The Planted Tank Forum banner

100 gallon PLANTED Eartheater tank!

8K views 38 replies 13 participants last post by  rowdaddy 
#1 · (Edited)
“It can’t be done,” they said! Well, they’ve never met someone as determined as ME! :proud:
Sure, some people might tie plants to driftwood in their Eartheater tank. But I'm gonna do way better. I've got a plan.

The fish:
6 Eartheaters (5 Geophagus Altifrons, 1 Satanoperca Jurupari)
2 Delhezi Bichirs
8 Angelfish
1 Chocolate Pleco
1 Raphael Catfish
A few livebearers
1 German Blue Ram
1 extremely mean little Red Tail Black Shark. She rules the tank.
If the Bichirs decide to start causing problems, they’ll be sold. But I’ve had them for a long time and so far they get along just fine with everyone. The Pleco will be sold once he’s bigger. The Angels…Well, we’ll see how they all interact once a pair or more has formed. I have a feeling some will need to be sold. I had not originally planned on adding them to this tank, however(long story) their tank is being torn down and I did not want to sell them. So, to the big tank they went!
My stock is just going to be a “hope for the best” type situation, I’m prepared to change it up if need be. The Eartheaters and RTBS are NEVER going anywhere. The tank is designed around them.

The problem:
Eartheaters spend their time grabbing big mouthfuls of sand, and swimming around the tank sifting it through their gills in search of food. They especially love taking sand from the base of objects such as driftwood, rocks…plants…you can see how that would be a problem. Plant something in the substrate and it’ll be floating within a couple hours. Every. single. time.

Equipment:
Filtration is a huge fx5, and I do 50% water changes every week. This tank is low-tech. I’m not even sure what the lighting is, it’s just what came with the tank. The bulb on the right side needs to be replaced because it’s a 50/50 and makes that side of the tank look dark. I don’t know how that would affect plants, so I haven’t really put any on that side of the tank yet. Substrate is nothing special, just stuff from Petsmart.

This is my only “before” picture. When I moved 3 hours north, I took out all the white sand(it had washed out my fish, made them look very dull and colorless), and the tank was barebottom for a while until I could afford black sand. This picture is after I added a couple bags of sand, which is why the tank is cloudy. The black Pleco on the front glass is no longer in the tank.

 
See less See more
1
#8 ·
Eartheaters are awesome. These ones (Geophagus Altifrons) can hit the 12" mark, though that is uncommon. They spend all their time grabbing mouthfuls of sand and sifting it through their gills. The reason it took me so long to start this tank is because I couldn't use the cheap sand from Tractor Supply like I wanted to - it was plenty soft but had some odd glass "sticks" in it that I feared would hurt the Eartheaters gills. So I had to save up $100+ to buy Petsmart brand sand.

Your Geophagus look really nice. Have you had them since they were juveniles? When the water clears, please post some close ups of them.
The water's been clear for a couple months now ;) I just finally got in the first shipment of plants a few days back...figured it'd be a good time to start the thread. I was planning on not posting pictures of the fish until after I showed all the steps of planting to the tank, but I guess I can give ya'll a little sneak peek...


Sorry about the really bad quality image. I don't have a slave flash(can't afford it, all money is going towards my fishies) and I can't use the mounted flash with these guys, because their scales react weird with it and it makes them all...weird. So I had to use ISO 1600 :icon_neut

And yes, I've had them since they were about 2 or 2.5"!


This picture isn't as bad as the last one. Here's one of the angels. :)
 
#9 ·
Thanks! Yeah, it didn't take me long after joining this forum to realize that the usual stock list consists of either shrimp or small, peaceful fish. I have everything from predators to community fish, to little shrimpies! But these fish are by far my favorite.
 
#10 ·
Very first thing I did was take this Java Fern out of the Angelfish tank. I had it tied near the top of the tank, so it let down some crazy roots. It measured 2 feet from top to bottom.


I cut it in 3 pieces and attached it to my driftwood. Took off the roots.


I also added a tall Wisteria...I think that I took that one out of the Angel tank, too.

The way I keep my Eartheaters from uprooting everything, is by tying it to eggcrate with fishing line. It's a hassle and a pain in the you-know-what, but so far it has been working very well. I didn't take any pictures when I tied it to the eggcrate, but I did the next time I added plants. Pictures of that will come later.

Scaping a tank gets more difficult when you already have fish in there!

Here's a video of it after adding the cut up Java Fern, Wisteria, and Amazon Sword.

