# Show off your Central American tank!



## CjCichlid

Hey all,

I was browsing the tank setup forum earlier and was looking through the "rate the tank above you" thread and couldn't help but notice the LACK of Central American setups! So, I'd like to start this thread for everyone to show off their CA tanks. Post up a full tank shot here for everyone to see! :fish:

Although I'm sure most have seen my setup, I can't start a picture thread without a picture! Here's a FTS of my 135gal, taken about 10min ago!


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## rgr4475

I some how missed it. Beautiful tank!


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## CjCichlid

Hah, thanks!

Come on people, don't be shy! Let's see some more CA tanks! opcorn:


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## chrystal97

file:///C:/Users/cbailey5519/Pictures/20131011204502.gif


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## Marconi

Amazing!


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## BC in SK

A couple full tank pictures of my 180 gal., taken today:


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## simon m

Your tanks are amazing :thumb:


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## BC in SK

CjCichlid said:


> I was browsing the tank setup forum earlier and was looking through the "rate the tank above you" thread and couldn't help but notice the LACK of Central American setups!


Never seen that thread until now, and after looking through it, I can think of a few reasons why there would be a lack of CA tanks. Firstly, although there is way more interest in CA cichlids today then the past, there is still way, way more people keeping primarily African cichlids. But more importantly, I think people keeping CA cichlids are more interested in the fish themselves rather then aquascaping or any kind of particular decor or set up. The "rate the tank above you" thread is really about aquascaping and people's likes and dislikes.......not so much about fish.

From my perspective, in terms of what looks 'nice' to me, hard to beat some of the heavily planted tanks (a few of the African set -ups with fancy background and lighting might rival!). Most of these set ups would not be very practical for large CA...... but things like plastic plants and ceramic pots often are :lol:



CjCichlid said:


> Come on people, don't be shy! Let's see some more CA tanks! opcorn:


I posted on this thread to try and get it going......let's see some more! 
I think you will find many, if not most CA keepers set up tanks with primarily practical considerations of the needs of the fish, and more focus on the fish themselves rather then how the aquascaping looks to other people.


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## simon m

BC in SK said:


> CjCichlid said:
> 
> 
> 
> I was browsing the tank setup forum earlier and was looking through the "rate the tank above you" thread and couldn't help but notice the LACK of Central American setups!
> 
> 
> 
> Never seen that thread until now, and after looking through it, I can think of a few reasons why there would be a lack of CA tanks. Firstly, although there is way more interest in CA cichlids today then the past, there is still way, way more people keeping primarily African cichlids. But more importantly, I think people keeping CA cichlids are more interested in the fish themselves rather then aquascaping or any kind of particular decor or set up. The "rate the tank above you" thread is really about aquascaping and people's likes and dislikes.......not so much about fish.
> 
> From my perspective, in terms of what looks 'nice' to me, hard to beat some of the heavily planted tanks (a few of the African set -ups with fancy background and lighting might rival!). Most of these set ups would not be very practical for large CA...... but things like plastic plants and ceramic pots often are :lol:
> 
> 
> 
> CjCichlid said:
> 
> 
> 
> Come on people, don't be shy! Let's see some more CA tanks! opcorn:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I posted on this thread to try and get it going......let's see some more!
> I think you will find many, if not most CA keepers set up tanks with primarily practical considerations of the needs of the fish, and more focus on the fish themselves rather then how the aquascaping looks to other people.
Click to expand...

One reason I haven't put a pic of mine up is its more about the fish (jaguars) and I cant remember how to put a pic on just a vid !


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## CjCichlid

Thanks for sharing your tank BC! Stock and scape look good. I agree with your reasoning as well. To setup a well aquascaped CA tank you often need a larger than average aquarium. But, when done right it's hard to beat a well scaped, well stocked CA setup. CA fish just have so much more personality than Africans in my opinion!


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## Granman

I fell into the hobby by purchasing a Tiger Oscar for my daughter to occupy a 40 gal that I had in storage. She wasn't taking care of it, so I moved the tank out of her room into a common area of our home and have been fumbling my way thru the hobby ever since. I have learned so much over the past year and have realized the multitude of mistakes that I have made along the way, at the fish's expense. I really enjoy this hobby. I have since purchase a 75 gallon and put the central and south American cichlids in it and moved the 40 gal into my bedroom and set it up with Africans.

