Our fish tank has been overhauled.
For years, it was filled with Electric Yellow cichlids and a giant catfish. After the last of the yellows died, Pete decided he’d like a different sort of tank – this time housing a variety of African lake cichlids, all males, with just one of each species. The hope was that a tank without any females and other competing males would reduce territorial and aggressive behaviour, while still providing plenty of colour and interest.
As with all projects in our house, it’s taken a very long time – well over a year. Setting up a fish tank takes ages anyway – the water needs to rest for up to six weeks before it’s ready for fish. In our case, it was a much bigger job as the entire polystyrene backdrop had to be removed and replaced with large river rocks (known in the aquarium trade as “Lucky Stones”), and a new top had to be constructed.
The first step was to source the rocks – incredibly expensive to buy in aquarium shops, but an absolute steal if purchased directly from landscaping suppliers. This huge box cost us just $10…
Figuring out how to position the stones was a slow, thoughtful process. Good design can never be rushed. In the end, we finally arrived at a layout that Pete was happy with, and Uncle Steve (Pete’s brother) came over to help set it all up (bless him)…
It was a couple of months after the photo above was taken before we were able to add fish to the tank. Elvis the plecostomus (catfish) went in first – he’s strong and resilient and could cope with the less than optimum water conditions…
Fish are tricky pets to keep as they have quite a high attrition rate – of the seventeen that went in initially, we lost five within the first few months. A couple got sick, but the others became stressed and simply stopped eating – apparently a not uncommon occurrence in a community tank while the group dynamic is sorting itself out. We’ve added a few new ones since then, so currently we have sixteen cichlids plus Elvis.
Bulldog, Rainbow Fish, Sushi2, Tuna, Marlin, Columbus, Moby, Barry, Mad Fish, Stewie, Toby, Mack, Hal, Rick, Henry and Blackie. Columbus has done so well that he’s now on loan back to Labyrinth Aquariums to breed up the next generation.
The largest cichlids in the tank (Hal and Bulldog) have grown to over 5″ (13cm) in length. When we put them in, they were less than 2″ long. As you can see, they’re all doing very well at the moment!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
It’s pretty cool, Celia. :)
Thanks G! x
How lovely!
Thanks Jeannette – we love them!
Elvis is a hero Ms Celia. What a star! Thank goodness he is resilient :)
Fran, he’s so tough! Our first pleco lived for 12 years and was called Picasso! :)
Sounds like our kind of fish Ms Celia :)
Nice Celia! We are in the midst of replanting our community tank, it’s time consuming but definitely a labor of love!
Emily, the nice thing about a Malawi River biotype (as Pete calls it) is no plants! :)
Better than TV!
We really do sit and watch it for hours!
Beautiful fish! I love their vivid colors. Why does the water have to sit for 6 weeks before the fish can go in? Watching fish is very relaxing. My children always enjoy watching the fish when we visit someone with an aquarium.
Pete says the water needs to “cycle” – the bacterial colonies in the biological filters need to establish so that they can process the ammonia from the fish waste. Cichlids in general are more finicky about water than goldfish etc.
Beautiful fish! My boys would be so jealous.
Maybe that’s your hubby’s next project! :)
I would never get anything done! My aunt & uncle were given a tank and now have fish in their living room… my attention and conversation tends to get a bit distracted when I visit these days :)
ED, it’s very soothing. I do find myself watching them every day at a time for extended periods! :)
Tranquility… sheer tranquility. Thanks for the peek at your fish tank, Celia, especially the video clip. Ahhhhh… love the stone arrangement and the names you picked out for your fish family members! :) xo
It’s taken a bit of work, but we can now recognise every fish by name! :)
Oh beautiful! Tranquil and serene :) xo
Thanks Becca! xx
I get such a sense of peace when I watch fish. That’s really nice, Celia.
Thanks Maureen! We love them!
There is something very peaceful about watching a fish tank. Maybe it’s all the colour blue or maybe it’s the gentle movement of the water:)
The Chinese believe it’s good luck to have moving water in the house! I don’t know about that, but it certainly brings a lovely feel to our dining room! :)
Celia, you bring me back my past: husband #1 was hugely interested in both ordinary and marine fish, so two huge tanks graced our home and yes, one was right next to the dining-room :) ! We all loved the relaxing experience!! But since my in-laws looked after house and kids AND fish [and the rest of a large menagerie] about three months every year – they thought the kids absolutely no problem but oh the fish!!! And the live tubifex worms were but the beginning :D ) !!
