# Stocking 150 gal - what did/would you do?



## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

I've got a 150 tall in my sights, and though I've kept many, many tanks over the years this is the biggest - never had bigger than a 55. Now I imagine I can keep all those fish I see at the LFS but have to turn down because of their potential size. 

On the other hand, is a collection of larger fish going to make the most eye-popping tank? What would 200 neons look like in a shoal? I have not decided what to do - I am partial to planted tanks but that eliminates many choices in terms of what fish to choose. 

If you already have a large tank like that, what did you stock it with, or if you someday plan on getting one, what would you put in it? Clown Loaches? Goldfish? Oscars or other SA cichlids? Catfish? Frontosa or other African cichlids? Large schools of smaller fish? Oddballs? Local fish from a nearby river?

It all boils down to personal taste, but I'm curious what others did with their big tanks.


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## greenaquarium (Dec 19, 2008)

i think 50 neons is good check out my website i made for my tank for inspiration plantedfishtankaquarium.com


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## Doedogg (Jun 21, 2008)

I would put in 100 tiger barbs :barb-fish: and 30 panda corys, the action in the tank would be dizzying.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

This is not my tank but if I had the money and the time...this is what my dream tank would look like:










A school like this wouldn't be bad either. This guy has 200 Cardinals in his 180g tank along with schools of hatchet and other fish:


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

I really, really like the idea of a massive school of neons! 

My husband has been wanting me to keep discus forever. That is gorgeous. I've had my 55g similarly planted (nowhere near as well done!), with CO2 injection and high light, but it was so much work keeping the nutrients balanced for the plants that I wound up cutting back. Here is a pic:










I want to do something different than what I usually do, but I always seem to return to it. How awesome would that be in a massive tank - I already have all the stuff, too. Hmmm...


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

How much CO2 would you have to inject though?...and I would opt for cardinals over neons. They are pictured above, the red goes across the whole body, no silver on the chest...and the tend to get a bit bigger.

May I ask you how many watts you had on that tank and what nutrients you added?


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

Right about the cardinals, my bad! They are very hard to come by here. I got a school of about 8-10 of them years ago and only one survived, but he lived for 7 years, believe it or not. I just know I could afford to get a giant mass of neons, since they are everywhere here, though who knows if they'd survive. 

That tank above had a Coralife Aqualight with 4 65-watt bulbs, so 260 watts, which was 4.7 watts per gallon. I had to blast CO2 through there, and I used Plantex CSM (Greg Watson's blend) along with nitrate and potassium. If I was not diligent with the dosing, or delayed in getting my CO2 tank refilled, I would get an outbreak of algae like nobody's business. It was a delicate dance for me, and I spent many an hour on various online aquarium forums debating my setup with Steve Hampton, Rex Grigg, etc. It just got to be too much of a headache. Too much light for a 55g, at least for me. I will likely use this same fixture on the 150. Don't know what kind of lighting might be in the hood, if any. 

So should I get a bunch more Boesemanis to go with what I have (adore them - so colorful and active) with all the plants, or get some kind of oddball or tankbuster fish? I am leaning towards planted because at least with oscars and goldfish you are very limited as to the decor (oscars = almost NO decor) and the tanks are not terribly attractive to me without plants and stuff. When I kept oscars years ago they moved stuff around, rearranged my careful aquascaping, tore stuff up, etc. It would be cool to have a large specimen fish, though.

I might go with angels again, since there would be enough room for them to pair up and have a territory, but I want to get something that I have not kept before.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

Good to hear some names I recognize. I am currently using the Plantex CSM+B, KNO3, and KH2SO4 on my 75g setup. I have opted for less light ~2.5w/g so that I don't run into the algae problem as easy if other things become limited...especially the CO2. I still have hair/fuzz algae on some plants from time to time which is why I have Siamese algae eaters on the way.

You could probably do a similar setup as before but cut your light in half if you don't want to have to prune every other day.  If I had another tank it would definately be for rainbows! Have you seen the green one? If however, you decide to go with angels have you seen the Altumn angels?

GREAT tank and aquascaping BTW.


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

I have not seen the green rainbows. What species? I need to get out more! A road trip might be in order to Virginia Beach where there is an amazing LFS that carries all kinds of things you don't often see (including cardinals and rarely seen Africans). 