Is there a method for changing the sub straight that will not affect the fish in my tank. I realize now  , that gravel wasn't too great of a choice and would like to change it. I was also considering changing the method of under gravel filtration, after reading a post.

I'm not too good of a photographer so please excuse the many issues with my photo.


Cichlid Tank by micah_landry, on Flickr


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## Granman

Hey Chris, 
I really like your set up. Thanks for the pic, I plan to get another tank and now have some better ideas for the set up.


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## BC in SK

125 gal.


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## skurj

Granman said:


> Is there a method for changing the sub straight that will not affect the fish in my tank. I realize now  , that gravel wasn't too great of a choice and would like to change it. I was also considering changing the method of under gravel filtration, after reading a post.


I have seen a youtube video of someone replacing all of the substrate in an african tank with the fish still in it. Now I think he did it in one day.. not sure that's what I would do... What you could do is do it over the space of a week or 2 remove some of the gravel daily until you have a bare bottom tank. That might help the reduce the inevitable cycle you will get. Then making sure well rinsed you could gently add sand. Might be an idea to add some form of prefilter for your filters during adding sand, because it will cloud up for a few days. (mebbe a good idea to be prepared to do more water changes than usual during the process as well)

Not sure if you already have under gravel filtration.. if you do, you should get whatever you want to replace it on the tank and running for a few weeks before trying to change the substrate.


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## skurj

FOund this link over in the library if you wish to change gravel to sand:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/sand.php


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## notho2000

My CA tanks tend to be set up, not so much for looks but more for practical reasons. My main objective is to give the fish a sense of security by providing lots of structure in the form of driftwood, plastics plants, and flower pots/rockwork. Often a bare bottom or just a thin layer of sand/pebbles works well in terms of maintenance. I do have one tank that is more 'decorated' and here is a video of it.


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## CjCichlid

Thanks for sharing notho!

Not my tank but came across this recently on YouTube and thought I'd share it. Some real brutes in there; look at that BB!


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## CjCichlid

Stumbled across a Dutch website that had some awesome examples of CA tanks..




























You can go to the website here: http://www.centralamericancichlids.nl/

I used Google translate to help navigate the website. Does a decent job of translating, enough to give you the gist of what's being said. Check it out!


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## Neptune8

Here's my 135g tank with my old diy rocks and driftwood with some lighting effect.


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## CjCichlid

Clean and simple! Great job on the DIY background, and good looking Regani!

Thanks for sharing! :thumb:


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## CjCichlid

Came across this site today while I was.. "working". Probably should have posted it over in the Aquarium Deco forum but.. I like you guys better. 

Check it out.. not too many CA setups but lots of great biotopes!
http://all4aquarium.ru/en/events/jbl-biotope-contest-2013/entries


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## ahud

Bookmarked!


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## The Orangutan

Not strictly Central American with the Gourami, but thought it couldn't hurt to add a pic of what will be a std 4ft tank featuring a pair of blue acara (they're not happy at the moment and seperated)
Tank needs a clean but have a broken ankle so not the easiest of jobs. There's normally another bit of driftwood with anubia but it's in the isolation tank with the female acara in need of some rest.

(Googled where acara are from and some say central, some say southern america. Venezuela was mentioned so figure that's central enough haha)


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## CjCichlid

Good looking setup, thanks for sharing.

Blue Acara are definitely South American, however I see a T. meeki in there front and center so we'll let it slide! :wink:


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## BC in SK

The Orangutan said:


> Googled where acara are from and some say central, some say southern america.


It's really a question of which species is being referred to by the use of the common name of "blue acara".
_Andinoacara pulcher_ is from South America (Venezuela, Trinidad ect.)
_Andinoacara coeruleopunctatus_ is from Central America (Panama and Costa Rica).
Both go by the common name of "blue acara" and with out knowing collection point, it is more then difficult to distinguish these species.
Common aquarium strain 'blue acara' are often called and thought to be _Andinoacara pulcher_ ........but since we do not know where they were originally collected from, I don't think we really know for sure which species it is. There is even a chance it could be a mix of 2 or more 'blue acara'- types.


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## CjCichlid

Bumping this thread back up to the top to give some of our newer members.. or those new to the CA game a chance to show off their setups!

