Eventually there will be, but none right now. Maintenance/cleaning/water changes is actually a pretty difficult topic with a lot of differing opinions - even more so than cycling. A lot of it also is setup-dependent. For example, I change the water in my current saltwater tank every three months or so. Previously I scrubbed algae off the front and side panels everyday to keep it clean, but otherwise leave the algae on the back wall and rocks, as they were my main method of nitrate and phosphate removal. Since I added mangrove saplings and they seem to be taking, I now clean algae off the rocks and back wall as part of my fortnightly to monthly maintenance too. But the filter itself I have not cleaned in a very, very long time, a lot of it having to do with that it has a good flow rate and things are never clogged. My cichlid tank right now requires more work, because the plants I have growing out of it are not growing too well yet. Additionally, this one I feed heavily, and so I have an internal filter for the purpose of mechanical filtration, with filter floss that is full of gunk that I wash out every week or two. But a different cichlid tank was almost virtually no work, because feeding was not as heavy, and the filtration setup was also very different. I think the best way to go is to list out different potential situations where maintenance would need to be handled differently, and how they may interact with each other, ultimately to allow the reader to decide on what is the best regimen for them (and how it may change over time). To come!

Unfortunately the ocellaris died one by one. They arrived very small and just died off one after another. The remaining three died when I was on holidays due to heater failure. With nothing in the tank, there is a chance of a reset. So I let it ran for about a week now, getting a new heater, a new submersible light to grow the chaeto, and then shifted things around as well. Depletion of nutrients, especially with the chaeto growth promoted, is preventing algae from growing back. I have decided to retry a reef aquarium, getting a bunch of corals that I will try to let grow for a while before re-adding fish. Let's see how it all goes.

October 18th - set up the tank: This was originally a saltwater tank, converted to freshwater, then now saltwater again. Biomedia, sand, rock has remained throughout. I was hoping the nitrifiers from before would still be around, but unfortunately not. Post-set up after a day, I did test the waters to get 0, 0, 0 ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Dosed to 2ppm (I was targeting 1ppm but accidentally overdosed), and there was no decrease: Two potential reasons: 1. The biomedia was kept out of water for about a month before adding to the tank, I guess desiccation took its toll. 2. When I converted from saltwater to freshwater, the nitrifiers (which were from FritzZyme TurboStart 900) continued to function, which is expected based on a previous study suggesting marine nitrifiers can function in freshwater but not vice versa. But exactly that! Over time it is expected that there is a community shift to what is most optimized to function in an environment. It is possible that the marine nitrifiers were replaced with freshwater ones, and hence why once this was converted again to saltwater, the existing nitrifiers could not function. It is impossible to say what is what though. So I ordered FritzZyme TurboStart 900 again via Amazon, but they arrived late. I ordered the clownfish to arrive after a few days after that. Unfortunately the FritzZyme was delayed. Fortunately, I tested my water and... Zeroes! Strange? Not really. There were plenty of algae growing, which likely consumed all that ammonia. Well I guess that works too... The fish arrived: And they have been doing great. FritzZyme TurboStart 900 finally arrived, and I dosed it anyways. I do prefer ammonia consumption via nitrification rather than as a nitrogen source after all. I had also gotten Bio-Spira too, thinking FritzZyme would arrive wayyy too late. They both arrived at the same time, and I decided to dose Bio-Spira as well. Why not. Just in case you are wondering, Bio-Spira has also been tested by saltwater aquarists and found to work well. So far the fish are doing great! Cinnabon, the cinnamon clownfish, is currently the alpha of the tank. I also got three emerald crabs that I have in the back to consume algae. I also have chaeto in the back as well to help soak up nutrients. In the tank, there is a sponge, ten nassarius snails, and a sand sifting starfish.

Well, unfortunately loss the guppy today. Reason is unclear, no attention was paid to it by any other fish. It did have a very fat belly though, potentially overfed/bloated that lead to death.

Added two super green texas today. :D My first ever american cichlid was a green texas (Herichthys carpintis, not to be confused with the texas cichlid, Herichthys cyanoguttatus). A 'super' variant specifically, potentially var. Escondido. Just got two to add to this aquarium, but not sure of the collection locality. More than likely they are of mixed blood (intra-species) anyways.

