And so it begins

[SunnyHouTX]

They are frikkin fat fishes!! Great fish and fotos. Can't wait to see their feeding frenzy! Prob gets water all over the floor.

I have a towel handy when I feed.

Doing that damn thang!

Hahaha! Even I was a bit skeptical

Skeptical of what Q?

Nice work with that camera!

So you have any photo edit program? Maybe try to crop out that flash points.

These fishes need to meet the glass on a DSLR lens. :)

Make them really pop.

Haven't messed with software yet Thai. Thinking of getting Light Room, but I do have Photoshop as well. Will try my hand at removing those flash points

[eklikewhoa]

When you asked for any suggestions/opinions about keeping all these petros I was skeptical of the outcome in spite of what answer I gave you.

[SunnyHouTX]

LoL! I guess I'm taking a cue from you 30 gal. TBH, don't really recall what you said exactly but I went ahead packing it with fishies, I have to have it tight in the there because it's male heavy. I did add more Substrat Pro to the canister in this tank and it helped out a lot. Happy with the water given the bio load.

[Complexity]

Tank looks really sharp! I love all the new fish! It's really come along nicely!

I'm curious, any special reason why you have the sand pushed away from the right side of the tank?

[SunnyHouTX]

Thanks Vicki!

I'm not the reason that the sand is that way. I have two 2800 GPH powerheads mounted to the left on both sides of the overflow that push all the sand to the left. Got tired of raking it back only to have it pushed again. Need to have that much flow to stir up detritus effectively in a deep tank like this. And with so many monsters creating a mess, I want it cleaned up as it happens.

[Complexity]

Ah, yes, that makes sense. You definitely need the flow, especially with that many fish in the tank. That was something I always had problems with in my 90g when I had cichlids in the tank. I found it difficult to get enough flow in the tank to move the detritus without also moving the sand. i'd say you made a good compromise. The tank still looks great, and I bet the fish love it!

[tbui1178]

NIce tank Sunny.. fishes look good.

[SunnyHouTX]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, I think the fish do enjoy the flow and more importantly clean H2O. But I must admit I enjoy it more because it's less work for me when it comes to maintenance. It's now come down to drain and refill 80% of tank every couple of weeks and clean canister every couple of months. Parameters are good and bacteria blooms are less since I upped the biomedia in the canister.

[Complexity]

I have to say that it's really an art (and a science!) to maintain a cichlid tank. It looks easy, but looks are deceiving. It's actually much more tricky than one would think. Having my 90g cichlid tank taught me a lot of respect for what you guys are doing.

[SunnyHouTX]

And I have a mutual respect for ppl like yourself who do amazing planned tanks.

I've looked at Bee's planned nano that I'm developing a slight itch. Maybe my Petro/Troph tanks well cure it, maybe not...

[mydawg8mystash]

sweet i like i as well am setting up a 125g i had to paint my stand and gonna paint the bottom trim of mine i have a canopy for the top still have to scrape the salt out and was it up then make sure its sealed i have all new hinges and knobs got some holy rock and drift wood blahhhh its taken soooo long to get this done but soon i hope here r some pixs if they dont work let me know plz http://s1167.photobucket.com/albums/...dawg8mystash2/

[Complexity]

Well, if your planted tank itch continues to need scratching, i'd be delighted to get you started. They're really not that difficult which is one reason why I've decided to convert my 90g to a planted tank. I decided to make life easier on myself.

[SunnyHouTX]

Well, if your planted tank itch continues to need scratching, i'd be delighted to get you started. They're really not that difficult which is one reason why I've decided to convert my 90g to a planted tank. I decided to make life easier on myself.

Well I'll keep that in mind. It will be my significant other's tank since she was into Bee's tank. It's her call really, and if she decides to go for it, then it's on.

[SunnyHouTX]

Magic beans doing their thing! A little haze still there because I just cleaned the canister, but all pigments are gone. Increased flow thought the sump as well, and that has helped in all of these a well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0ImuvFkirI

[SunnyHouTX]

WC time.