I've always had a soft spot for South American fish, especially the many varieties of dwarf cichlid that hail from the Amazon region. My personal favourites are the Apistogramma family, and what better way to house a group of these superb fish than a planted Amazonian community display!

I was fortunate enough to find some good quality Apistogramma macmasteri for sale in a local aquatic shop, and these fish now spawn regularly in their new home. I am hoping to raise some fry in the future when I have more tank space available.

Technical Specification

Dimensions:	55cm wide x 41cm deep x 41 cm tall.
Capacity:	Approximately 100 litres.
Filtration:	1 x Fluval 3 Powerfilter.
Heating:	1 x Hagen 200w 'Tronic' heater.
Lighting:	2 x 15w Hagen T8 tubes (a 'Plant-Pro' and a 'Sun-Glo').

Decor and Construction

I have opted for a 'silver sand' substrate, with a fine sprinkling of very small-sized gravel. I have several pieces of larger Mopani wood around the back and sides of the tank, with several smaller pieces partially buried in the sand in the foreground. The leaves of the Giant Vallis have reached the surface, which provides quite a lot of shade - allowing Anubius and Cryptocoryne plants to flourish. The dense plant growth in turn gives all of the fish - including the catfish - lots of confidence.

Fish and Plants Stocked

Fish / Animals Stocked	Quantity
Apistogramma macmasteri (breeding group)	3 (1 male and 2 females)
Cardinal Tetra, Paracheirodon axelrodi	15
Silver Hatchetfish, Thoracocharax securis	3
Marbled Hatchetfish, Carnegiella strigata strigata	3
Common Ancistrus, Ancistrus dolichopterus	1
Black Ottocinclus, Ottocinclus sp.	1
Agasizzi's Corydoras, Corydoras agasizzi	2
Sterbai Corydoras, Corydoras sterbai	2

Plants Stocked

Amazon Sword, Echinodorus amazonicus

Cryptocoryne, Cryptocoryne beckettii

Broad-leaved Anubius, Anubias barteri var. Nana

Straight Vallis, Vallisneria torta

Feeding and Maintenance

The fish are fed twice daily - one small feed of either 'TetraMin' flake food or 'TetraPrima' mini granules, and one feed of one of the following frozen foods: Red Mosquito larvae (bloodworm), Tubifex, Artemia (brineshrimp), Daphnia, 'Tropical Mix' (a mixture of all the above). There is always some natural algae growing on the glass and mopani wood for the ancistrus and ottocinclus to eat. I add algae wafers once or twice a week just to make sure they are getting plenty of food.

I do not use any soluble plant fertilisers at all. Every few months I bury a few 'Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Root Tabs' in the substrate near the base of any of any plants that look like they could do with a 'boost'. The idea of these tablets is that they slowly release Iron near the root system of the plant, so that it is taken up gradually. They seem to work very well!

I carry out a 20% water change every 1-2 weeks, to keep nitrates under control. Every other water change incorporates a filter sponge clean, using the water removed from the tank.

Pictures

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