I have never kept the altum (just the common types) but those are stunning - supposed to look more like what wild and natural angelfish look like. I've always been drawn towards laterally compressed fish, and they'd do great in a tank like this. Things got a bit dicey behavior-wise in the narrow confines of a 55 gallon. Plus, with all the plants it actually did not leave adequate swimming room. I had two pairs, one at each end of the tank, then lost one female in a hurricane-induced power outage (6 days!), sold off the extra male, then months later the remaining male killed his female mate! I saw it happen. I sold him off after that and switched to rainbows, lol. I think there was just not enough room for them. 55gal seems like a big tank, but the narrow width really limits what you can keep.

Regarding the high-light phase of my 55, I did exactly what you describe: I shut off two of the four bulbs (they have separate switches) and just ran the single pair, but subsequently I got a massive and devastating outbreak of BBS and could not do a thing with it - when that happens you basically have to manually pick out the affected plants, and I wound up throwing a hissy fit and tearing everything down and starting over. Now I'm running about 1.5 wpg and the tank is a no-brainer - I do hardly a thing to it, and it is boring, honestly! 

You are right, too, about the trimming - it was a daily job to hack the plants back every day to keep it looking decent. I had a very busy plant trading/selling side business as an offshoot of that. I was able to trade for plants I wanted to try, and share some of the less common plants I had myself. It became too time consuming, though, and I'm still busy so I don't really want to get back into things at that level, but conditions will be more forgiving with a 150. 

I think the planning is almost more fun than the doing.... 

At one point I was considering something like what Doedogg suggested with the tiger barbs (love 'em!) - tiger barbs and clown loaches. A total orange and black theme, lol. Clown loaches get BIG.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

Here is the green rainbow. I have only ever seen it for sale on the site I ended up ordering my Discus from. It just looked so unique and cool...stop drooling. 










I'm sure you've probably seen these, they would also look great mixed in with some Boesmani:


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

Could I get away with angels, too? Love the rainbows - they have become one of my favorite fishes.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

In a tank that size, I am sure you could add a few angels to swimm along with the schools of rainbows. Angels also school (not as tightly) when in groups of 5 or more. However they are cichlids so if you add angels add them all at the same time so that they don't get territorial to new angels.

BTW did you see the angels in the Discus pics above?


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

I did not notice them, but they come from similar waters so it makes sense to keep them together. "Relatively" docile cichlids. 

When I kept angels I got a school of 5 juvies in hopes of getting at least one pair. When they were wee they schooled all over the place together and it was so nice - but then they reached maturity and paired up, and they definitely got testy. They were spawning, though, and it was nice to see them maintaining the eggs for hours on end. 

I think the added tank volume will change the behavior, and prevent some of the "tight quarters aggression" that cichlids often display. 

I kept a 10 gallon African shelldweller tank for a while, since you read a lot about these "desktop cichlids" and how you can have a male and a harem in a 10 gallon, etc. Well, I will tell you there was nothing but chaos, even though the fish are scarcely 1.5" long. When I moved them into my 40 gallon breeder with N. Leleupi, which live in the rockwork, they became completely different fish. They have been in there happy as clams ever since, digging around and living in their shells. They simply required more space. 

That's why I am so excited to get a decent sized tank - the fish can do their thing and behave more naturally. Those discus pics are compelling.... how beautiful would that be in your living room!


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## ML (Jan 20, 2009)

With that much water, you should go out fishing and catch a few pumpkinseed sunfish, some of the most beautiful wild freshwater fish on the entire continent


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

What a marvelous suggestion! They are gorgeous, and I am sure they are around here, though everything is pretty much frozen over at the mo, so catching some will be a trick. Food for thought!


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## ML (Jan 20, 2009)

ice fishing is a Blast! get yourself a chainsaw, a bucket and a stick with line on it and you'd be good to go!


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## fishfinder (Aug 31, 2008)

What type of shelldwellers do you keep? I've been looking for years but haven't set up a tank yet. I'm glad to know they need more room. I'd thought a 10 gallon would do it. I've had Leleupi before, they are beautiful. Didn't work well with the other Africans I had, though. 

The sunfish idea is super, too. I've been thinking of getting some pygmy's for my 8 gallon tank to go with my darters. I don't have the option of fishing for them locally since I live in the NW. Getting local fish here means running a cold water tank.


