125 gallon "father fish" style cichlid aquarium (work in progress)

I go to pick up an enormous 125 gallon fish tank, then begin to set it up father fish style -- dirt and as many plants as I can get my hands on (more to come!); not in the video but next will be adding micro fauna and FISH when I get to 2000 subs! Oh yes, this aquarium will have cichlids!
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Here is a link to the plastic grate/barriers I used in the bottom of this tank to prevent digging into the soil (affiliate link): amzn.to/4cKrJ1i
For the Hygger light, click here (affiliate link): amzn.to/3PS9TiS
or www.amazon.com...
For the Hygger heater, click here (affiliate link): amzn.to/3TKpPVL
or www.amazon.com...
Hygger's website: www.hygger-onl...
hygger Facebook: / shenzhenmago
Hygger KZbin: / @hygger-aquarium
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[@FatherFish]

Building a 160 now. Excited to see what you are doing with yours.

[@Lauraetcetera]

Welcome to the channel Father!! I surely appreciate you being here and holy moly, thank you so much for the membership!!! I hope you document your 160 build, I can't wait to see it!

[@CarolsCreativeCorner]

Hi mom, you have an awesome daughter

[@Lauraetcetera]

[@jacksah78]

Don’t even need to watch the video to know I love it

[@Lauraetcetera]

haha well thank you!!

[@deecarson3343]

I really enjoyed you setting up this tank. When my kiddos were younger we always had fishies 🐟 🐠🐙. But I cheated. I had the place where I got my tank set it up for me.

[@Lauraetcetera]

lol not cheating!! Honestly that's something I'd like to do, is set up mini tanks with mini scapes and sell them as is. That sounds fun to me!

[@stateofdisorder1]

Oh I absolutely cannot wait to see this stocked! I think you did an amazing job, and I know how you love your plants 💜 but remember they grow and some grow fast lol. As far as what you want to put in there, take your time and think about it. You might not want it Cichlid, you might not want an Oscar. If anything, you can just cruise around KZbin and check out the different set ups other people have, and you may find some fish that you would like to have instead. I just enjoy watching you put it together and then seeing it at the end. Especially since fish or so calming to watch. 💜💜 sorry I’m running behind on videos a couple weeks ago. I woke with ideocratic paralysis in my right arm. No cure, so I just have to wait for my arm to heal itself. 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ and I developed an issue with my left leg. So sometimes I may miss videos, but I will come back and watch them. 💜💜💜💜💜

[@Lauraetcetera]

Oh my gosh I'm so sorry to hear about your arm and leg!! What the heck?! Bodies are so weird and frustrating sometimes! I'm not without my own chronic issues so I empathize and hope that whatever it is, it goes away! fast! Thank you for the kind words about the fish

[@stateofdisorder1]

@@Lauraetcetera thank you sweetie. It seems like whenever it rains it pours when it comes to your house. lol it is hard to pick what kind of stock you’re gonna use, especially when there’s so many different pretty fish out there. Considering the awesome set up that you have, I would look around and see you what fish would be beneficial to that kind of set up 💜

[@Lauraetcetera]

@@stateofdisorder1 it's funny you say that, it's exactly what I was beginning to think earlier today haha. I'm looking into what would be good in a slower water/river bed type tank...

[@ladettesmith1661]

You’re going to have so much fun with that size tank! I started with that size with African cichlids and loved it! So excited for you and to watch the progress! I just ordered plants and hardscape for my new 75 gallon

[@Lauraetcetera]

AHHH new 75?! tell me more!! omg I hope I have fun because right now I'm terrified lol; still haven't settled on what "monster fish" to go in here yet....

[@calvin1104]

Great video and this tank looks so awesome! Your kids are lucky to have you as their mom. I'm sure they're learning some awesome life lessons being involved with projects like these 😊 I've currently got 2 tiny planted tanks (10 gallon with guppies and 5 gallon snails)and this kind of video is perfect as I think of going bigger! Everything seems to get so much trickier logistically as size goes up. Love the the plants and pieces of wood you chose.

