Krobia Xinguensis update

Recent pic of one of my Krobia Xinguensis males. Really love the orange and blue coloration and the dark striping. Really great fish. I recently bought six more to grow out.

Gymnogeophagus Rhabdotus sp. Blue Neon

Really like this pic of my largest Gymnogeophagus Rhabdotus Blue Neon. I have six that I've been growing out for two years. They're really starting to color up and look nice.

They're kind of shy though, so this video isn't the greatest. The Buenos Aires Tetras ended up stealing the show.

Goldfish

Ended up doing feeder goldfish in the backyard pond this year and nothing else. They've gotten really big. I'd say this guy is about three inches and he's nice and thick. I haven't bothered feeding them either. They get by on algae, mosquitoes and the like. I've done goldfish in the pond before, but I don't think they've ever done this well. Haven't lost many and those I have are all looking really good. I think having so much rain has really helped.

They're not real easy to photograph. When you're outback by the pond, they've very easy to see.

20 gallon grow tank

I've been thinking about taking down my triple deck with my two 30s and 20 gallon long, but I still need to keep the 20 running. I've found it's the best tank for getting my plants started, or to get those in bad shape to bounce back. The depth of the tank seems to make it ideal for getting more light to the plants.

This sword, for example, is starting to bounce back after just a week in the 20. It had been struggling in my deeper 75. I've had luck getting plants started in this 20 and then watching them continue to grow in my other tanks.

There is not much to see yet, but I've also put my red lotus bulb back in this tank (in the small pot on the left). It's already producing new growth, so I should eventually get a second plant off the same bulb. The first is still growing strong in one of my 125s.

I can't say enough about the importance of light when it comes to getting most plants started.

Big tank!!!

This week, I bought this used 175 gallon Oceanic bow front from a guy who lives not to far from me. It's a gorgeous tank, but man does it weight a ton (literally when filled with water).

The stand is in really bad shape, so it's going to take some work. That will be my next project. Would love to get it up and filled with water right away, but it's going to be a while yet.

It is officially the largest tank I've owned. I have two 125 gallon aquariums. Came close to buying a 220 once, but that's another story. Anyway, I'm pretty excited. Thinking this will be the new home for my geophagus.

When I had African cichlids

I sold off just about all of my African cichlids earlier this year. I had various Peacocks, Haps and Mbunas, but I found my interest moving more toward South American cichlids like Geophagus and Gymnogeophagus, so I decided to concentrate my efforts on those fish.

Here is a video from 2012 of one of my 125 gallon tanks when it still had all of my African cichlids in it. The males really did have some beautiful colors. I had Red Empress, Venustus, black and white Calvus, Walteri Peacocks and many more.

I think my biggest regret might be that I don't have more quality pictures of them. I'll have to keep hunting and post them when I find more. I would love to have another hap and peacock only tank again someday, and definitely want to keep calvus again.

The pond in July

The backyard pond and all of the tropical plants and natural Midwest weeds that surround it are looking good, I think. It usually takes about two to three months for everything to fill in.

The pond sits behind our detached garage in a raised garden bed. It's about six feet long, three feet wide, two to three feet deep on the ends and about a foot deep in the middle. I've setup bricks in the water to support the two flower islands in the middle.

The water lily is still coming in and hasn't bloomed yet. It's been much bigger in the past, but it was taking over the far end of the pond last year, so I removed quite a bit of the root base. The leaves that are red in color are those that came up most recently.

Here is another view. You can see ferns at the far end, petunias in the island pots, and against the garage, and the red caladium more visible in earlier pics. The plants with the pink flowers in front are wild, or natural, and I leave them there as they help cover the liner and make the front of the pond more colorful. Not sure what they are. I need to get to know my weeds better.

As for fish, gold fish are all I'm keeping in there this year. I have some I bought as feeders this spring that have grown out to a nice size and a handful of fantails. You can just verily see some of them in this pic.