Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => General Fishkeeping Chat => Topic started by: MarquisMirage on September 03, 2017, 03:07:58 AM
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Haven't posted much recently so here's a general update on everything:
The silvertip tetra (hasemania nana) finished their month in solitary without any problems on the 19th of last month. They spent the whole time tightly shoaling but as soon as they were added to my Amazon setup spread out and cease to shoal anymore. Which is a good thing as it means they're very relaxed there. These are great little fish and I would have had them sooner if I'd known what they're like, although those horn dogs are chasing the ladies constantly. No losses to report in this tank. I'm fighting snail outbreaks (pond and malayasian trumpets) in the Amazonian tank. The tank's too large and too well filtered to bomb them with gastropex effectively so I've cut back on food and I'm manually picking them off. Plants are all doing well though the greenfire bloodfin tetra (aphyocharax rathbuni) like to nibble on them. The tank seemed a bit empty at the top so I added some limnobium laevigatum inside a couple of circular pond feeders to limit their spread. I've attached feeders to the rain bar using fishing line so they can handle the water level going up and down during water changes.
To add to that I have fifteen marbled hatchetfish (carnegiella strigata) currently in the quarantine tank. Sadly one died within 24 hrs but the remaining ones are looking great and show no signs of disease or stress with quarantine meds. I'm worried that some may go Amelia Earhart on me so I always have a spotter watch out while I do tank maintenance. Pictures of these fish don't do them justice. I have a variety that have a red iridescence to them making them look like white tiger print disco divas covered in glitter. Very Ziggy Stardust after a ton of kebabs.
In the volcano tank there haven't been many changes. The two fry I had in there are now sulking adolescents. I haven't cracked the cyanobacteria issue in this tank despite dialling down light settings and reducing feeding. Regular cleaning has at least stopped it looking as if the bacopa has hulked out.
In contrast I've beat the cyanobacteria in the Papua New Guinea tank. Plants and fish are all good and healthy. Now if I could only work out where the ****king duck weed (what? I said quacking...) came from. Seriously, I've not added anything to the tank in at least two months. My current theory is that it was carried in by an angry moth. So now I get to have duck weed. Go me.
Darkness is doing well in his aquarium. He caught his tail on something but maintaining the water quality has meant it healed up within days. The hygrophila polysperma and limnophila sessiliflora in the tank grew too quick for the tank size. Crinum calamistratum also turned out to be a bad choice as when the leaves grew longer they exited the water and began to rot. I've taken all of those out and replaced it with a java fern which my betta buddy is enjoying far more.
I have a new camera tripod which should hopefully add stability to my vids. Next week with my girls back in school (and my new job doesn't start until the 18th) I should get some quiet time to do some filming. I'll stick the vids on youtube and post the links.
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Thanks for the update, very descriptive & entertaining. ;D
Your Amazonian tank sounds awesome, with very attractive fish. If you are having a lot of problems with the snails I would certainly recommend assassin snails, which I have in a few of my tanks. For a larger tank you will need quite a few, but they have attractive shells and do a good job.
Your marbled hatchets should great. Might need to get them a glitter ball to hang in the tank. I like the shape of hatchets have some silver hatchets in one of my south american tanks. I've not lost any to jumping. I have them in a fluval roma tank, and I find the lids of those tanks very good to work with as I only remove 1 section for feeding, so it keeps the rest of the tank covered. My gang enjoy it when I use the aquascaping forceps to hold bloodworms at the surface for them to feed on. They are a bit of a bugger to catch when you need to move them. I moved mine once and got down to the last one when I heard a splash. Thinking it had jumped out of the tank I searches frantically for it, without success. Turned out it had actually jumped into the net that I left in the tank whilst moving some others. ::)
Well done with the PNG tank, and hope you manage to beat the cyanobacteria in your volcano tank.
Glad to hear that Darkness is doing well and that his tail healed so quickly.
I'm looking forward to seeing your videos. :cheers:
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I've always been in two minds about hatchets as aquariums are generally at a height where you look down onto them and I worry about not being able to see them through the lid... am I being silly?
One point of note about assassin snails, sounds obvious but I know some have been disappointed with the number of snail shells left in the tank when they have assassin snails. I personally quite like them...
