Extruded Polystyrene Foam. BTW its Glenn Minor's artwork. He even wrote a guide on 'How To Build Your Own Custom Aquarium Background'

Further reading : http://www.dramaticaquascapes.com/doityour...ound_page1.html

*about real rocks, i stick to slate rocks type because scared heavy vertical type will stress too much on glass surface.

hmm stress on glass eh?never thought of that cause been using it since 2010 haha. Slate rocks, actually considered that to create cave like setup. But then found this nice shaped drift wood

New resident. Hehe. Guess wats this fish?




This post has been edited by Jay Chua CC: Feb 15 2013, 01:50 AM

Red belly pacu?

This?

I'm guessing Jay's fish.
Maybe a red belly will make a tank more interesting.
Comm pacu with tiger and birchirs. Great.
Since aro need alot of care

I'm guessing his fish is red bellied paci too, just quoting yours i used to have pacus. in group, they become such bullies

Share you experience keeping them.
Wonder how they deal with comm.

It was a brief experience.yes they handle things well when comm with cichlids.theyre tough and quick.but bullied slower n weaker fish.it killed one of my smaller cichlid i cant remember which one.now i cant even remember what happened to them pacus.did they die?omg i'm getting old and forgetful.no bichirs or tigers that time though so i cant comment on that part

He is nt in my bichir tNk. Haha. I comm him with my snakehead(Channa marulius). XD

Pacus sound (and look) great. Only theyre very aggressive that comm'ing them makes quite a challenge. I saw 2 pacus in a restaurant's aquarium before. The bigger one kept chasing another one round and round, such a bully. Sometimes he chased another tankmate, an RTC with torn fins all over. I talked with the owner about his diet, he said those fishes will finish feeder fishes right away when poured, once every two days. Behaviour is quite like aggressive oscars.

Aro might sound difficult, but maybe depends on individuals. My previous pearl aro always killed feeder fish for fun, which is a waste. But my current SHB Aragorn behaves real nice, never kills any except for eating. Now he even gets more calm and brazen, following me every time i pass by the aquarium. Today i just finished WC, he (and Frankenstein) acted like nothing happened while other tankmates (ornate, puyu and goldfishes) freaked away running and hiding.

I dont think i could resist an aro for this time. For even if i tried, the idea will come haunting me in my dreams either way

Todays shot after WC, in the dark as its cloudy and raining outside

Theyre close cousins of piranha arent they?hmm.is aro really troublesome to take care of?i have always wanted one...

Premium quality aro owners are eager to keep water quality, that they do wc every weeks, or even every 3 days. In my own exp, it doesnt hv to be that rigid. Ive kept 3 aros before this, none of them died in my keeping.

Other than that, its feeding. If u dont wana feed them every day, buy a big aro (maybe larger than 12"), cuz adult aros just feed once every other day. Even if offered extra-ration, they'll refuse the food.

Now the pricing is quite cheap, so can buy quality aros with affordable price. If u looking for a sports aro with less risk, silver aro is the answer. I used to feed my silver aro with Hikari Food Stick (sparingly), home lizards (his fav), roaches and grasshoppers. At that time i was a univ student, so dont have enuf money to buy feeder fishes.

But if aiming for more steady ones, look for yellow, hb, shb, xb, or the reds. Theyre less aggressive than silver or pearl/green/jardinis.

Overall, i wont say keeping aros is very difficult. I've a friend who feeds his aro once a week only. But he keeps the water quality excellent all the time.

Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for sharing, antzz. Thats not 2cents. Thats poison hahaha. Pretty damn good one pulak tu..ok2 can really consider it one day when have more space and time.need a special room for them now.I'm jealous with those people in youtube who can do 'fish room tour'.especially those into cichlids.damn

If i have a chance to keep aros, i'll try aggressive type.
Last time i googled a few rarer species. I do not like "show" aros.
Not enough oomph

I think jardini suits u, meant enoug! For me i lk african aro, pure beast.

Yep. I think silver/ african aro would be good. Search for 'arowana eats duckling' in youtube, u can see how beastly a silver aro can be.

Their price also very cheap now. But silvers are long type and they grow up very very very fast. Search again for 'largest arowana' in youtube, u can watch a gigantic silver swimming lazily on water surface.

Sorry cant provide links, cuz in mobile now.

Btw, aro or bichir produce more waste? Whose are bigger? Hahaha

What is jardini labelled as, in lfs?ive never seen one.or is it rare?

If there be difference, wont be much significant anyway. If u wonder about aro and bichir poops, think again how i manage a big PNT in the same aquarium before

Keep it steady bro. U know when to defend, gather the strength and finally strike