South American Cichlids • Biotodoma Cupido

[everlast]

Hope Im not jumping the gun but I just watched the video you posted Joe.....very impressed and quite surprised by the size of some of those cupidos and there are so many
The more I see of them just makes me more enthusiastic about the whole thing, I notice how nicely balanced you have shade and light in the tank....could be vitally important at keeping the little guys relaxed
Gives me alot to think about .
Thanks again, very much appreciated

[dwarfpike]

I know I was shocked the first time I saw adult Biotodoma ... I couldn't believe their height and thickness. Maybe because the babes are such slow growers. Made me rethink how big a tank they'd need for sure.

[everlast]

Just to update this, I have been so busy building a new stand for my 80 gallon and it took way longer to get everything in place. Lost a load of plant growth to the switch but they will come back ofc....had to prune everything right down. So yeah Im pretty much ready to go with the biotodoma. Im gonna really encourage the frogbit for shade and probably black out much of my lid to allow more areas of shade (joes tank has excellent use of light and dark ). My tank is all DIY as is my stand, my lid is a peice of custom cut polycarbonate....which works well but really allows the light to blast into the tank, could be too much for the biotodoma.

Need to add a few more round stones (ill put a few in where I manage to create shade..........its all a bit too bright atm)
What temp did you recommend Joe...I currently keep temp at 26.
Here is my tank and new stand...all DIY job....but yeah I am concerned by the lack of natural feel to my tank...probably some leaf litter and maybe some moss around the place could calm it down a little.....the jungle val and frogbit will provide nice shade once it grows back...wont take long...what ya reckon Joe??..........Im open to any advice or pointers.


Yeah and I have the 17 inch cube to the left also for emergencies/fry
**gotta be optimistic**

[everlast]

As for filtration I have 1000 lph external cannister filter and a 600 lph hang on back ....these filters have been running for around 9 months
I have two heaters...a 300 watt and 100 watt...seems a little overkill but its cold up here..lol

[Bamboo]

I love these guys !!! These are insane ... they were perfectly fine with crazy acidic and PH of a whopping 3.0 !!! NO JOKE !! but ...... I don't recommend that , LOL !!

[everlast]

Ah ...lol.....well my tap water is around 6.2 straight out the tap and water on west coast of scotland , ayrshire is very soft .......was a huge factor in going for these little guys

[joemc]

hi, sounds like you have water to suit these fish, i am typing from one of thosse little smart phones and cannot see the images you have postes, so i will reply in full lter to whTever questions you asked.... ps sorry for the bad spelling...my fingers are just too chubby for the keys on the sxreen!

[joemc]

Hi, nice job on the stand, colour coordinating bases etc . puts my Frankenstein setups to shame (well that's what my family call my tanks!)
temp in my cupido tank is around 25, it goes up or down a degree at different times of the year
my tank looks darker, with lots of shade due to the poor lighting I use and the fact that I have a home made background that I built into the tank, I built it like a riverbank, curved outwards towards the surface, like an overhang. It was built using polystyrene, cut and melted to shape, then painted with epoxy resin and coated with layers of different sands, grit and peat, it gives the tank a shaded dark effect, and now as it ages and gets coated with algae it looks very natural.
you can darken the tank a bit by adding black card or similar to the back and sides and maybe laying some black card on sections of the glass covers, that should give you the dappled shade you seem to be looking for, just moving it about till you get the look you want.
more boulders and chunks of roots will help with breaking up the open tank look and should help the fish settle and feel more confident, I have found though hat the F1 cupido in the tank have much less fear and shyness, and are less likely to bolt if startled.
thanks for posting the pictures and the update, always good to see how things are progressing
joe

[everlast]

Ill mess around with different ideas to achieve more shade........the frogbit used to carpet the entire surface which really worked well, it shouldn't be long in growing back. With regards feeding Im going to start my own cultivation of tubifex worms as I have read great things about the nutrition from them and the encouragement to spawn this can have on the fish. Anyways, thanks again Joe, Ill update this once I have something worthwhile to show ya mate

[everlast]

Update on this, completely reworked aquascape ......Ill post tomorrow......got it really nice for the biotodoma ..plenty of territories, shaded (potential spawning areas)....really happy. Anyway I started thinking that maybe 8 would be too much for my tank so I have 5 coming on Tuesday morning...2 male 3 female. Ill add to the colony next month once I gauge my stocking.
Ill post tomorrow

[everlast]

So below is setup which I reckon should give the little fish a nice array of territories and round the back of the large rocks is a nice shaded and hidden potential spawning area out the way. Not sure whether I should have gotten the 8 like I said but I am aware that alot of folks are quite surprised by size and thickness of these fish once mature so we will see how it goes.
I have flake, catfish/algae pellets and a little tubifex culture kit coming so I have a constant supply of live food, I like the earthworm idea Joe but dont have any grass/soil in my garden

Ill post a picture of them once they have settled in......the fish are a good 3" and Ill have 2 males, 3 females.

[everlast]

Ok got five today........and in retrospect I should have got more...(gonna get another five in a few weeks ^^)..they are only little and I totally underestimated my tank size (its 55x17x17 inches)
There were all struggling a little after shipment but are coming back round.....Ill post some pics tomorrow bar any disasters in next 24 hours

[everlast]

One of my little uns.....what age do u reckon Joe??


And below a close up of the little male who is definitely boss ....hes holding a patch of turf in middle of sand.....gutsy little guy...there about the same size as my columbian tetras....just over 2 inches.

[everlast]

Sorry tried last post from tablet ...what a mess..lol...ok here is one of the young uns in clear photo.....what age do u reckon Joe??


And yeah a close up of the male who's definitely boss of the little colony

[joemc]

hi, tks for posting an update, it is hard to estimate the age of your fish, if you sitck up more of the group in the tank it may be easier, but saying that the first shot of the full fish looks about 3 months old, their eye is way out of proportion to the body when young .
I measured some of my young offspring from eggs laid on the 1st of April are between 7.5 and 8.5 cm total length average and offspring from eggs laid on the 2nd of june are on average 7 cm total length , If that is of any use to help you guestimate their age
Please keep the updates coming, it is great to read them, esp if you get a few more to add to the group
cheers
joe