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

fishfinder said:


> What type of shelldwellers do you keep?


I have N. brevis right now. They are supposed not to get along with leleupi because many leleupi spawn in shells, but it is working out fine. The shellies live in escargot shells, a bit too small for the leleupi. I have some welk and other larger shells for them. Mostly they keep to the extensive rockwork.

Maybe I was just unlucky with my shellies in the 10, since there are a lot of people apparently doing it, but when you consider their natural habitat it makes sense that they would have more than a foot or so of territory on the bottom. I'd like to get some multifasciatus if I could find them, but that is a road trip. I have gotten calvus and other Africans shipped, but I just can't afford it right now. 



> Getting local fish here means running a cold water tank.


That is what I was discussing with my husband this morning - since I want to keep plants a cold water tank is not terribly ideal, but our summers here are brutal so we were wondering if the sunfish would adapt to closer to tropical temps, similar to how the ponds are here in the summer. The other thing is that they'd require live minnows/feeder goldfish, and that might become a PIA, with yet another dedicated tank for feeder fish.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

Stellaluna,

It is hare to see from your tank pics but what kind of filtration were you using, and did you get nit picky about getting the water to flow to all the plants? I am trying to decide if I want more flow in my tank (for the plants) vs Discus liking calmer water.

Also where is your CO2 reactor located/ how low did you place it.


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

I have a Rena XP4 on that tank, with intake at one back corner and outflow at the other back corner, directed diagonally. I also have a powerhead in one low corner for additional flow. I like a lot of water movement! The CO2 reactor was (still is, just not hooked up to anything, lol) low in the same back corner where the filter intake resides. 

I have also been known to plumb my CO2 into my filter intake, so the bubbles run through the filter, and now I don't even recall why I stopped doing that - there is a lot of hoo-hah on the web about how this will destroy your filter, etc. but I don't know if that is true or not. 

I'd hesitate to upset the discus with a lot of water movement, but I must admit I am intimidated by them. I have kept some very sensitive Lake Tang Africans without trouble, so I don't know why, but I've known people with discus who had no end of trouble with disease and eating problems and I now have the impression that I'd be doomed to failure. 

It may be that if your planting was dense enough you could have more water movement that would be appreciated by the plants but at the same time the plants themselves would somewhat protect the discus - does that sound right? It may not work out like that. It may be that the pics taken above were just when the discus were added, and things did not work out over the long term. I don't know. I can pretty much assume by those pics that there is much care and attention paid to proper water movement.

Do you think I could add a few discus as community members in the 150, with the rainbows and the angels? I need hardy ones, too, if that is possible! 

That is, if I abandon the sunfish idea.


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## Doedogg (Jun 21, 2008)

tiger barbs! tiger barbs!


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

Yes, yes, I do love me some tiger barbs. Ok. Tiger barbs and clown loaches. Back to the red/orange/black themed tank. 



Too many cool ideas! Too few tanks!


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## Doedogg (Jun 21, 2008)

Currently Im tankless  and this spring when it warms up to above subarctic temps, Im going to start my all tiger barb tank (on a much smaller scale). They were my first ever fish (besides a betta) and will always be my first love.
I cant wait to see what you do with your wonderful monster tank!


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Stellaluna said:


> I've got a 150 tall in my sights, and though I've kept many, many tanks over the years this is the biggest - never had bigger than a 55. Now I imagine I can keep all those fish I see at the LFS but have to turn down because of their potential size.
> 
> On the other hand, is a collection of larger fish going to make the most eye-popping tank? What would 200 neons look like in a shoal? I have not decided what to do - I am partial to planted tanks but that eliminates many choices in terms of what fish to choose.
> 
> ...


Well... cichlids can't go with angels... or small tetras because they can get aggressive and big too.

Also, if you are wanting to get neon tetras, DON'T get the tall tanks. Angels like tall tanks but prefer horizontal tanks.

Neons may get stressed out.. I do not know 100% about that, only 45%. 

Neons and Angels SHOULD be able to fit together because angels are mid ground and neons swim at the bottom of the tank.

Cichlids, not too much of a good idea to go with angels. Unless you want to get RAM cichlids, and curviceps cichlids.

