[Discusluv]

It's a surprise. You'll have to wait until Friday!

Oh now thats just cruel

 

[Triport]

Day 66. Last day without fish. Did a water change and algae clean up in preparation.

Checked parameters

TDS 326ppm
GH 4.8
KH 3.4
pH 5.86

Fish are still in Portland but should arrive in Ontario, California sometime in the early morning and be here by noon.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 66 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Oooh so exciting. My fish are out for delivery. Just got the email from UPS where I can follow the delivery in real time. My favorite part of the fish delivery process. Hopefully they are all OK. Weather has been pretty mild so I don't forsee any problems.

 

[Triport]

Fish arrived from The Wet Spot without drama.

Rasbora rubrodorsalis - cherry spot Rasbora x 11
Boraras brigittae - chili Rasbora x 23
Kryptopterus vitreolus - Asian glass catfish x 10
Sundadanio goblinus - neon blue Rasbora x 25
Otocinclus cocama - zebra Oto x 3
Caridina multidentata - Amano shrimp x 10

Farlowella vittata - twig catfish x 6

All fish I have not kept before. Most of the fish from Thailand except the chili Rasboras from Borneo and the Otos obviously. I just like having Otos in all my tanks no matter what region the rest of the fish represent. The Farlowella are for my 100 gallon but I am quarantining them in this tank with the other new fish.

Also got 4 tiny Crossocheilus oblongus - Siamese algae eaters for my 46 gallon but those I put directly in that tank.

Right now all the little rasboras are mostly swimming around in one huge school together. So cool. The cherry spots about 3 times bigger than the other two species. It will be interesting seeing how the different fish interact with each other over the long term.

 

[Discusluv]

Fish arrived from The Wet Spot without drama.

Rasbora rubrodorsalis - cherry spot Rasbora x 11
Boraras brigittae - chili Rasbora x 23
Kryptopterus vitreolus - Asian glass catfish x 10
Sundadanio goblinus - neon blue Rasbora x 25
Otocinclus cocama - zebra Oto x 3
Caridina multidentata - Amano shrimp x 10

Farlowella vittata - twig catfish x 6

All fish I have not kept before. Most of the fish from Thailand except the chili Rasboras from Borneo and the Otos obviously. I just like having Otos in all my tanks no matter what region the rest of the fish represent. The Farlowella are for my 100 gallon but I am quarantining them in this tank with the other new fish.

Also got 4 tiny Crossocheilus oblongus - Siamese algae eaters for my 46 gallon but those I put directly in that tank.

Right now all the little rasboras are mostly swimming around in one huge school together. So cool. The cherry spots about 3 times bigger than the other two species. It will be interesting seeing how the different fish interact with each other over the long term.

Glad all came healthy! :smile2:

Sounds like a great group of fish. Im intrigued because the only Rasboras Ive ever kept are Kubotai ( which I have now), so will be interesting to see how the groups interact in time.
I love the Zebra Otos- have 2. Really difficult to acclimate to the aquarium; but, finally successful with last shipment got from Wetspot. Only one died of 3.

 

[KayakJimW]

Ha nice, I enjoyed the play by play. Thanks for bringing us along on the excitement. Cool list of fish. Farlowellas are super cool, I miss mine but they're on my short list after I re-do my 90. A word of caution, their noses can break easily in nets. I always just reached in and picked them up like you'd pick up a pencil off your desk

 

[Triport]

Yeah I netted them out into a big soft net very gently and then removed them each by hand. They seem OK. The Otocinclus cocama definitely came in much healthier than my Hypoptopoma sp. Peru. Two of those died immediately but the third has been very hardy and has moved aquariums twice with no problems. Hopefully all 3 of the zebra Otos survive. Definitely lots of diatoms and algae for them in this tank.

Otocinclus cocama (everyone else is either too small to photograph or is hiding). It is funny how giant the Otos look compared to the rest of the fish in this tank!

Otocinclus cocama by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Took some video of the zebra oto as well and some of the other fish make appearances.

 

[Triport]

Characins are still my favorite but I am enjoying these little tiny Cyprinids too. Almost all the algae is gone and most of the fish are adjusting well. The glass cats still mostly hide in the bottom right corner but a few of them have started venturing out.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 73 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Rescaped my 46 bowfront a bit too. Removed the wood and sprayed the BBA with H2O2 and clipped off a lot of BBA covered leaves. Moved the Anubias covered wood to a more central location in the tank and put some stones back in.

