My first planted aquarium Petco 6.6 Bookshelf Iwagumi (Full Tank Shot 09/27/2012)

[FisheriesOmen]

When you put Inverts like Shrimp into a new tank they will almost always molt soon after in order to adjust to the change in parameters (Fresh and Slat Water included).

[T3Knical5urg3]

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

TS, I know that's right! We pay for every ounce shaved. It's amazing how quickly ultralight has evolved. Do you hammock camp? If not, you've got to search up YouTube for "Shug" and check it out. It's how I mostly camp these days. Shug lives in Minnesota, now, I think, but he is from NC. He's hilarious--does all these Sling Blade impressions. Good info in his entertaining videos on everything from hammock camping to stoves, etc. He introduced me to The BushBuddy--amazing ultralight stove handmade by a guy in the backcountry of Canada using a solar-powered spot welder.

Oops, I better start talking about fish! What kind of aquarium are you setting up? Are you aquascaping or only interested in keeping a planted tank? Any fish?

I actually moved on from hammock camping to bring my weight down further. I've actually been making a lot of my gear lately as I just picked up a sowing machine for the first time.

I am pretty new to the who aquascaping thing but I finally have a tank that doesn't essentially suck. I haven't posted on it yet but will start soon.

[Williak]

Still loving watching your tank! Such an incredible scape for such a small volume aquarium. You've really created something special

My most recent nature/iwagumi-ish aquarium was a failure... about to restart a new one in a smaller 24" rimless 18 gal. aquarium. Going to be reviewing your journal, and watching your continued success, as a guide for my own! Planning on some DHG, hope it will come out as your's has

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by FisheriesOmen

When you put Inverts like Shrimp into a new tank they will almost always molt soon after in order to adjust to the change in parameters (Fresh and Slat Water included).

I'm new to shrimp and didn't know that. Thanks for the info. Since they molted, they have been hiding out under a rock ledge in the back of the tank mostly. I understand that's common, since they feel vulnerable.

Originally Posted by T3Knical5urg3

I actually moved on from hammock camping to bring my weight down further. I've actually been making a lot of my gear lately as I just picked up a sowing machine for the first time.

I am pretty new to the who aquascaping thing but I finally have a tank that doesn't essentially suck. I haven't posted on it yet but will start soon.

It seems like a lot people are now using Cuben fiber these days. I think sewing is a great skill to know. My son has been making a sail for a kayak, and it would be great to be able to help him sew it. I can't sew worth a lick.

I'm looking forward to seeing your tank. I like the way you put that.

Originally Posted by Williak

Still loving watching your tank! Such an incredible scape for such a small volume aquarium. You've really created something special

My most recent nature/iwagumi-ish aquarium was a failure... about to restart a new one in a smaller 24" rimless 18 gal. aquarium. Going to be reviewing your journal, and watching your continued success, as a guide for my own! Planning on some DHG, hope it will come out as your's has

Williak, I really appreciate your kind comments. It has been a very fun and rewarding adventure so far. It's always fun learning a new hobby. This one happens to fit well into existing hobbies, and luckily, I can draw on some of the knowledge from existing hobbies. Still, I'm very green and learning.

I'm sorry to hear about your iwagumi-ish tank. It's great you are giving it another go. You probably know the saying, "If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough." I think it's great to push boundaries and learn from our mistakes. I'll look forward to seeing your new aquarium. Good luck with your hairgrass, and remember, mine died back and is still recovering. Success hasn't come without some trials. Best of luck!

I have added some Boraras brigittae this morning. Pics coming, tonight!

[SaltyNC]

Today was an exciting day. With my tank fully cycled, water hardness adjusted, and the plants nearly fully recovered, it was time to add my long-awaited fish. After some back and forth on my part, I finally settled on Boraras brigittae, commonly known as the Chili Rasbora. It is a micro-fish in every sense of the word. They are about the length of a long grain rice and not a whole lot wider. I could easily have 30 in my 6.6 gallon aquarium and if I spooked them, they could all disappear at will. I ordered 12 for my tank, and it's hard to count them moving all over the place, but I'm pretty sure I counted 15.

I could not source Boraras brigittae locally, and after asking around, Rachel (user msjinkzd here on TPT msjinkzd.com) came highly recommended. She was a pleasure to deal with, and I highly recommend her to anyone needing to order fish or aquatic fauna! Don't let her hairdo fool you, she's a real sweetie!

Over the last week-plus, I've been slowly increasing the hardness of my water a few degrees. Everything seems to be doing better, now. I had asked Rachel about her water parameters where the B.bs were being kept, and my water parameters were getting closer to hers, though still a bit softer and slightly more acidic.

When the package arrived this morning, packed in insulating foam, I removed the bag and began a slow drip acclimation. After a few hours, I began adding the fish to my tank. To my surprise, they instantly took to their new home, and instead of hiding, they were very curious.

Here they are just being added to the tank:


These fish are perfect for the scale of my aquarium. Here you can see a chili next to a zebra nerite snail on top of the rock. The snail is about the size of my thumbnail and the rock slightly bigger than the size of my fist.


Since they were doing well, I decided to offer them a little food to see if they would take it. I used a product called Instant Baby Brine Shrimp. This product is awesome. It suspends in the water column and doesn't cloud the water. The fish go crazy over it. Even though the B.bs were just added to my tank, they immediately got busy devouring this product. Here is a video of the product so you can get an idea of how it suspends in the water column.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hl4YVcKdZs
I plan to feed a mix of this product, ground flake, and ground New Life Spectrum pellets.