Eha, they are SO much work, aren’t they! We haven’t fed ours tubifex worms for years – these African cichlids needs fussy expensive food! :)
The stones seem to have ‘aged’ nicely too. We used to have a tank with an Elvis and a couple of rather large “Oscar” fish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_(fish)) – I wanted pretty angel fish – they lasted 2 seconds with the Oscars who are very territorial!
Oh dear – did they get eaten? The aquarium we shop at has a large indoor pond with oscars and I’m too terrified to put my hand in! Amazing fish!
Yes, they did get gobbled up. The Oscars we had were very prehistoric looking and quite glum – certainly not sparkly in any way, so not really my fish of choice!!
I love fish, and so do my children (maybe because I sit by the tank to feed them so I have something to look at). Mr Fork loves fish and regularly changes the tank around. He went through an Oscar stage, a cichlid stage, a gourami stage and currently, discus! Throughout all though, we’ve always had a giant pleco. I got tired of remembering names, so they were all Brian to me, but recently Ellie has renamed our current one to Manny. Oh I sound like a crazy fish lady and it’s not even my obsession!
Anyway, beautiful tank :-)
We’ve done all those too, bar the Oscars. Our first pleco lasted 12 years and was called Picasso.
Your tank is beautiful…and tranquil. Does Sushi2 look worried though? We’ve had and continue to have lots of healthy and happy pets, but I could never keep the fish alive. Our son was always so sad to find them floating in the tank, so we gave up.
I know – what were the odds that one of the fish we lost would be the one named Sushi? :)
This is so timely Celia! Our Darling girl and her hubby live in a city apartment and so no pets allowed. She has always missed not having a dog or cat so for Valentines Day, which was also their 6th Wedding anniversary, he surprised her with an aquarium.
We’re not grandparents yet, having to wait the requisite settling of waters etc but she is so looking forward to being Mummy to Fish. I shall pass this on to her…thanks for the post :)
Julie, suggest that they visit the lovely Andrew at Labyrinth Aquariums in Campsie! He has the healthiest fish we’ve ever seen in a shop!
There is something so mesmerising about watching fish. Your dedication to the task is very commendable, especially since I know it doesn’t end there and there will be maintenance as well. Very interesting, though.
They are quite a lot of work. And because the tank is in the dining room – it HAS to stay clean (which is a good thing!) :)
Please come and visit and sort out my tank! I have one fish who has been in there for about 5 years! I need to add more, but am too lazy to maintain the tank. I have crystals on the bottom of my fish tank. Yours looks stunning. Well done :)
As I mentioned on twitter, Pete just raised his eyebrows when I suggested adding crystals to our tank.. ;-)
Ooooh beautiful. I especially love rainbow fish doing a swim by at 16 seconds!
The red and yellow one? That’s Mack. The one we call Rainbow Fish is doing a pirouette at the 10 – 13 second mark.. :)
What a cool fish tank! I could sit and watch it for hours!
We often do! :)
I have dogs instead of fish. I don’t have both because I have always thought looking after fish and a fish tank is as much work as looking after a couple of dogs. You certainly have put together a beautiful home for your fish xx
Thanks Charlie – I think fish might cost less than dogs, but it would be a close call I reckon!
i had a feeling you knew your fish when you knew right away what my little Sushi was. I love that Rainbow fish – such beautiful colors. There’s something peaceful about watching pretty fish isn’t there?
The one we call Rainbow Fish is in the middle of the tank around the 10 – 13 second mark. It’s hard to see in the video but he has the most amazingly coloured top fin!
This is something I know absolutely nothing about – but I love watching them! Wish I could mail you a big box of gorgeous pebbles and stones from Bexhill Beach but it would probably cost me less to buy a plane ticket to come and visit you!
Pete wouldn’t allow it, T. I mentioned Tandy’s crystals and asked if I could put some of mine in, and he said, “that’s not part of the Lake Malawi biotype”. Sigh. He’s a pedant, but I do adore him for it. :)