[@Lauraetcetera]

oh wow this is very kind! I sure hope they are! I wish I did a better job documenting the first tank we set up together. We went down to the river as a family to pick rocks out and everything; they really enjoyed it! I'd be interested in seeing your tanks. I'm always looking for inspiration, especially smaller tanks. I would say definitely try something bigger if you feel the desire to do it, but figure out what kind of fish you want first then look for the tank. That way once you figure it out you're good, and won't have to upgrade later if you "accidentally" purchase things that will outgrow it (I'm currently in that situation myself -- thanks pets store employee!). It's true what they say though, the larger tanks are easier to care for and it's nice to open up some stocking options. So far I'm enjoying the 29 gallon a lot. I'm intimidated by my 125 though! I think a 40 gallon breeder tank would be the perfect set up. I imagine most floors can handle the weight, and it's not too big nor too small. sorry that was a really long response lol

[@pelhamsaquatics]

Wow how exciting!! 125 very nice 😮

[@Lauraetcetera]

Thank you Jeff!

[@CarolsCreativeCorner]

Wtg laura. Fish tanks are great

[@Lauraetcetera]

Hi Carol!!!! Aww thanks, I tend to agree!

[@triplejandcrafts2753]

I love your wavy hair in this video.

[@Lauraetcetera]

Thank you! I just twisted wet and let it dry in scrunchies (one on either side), that was it!

[@constipatedmushroom9837]

Looks amazing, personally I'd put some larger stems in the back to create a sort of slope! May I ask what type of substrate you used?

[@Lauraetcetera]

Thank you! Since this video I did try to get more anacharis in as well as pearl weed tucked around. I also stole some ludwigia repens from another tank to put in here. I thought about adding a slope to the left side but figured the more water volume/swimming space, the better; but creating that illusion with plants is a good idea. I hope what's there fills in sooner rather than later....The substrate is happy frog potting soil topped with fine black diamond blasting sand, then capped with play sand (I wanted a darker substrate but the fine blasting sand was just *too* fine and it was taking forever to wash, plus I was getting a weird oil-type slick off when rinsing so changed the sand half way through).

[@Tobi-pp2wz]

I want to see it stocked

[@Lauraetcetera]

Me too!! LOL -- I am open to suggestions! I was pretty set on a jack dempsey or two but now second guessing everything haha

[@Tobi-pp2wz]

@@Lauraetcetera Idk much about fish but i like corydoras and loaches, Pleco's are cool but not friendly and will probably get wayyy tooo big and a little aggresive basically what i mean to say is please get a cool bottomfeeder fish!

[@Lauraetcetera]

@@Tobi-pp2wz The only fish I"m sure I'll have in this tank is a pleco :P I've never heard of an unfriendly one! although I hear they can be territorial with their own kind. They have smaller plecos, too! ^_^

[@Tobi-pp2wz]

@@Lauraetceteramhm if u can find a smaller one that'd be cool

[@jsmartin1300]

Did you only use potting soil and sand? Or pouring soil, peat moss and compost mixture with father fish supplement?

[@Lauraetcetera]

I use Happy Frog organic potting soil which has a lot of the beneficial additives to it, like the peat moss, etc.

[@taskforce3833]

wish i had the room for a 125 gallon tank, but then i would have to ask the (pet) rats to move out and they take hugging and cuddling a lot better than my fish. i do not know what kind of Cichlids you want to stock the tank with but please keep in mind that most central American cichlids are mini-bulldozers and they will decide where what grain of sand goes, African cichlids need caves and on and love rocks, South American cichlids are either large or dwarf's but even the dwarfs dig. the only cichlids i have never really seen dig are angelfish (Scalare/altum) or Discus fish. i have stopped with cichlids as i wanted an aquarium with plants and endler guppies and sword-tails and more live-bearers, so now i have them plus a heap of ancistrus (bristlenose) + babies my largest tank was 160 ish gallon, but that was 30 years ago.