Here I am adding some of the Instant Baby Brine Shrimp product with a pipette.


How awesome is this, instant starry sky effect!


All of my pictures so far have been taken with a Canon S95, but it looks like if I want to get some shots of these fish, I'm going to have to use the DSLR to get some much needed DOF and faster focus control. They never stop moving!

'Till next time ...

[windfish]

I love the new fish. Glad to hear you had a good experience with msjinkzd-- I will most likely be ordering some B. briggitae from her in the near future.

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by windfish

I love the new fish. Glad to hear you had a good experience with msjinkzd-- I will most likely be ordering some B. briggitae from her in the near future.

Thanks! I highly recommend her. I checked out your journal. Your tank is looking good. I see we both have some Amanos. I like the pygmy cories, too. I almost went with some cory hastatus, but finally decided on the B.bs.

When you place your order, don't worry about ordering too many. They are tiny. I think I could have doubled my order with no problem in my 6.6 gallon.

[windfish]

Thanks for checking it out. I think I'm going to get 15 of the brigittae or so.

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

Thanks! I highly recommend her. I checked out your journal. Your tank is looking good. I see we both have some Amanos. I like the pygmy cories, too. I almost went with some cory hastatus, but finally decided on the B.bs.

When you place your order, don't worry about ordering too many. They are tiny. I think I could have doubled my order with no problem in my 6.6 gallon.

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by windfish

Thanks for checking it out. I think I'm going to get 15 of the brigittae or so.

Cool deal!

[SaltyNC]

For this week's update, I've uploaded a very small video of the boraras brigittae eating the Instant Baby Brine Shrimp product. I really like how this product suspends in the water column and creates the effect of stars against my black backdrop. It even looks like the faint glow of the Milky Way with the hazy mirroring of the rocks against the background.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MghkYoRO5CI

I was hoping to capture my Amano shrimp going crazy, but they didn't show up this time. Usually when I inject the baby brine shrimp (it's mostly the fat and not live shrimp) into the water, the Amanos come out and run all over the tank, picking up the tiny balls of fat from all over the tank. I thought Amanos were herbivores, but they seem to like the fat content in the shrimp product. My battery ran out on my camera, so I had to cut the video short, but I'll try to get a short clip of the Amanos motor-boating around the tank next time.

For those of you with nano tanks and pressurized CO2, do you find it works better to leave it on 24/7 or turn it off after lights out? I have fairly high surface agitation, and I'm noticing that my CO2 is dropping quite a bit at night and not maintaining a constant level. Since my biomass is fairly light, and my water volume is so small, I'm thinking it might be better to just run CO2 24/7 to prevent fluctuations that can cause algae issues.

Here is this week's update shot:


I'll probably do two or three more weekly updates, and then only post if something drastic changes after that.

[freph]

This tank looks....really good, wow. I may have to invest in that brine shrimp product sometime. Great job with the scape, plant and fish selection.

[jeremyTR]

Amazing tank!

I actually picked up some live brine shrimp from my LFS today for my tetra and Betta. My Betta loved the heck out of them.

Sent from my HTC Evo 4G

[SaltyNC]

Originally Posted by freph

This tank looks....really good, wow. I may have to invest in that brine shrimp product sometime. Great job with the scape, plant and fish selection.

Thanks, Freph. It was an experiment and learning experience, and I've enjoyed it. So far, no major disasters. Yea, that shrimp product comes in a tiny glass baby food jar. It will probably expire before I can feed it all with these little guys. I was glad to hear your riccia is starting to take off. I see you are from Fayetteville. I used to live in the Eastern part of NC when I was a kid, and we would drive down to Fayetteville to see the air show. Are there any good fish stores in town, or do you have to mail order or come to Charlotte/Raleigh? It's great that we have some many from NC/SC on the forum.

Originally Posted by jeremyTR

Amazing tank!
I actually picked up some live brine shrimp from my LFS today for my tetra and Betta. My Betta loved the heck out of them.

Thanks so much, Jeremy. Fish do seem to go crazy over any live product. There is another product similar to Instant Baby Brine Shrimp called Cyclop-Eeze that is supposed to be really good. Both of those products are not truly live, but contain all the benefit of live food. At one time, I contemplated setting up a green water tank and raising my own daphnie to feed these guys, but after I discovered the instant product, and it lasts a long time with these tiny guys, I decided against it. I may try raising daphnia some time in the future. The cultures are available locally to me.

[callisto9]

I'm new and think I've finally settled on this tank! Thanks for all the great pics and updates! I can't wait to get it.

[freph]

Originally Posted by SaltyNC

Thanks, Freph. It was an experiment and learning experience, and I've enjoyed it. So far, no major disasters. Yea, that shrimp product comes in a tiny glass baby food jar. It will probably expire before I can feed it all with these little guys. I was glad to hear your riccia is starting to take off. I see you are from Fayetteville. I used to live in the Eastern part of NC when I was a kid, and we would drive down to Fayetteville to see the air show. Are there any good fish stores in town, or do you have to mail order or come to Charlotte/Raleigh? It's great that we have some many from NC/SC on the forum.

Yeah, the riccia has been giving me trouble for the longest time so I just scrapped them and got some fresh stuff. We've got a couple of shoddy non-chain fish stores on and around Bragg Blvd, but other than that there's a 2 PetsMarts and a Pet Supermarket that I know of. All of them are lacking in exotic fish and plants in general, so I order from Rachel for fish and plants from forum members or aquariumplants.com. I rather pay for shipping than gas and more mileage on my car.