 
#12 ·
Nope, I have never once seen her try to jump. She is too busy bullying the Geo's!
But I do keep a lid on the tank, because when the Bichirs and Pleco go up to get air they do it full-speed. At night if I hear a loud bang in the tank, I know that it's the Pleco smacking against the lid when he goes up for air. I use Eggcrate as a lid because I broke both sides of the glass one...But now that I'm actually growing plants, I think I need to switch back to glass and just be very careful...I don't think eggcrate(also known as light diffuser!) is a good choice for a lid.
 
#13 ·
Cool tank! I absolutely love bichirs, my buddy has two senegals and they are sweet, cool personalities. Nice driftwood, will look awesome when covered. Really like the contrast with the dark gravel too. Wisteria looks like a cool plant too, might have too look into it- I assume it is pretty hardy based on the low-tech setup?
 
#14 ·
Yeah, the Bichirs are awesome. I hope they continue to get along with everybody as they get bigger, I'd be really sad if I had to sell them.

Yes, Wisteria is ridiculously hardy. Once it gets past 6" it grows so freaking fast, it's ridiculous...I started with 4 little plants and after just a few months it's taken over half my tanks...
 
#16 ·
Well...I do have 3 Odessa Barbs in the tank right now, as a temporary thing. Long story as to why there's only 3. She leaves them alone. However if it were me, I would not risk putting her in with a tank of small fish. She is a horribly vicious little thing. Today I watched her attack one of the smaller Eartheaters (about 4.5"? Maybe bigger...) she chased him around the tank as fast as she could until he was forced to go hide underneath the output of the fx5, inside the tall Wisteria. That doesn't happen too often, but it still does happen every now and then...When she was a little baby I had her in a 35 gallon, and she was so territorial that she killed 2 Mollys. And she's only gotten meaner since then, but the big tank has helped a lot. Still though, even in 100 gallons she's very territorial.
I guess it's possible that I just got an overly aggressive one. But personally I wouldn't risk putting one with small fish. However I'd be interested in what other people have experienced with these fish, I wonder if they're all as mean as mine.

She is so pretty, pictures just don't do her justice.
 
#18 ·
So after I did all that, I finally got around to ordering my first bunch of plants from my LFS. If I remember correctly it is Crypt Spiralis, another kind of Crypt, and Jungle Val. One of each, but I'm going to be adding more. I also took a Narrow Leaf & Windelov Java Fern out of my other tanks, plus some plant that I got from Petsmart a couple months back. I have absolutely no idea what it is, but it's pretty. We'll see how much of the brown/red/pink color it retains after being in this tank for a while.

Tying a crypt to eggcrate...Any idea what kind it is? Would it be Wendtii "Green"? I have no idea.


Thanks goodness I had my little helper with me. Without her herding this plant, it might have grown legs and ran away! But as long as Nelly's watching them, I can be sure it isn't going anywhere!!


She also keeps a watchful eye on the fish at my favorite LFS. Everyone there gets a kick outta her, it's not often that you see a Border Collie attempting to herd fish. Or, last time, it was a slow-moving snail that kept her captivated for probably 10 minutes or more.



Anyways, after I adding the plants I also put in the 8 Angelfish from one of the tanks that's being torn down. There are 3 Odessa Barbs(temporary), and a Platy.



Can anybody ID this plant? I got it from Petsmart a couple months ago. In my other tank it's much taller with a lot of small leaves, instead of short with thick, dark leaves in this tank.

 
#19 ·
The fish is so striking I want to develop my choice of other fish around it. Reading has so far suggested an aggresive fish. A tip on another website suggested placing the red-tailed black shark in as a last addition that way you prevent the rts from claiming territory over the entire tank. Along with the simple tips of avoiding similar looking fish, same genus, but to rather match it with a moderate aggresive fish that is more robust (some websites have suggested a variation of the barb)

It will be trial and error! I'm so far out from even having any fish (currently in week 2 of my dry start), will likely have my first fill of water during the last week of march, then planning to just focus on the plant growth and stabilize that system before slowly adding fish. IF I make the choice to add the red-tailed black shark in - it will be a final addition to the piece. Until then, I'll keep the learning up! Thanks for the advice.
 
