nutrient rich, calm and shallow river/pool it may be somewhat similar, but I'm not bent on biotopes so it's back to "freestyle". Living dangerously eh.

Anyway I pulled out the N maculata, or at least I tried.... It was a delicate operation to some extent as I wanted to preserve the finer root growth and main tap roots as much as possible. So very carefully I pulled it all up, separating as I went, I was astonished - I would be doing a severe injustice not to share how insanely prolific these Tiger Lotus can be, with no root or water based nutrition it literally took over and the root mass was just huge.

Got roots? You can see how many stems I've removed already.









So once that was all sorted out and under control again I chucked it in another tank whilst I stirred all the sand, removing any remaining roots that had snapped off and generally cleaning everywhere that I can't usually get to (as you do). It's always nice to get a tank to that "brand new" level of cleanliness, apart from one patch of algae I missed right in the middle of the rear pane, (a right pain in the rear), d'oh!

The Festies are growing like nuts as always, the three of them still get on great and they do a fantastic job of hoovering up just about anything that I would've had to net out before - ie half munched leaves, roots, etc.... How they manage to fit their jaws around some of what they eat in is mind-boggling, they've even taking to stealing the Rotties 7.5mm pellets and between them are quite capable of tearing it into huge chunks, which get consumed in one gulp :roll:.









Smaller - http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m15/ ... lerres.jpg

The Bolivians are all at a good size and one of the males has grown so rapidly that he's not much smaller than "old-boy", he's going to be a monster by the time he stops growing and he has the monster personality to go with it, very ballsy. I had a male heavy batch so I've had to remove two males and soon a third (probably the giant as the other male from that batch is an absolute stunner but with a much mellower persona). No spawning action on account of having so many males but the females are starting to show their willing and as always males are just keen to get on with it. I imagine after I remove the final male things will start to move along.










I also have two male Laetacara which is highly irritating, they get on but it means no breeding dress and generally neither one is particularly dominant so they cruise around trying to be inoffensive (ie non-challenging of one another), which is nice but incredibly boring. I'm on the hunt for females as I've seen glimpses of what my favourite male can display when he occasionally gets riled up, for now here are a couple of him looking rather drab (mind you the pic was right after the disruption so not surprising really).


















The Rottie is, well he's the Rottie and they don't change much once they get their character. He's a lot less shy these days, I think he realised he's actually quite a big fish now. Which he is, borderline for the tank by my standards so I'm going to start looking at 6fters over the next few months:









He ate all of my rosaceus which is a bugger because they were very cool to photograph:









So now all I have left for dithers are my _Hyphessobrycon colombianus_:









I think that means it's about time to wrap it up with the tank shot, feeling a little bit inspired (and perhaps partially drunk) I thought I'd try something I normally wouldn't - rocks.... Obviously the hygro hasn't even begun to settle in yet as it's only been in there for a day, but you get where this is going.










At the moment it is quite symmetrical, but that is simply because the hygro needs to grow in before I can give it the shape that will split the symmetry and make it easier for the viewer to scan. What do you think?

Thanks for looking!
Blair.


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## HONDO (May 4, 2008)

your sev is beautiful. love the updates.
he really is filling up that 75, gettin big. please update once the plants grow back in. i think the rocks look nice.


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## hey_wood1981 (Apr 7, 2004)

Outstanding! I love the tank, the rocks look awesome. I really like the small ones scattered about. The rotkeil is amazingly beautiful. Awesome job on everything.


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## DiscusQueen (Jul 16, 2007)

Well as usual your tank is beautiful. :thumb: :thumb: . I think the rottie and rocks go good together.. When the plants fill in a bit, unless he decides to much them to the ground, I think it's gonna look awesome. I still feel sad about giving away my rotti Rambo but I get to visit him and the orangehead geo babies from Ed are plenty of entertainment.. Your rotti is just so beautiful.. and so are the rams what can I say.. you probably don't even miss the dithers he ate.. Good luck with the tank and lets see more pics as it develops. opcorn: opcorn: Sue


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Love the new scape Blair. You certainly have a talent for it. :thumb:

I think your Rottie will really appreciate a 6 foot tank. I hope you decide to move the Festivums and Dorsigera with him to the larger diggs when you get one. I hope you do find some female dorsigera mate.


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## LJ (Sep 12, 2007)

Beautiful job man.


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Hey thanks everyone! I appreciate the kind words.

I do love this Rottie, he's certainly an attention grabber - try taking photos of anything else in the tank and he doesn't like it, not unless he gets at least as much (if not more) attention first.

*Sue*, regarding my Rottie and plants - some will remember that I trained this Rotkeil from day one, very consistently, in my actions as well as reactions towards plant munching. He knows I don't like it and he doesn't do it as a result. They can be trained and although stubborn if you are consistent enough then they will learn. I used the same physical reaction toward him every time he went to chow down on a plant - standing up sharply, quickly approaching the tank and pointing a finger up to the glass. That would usually make him back off, sit there and stare at me. At first that alone wasn't enough as I would sit back down and as soon as I did so he would go for it again, at which point I would use the training stick, ie a stick to assert my dominance over the fish (not touching or harming just herding, if you will) until he submitted, he would do that by retreating to the same corner and sitting with tail down and head slightly up. You can tell as his markings change and he gets a small black streak running from the underside of the eye down to about halfway on the opercular. I would hold the training stick above him until he had truly submitted - they are stubborn.

