building a "big" Potamotrygon/SA Catfishes tank

[ElTofi]

Cheaper than before with "only" the open tanks (electrically heated) and a not insulated fish-room

several technical actions allowed me to improve the electricity consumption from 21'000 kWh (from January 2006 -> January 2007) to 11'500 kWh (from May 2011 -> May 2012)

- insulation of the room
- humidity fan extractor coupled with a hygrometer
- heating of the "big" tank with by-pass system from the home wood pellets boiler
- segregation of the "green wall" by plexi doors
- LED spots (2 spots of 140W each) for lights instead of HQI (around 1000W) for more intensity : 28'000 lumen

alltogether, I improved it all quite well... even if 11'500 kWh a year is still a lot of monney... but who said fishhobbying was a responsible hobby ?

[ElTofi]

no advice or feed-back for acclimatation of Brachyplatystoma tigrinum ?

[ElTofi]

here it is ... from last Friday, into the 720 liters for growing up during a few months (years ?) before diving into the stingrays tank...

[ElTofi]

quite a long time since I last fed this topic :

[ElTofi]

[ElTofi]

[ElTofi]

[ElTofi]

[matthewfaulkner]

Awesome stuff! What size are the Panaque L191 now? Somewhere around 30cm now?

In the last video, it looked like the eye was sunken on the Panaque L191, had you noticed?

[ElTofi]

last one for tonight, the upload is much too slow from home… I'll take my chance with bigger files from the job's WiFi.

the L191 are between 25 (smallest) to +35 cm

and you didn't see the Panaque schaeferi

just wait for me to catch them under their big roots… that is impressive !

[ElTofi]

In the last video, it looked like the eye was sunken on the Panaque L191, had you noticed?

didn't pay attention… but now that you mention ... I'll check that tomorrow with a deeper GoPro view.

and I'll take everyone from a closer view… I'll keep in touch.

[ElTofi]

another one from the Arowanas

[rob rensen]

Great tank....those cichla's look awesome and of course the panaque's.

I'dd think some more wood would do some good for the tank and fishes

[ElTofi]

a delicate balance between the needs of the Stingrays & the Arowanas on one side (need space and volume free) and the Astronotus, Cichla & Panaque on the other side...

But this is on going... I'm wandering in my "secret" places to get some big pieces of wood, sunken from years and relatively "clean"... winter is the perfect season to do thet

[ElTofi]

just to publish something different as "usual" stingrays and arowanas and cichlas…

after almost 2 years of maintenance, I get a "not so bad" shot of Astronotus ocellatus group I have into this tank.

they are F1 and F2 of a wild caught pair (captured almost 20 years ago in Peru by Patrick DeRahm).

the picture is slightly reworked, mainly on tones and brightness :



same picture series, without rework, under very low light conditions, yesterday evening…

[ElTofi]

quite a long time I haven't been here…

a few vids to show what happens, when you forget to stop the filter backwash procedure…

[ElTofi]

nothing went wrong, as I planned a "safety bottom" with 2.200 liters… but that was close…

[ElTofi]

this one is particularly difficult to shoot when the tank is at normal level…

[ElTofi]

my favorite from a few years… Potamotrygon leopoldi, with a female pregnant… she "delivered" 4 babies on July 7th this year…

[NCE12940]

Fantastic, and fascinating, journey! Kudos to you for following a dream

[nvcichlids]

How big is the female ray?

[ElTofi]

the female is "only" 18 inches (45 cm) and that was her first pregnancy...

thanks for comments, it's always a pleasure to share such pictures with people who appreciate...

[nvcichlids]

I am starting the planning process for a ray "pond " but no one had responded to the thread. I think it is in tank talk or speak easy section.

Your tank is a dream. I always show my wife and she says keep dreaming.

[ElTofi]

I'm going to have a look at your topic... I'd be glad to help you not doing the same mistakes that I did, building this tank.

you should take a look at "Monster Fish Keeper", they got a section for Stingrays... and you may find valuable informations and experiences...

I posted an answer here on your topic.

[nvcichlids]

Going to read now. Thanks.

I always enjoy your updates. All of your fish and plants look amazing.

[ElTofi]

good news in my big tank : the Leo x P14 female stingray had already "delivered" in July... she was gravid when I bought her, covered by a Leopoldi male...


two puppies from July


this is the male Leo x Black Diamond when he arrived by me, in March 2012... now he's twice this size (45 cm) and he's the father of a second batch


small picture of this December 5th batch, with 4 new pups (sadly one female didn't make it through the first 24 hours)


I'm quite glad !

and soon, I guess I'll have news from Panaque L191, Panaque schaeferi and who knows, from Osteoglossum, too...

love this tank !

[Victor.Bergdahl]

Nice pics!


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[7Pete]

How big is your Panaque schaeferi? Haven't seen any pics of it. Would be interesting to see some pics of it.

[ElTofi]

I have 4 Panaques which are supposed To be schaeferi. I'll shoot vids latter this week and we will talk about it

[ElTofi]

hi you all... I've been quite busy with my life these last months (years ? funny how a child can bring adaptation to your life) and didn't take care of this topic... one week holidays on my own and it's time to post new pictures...

not a lot, but just to come back to Basics : L-numbers...

and to answer to 7Pete, among others...

a nice picture (although shot with GoPro3 underwater with no correct cropping) of 2 of my 7 Panaque sp L191, right in front of the Tunze 20m3/h :



and 2 others pictures (older) of one of the "supposed" Panaque schaeferi... they got bigger, from that time, but I'm still unable to approach them with a camera...

April 2012, 14 cm :


April 2013 (much bigger) :


I guess the schaeferi are around 40 cm TL yet... and L191 a bit more than 30 for the biggest... not sure...

almost 2 years later, I'm considering to use a net again to take them out for a few pictures... why not tomorrow ? too cold to go trout fishing...