Hi, I read the whole thread today! Very interesting stuff! I feel you have a natural eye in creating a beautiful jungle look but on the other hand you have an affinity for all almost any fussy fish species there is. I have kept pygmy corys and cpds ( in fact I still do) and I know from experience that they are both delicate and casualties are to be expected especially when you start with bad stock at the LFS.

The only way to be successful is to start with quality fish and be able to provide live food. Grindal worms culture is easy and anyone can do it. Fish thrive on live food.

Sometimes you one has to accept and stick to what's really working for them. You could stock with hardy fish like White cloud mountain minnows which are cheap as chips and extremely underrated! Hardy, lively and beautiful. It is often overlooked at the fish store but in a home aquarium and with proper care they transform completely.

@Sarpijk Thank you! The CPDs are well on the whole and the juveniles are coming on really nicely. Once we do eventually move, I'd like to breed some more but don't fancy moving tiny fry if we are able to move at short notice. Just can't work out what these lesions are or what's triggering them, especially as it appears to be species-specific. I won't be buying anymore, but I wouldn't consider them to "not be working" as I've lost one after 6 months of no issues and none of the juveniles have shown any issues.

Live cultures are another one that's waiting until we move. I had a "daphnia jar" a few years back that was handy, but just don't have the space in the current flat. It's actually the reason why I added all the cherry shrimp though, they're a nice addition in general, but provide a constant live food source for the badis, along with smaller snails.

I did think about minnows a while back, they're beautiful fish! Their preferred temps are a bit low for my cryptocorynes though as far as I'm aware, and those make up the majority of my plants. I'd like another larger tank (again after we move) that I can have a bit warmer and then run this tank a bit cooler for the badis, CPDs, cherries, and corys, so if the CPDs do dwindle over the coming years then minnows will be right up there on my list of replacements They were also top on my list for a loose Taiwanese biotope (they've been introduced to some areas of Taiwan) - do you happen to know if they're jumpers?

Hi, I' ve been keeping White cloud mountain minnows and crypts for more than 8 years. They work great together, I never had any problem with crypts and unheated tanks!

Not sure if it's allowed but here's a link to my setup.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/top...ink_source=app

Not much to update but here's a pic of the gourami I'll be keeping once I can rehome the other two:



I also really enjoy spotting the shrimp that have clearly been bred within the tank. Anything bright is seemingly eaten before reaching adulthood - I've spotted juveniles that are red/carbon rilis, red, and blue-ish, but only the black and wild-type offspring survive. Here's one below:

Love honey gouramis, the one you're keeping looks fantastic. It's a shame they're fighting, would be nice if you could keep all three.

I'm hoping to pick up some carbon rili or similar neocaridina shrimp for my cube because I kind of figure that since they aren't as striking as your usual cherry reds and yellows they would have a better chance of not being killed by my sparkling gourami murder machines and I think I've found just a little evidence of my theory in your post today hahaha.

This is one of my favorite tanks here. I really love the natural, un-staged look. I am also impressed at your success without CO2.

One quick question. What are you using for substrate? Basic sand? Any amendment?

Thanks!

Thank you both for your lovely comments!

@chicken.nublet I love any kind of rili, I did have a blue and red rili shrimp from my original group of culls that was one of my faves, but it's ...disappeared now that the badis is larger.

@mourip thanks so much! I think it helps that the tank is so shallow, although this does lead to some pretty obscene algae when left to its devices. It also really helps that I only keep low-demanding plants - no stems in sight!

I just use basic sand with root tabs. I'm sure an aquasoil capped with sand would give better results, but it's something I'd like to try in a fishless tank first I think as I understand some products can leach ammonia etc. for a while when disturbed. I also can't get my head around the kH depletion side of it, and how the pH stays stable at 0dkH?!

There were a couple of photos I wanted to upload, but the site I use to embed them seems to be down just now. Will give it a go soon and edit this post

Never uploaded a photo of the full tank and window here. Here we go:

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Lovely shot

I did a thing -







The move is back on so it's looking positive for a larger tank. I think I'll move that wood & epiphytes into it, maybe a blackwater tank with botanicals. Excuse the algae, I'm busy (as always, it seems)

ETA: I preferred the tank before but fell in love with this wood - it was £20 for a 2.5ft log so that helped. I'd really like it on a slope (been wanting to try one for a while) with smooth stones and a blackwater setup. Never used to like cardinals but they've been on my mind recently, maybe with hatchetfish (size allowing), corydoras sterbai, and dwarf cichlids. Need the get the tank mature first, might fishless cycle and then run with the CPDs for breeding, invest in some rosy loaches for this tank, and then move the CPDs back once the tank has run with fish post-fishless cycle for a while and/or I have enough CPDs. I'm thinking of getting a 4-5ft stand custom made in the same style as the coffee table used now, with space on the top for a 4-5x2x2 ft and possibly a shelf in the bottom for this tank.

nice shot!

Some good updates here! Really nice to see how the tank fits in the environment, and in this case it sits really well in front of that window, and that log sure looks good! It's placement is something I wouldn't have thought to try myself but it works really well. Regarding cardinals, a while back at LFS I saw wild caught neon tetras (or green tetras?) - they were really electric blue and think they would look amazing, especially in a blackwater. Neons doesn't have to be daft inbred starter fish! I also kept glow light tetra's in blackwater before and that was a nice mix too, albeit a bit more subdued but goes nicely with the brown shades of the blackwater.

It's been a while. The "big" tank is currently empty and the plants and inhabitants moved from a holding tank to a 17G cube on 11th October:

Flora:
Assorted crypts
Bolbitis fern x2
Java fern
Anubias coffeefolia
Anubias barteri
Anubias nana
Unknown buce
A few other bits and bobs

Fauna:
Badis badis
Ember tetras
a few CPDs
Otos
Pygmy Corys
?? cherry shrimp
7ish amanos
Nerite snails
Whatever ramshorns haven't been eaten by the badis - a few weeks ago, she ate 2 large ramshorns (that I actually paid for?!) within 48 hours of adding. Podgy little sod.

Params:
60% WC weekly
Buffered to pH 7, kH 2, gH 5.
10ml TNC ferts weekly
Running the Eheim Ecco Pro 300 - the tank's moved to the bedroom and this filter is quiet as anything, 10/10 would recommend the brand, need to get the 100 really

The big tank is empty, as in the dennerle 55L. The fluval flex is half full of water and plants and has been since September. My lovely bog wood has been in a damp bin bag since September and I'm genuinely afraid to open it. Simply put, life's got in the way.

Next plans (subject to actually getting all the DIY done on the flat):

- get lids cut for the tanks; saying goodbye rimless tanks, but hopefully hello to Ragdolls
- set up "big" tank (subject to aforementioned DIY) as the blackwater/Taiwanese biotope/puffer tank/EZ PZ big betta tank of my dream
- work out what on earth is wrong with my remaining 3 CPDs, cure it, and breed some more

All good fun!

My image embedding site has died while I've been gone, so here's a cheeky thumbnail. I'm happy with it for an easy-ish, low input-ish tank :

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