Keep in mind, cichlids aren't all hardy type fishes and demand a lot of care.

So yeah 

Oh, and just remember discus and angels are the ones who like both tall and long tanks.


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

Angels are cichlids and there are several that could be kept with angels - including severum (_Heros severus_), keyhole (_Cleithracara maronii_), festivum (_Mesonauta festivus_) rams as mentioned, kribensis (_Pelvicachromis pulcher_), even though they are African, they keep to the bottom usually and mind their own business if provided cover. 

I agree, you have to be careful with cichlids and their tankmates, but there are lots of options. Just a few weeks ago I sold my breeding colony of N. leleupi, a vivid yellow Tanganyikan cichlid, and one of the very best tetras to put with semi-aggressive cichlids is the Buenos Aires tetra - they are a marvelous tetra that is robust and very fast, but are excellent dither fish to provide the cichlids with a sense of security. They can also be used as "target" fish for slightly more aggressive cichlids, since they cichlids will tend to posture and go after the tetras rather than getting into conflicts with their own species. It keeps them distracted, so t speak. The BA tetra (_Hyphessobrycon anisitsi_) has become one of my favorites, though they are voracious plant eaters (learned that the hard way). 

I have not been such a fan of the neon tetra, as I have not had much luck with them, but I did put in a school of 9 cardinal tetras (_Paracheirodon axelrodi_) that are also known for being weak and difficult to keep for any length of time, but I have found that when they are carefully and slowly acclimated to your tank conditions they will live a remarkably long time. I had one individual that lived almost 8 years, even though I lost his school-mates in the first week. He survived and did great for all that time. 

So I am keeping this tank a community setup, with the rainbows, Endler's, corydoras, and now cardinals, and once things settle down in some weeks or a month and I am confident the tank has stabilized I will introduce some angels. I am going to try to avoid getting a mated pair (the opposite of what I have done in the past) since a pair of angels (or any cichlid for that matter) will be territorial and aggressive as they endeavor to lay eggs and maintain them. I have found single individual angels, or non-mated of the same gender, to be peaceful and remarkably good community members. 

I may wind up with only one specimen angel, but that will suit me and not create turf wars in the tank. There is plenty of room in this tank currently (5' x 2' x 2') but I want to keep things relatively quiet, lol. 

Thanks for all of the input! I had really hoped to stock it with some tankbusters, and maybe I will some day, but it is a very attractive setup currently and I am enjoying it so far. I just don't know if there is enough time in life to have all of the tanks and fish that I dream about!


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Stellaluna said:


> Angels are cichlids and there are several that could be kept with angels - including severum (_Heros severus_), keyhole (_Cleithracara maronii_), festivum (_Mesonauta festivus_) rams as mentioned, kribensis (_Pelvicachromis pulcher_), even though they are African, they keep to the bottom usually and mind their own business if provided cover.
> 
> I agree, you have to be careful with cichlids and their tankmates, but there are lots of options. Just a few weeks ago I sold my breeding colony of N. leleupi, a vivid yellow Tanganyikan cichlid, and one of the very best tetras to put with semi-aggressive cichlids is the Buenos Aires tetra - they are a marvelous tetra that is robust and very fast, but are excellent dither fish to provide the cichlids with a sense of security. They can also be used as "target" fish for slightly more aggressive cichlids, since they cichlids will tend to posture and go after the tetras rather than getting into conflicts with their own species. It keeps them distracted, so t speak. The BA tetra (_Hyphessobrycon anisitsi_) has become one of my favorites, though they are voracious plant eaters (learned that the hard way).
> 
> ...


Woah you write a lot too haha!

I kept some small tetras with my angels before and some survived to this day and some haven't.

I too love Buenos Aires Tetras, but they are too aggressive to my angelfishes and there for I had to give them away T_T although it was extremely hard to catch them and put them in my bag  I guess you were right  they are lighting speed.

And, rainbows are great fishes to put in the community tank  I have a couple of rainbows actually, I just hope that they aren't dead because my water has been so cloudy for the past 24 hrs mainly because I put in new gravel and I'm trying to get rid of the heavy debris but the filter should be able to handle it  I hope xD


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## aspects (Feb 22, 2009)

200 exodons


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

aspects said:


> 200 exodons


:fishGreen:

Yikes-a-hooty!