46 gallon bowfront by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Day 80 in the 45 gallon. Most of the algae is gone so I dropped in an algae wafer for the shrimp, Farlowellas, and Otos to snack on. Tank is looking good but the Crypts are so slow growing it may take another 6 months to a year for this tank to really fill in. Fish are doing OK but lost two glass cats.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 80 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Day 87! I've lost a couple of glass cats but everyone else still looking OK. Realized the other day I am out of CO2 on this tank but was able to go the next day and swap out the tank so I don't think it will set anything back too much. Glad I have a drop checker though because I wouldn't have thought to look.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 87 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And continuing the thread of two tanks for the price of one journal the 46 bowfront next door is looking so good. Keeping up with the fight against BBA. This photo really doesn't do the plants in this tank justice. The Crypts are so beautiful. I'll have to try to get photos with my better camera or maybe shoot some video to see if I can get some better shots.

46 gallon bowfront by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And another bonus for this thread something not tank related but plant related. I mounted my two new staghorn ferns in a break in the rainy weather here the other day (Platycerium grande on the left and Platycerium superbum on the right). Once I renovate this outdoor courtyard and make a really nice shade garden here these two ferns will be mounted on fence of the inner courtyard. I've always wanted these plants so it was nice that a local nursery got some good specimens and I found a good mail order company to buy the mounting boards from.

Platycerium grande left. Platycerium superbum right. by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Discusluv]

Day 87! I've lost a couple of glass cats but everyone else still looking OK. Realized the other day I am out of CO2 on this tank but was able to go the next day and swap out the tank so I don't think it will set anything back too much. Glad I have a drop checker though because I wouldn't have thought to look.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 87 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And continuing the thread of two tanks for the price of one journal the 46 bowfront next door is looking so good. Keeping up with the fight against BBA. This photo really doesn't do the plants in this tank justice. The Crypts are so beautiful. I'll have to try to get photos with my better camera or maybe shoot some video to see if I can get some better shots.

46 gallon bowfront by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And another bonus for this thread something not tank related but plant related. I mounted my two new staghorn ferns in a break in the rainy weather here the other day (Platycerium grande on the left and Platycerium superbum on the right). Once I renovate this outdoor courtyard and make a really nice shade garden here these two ferns will be mounted on fence of the inner courtyard. I've always wanted these plants so it was nice that a local nursery got some good specimens and I found a good mail order company to buy the mounting boards from.

Platycerium grande left. Platycerium superbum right. by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Gorgeous all around-- those Staghorn ferns are spectacular!

 

[Triport]

Day 94! I can't believe it has been over 3 months! If you go to Flickr and scroll through the side by side pictures of the tank each week you can both see how slow Crypts grow but also how far they have come in that time.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 94 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Squisher]

Don't forget the bowfront too.:grin2:

 

[Triport]

Haha my week was so crazy without my computer I did forget to post a pic to Flickr but I did take one. While it changes less visibly week to week my BBA fight has been going pretty well. Not sure I will ever be rid of it completely but every water change I remove any old leaves with BBA on the edges and scrape or clean it off the hardscape. This past week I started siphoning out any visible large gravel chunks because most of them were infested with it (one more reason to prefer sand over gravel). I'm glad I have kept up with the fight and it is more under control now. I considered just scrapping everything and starting over but all of these plants are really nice. Especially the Cryptocoryne usteriana 'Red' which is not something that is commonly available and the Anubias is 5 years of growth.

Today the keyhole cichlids have started making another nest in the back right corner. Keeping an eye on them to see if they lay eggs again but I don't expect a successful brood (and don't want one since I currently have my hands full with baby Scleromystax and Steatocranius.

46 gallon bowfront by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Day 101! Going to take a closer look at some of the individual plants in this post. Oh sad news. Lost an Otocinclus cocama (very expensive loss!). He got his little face stuck in the crown of one of the Cryptocorynes. It was wedged in their so tight he probably couldn't get out. I almost couldn't get the corpse out it was so stuck! Between that and one of my Farlowellas getting chopped in half in a power head I am not having the best week!

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 101 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Now with Crypts even from reliable sources I feel like you are not always going to get the correct species of plant. There seems to be a lot of confusion in the hobby about them and some species are very similar when grown submersed. The pic below is supposedly C. willisii in front and C. hudoroi in the back. Now the front plant may in fact be C. X willisii. I'll have to give it more time and see how it develops. But I am pretty sure the one in the back is not C. hudoroi. C. hudoroi has a very puckered leaf which this plant only very briefly has when the new leaves are forming. It is a nice purplish plant but not sure what exactly it might be.

Cryptocoryne willisii (front), back plant was labeled as Cryptocoryne hudori but clearly that is not accurate. Not sure what it is but it is nice. by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

In the center of the tank is C. beckettii. It looks very much like the C. X willisii. Both species are from Sri Lanka and C. X willisii is apparently a naturally occurring hybrid but I couldn't find any literature stating if C. beckettii is one of the parents.