[@Lauraetcetera]

How did you find managing the 160g? That sounds intimidating! For stocking on this one I was envisioning giant sail fin mollies and a pair of jack dempseys for a northern/central american tank...but I can definitely be swayed! The other thought was just a mix of americans, like a jack, a jewel, a threadfin...something like that. I do love the idea of dithers though. I am fully anticipating digging, hence the grid under the sand; should they uproot plants, I hope they stick to the ones in the sand which can all be grown afloat as well :) oh, and there has to be a pleco in the tank!! Do you breed bn's? What variety? my red bn pleco is one of my favorites, and he is a favorite of my kids. What size is your tank with the guppies, et al? That crossed my mind as well, to make this a giant nano-fish aquarium. I bet they would love it, in their own fishy way!

[@taskforce3833]

@@Lauraetcetera hello Laura, a 6ft8 long tank with a near 5ft biological filter and a very strong Eheim submerged pump plus an additional Eheim 2117 (i think) with build in heater made looking after the tank not that hard, plant wise it had 4 LARGE amazon swords and some floating stuff, then around 150 lbs of stones and 100 lbs of driftwood with lots of hiding places and a 2inch thin river gravel (1/4 inch or smaller) bottom. 4 bulbs with 2 timers made day into night and vice versa, fish wise.. quetzal, blackbelt, convict, firemouth, jack dempsey, plecos (3) and a few C.spilurum all the cichlids where pairs with or without offspring. back then i often went to a local canal where i could scoop up 3 days worth of red daphnia in 13 minutes, them days are long past. i do not intentionally breed BN.s and i have 6-8 "standard" ones and 2 "albino's" they are all from a local breeder and while i have seen fry before and tried to save it i just let nature take its course and now i see between 12-16 offspring on the glass and rocks, those that survive will have a good life. i hate to say it but people and pet store's seem to forget that the Jewel cichlid is not American but African, while its nature is very central American, but its not. i love the big Mollies but sadly the original P.Shenops has been so inbred into P.Velifera and P.latipinna that its hard to find pure sailfin, highfin, or "standard" mollies these days.

[@Lauraetcetera]

@@taskforce3833 YES I literally *just* learned that jewels were African on another youtube video and then promptly forgot! Thank you for the info :) Wow your tank sounds like it was a sight to behold, I would love to see a photo! Did you have to manage a lot of aggression between cichlids, especially breeding pairs?

[@taskforce3833]

@@Lauraetcetera well with only 12-15 fish in the tank and only 6 of them of breeding age the aggression is usually pretty bad in 1 half of the tank, only when the jack dempsey and the quetzals both decided it was time for a family expansion was it a big issue as they both wanted half the tank and where on opposite sides, 2 pieces of glass and some suction cups changed the 2 meter into a 2 meter 3 part tank, i left a 2 inch opening at the bottom so smaller species could still go under (as could the pleo's) and the filtration would still work. if there are enough hiding places aggression can be less but you have to keep an eye out for injured/weak fish as the bullies can prevent them from eating. but.. what is hardest is calling around to fish stores to ask what they will give you for a bucket with 500 inch long offspring..from Jack dempsey's or the much bigger vieja Synspilum.

[@Elizabeth-tb5wh]

Girl….get back into rocks! I miss you! 😢😉🙃

[@Lauraetcetera]

LOL! You know, maybe I'll have to do a rock-related video, just for you

[@Elizabeth-tb5wh]

@@Lauraetcetera I see that! Tank is lookin good! I just miss your rock shows and all the fun we had. Trust me…I don’t need one pebble! 🙄😆

[@Lauraetcetera]

@@Elizabeth-tb5wh I miss it too! I don't know if it could ever be the same though

[@jsmartin1300]

Looking great! Do tou remember how much of that plastic grate you needed ?

[@Lauraetcetera]

@@jsmartin1300thanks!! I believe it was 18 in total, 3 across and 6 down. They were a little bit of a bear to stick together but they hold together pretty well!