And can't post without a pic of course!









Don't be shy, lets see them! :fish:


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## Cichlid Debby

Well I know it's not completely CA but here goes anyway. Hoping to get some input.

CJ that tank is beautiful! What are you feeding your pearsei? His color is remarkable, I wish mine had those looks.

Deb


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## CjCichlid

Thanks Deb, your tank is looking good as well! I'm sure they are enjoying the extra room.

I feed my pearsei a staple of NLS thera A and Omega One Super color veggie pellets.. and then I'll occasionally throw in some zucchini or romaine lettuce for him to graze on (my argentea and BN plecos go crazy for it too). There are a few different varieties of pearsei as well. I have the "red finned" variety, which tend to be more vibrant in color. Your guy is still relatively small, give him some time and I'm sure he'll color up.

Just realized you are from Indiana! Where about? And.. did you happen to get your pearsei from The Reef? If so, our two pearsei are most likely siblings.


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## Cichlid Debby

CjCichlid said:


> Thanks Deb, your tank is looking good as well! I'm sure they are enjoying the extra room.
> 
> I feed my pearsei a staple of NLS thera A and Omega One Super color veggie pellets.. and then I'll occasionally throw in some zucchini or romaine lettuce for him to graze on (my argentea and BN plecos go crazy for it too). There are a few different varieties of pearsei as well. I have the "red finned" variety, which tend to be more vibrant in color. Your guy is still relatively small, give him some time and I'm sure he'll color up.
> 
> Just realized you are from Indiana! Where about? And.. did you happen to get your pearsei from The Reef? If so, our two pearsei are most likely siblings.


Yes, I got him from The Reef and I am in Mooresville.

Cool, Brother Fish 

Thanks for the feeding tips.


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## stalefish83

Here's my current CA set-up. It is NOT awesome, and the lighting is pretty bad (as you can see)... This is a 40g long and hopefully tonight I'll finish the upgrade to a 75, I'll post pics of that when I get it set-up in a way that I'm happy with. I too will be trying to balance aesthetic appeal with functionality and need. I'm really excited to be working with space that will allow me to play with background and foreground, that extra width should make a world of difference! If I can get it looking half as good as Cj's I'll be stoked! 



I'll be getting completely rid of the colored rock and going all grey (I think the larg-ish grey rock with black substrate will look good) and I have a couple more pieces of bogwood that's kind of "root-y" that I'll be able to use, then I'll be getting some additional bogwood with hopefully some high growing anubis to add some interest to the upper regions (the new tank is quite a bit taller)

Love the background on your's Deb. Is that Hokusai's wave? One of my favorite pieces of art.


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## Cichlid Debby

stalefish83 said:


> Love the background on your's Deb. Is that Hokusai's wave? One of my favorite pieces of art.


Yes it is, glad you like it. Here's my built thread if you are interested. Hope I did that right.

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=313058

And I agree, the grey rock would be a good addition. I like the low light, more dramatic.
Post more when you can.

Deb


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## stalefish83

Thanks Deb! The lighting actually does look pretty cool in person. It gives it some much needed dimension. This tank is so skinny that everything has to be on one plain, so the lighting helps give it some depth. The firemouth likes the darkness too  He'll haev to get used to more lighting soon, though.

I will def post pics of the new set-up!


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## CjCichlid

Not a bad start stalefish. I think the lighter gray rock will pair well with the darker substrate; much more so than the reddish brown rock. The addition of some driftwood and plants will also definitely help. I too like dimmer lit tanks as it definitely helps add some much needed depth and dimension to a scape. Looking forward to seeing your new 75gal!


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## stalefish83

Thanks Cj! I'm itching to get it rolling... I've finally finished vinegar bathing and cleaning all the equipment, so tonight i'll be rinsing it all then hopefully I can start putting it together!


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## stalefish83

I just posted my first journal with the new tank. It's not perfect yet, but I'm happy with where it's going. Here's the thread if you want to check it out:
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=316993&p=2283297#p2283297

And here's a pic of the tank as it stands now (after staying up until 3am when all was said and done!)


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## inth3shadows

Haven't had time to get a new shot of my tank. Took out a few rocks to make a more open area in the middle.

But this is one of the older ones.


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