Cryptocoryne beckettii by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

On the right hand side C. albida var. costata looks correct. This is probably going to be a very slow grower with long strappy leaves. Behind it is what Buce Plant is selling as C. hudoroi 'Green'. Now this looks much more accurate for C. hudoroi than the other purple leaved plant I got from them. Eventually this should be wonderful with long leaves reaching the surface of the aquarium. Already this plant has been sending out little pups so I have high hopes for this plant. I love this look and am eager to see what it develops into.

Cryptocoryne albida var. costata (front) and Cryptocoryne hudori (back) by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Finally I have two groups of C. nurii (about 7 plants total). These were tissue culture so it may take them up to a year to really start taking off but I like the look already and hope I have success with them. There are lots of cultivars of this plant that demand a high price and are rare and hard to find but this straight species looks like it is going to be quite attractive.

Cryptocoryne nurii by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

46 bowfront is looking good too. Did another water change and removed more old leaves with bits of BBA and scraped some off the back glass. I feel like I am one step ahead of it but afraid if I get careless it will be back full force and I will never be rid of it. This is too bad because I have some really cool plants in this tank as well. Especially the Cryptocoryne usteriana 'Red' on the left which is not widely available and I only was able to find on EBay.

46 Gallon Bowfront by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Trying to give the full effect of how nice these plants are by taking a picture from a slightly above angle.

46 Gallon Bowfront from top angle by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And a close up of one of the clumps of C. wendtii 'Red'. At my old house I had this in a tank with brighter light and it was much more red/purple but had less of the searsucker quality to the leaves and didn't have the same beautiful mottled pattern. I like it better in this lower light (just a pretty basic Marineland light on this tank).

Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Red' by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Day 108!

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 108 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

And the two tanks together.

45 gallon and 46 gallon bowfront aquariums by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Almost forgot I moved my single Corydoras semiaquilus to my 46 bowfront. He was harassing the C. duplicareus and C. eques pretty regularly and stressing them out. He killed all the others of his own species and even though he has been peaceful in the big Corydoras tank for over a year and a half I didn't want to risk him killing any of the peaceful Corydoras in the tank. At the worst he would actually kill them but I was also afraid he would just stress them and make them sick. Lineage one Corydoras are actually very aggressive but normally only with conspecifics. I was surprised he went after lineage 7 and 9 fish and not the Scleromystax which are more similar to him in appearance.

I thought he would be a nightmare to catch but he pretty much just let me scoop him up. So now he lives with no other Corydoras in the tank with the keyhole cichlids. I did find a dead kuhli loach the next day but I very much doubt that was related. He is too big to get into the piece of wood that they live in.

Moved Corydoras semiaquilus by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Triport]

Day 115. I almost forgot to take a picture tonight and remembered right before lights out so it isn't the best because I had to hurry and I didn't have time to get a photo of the 46g. Probably doing a water change and a bit of a clean up on that one tomorrow though so I will get it afterward. I want to try and use my Nikon and see if I can get some nicer quality photos of that tank since my iPhone doesn't seem to do the Crypts justice.

Things have been so smooth with this 45g. Of course the Crypts are still growing painfully slow (especially the C. parva) but the fish are doing well and there are absolutely no algae problems. I have to say I am not in love with cyprinids compared to characins. I was thinking of setting up a 65 after my 120 is up and going and doing another Asian barb/Rasbora tank. Maybe with some gouramis or rainbowfish as well. But now I am thinking I would rather have it be another South American tank with tetras and small cichlids I haven't tried yet. Not sure what to do but I have plenty of time to think about it. The little Rasboras are fine (especially the tiny S. goblinus are beautiful) but there personalities just aren't as enjoyable to me as tetras.

45 gallon planted aquarium Day 115 by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

 

[Discusluv]

Almost forgot I moved my single Corydoras semiaquilus to my 46 bowfront. He was harassing the C. duplicareus and C. eques pretty regularly and stressing them out. He killed all the others of his own species and even though he has been peaceful in the big Corydoras tank for over a year and a half I didn't want to risk him killing any of the peaceful Corydoras in the tank. At the worst he would actually kill them but I was also afraid he would just stress them and make them sick. Lineage one Corydoras are actually very aggressive but normally only with conspecifics. I was surprised he went after lineage 7 and 9 fish and not the Scleromystax which are more similar to him in appearance.

I thought he would be a nightmare to catch but he pretty much just let me scoop him up. So now he lives with no other Corydoras in the tank with the keyhole cichlids. I did find a dead kuhli loach the next day but I very much doubt that was related. He is too big to get into the piece of wood that they live in.

Moved Corydoras semiaquilus by Kaveh Maguire, on Flickr

Wow! Thats the first time Ive heard of an aggressive corydoras species. But, then again, I have only kept about 6 different species- not near as many as you have.

Your tanks are filling in beautifully. Did you use pool filter sand for substrate?-- it looks really nice. Like an authentic river sand.