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Not silly as the marbled hatchetfish look like they do as camouflage. From the top down they're supposed to look like faded out half leaves. Doesn't tend to work well as camouflage in a clear water aquarium. Their top down profile is the same as, say, a similar sized tetra (to which they're related) with added size in the pectoral fins. These fins stick out in a similar way to dumbo eared guppies but are horizontal. You won't miss seeing them and they look good from that angle.
I have assassin snails in there already but they don't breed as fast as the other snails. Yes, they leave a lot of shells behind of devoured snails but I don't mind that so much as they can be picked out. They also can't touch a medium sized malayasian trumpet. They try sometimes but give up in the end.
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@Matt With hatchets it depends where your tank is, from a seated position they are a nice addition to the normally empty tank surface. They are worryingly fond of jumping though and a lid is essential, so my top view is restricted to watching them like a hawk while cleaning >:(
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Due to the number of tanks, several of mine are at floor level. Funnily enough, including the one with the hatchets. I spend time sitting/laying on the floor in front of those tanks on a daily basis, which I admit is a bit weird.
In fact, I've never considered how stupid it is to have surface dwelling fish in a floor level tank before, and now I'm trying to work out which other tank I can empty and move them to. :-[ ::)
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:-[ sorry Littlefish for any resurrection of tank chaos I might have created...
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Tank chaos is always here, and I kind of like it that way. :)
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Enjoyed reading your interesting update, MM - thanks (and feel relieved that normality / tank chaos reigns, LF - I like it that way too as it makes for very interesting updates too :)).
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I've taken some videos but I'm kind of disappointed with the results. I'm using my phone cam in HD mode but none of the colours look like they do in the tank. Contrasts in green are lost, reds faded, and blue eyes don't shine. Let me know if you want me to post them anyway. Also, if you're good at filming the colours please let me know any tips you have. The phone cam doesn't have any colour/lighting options so I suspect the answer is a better camera.
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Post anyway!
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OK, here you go then:
Watch the grey stone in the bottom right.
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I'll have to do another one where the peacock gudgeon come out to play.
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Nice vids @MarquisMirage :)) :))
Not sure why you would be disappointed with them!?
I like the clean/simple looks your tank have. Probably because mine are the total opposite crammed with multiple different types of plants and rocks and wood!!
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Watch the grey stone in the bottom right.
The "grey stone" is gorgeous - love those cute feet disappearing into the rock. ;D
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The "grey stone" made me laugh, and is adorable.
Great tanks. :)
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Here's the Amazon tank and another explanation as to why I don't work in Hollywood. I'm no JJ AbRAMs, Pilchard Attenborough, John CARPenter, or Francis Ford CODpola... er, swiftly moving on...
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I am aware of the sick super blue royal tetra.
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Nice set up. ;D
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That's a great looking tank!!
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@MarquisMirage I thought I saw influences of Cecil BettaMille. What is the floating plant with the long root please?
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Hehe, in keeping with the Amazon theme it's limnobium laevigatum (common name is Amazon frogbit). It was a Tropica 1-2-3 pot with 2 cm roots about a week and a half ago so it's fast growing. The furry looking roots are the good form but the greenfire boodfin tetras like to nibble the fuzzy bits.
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I got hold of a second hand camera and have been testing the colours on it. Much better. Still need to work on getting the camera parallel to the tanks. Here's a short clip of the Amazon tank (check out the flaring apisto at the bottom right at the end):
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And speaking of betta:
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And that's all the tanks except the quarantine shown. I won't show the quarantine as it's very basic and more functional than pretty.
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My lot also nibble the roots of floating plants... I always thought I had too much surface flow or something for them but I think it's the fish that are killing them ::)
Great videos, nice music choice for the background too! There is a YouTube playlist I stumbled across called imaginatively 'Music for Fish Videos' by Angelo Garcia which you might find useful.
Your Bettas bit of red on his pectorals contrasts well with the deep blue body. And you already know I like the Amazon tank!
I'm going to have to have a go at this myself. I have a waterproof video camera which I'll try to get in with the fish..! Their reaction may well be :yikes: and RUN!!!
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Thanks for sharing the videos of your great tanks. ;D
I'm still trying to get my lot used to having the phone/tablet near the tank. ::)