So a few days ago the water got very yellow, probably a mix of tannins and myself overfeeding - no actual algal or bacterial bloom though. Expected - likely the nitrifiers are easily consuming all the ammonia and suppressing reproduction of non-nitrifiers, but all the organics would still be there in the water. All of my pothos died off with the move for some weird reason, the new pothos are yet to be growing roots, and the potato I tried to grow got eaten (by the cichlids lol). So I did a 95% water change because I was getting annoyed at the discoloration. Not that it was causing any issues aside from being aesthetically displeasing. I was lazy so decided to top up the aquarium with a hose with tap water, then dechlorinate as I went along. Bad idea - the larger R. lentiginosus immediately responded badly - doing death swirls and so on. All other fish, including the smaller R. lentiginosus seemed fine though. Anyways, after dosing Prime, and a bit of panicking by them, eventually the fish recovered. Very hardy buggers these fish are. But yeah, lesson learnt - DO NOT add untreated tap water to an aquarium. Anyways, here’s the aquarium now. :)

The move was completed. On Saturday October 1st, I initiated the move. Emptied out as much of the water as possible, leaving just about 2 gallons in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket. Caught all the fish and placed them in there. Unfortunately because I moved the water conditioner (Prime) to the new house already, the fish had to stay in old water full of detritus. Took about two hours before I realized hey, I can run the sponge filter in the bucket, and so I did, until mid-afternoon before I drove over to the new place with the bucket fully closed. Once over, I ran the sponge filter in the bucket again. By late at night, the tank was half-filled (did not have time to fill it). I dumped the bucket of fish in and ran the sponge filter. It's Monday (Oct 3rd) now, and the water is still not clear, but all the fish survived the transfer just fine - no signs of any issues at all. I also decided to take the chance to re-scape the tank. Picture to be added.

So, most of the platies are now gone. Only one is left. D: Expected though. There are piscivores in the tank after all. The other day a family member accidentally emptied all the food in the autofeeder into the tank too. Well, nothing happened, all the fish are fine. Perks of robust nitrification capacity. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Amatitlania nanolutea and Amatitlania nigrofasciata have been transferred to this aquarium. Preparing for a move, I have moved all plants into this tank, and removed all stones from the tank. The tank will be moved this Saturday October 1st, and will be set up at my new house then. Not expecting any issues with the setting back up process, will provide an update here for those who are interested in the impacts of moving such an aquarium though.

Things were going well, the pair was doing the dance and all, but unfortunately I was away for a week and the return pump was clogged, and the fish were not doing well. So they had to be moved to the rubbish-bin aquarium by my family. On that note, I definitely would not recommend the Fiji aquariums. Their products are pretty low quality. From lids to glass to the black sticker used to cover the back sump, and then yeah even their choice of return pumps. Anyways for now this project is on indefinite hold as the pair of cichlids are now with the remainder of my fish, and likely they will stay there rather than be transferred back to this tank, which I will re-convert back to a marine aquarium.

Just a last video. Here we see the Camax swimming with the african cichlids, while a Tengo hide away in the background.

Yesterday someone was giving away tricolor platies, and I got them to add to this aquarium. Five in total. That, and a yellow guppy. Given the drastic changes in direction for this setup, I will end the progress report here. There has yet to be significant changes to the R. lentiginosus anyways, and this is also an interesting opportunity to examine their behavior in a more 'typical aquarium', i.e. one where someone will mix a lot of different fish together anyways, versus a species-only aquarium. Should the aquarium transition back into something that is species-specific, biotope-specific, or similar, then the progress report may recommence. Continuation thread is here.

Up until now, the Tengos have stayed predominantly within the wood hovels in the two corners. The Camaxes have always been more out and about. Part of this I could tell is because the Tengos tend to chase the Camax away from where they are hiding, but certainly the Tengos seem to be far more shy compared to the Camax. Any time I approached the aquarium, the Tengos tended to hide away. Today, most of the african cichlids are still out and about, but one of them has taken up residence in the hovel in the front right corner, and the Tengo that was normally there has been displaced. As far as I can tell, this was not due to aggression - I have not witnessed the african cichlids chasing the R. lentiginosus. More than likely, the Tengos are simply afraid by nature and even after having to enter open space, try to hide underneath the heater, behind rocks, and so on. The Camaxes however have no problems with the african cichlids, and even sometimes 'shoal' with them, using the terminology loosely of course. Hard to take pictures or videos of these behaviors, but I do hope to have something visual to present soon. I do wonder about the differences in personality between the Camaxes and Tengos then. None of them are wild-caught, to be clear. The Tengos are F1 (of wild-caught parents), however. I wonder if the differences in personality is due to their size, specific strain, differences between collection localities, or generation post-capture. At this point, I have not found any evidence to suggest the differences in behavior is likely due to any one or combination of these variations.