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## aspects (Feb 22, 2009)

its a little pricey, but well worth it imho


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

DarkRevoultions said:


> Woah you write a lot too haha!


Yes, I do go on sometimes - I have to remember that I am not writing an article - I should keep it simple instead of putting people to sleep, lol. 



DarkRevoultions said:


> ....my water has been so cloudy for the past 24 hrs mainly because I put in new gravel and I'm trying to get rid of the heavy debris but the filter should be able to handle it  I hope xD


Did you replace gravel? You might be having a bacterial die-off, so monitor your water params. If the fish seem to be suffering lower the water level so as to introduce splashing, and this will help with oxygenation.


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## HeatherM (Feb 5, 2009)

Also just a thought,

Most native fish can be weaned to pellet foods  It just takes a dedicated owner. I have seen it done time after time.


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

That would be awesome to keep some native fishes, and it is good to know, HeatherM - it makes life so much easier not to have to worry about maintaining them on a live diet. 

That might be something I'll do next. The sunfish are so very attractive, and if I could get a few of them very young and get them acclimated and hooked on pellets (lol) then it would be a great display tank.


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Stellaluna said:


> Yes, I do go on sometimes - I have to remember that I am not writing an article - I should keep it simple instead of putting people to sleep, lol.
> 
> 
> 
> Did you replace gravel? You might be having a bacterial die-off, so monitor your water params. If the fish seem to be suffering lower the water level so as to introduce splashing, and this will help with oxygenation.


Well, my fishes aren't suffering, they are still fine and also I have live plants in the tank too  even though the water is somewhat cloudy, my light in the tank is still strong enough to shine through


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

So everything settled down? Must just be a bacterial bloom, which should be no problem for the fish. Plants definitely help - I try to keep plants in all my tanks. 

I've set of a mini-cycle by changing out my substrate, so that's why I was wondering.


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## DarkRevoultions (Sep 5, 2008)

Stellaluna said:


> So everything settled down? Must just be a bacterial bloom, which should be no problem for the fish. Plants definitely help - I try to keep plants in all my tanks.
> 
> I've set of a mini-cycle by changing out my substrate, so that's why I was wondering.


Oh I see.

My plants are alright, the bright light is able to penetrate through the cloudiness of the water. Although the water isn't too too cloudy. 

I'm hoping it will go away in a few weeks or days  

I think I must of messed with my filter a bit by rinsing too much of it.


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## Lisaandtheword (May 12, 2009)

oooh the Green Rainbow is stunning!

My dream tank would be planted, one side more heavily & w bogwood, gradually becoming beachy & open, still some plants & a lil wood there, and have sand. I'd have about 4 discus, 3 jurupari's(love these horse-faced silvery speckled guys, but too big for my lil 20gal), schools of marble hatchets, black phantom tetras, & lemon tetras, maybe some rainbows? =], kuhli loaches, a pretty pleco or 2, and 2 different Apistogramma "harems"- Agassizi & Borelli. I'd also love it if a snail or 2 would work.

I've had saltwater before, and I'm just partial to the amazon fish personality!
I had a 50gal years ago, the Jurupari I had was so personable, and nice to ev'one else. That time I had an oddball mix-1 ea discus, Juru, firemouth, urahu, green severum, w shoal of rosy barbs. They all got along great I think bc of all the plants & wood hangouts.


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

Here is what I wound up doing with the 150 - 

Wild caught Brazilian angels, P. leopoldi (not scalare), cardinal tetras, a Planiloricaria cryptodon (spoonfaced whiptail cat), C. trilineatus cories, a pair of dwarf Ancistrus sp., and am thinking about some sort of geophagus, likely Satanoperca leucosticta. 










Here is the awesome whiptail:









And the whip buried in the sand:


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## Lisaandtheword (May 12, 2009)

oh my goodness! *pulls up chair to watch fishy tv*
You did a great job!!


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## Stellaluna (Jan 20, 2009)

Thanks - it is a great tank to sit and watch, and though sometimes I wish I had gone with a couple of tankbusters, I seem to always be drawn to a planted tank. Someday I'll get bored with it and do something different, lol.


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## Dmaaaaax (Nov 20, 2008)

Looks great! Thanks for the pics...so where did you end up getting your wild (Altum?) angels from?


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