After about 3 months of doing this exactly the same way every time he went for a plant, it finally clicked - he started doing it less and less over those three months and tugging on plants became his way of showing annoyance at me rather than an attempt at salad munching. Since it clicked and he accepted that this is my territory that I am willing to let him inhabit, well he leaves plants well alone, I've not had to use the training stick more than once since that initial training, so they remember too.

Now if I see him looking mischievous and eyeing up a flower bud (some things are just too tempting even for a well trained Sev) I don't even leave the couch - I raise my arm in the air and point at him and that alone is enough to communicate to him that it would be a bad idea, at which he backs off and carries on with something else. Now if I go up to the tank and ignore him, he knows pulling at plants gets my attention (think fish are thick, think again) and he does it intentionally, he doesn't damage the plant he's just tugging on it to say "hey look at me, wooeee I'm being naughty, haha, feed me!!!!" It's obvious that this is what he is doing because even if I don't feed them, as long as I spend time face to face with him and stroking the glass in front of him, he wont do it..... Attention grabber, period.

*hey_wood*, thanks for the kind words. I realise I had a PM from you the other day that I had forgotten about, I'm sorry about that I've been quite busy. Regarding the sand - it's called silver sand and it's pretty fine grained - fine enough that the outlet from my XP3 (which is pointed down towards the substrate at an angle accross the tank) causes little whirlpools of sand around drag areas - behind rocks/driftwood. I'd say it is about as fine as you can go without irritating the sand sifters gills. I don't have any problems with it flying everywhere though, occasionally the pleco will churn up a load and it floats about for a few seconds, but it doesn't make a mess and both of my filters are still running silently trouble free. I never lose any sand to syphoning unless I look away for a second, the result of which is usually plunging it right in :lol:. It's a lovely sand it stays very nice and compact, holds plants down well, yet is easily sifted and is very light to move you fingers through - perfect sand sifter substrate IMO (and the Rottie likes sifting it as much as the Bolivians).

As for lighting - I use 2x30w bulbs over this tank - 1x flora glo 1x aquaglo, I've found them to be the best match for "true" colour without being too yellow, pink or blue, not only that but they are excellent stock bulbs for a basic planted tank like mine.

I hope that helps.

*Peter*, the 6ft I'm looking at is 72x30x24, so I'd say it's safely large enough for all of my current residents to move accross, then I will be using this 75 as the planted fry rearing tank (as I used to with my P. taeniatus). I've found a company that will build that dimension tank for me at Â£400 which is an absolute steal, factor in stand and it's about Â£600 which is very reasonable, less than I paid for this 75!!! Oh yeah and re the dorsigera photos, the two shots make him look particularly tubby on account of his pose and how he is curving - I had to sharpen the images a lot so you lose some sense of depth and this amplifies it, the first shot of his finnage is true to body shape.... Still what they're eating I don't know as I feed them barely 1/2 teaspoon once every 2-3 days!

Sorry for going on, LJ, HONDO, everyone, thanks again for the kind words.
Blair.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Very cool Blair. I love to see cichlids in BIG tanks, and I'm sure your Rottie will love it. A tank that size should easily be good for 6+ festivums, 6+ dorsigera and a couple of rotties.

So what else are planning on putting in the new tank?


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Well mate, I'm thinking of finding a female Rotkeil, I definitely want to see the interaction between them and I would really enjoy the opportunity to watch them care for their fry. So a female Rottie is on the books.

As for other stock, I've been thinking;

1m/3f Festivum
1m/3f L. dorsigera
1m/1f Dwarf Pike (whatever I can find, I want dwarf pike cichlids).

I love the Hyphessobrycon colombianus I have (pictured earlier) so I will probably get a huge school of them.

I have a beautiful Adonis (L155) pleco that is also getting quite large which I'd love to be able to keep long term, considering how large they get he too will be going into the 6fter.

:thumb:


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Sounds good mate. :thumb:


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## dwarfpike (Jan 22, 2008)

blairo1 said:


> (whatever I can find, I want dwarf pike cichlids).


But of course you do ... EVERYONE wants dwarf pike cichlids ... it's just that most don't know it yet!!!


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## Isis24 (Dec 10, 2008)

The tank looks wonderful. I don't know how you manage to get such beautiful pictures! How big is your Rottie?


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## RyanR (Apr 29, 2008)

Great pics of a great tank! I *love* the severum. I'm also amazed that you actually trained him. never thought to do that!

I'm in the same boat as you with dithers. We had red-eyed tetra's which got snacked on big time. Now it's Columbian Tetras... which I love! I'm getting another shoal of them for the other 75g tank as soon as the next shipment arrives.

-Ryan


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## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

Looks great Blair :thumb:


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## Philg (May 14, 2007)

GKIDMs


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Philg said:


> GKIDMs


Whaa???


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Peter, it's where the mods have removed his spam request for fish from my thread. That's all.

Thanks again everyone for the kind words, it is much appreciated.

:thumb:


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## ryansmith (Apr 10, 2003)

That severum is a very handsome boy!


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

Cheers bud!


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## Dutch Dude (Sep 14, 2006)

He bud,....Very nice aqua scape and nice healthy good looking fish :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: Your Rottie is indeed quit large and grows out of this tank! He is realy magnificent strong and nice colored! Great fish Blair!!!! I like the Mesonauto as well and almost bought some to join the Guianacara. Thanks for sharing bud and good to see you post on C-F again :thumb:


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

Your tank inspires me and makes me want to give up at the same time.

Just stunning. Keep the pictures coming.


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## mrs.som (Nov 14, 2009)

:drooling:

That is all I have...


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## spxsk (Mar 29, 2006)

Your Rotkeil is a stud, love that guy!


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

i bet he's even bigger since this thread is over a year old


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