[alvliet]

Hi there,

Hoping to get some good ideas on fish for two separate biotope aquariums. In one, I'd like to have a larger group of 12-18 altum angels, and the other will have 6-10 uaru. Past that, I'm not 100% sure of what might be interesting to add that fits the biotope. Not limiting things to cichlids - I'd like to have a mix of smaller schooling fish for the upper and middle water columns, something to occupy the bottom of the tank (most likely corydoras), and possibly some others like another group of smaller cichlid species, plecos, etc. Both tanks will be 8 feet, anywhere from 280-375 gallons depending on what fits (hoping for 96x30x30).

So, what would you add?

 

[sir_keith]

Oh man, those are going to be two seriously cool aquaria! I don't have specific suggestions, but Amazonia is full of characids of all shapes and sizes, so you can pretty much take your pick. I would choose medium-sized schooling fishes, nothing too nippy, nor too active. My personal taste would be to have large schools of just two or three species, rather than a potpourri of species, which is how these fishes occur in nature. I'll be really interested in how this turns out, so please keep us posted! BTW, where are you sourcing the altums?

Good luck. :thumb:

 

[sir_keith]

You're probably familiar with Edgar Ruiz' article on P. altum biotopes, published some time ago, and reprinted as a PDF file here-

http://www.theangelfishsociety.org/newsletters/2009_Aug_v23.pdf

 

[alvliet]

You're probably familiar with Edgar Ruiz' article on P. altum biotopes, published some time ago, and reprinted as a PDF file here-

http://www.theangelfishsociety.org/newsletters/2009_Aug_v23.pdf

I've seen that one before, but lost it a while back - thank you SO MUCH for bringing that back!

 

[Auballagh]

Those will be some killer aquariums someday. :thumb:
Do you have naturally softer, PH neutral water where you are from? The biotopes you are looking to set up reflect fish from black water conditions (very low acidic) to soft white water. With naturally soft water (or a Reverse Osmosis filtration source), those cichlids will color up beautifully for you. With the Uarus I would strongly consider adding a 6 to 8 member school of earth eaters, as well. Species are pretty much whatever you can get in some numbers, I suppose. G. altifrons is a very nice one. The smaller growing G. steindachneri 'Tapajos Red Head' variety is apparently super hot right now in the hobby, and might be more readily available.
And, I totally agree with 'DJRansome' in that your biotoopes will probably look nicer with less variety, and more fish of the same species. For schooling non-cichlids, I really like the larger growing Buenos Aires Tetra with those Uarus. With the p. altums they would work well with the more peaceful Emperor or possibly Bleeding Heart Tetra. For the bottom of the P. altum biotope, I would go with either a big shoal of either Pictus or Corydoras catfish.

 

[sir_keith]

Those will be some killer aquariums someday. :thumb:
Do you have naturally softer, PH neutral water where you are from? The biotopes you are looking to set up reflect fish from black water conditions (very low acidic) to soft white water. With naturally soft water (or a Reverse Osmosis filtration source), those cichlids will color up beautifully for you. With the Uarus I would strongly consider adding a 6 to 8 member school of earth eaters, as well. Species are pretty much whatever you can get in some numbers, I suppose. G. altifrons is a very nice one. The smaller growing G. steindachneri 'Tapajos Red Head' variety is apparently super hot right now in the hobby, and might be more readily available.
And, I totally agree with 'DJRansome' in that your biotoopes will probably look nicer with less variety, and more fish of the same species. For schooling non-cichlids, I really like the larger growing Buenos Aires Tetra with those Uarus. With the p. altums they would work well with the more peaceful Emperor or possibly Bleeding Heart Tetra. For the bottom of the P. altum biotope, I would go with either a big shoal of either Pictus or Corydoras catfish.

Totally agree with everything you said, except that 'DJRansome' is not a participant in this thread...

 

[fishguy1978]

Those will be some killer aquariums someday. :thumb:
Do you have naturally softer, PH neutral water where you are from? The biotopes you are looking to set up reflect fish from black water conditions (very low acidic) to soft white water. With naturally soft water (or a Reverse Osmosis filtration source), those cichlids will color up beautifully for you. With the Uarus I would strongly consider adding a 6 to 8 member school of earth eaters, as well. Species are pretty much whatever you can get in some numbers, I suppose. G. altifrons is a very nice one. The smaller growing G. steindachneri 'Tapajos Red Head' variety is apparently super hot right now in the hobby, and might be more readily available.
And, I totally agree with 'DJRansome' in that your biotoopes will probably look nicer with less variety, and more fish of the same species. For schooling non-cichlids, I really like the larger growing Buenos Aires Tetra with those Uarus. With the p. altums they would work well with the more peaceful Emperor or possibly Bleeding Heart Tetra. For the bottom of the P. altum biotope, I would go with either a big shoal of either Pictus or Corydoras catfish.

G. steindachneri 'Tapajos Red Head' I have been wondering where the redheads fell in the Geo family.
I agree fewer species looks better. With the Uaru I would do one of the larger cory cats.
Look forward to seeing what you do.

 

[Auballagh]

'sir_keith' wrote:

Totally agree with everything you said, except that 'DJRansome' is not a participant in this thread...

-
Oh yeah.... sorry, that is totally on me.
-
And, is a bit of an unintended compliment actually. I really admire 'DJRansome' a lot! And, for some reason reason your well written, very informative responses had that same direct, knowledgeable style to them.
My apologies again, and please don't misinterpret my mistake as intentional or a slight.

 

[sir_keith]

'sir_keith' wrote:

Totally agree with everything you said, except that 'DJRansome' is not a participant in this thread...

-
Oh yeah.... sorry, that is totally on me.
-
And, is a bit of an unintended compliment actually. I really admire 'DJRansome' a lot! And, for some reason reason your well written, very informative responses had that same direct, knowledgeable style to them.
My apologies again, and please don't misinterpret my mistake as intentional or a slight.

No offense taken. :thumb:

 

[alvliet]

Thanks for the responses! I definitely want to keep things simpler, just a few species per tank.

Definitely a large school of tetras and a large school of corydoras in each tank. Probably a few smaller plecos, a smaller cichlid species in with the altums, and a medium-size species with the uaru.

In the altum tank, I'm considering rummynoses or cardinals for the tetras. Corys will be sterbai, metae, or schwartzi. For a smaller cichlid group, considering Dicrossus filamentosus, Biotodoma wavrini, or Mikrogeophagus ramirezi.

In the uaru tank, I'm pretty sold on the bigger emperor tetras, such a cool species; lemon or silvertip tetras are pretty cool too, though. Corydoras probably ornate or bronze, but if I don't go with sterbai in the altum tank I'd consider them here. As far as cichlids, altifrons or the orange head geos would be pretty cool in a group. Maybe a mix of uaru, altifrons, and daemons? I think that might look pretty cool with the right lighting to display their true colors, especially with lemon or emperor tetras in there. I want some bigger royal plecs in this tank as well.

The other option would just be a group of 6, 8, 10 uaru. Tetras, corydoras, a big royal plec or two. No eartheaters - might be a bit more visually appealing, I'm not too sure on that though

Thoughts on species selection? What would you choose?