# Planted South American Tanks



## Sloory (May 27, 2006)

Hi has anyone attemped one of these?


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

A south american Biotope?
Yes I have not only attempted them, but I keep them.
Discus Tanks that are planted could be considered South American tanks couldn't they.
I have a planted tank with Apistos, Rams, Cardinal tetras, bristlenose plecos, they are all from South America.
As a matter of fact, 95 percent of my fish are from South America, and all of my favorite fish are from south america.
Plants, I have Swords from SA, etc, etc
I try to keep mostly only South, Central or even southern North american plants to keep with the biotope theme, but there are some plants that are not from south america in some of my tanks, because some are so very cool and some do even look like they fit the tank, so if you are saying that that is ont a south american tank, then you are technically right, but I still consider my tanks South American.


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## Sloory (May 27, 2006)

G'day, sorry i mean with the bigger cichlids like oscars or rivalatus or firemouths?
Its just that i would love to make a planted tank with bigger fish in it.
I know that oscars are supposed to be plant wreckers but there must be some way to do it?


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## goalcreas (Nov 20, 2006)

you can always put the plants in pots, that way they are harder to up-root.
If you get creative with rocks and wood, then you might be able to hide the pots


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Firemouths are workable


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## RuiEstrelinha (Feb 23, 2004)

Firemouths are Central American Cichlids 

Best regards,


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

I'm sure Steve knows that. I think he meant that you can keep them in South American biotope aquariums. Firemouths are from Central America, but they do occur in northern Venezuela, so close enough!


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## Steven_Chong (Mar 17, 2005)

Nope, didn't know that. And I just ment they don't really tear up plants (not too much). I mentioned that because sloory listed it as a fish he wanted to use.


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## Sloory (May 27, 2006)

Lol well didn't know that 

can anyone show me some good planted sth american tank pics on the net?


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## RuiEstrelinha (Feb 23, 2004)

I don't know about yours experiments with firemouths, but mine show me that they dig deeply 

BTW the water chemistry is a little bit diferent of the amazon bacin, they go well in alcaline waters.

I like this one! Not a full biotop but I think you can catch the feeling...



















Best regards,


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Yeah.....their range now is not only into the northern range of Venezuela, but as far north as Tampa, Florida!!!


The firemouths that I've had (note: this doesn't apply to all firemouths) never dug up pre-existing plants (well-rooted). I made a little cave for them before I got them, and they took to that very well. I hope that they do that in any existing tanks.


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## gacp (Sep 11, 2006)

RuiEstrelinha said:


> Firemouths are Central American Cichlids


Firemouth are Central and *North* American cichlids, actually.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

I would just say that they are Western Hemisphere cichlids now. They originate from Guatemala, however. They have been as far north as Florida, and as far South as Venezuela (about four years ago). They are pretty hardy fish!!


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## paradise (Jan 13, 2006)

Sloory said:


> Hi has anyone attemped one of these?


Yeah, Here is my 180g planted, with wildcaught Geophagus Altifrons, Columbian Tetras, Dinema Urostriatum and Dinema Longibarbis catfish, bushynose plecos and assorted cordoras.


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

Hey paradise, do you have problems with your pleco up rooting plants?


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## paradise (Jan 13, 2006)

No, not really. Most of the plants are either attached to wood, like the ferns, or attached to rocks, like the anubias. I used twist ties initially, some still have 'em and some already dont need 'em. The Crypts are wedged between rocks. I use very fine 3M Colorquartz sand, because Geos really like to sift it and it's non-abraisive, so all the plants need to be attached, or they will sift them out of the way.

Once in a while a plant comes up, and I just put it back during WCs.


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

your tank is a work of art. would geos go well with rams?


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## paradise (Jan 13, 2006)

Orlando, thanks, Geos do wonderfully with rams. I did not want to list EVERY fish in that tank, but there are a few apistos, a geo or two, and a couple of other throw in misc. fish in there. I was really trying to do things that fit together. 

Columbian tetras when they achieve good size (close to 2") are amazing as a shoal fish in a big tank, they are silver with BRIGHT red fins. And Geos are really peacefull fish, they wont hurt a fly. At their big size they are total wusses.


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## orlando (Feb 14, 2007)

I think Ill try them if I can find some, maybe those columbian tetras as well. Is that an overflow box
on your tank?


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## paradise (Jan 13, 2006)

Yeah, the tank is sitting next to two walls, behind it and to the right, so the overflow was made for the right side, to be out of the way. It's a trapezoid shape, with two out-flows midlevel that push water all the way through the 6 feet of the tank, creating an updraft that carries the "crap" towards the overflows. It works out really well, you just need a very nice size pump. I use a 2,400gph pump that does a hell of a job, and a 2" drain to make sure that the water has room to flow. 

One thing with this setup, you have to feed sinking foods, because if you feed floating foods, the food just swims to the overflow, even if you do it at the other end. But with Geos that is perfect


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