The nanolutea is remaining mainly in the corner of the tank right now, hiding amongst the hornwort. Basically not having fun at all. It really is quite a bit smaller than the convict, so no surprise there. Unfortunate. The convict is not really chasing her or anything, so that's at least good. Hopefully the nanolutea will get more used to the aquarium over time.

This morning the nanolutea arrived, so I moved the african cichlids and the clown loach over to the other aquarium I have set up. Turned the lights off and introduced the nanolutea. Turned the lights on later to have the two fish acquainted with each other. So far the convict cichlid is being pretty aggressive, chasing the nanolutea around, but not causing damage. A lot of displays so far. Let’s see how it goes. The nanolutea is smaller than I thought. It was against the glass so I could measure it. Was just under 7cm total length, so about middle of the range it was listed at (2.5-3 inches). I am just so used to using standard length in Australia, so fish here are always smaller than I imagine. The nanolutea is still getting used to its now life. Not having fun being chased around, hiding quite a bit, but hopefully this will change over time.

I transferred the african cichlids from the other aquarium to this one over earlier today. It seems to have a positive impact in bringing the R. lentiginosus out more… so that’s a good thing, potentially. So far it did not seem like it was because the R. lentiginosus were displaced by the african cichlids, but rather simply that they are feeling more comfortable venturing out.

The fish are still going well, however there are updates for the future that will change the intended trajectory of this project. I have another aquarium with a convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) and a few other cichlids. Given the convict cichlid has now matured, it needs a mate, and that also means the other cichlids have to be moved - specifically, into the same setup as the R. lentiginosus. This setup will therefore be converted from being mono-species to being a mixed african/american setup, plus a single clown loach. This will take place within the next few days, depending on when the mate for my convict cichlid arrives. I will also be most likely moving houses within two months, and so the setup will be moved over. But it is also then a good chance to see whether my transfer methods work to keep everything alive and safe.

Currently I already have a ten gallon aquarium set up, with the convict cichlid, and four african cichlids, plus a clown loach. They are getting along well, but are of course outgrowing the aquarium. The convict cichlid in particular has grown pretty large and dominates the aquarium, so likely sooner or later will try to kill the african cichlids. The ten gallon is planted with hornwort, and has a pothos growing out of the back sump. Feeding is on a timer that drops food four times a day. Feeding is considered heavy. The nanolutea has been ordered from Tangled Up in Cichlids (TUIC) and is on the way. Once the nanolutea arrives, the other fish will be transferred to a different aquarium.

So far there has been no significant changes in behaviours of the R. lentiginosus. The Camax are still active and tend to be out and about, asserting dominance over each other. The Tengos are still shy and hide most of the time. The Camaxes have grown quite a bit, pushing past 2" now from being around 1.5" or less.

It's been two weeks since the MaxOut Pro was added, and the water color has improved significantly, as can be seen here. During that time, the pothos have also started to really develop roots as well, so it is possible the pothos is also competing somewhat with any algae in the water. I have turned the light schedule from 11-11 to 11-8, so only nine hours of light now. I doubt that would have had a significant impact in decreasing algae growth however.

Quick update, about 5 or so hours after I emailed Fritz Aquatics, I got their response: I figured it could have been the pre-rinsing, though just wanted to be sure. So all is good, and I have taken out the activated carbon from the internal filter and dumped out the MarinePure spheres that was in there near the pile under the heater. There was SO much detritus in there. So that was where it all went, seems like it acted somewhat like mechanical filtration. The bag of MaxOut Pro is pretty big, sitting pretty snuggly in my palm. Wish I took a photo for easier visualization of its size. Took a bit of effort to shove the whole bag into the internal filter, but eventually managed. As far as I can tell, it is not really causing the flow to significantly diminish, so that's good. So now the only chemical filtration in the tank is by the MaxOut Pro. Let's see how it performs, especially given the activated carbon previously made no change to the water (see below). Except for some additional cloudiness due to me releasing all the debris, the second picture looks not really different from the first color-wise. Let's see if the MaxOut Pro can finally bring clarity to the aquarium.