# My 50 gallon planted Amazon community tank



## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Hey all,

here's a couple of pictures of my 50 gallon tank (40x16x20") that now is a planted Amazone tank. It has 550 gallons of hour on filtration, 2 30W light strips (one Daylight, one Grolux Plant light).

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Tank shot

Plants are: Anubias barteri, Crinum calamistratum (that spiral-leafed plant in the center), Echinodorus bleheri (Amazon Sword Plant: heavily damaged because of some of the inhabitant's preference for greens







they will be replaced soon), Ophiopogon japonicus, Vallisneria americana (Jungle Vallisneria).

Some pics of some of the inhabitants:

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Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuoides) - x3

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Ram Cichlid (Microgeophagus ramirezi) - x3

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Blue Emperor Tetra (Inpaichthys kerri) - x5

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Cardinal Tetra's (Paracheirodon axelrodi) - x15

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Common Otocinclus (Otocinclus vittata) - x5

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Zebra otocinclus (Otocinclus cocama) - x1

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Candy Stripe Pleco (L015 Peckoltia sp.) - x1

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Royal Pleco (L190 Panaque cf. nigrolineatus) - x1

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Leopard pleco (L114 Pseudacanthicus cf. leopardus) - x1

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Blue Fin "Panaque" (L239 Ancistrinae sp.) - x1

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Red Nose Shrimp (Caridina gracilirostris) - x5

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Red Cherry Shrimp (Neocaridina denticulata) - x1

I still left out a few fish/shrimp, but I think this does the trick quite nicely.
Looking forward to comments/questions from you guys


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## jan (Apr 24, 2004)

Is this your former Manny tank?

The tank looks great with a great choice of fish. This goes especially for the pleco's: flawless looking, as always


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## CichlidAddict (Jul 1, 2005)

Looks great! Don't any of the fish bother the shrimp?


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

ive never seen a zebra otocinclus before, very cool


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## werdna (Mar 15, 2005)

HOLY CRAP MAN THAT IS A SWEET TANK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Joga Bonito (Oct 30, 2004)

sweet tank, man


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

Your tank looks terrific,
I bet it's an active tank


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Dr.Zoidberg said:


> I bet it's an active tank[snapback]1158193[/snapback]​


Hell yeah - if I watch it too long, my head starts spinning








Quite something else if you're used to Redbellies.

CichlidAddict: so far, so good. Maybe one day some of the Cichlids or Pleco's start a liking for shrimp, but so far, so good: until then, I feed them well and hope they leave them alone...

Puff: was the first time I ever saw one of those as well (and for 10% of the average retail price: god bless LFS that don't know what they sell







)
It's almost like a poor man's Zebra Pleco...

Jan: that's Manny's former home









Thanks for all your kind words, guys


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

Great tank Jonas!

I really like the zebra otto.We resently bring for the first time 100 of these from peru....they are fantastic!!!!I want a heavilly planted tank full of them!


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## NIKE (Jan 27, 2003)

very cool Jonas







great set-up


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## Pilsnah (Mar 19, 2005)

Good looking tank Jonas. Maybe you could add a few more cardinals, i like those and furthermore I was thinking corydoras (sterbai?) or brochis splendens. Also a favorite of mine is angelfish, add a few of those?

Good luck!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Pilsnah said:


> Good looking tank Jonas. Maybe you could add a few more cardinals, i like those and furthermore I was thinking corydoras (sterbai?) or brochis splendens. Also a favorite of mine is angelfish, add a few of those?
> 
> Good luck!
> [snapback]1159025[/snapback]​


Thanks for the compliment









To be honest, I think the tank is already quite obscenely overstocked, so I doubt I'll add much more (if anything at all). 15 Cardinals should be enough to make them feel secure. And if I were to add more Tetra's, it will be Rummy-Noses or Blue Emperors, as their numbers are smaller (8 Rummy's and 5 Emperors).
Cory's (especially C. panda and C. sterbai) and Brochis are very sweet, but I already have a South American Bumblebee Catfish, a dozen shrimps, half a dozen Pleco's and half a dozen Otocinclus in there - that's already pushing it. Besides that, I already have 2 species of Pygmy Cories in my 10 gallon tank, so their family is already covered, lol.
And Angel Fish sure look nice, but I don't like them all that much. And they're likely to eat the shimp and Cardinals, and that's not what I'm waiting for...

