57 Gallon Tank (Learning from my first planted tank)

[sundragon]

Coral Red Pencilfish! They seem to be acclimating well.

Though, the 30 amano shrimp I also bought aren't doing so well. 16 have died in the last 24 hours. I have a thread up on that trying to figure out what I did wrong

Mistaken double shipment of Crypt wendtii "Florida Sunset". I contacted the seller and they told me to keep so I'm looking forward to the added color!

The A. hongsloi pair are coloring up nicely.

I'm selling my paired angels to make room for something else

P.S. I need a new camera, the iPhone isn't cutting it, lol

[LetThereBeFish]

Hey Sundragon! Tank is lookin good.. Sorry to here about the amanos (they look like shrimp cocktail ....sorry, that was mean). Love the pencils! Always wanted them. And beautiful apisto!

Who ever buys your angels is going to be one lucky fella.

[evan.m]

Sounds like its all gonna work out, but what's a Zip car?

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by LetThereBeFish

Hey Sundragon! Tank is lookin good.. Sorry to here about the amanos (they look like shrimp cocktail ....sorry, that was mean). Love the pencils! Always wanted them. And beautiful apisto!

Who ever buys your angels is going to be one lucky fella.

Thanks, she's a GWAPA member - I hope they get a nice home and make a lot of angel babies!

They smelled like shrimp cocktail, lol

I love apistos - not afraid of anything!

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by evan.m

Sounds like its all gonna work out, but what's a Zip car?

It's a rental car by the hour. They have the all over DC, the closest is a block away. I walk to work and school, and most of DC is walk/metro/cab accessible. If I need a car for a few hours, I just use www.zipcar.com

*commercial over*

[LetThereBeFish]

Originally Posted by sundragon

Thanks, she's a GWAPA member - I hope they get a nice home and make a lot of angel babies!

They smelled like shrimp cocktail, lol

I love apistos - not afraid of anything!

Haha, what I find weird is how the shrimp turned pink. I thought that only happens when they are cooked.... wait...Your not going loopy and eating your own shrimp are you?

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by LetThereBeFish

Haha, what I find weird is how the shrimp turned pink. I thought that only happens when they are cooked.... wait...Your not going loopy and eating your own shrimp are you?

I did no cooking - that I know of - LOL

Maybe someone knows why they turn pink - other than cooking and I'll know why they are dying in 24-48 hours

[Studman0143]

Can I ask where you purchased your pencilfish? My LFS had them for one week and it was before I had my tank setup and now I can't find them anywhere. I hate it!

[sundragon]

I bought them from Rachel - AKA Msjinkzd.

Her livestock is fantastic and great service. She sells on here as well. Tell her Shahriar sent ya

My penciflish have started to color up nicely and display for the females.

[sundragon]

The Apisto. macmasteri have chosen a cave and the female is staying in there all the time... I can't see inside to know if there are fry.

The male macmasteri is very fond of shrimp...

[sundragon]

So a few things have happened.

I found shrimp surviving... LoL Trying to figure out what to do next - order more amano shrimp cocktail?

The Koralia nano 240 is doing a good job moving water without blowing plants or looking fugly in the tank (I hate seeing equipment or hoses in the water).

The apistos keep doing their tail flirting dance. I'm going to try to record it because it's funny. The male tilts sideways and then flashes his butt at the females... Wondering if this works in a bar situation

hair algae is sloooooooowly receding but not gone. An army of amanos would have made short work of this but alas, I'm still trying to figure it out.

Oh and I tied an anubias to the driftwood sticking out of the water... The leaves died off, so I'm thinking it has to put out emersed leaves.

Lastly the lily pipe worked better for CO2 - I've had to hike it up with the output jet for some reason. I may switch back and see how it works.

[VadimShevchuk]

nice looking tank and sorry to hear about the loss of the koi angel and amanos. Are you still planning on getting discus?

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by VadimShevchuk

nice looking tank and sorry to hear about the loss of the koi angel and amanos. Are you still planning on getting discus?

Thanks! Yes, if I do - I will buy adults instead of juvies because they are hardier and I won't have to deal with growth issues. I was told it's a bit more expensive, but they are ultimately easier to keep.

[CorallineAlgae]

Any updates? This has been great reading and your tank is beautiful.

[sundragon]

Originally Posted by CorallineAlgae

Any updates? This has been great reading and your tank is beautiful.

Thanks! I've been enjoying it for the most part - School has kept me busy so I'm not updating as much.

The Apisto. macmasteri male got hole in the head and died - I didn't realize what was going on and when I realized, I started treatment but to no avail. The other fish including the Apistos seem fine and haven't shown any symptoms.

I did a 3 day black out because I was still having residual string algae issues. It wiped out the algae and my tiger lotuses - All of them save one. The tank is clean now but for future reference, I will remove the lotuses and place them in a sunny area for 3 days - All of mine melted and never recovered.

I will be replacing the lotuses and get another male macmasteri - One of the most beautiful fish I've owned.

I added 8 1" tiger barbs, they are fun to watch. I'll post pictures soon