#21 ·
Nice Tank

The tank looks really nice!! Other people have posted about braiding nylon ropes with plants in it ( mostly types of moss ), I wondered if that would work since it doesn't need the substrate. Maybe the Angels would enjoy the rope if they like the upper levels of the tank.
My sister had a red tailed shark in her tank and it was incredibly aggressive and would pick on the other fish, though I do not recall if it actually killed the fish. If you have a quarantine tank you might want to be prepared to remove the red tail have a small basket to cover him with upon introduction into the tank, until you see how he is going to be with the other fish.
 
#25 ·
New video! Since the last video, the following had been added:

Several plants,
Rocks!! Collected at the creek behind my house.
3 Odessa Barbs. They are not permanent residents.
1 Platy
8 Angels

The fx5 was moved to the left side of the tank, where I have a few feet between the tank and my wall. I'm going to put a tall table over it so that it can't be seen. It doesn't fit in the stand under my tank!

This video was taken right after feeding time. Constructive criticism is welcome!
I should be picking up more plants tomorrow, by the way. We'll see if my LFS gets in the ones that I want.

 
#29 ·
Thank you!
She's great. She's my main photography subject. Contrary to what the pictures I've posted so far suggest, my pictures don't ALL suck! Lol!


Sorry. Not fish related, I know...But I have very little self-restraint when it comes to sharing pictures of my dog. Your fault! You brought it up! :icon_wink


I could watch your tank for a long time. :) Nice plant additions.
Thanks! Hopefully tomorrow my LFS will have the plants I ordered so I can post another update in a few days!
When I started this hobby I never thought I'd end up being excited about plants, of all things! But here I am less than a year later....
 
#28 ·
love your Geos.
your tank is similar to mine, but I have stayed with plants on the drift wood. I have had a time finding eartheaters, was hoping for Geophaygus Tapajos as they are smaller but stumbled on a heckli(sp?) locally. now I need another, I love this fish.
I had a couple angels in my tank but the geo kept them herded in the upper corner by the filter outlet, I am thinking another geo in the tank will help keep the one I have distracted as I see yours don't bother with your angels at all.
I also have rainbows and headlight tetras in this tank.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=198412&highlight=
 
#30 ·
Yes, I do think it's the group that keeps them from harassing the other fish. I can count on one hand the number of times that I've one chase after a fish that wasn't another Geo...And that was all just a quick dart towards them during feeding time.
As you can see in the video they do harass each other quite a bit, but not to the point where it's a problem. All of them, EXCEPT for the dominant male(or female) have slightly tattered up back fins from picking on each other. Nobody messes with the dominant fish so he has perfect fins.

Here's a decent iPhone picture of him/her.
 
#31 ·
it is strange that although my geo kept a sharp eye on the angels it pays the small fish no mind at all as if they were not even in the tank.
I have also noticed that the geo has picked the drift wood clean of any fuzzy growth, carefully cleaned around mosses and plant roots!

great shot and even better one of the dog! made me laugh
 
#33 ·
Your tank is so zen and relaxing at feeding time, beautiful to watch. Our neon tetras look more like pirahnas at feeding time. Do you think that the angels are better in large groups too? I love the picture of your dog, does she watch the fish in the tank or just help you set them up? =)
 
#34 ·
Yes, I love feeding time in my tank. The first minute or so is complete chaos, I use pellets that float for just a little bit before falling down, and the angels will be practically jumping out of water when eating them, the Jurupari will come near the surface and grab as many as he possibly can, the Altifrons get excited and start beating each other up...But then they all calm down and the angels start to just float around looking for more food and the Geos go and sift sand to get all the ones that have fallen down. It's pretty entertaining.

I'm not sure if Angels are better in large groups or not, TBH.

Thanks, Nelly's awesome :) She watches the fish AND helps me set up. When I was setting up the fx5 I put all my filter media from the AC110 into a bucket of tank water, and she was SO convinced that there were fish in the bucket that she refused to stop looking into it for about half an hour. There were no fish in the bucket...
 
#35 ·
Oh my god! I just went over to the tank and one of the Angels was stuck between the back wall and the filter intake! I turned off the filter right away and he slowly went to the top, and he's just staying there gasping at the surface. He's missing an eye now... :frown: I have no idea how this happened..
 
#39 ·
I'm sorry to hear about your angel. :(

Why were you attaching crypts to eggcrate? Was that a sword in the eggcrate in the next pic?

I am Rowdaddy.
SC Aquaria

75 Community
20H Community
20L Convict "Bedroom"
20L Growout
10gal RCS
1.5gal in progress
55 gal Paludarium/Vivarium coming soon
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top