Jim: yeah, those Zebra's are amazing. Too bad they only had one of them at the store - I'd have bought more if they had more (especially for the 2,30 euro's a piece the asked for it







)
What is the average price of these guys in Greece, btw? Here it's between 15-20 euro's









Thanks for your kind words, John


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

Great looking tank Judazzz!!!

I'm sure the plants can help take care of some of the nitrates those fish give off, so the overstocking may not be as much of a prob as you may think. Ever think of some grasses?


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## Red Eyes (Nov 25, 2003)

Awesome looking tank Jonas







Sweet looking German Ram!


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## shutter13 (Jun 23, 2004)

very nice tank bro!!

but it looked better with your manny in it


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## Pilsnah (Mar 19, 2005)

He jonas, ik zat nog even na te denken, maar zou een aantal bijlzalmen niet cool zijn? Dan heb je wat meer stratificering in je bak.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

traumatic said:


> I'm sure the plants can help take care of some of the nitrates those fish give off, so the overstocking may not be as much of a prob as you may think. Ever think of some grasses?[snapback]1159072[/snapback]​


Yeah, that's what I was thinking: I also replace 50-60% of the water weekly (in 2 or 3 shifts), so I doubt nitrAtes will ever go beyond 15-20 ppm.
And besides that, the filtration system should be enough for a community tank 3 times this tank's size, so I'm not really worried about the water quality.

Gord: what are German Rams? A variety of _A. ramirezi_? Or is that how they are called in your area?

Shutter: I agree







But it's a nice alternative, and since I'm getting a new Manny in the not-so-distant future (to live in the tank currently inhabited by my Reds: I'm looking for a good home for them), I'll have best of both worlds









Pils: I've been thinking about Hatchet Fish indeed - maybe I'll add a few in the future, hoping to find a not-so-common species.
Btw: if you happen to know any other interesting just-below-the-surface species of fish, let me know.

Thanks for your compliments, fellows


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## Red Eyes (Nov 25, 2003)

[/quote]... Gord: what are German Rams? A variety of _A. ramirezi_? Or is that how they are called in your area? ...
[snapback]1160099[/snapback]​[/quote]

Jonas: Thats what they have them labelled as in the LFS here I dont' know if there is any difference. I like the Bright Red Eyes and their vibrant colours


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## acestro (Jul 7, 2003)

For a top dweller, I'd say "splash tetras" Copeina arnoldi

A truly unique fish (spawning above water, male splashes eggs to keep moist...), but also attractive.

Again, more praises to your biotope!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

acestro said:


> For a top dweller, I'd say "splash tetras" Copeina arnoldi
> 
> A truly unique fish (spawning above water, male splashes eggs to keep moist...), but also attractive.
> 
> ...


I've heard of those - in Dutch they are called "Spatzalm" ("zalm" meaning salmon, "spat" meaning "splash"). Sweet fish and an excellent suggestion, but unfortunately I've never seen them in person (those Blue Emperors are already considered fancy Characins here







)
Thanks for the compliment btw, and thanks for your explanation, Gord


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## ronzz (Oct 26, 2004)

nice set up







real natural looking


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## polomax24 (Jun 14, 2005)

Nice pleco collection you have there!


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## ineedabox (Apr 20, 2004)

As usual, an awsome tank, Jonas.

Keep up the good work!


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

...thanks guys...


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## Gordeez (Sep 21, 2003)

Damn man! 550 Gallons of filteration AN hour?? What kinda of Filter are you using? Im only doing like 200 on my 55









Thats a Kick Ass Set up man. Manny would've loved that set-up wih those fishes in there


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## MyNiggLos (Dec 10, 2004)

kool


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## Chouin (Jun 8, 2003)

Nice fish and thank as always
Chouin


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

Judazzz said:


> Jim: yeah, those Zebra's are amazing. Too bad they only had one of them at the store - I'd have bought more if they had more (especially for the 2,30 euro's a piece the asked for it
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 12 to 15 euros but only once they where imported.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Gordeez said:


> Damn man! 550 Gallons of filteration AN hour?? What kinda of Filter are you using? Im only doing like 200 on my 55
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's a left-over from when Manny still ruled that tank (and yeah, he'd love that set-up.... as lunch...







)
The filters are:
- Eheim Classic 2215 canister (~160 gph) 
- Fluval 4 internal filter (~250 gph)
- AquaFlow 2 internal filter (~125gph)

Jim: sounds like a reasonable price (although still a hefty price for an Oto







) No reason to complain about the price I had to pay, that's for sure









Thanks for your compliments, guys


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