[lisals]

... continuation from my old thread that you can check out.....
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1...25gal-low-tech-scruffy-scape-photo-heavy.html
.....
It's a new year so why not a new thread to go along with it
Quick recap...
My current set ups are 125g, 40g, 5g, 5ghex, and a mason jar that started off as a walstad method experiment but is now just ... something that I enjoy and just like updating on.

Lets start this thread off the right way... with tanks filled with algae! WOO! lol

My 5 gal betta tank. I really need to stop being lazy and adjust the light time on this already. No photos of lil bettaface. I tried but the algae on the glass wasn't cooperating

40g is looking a little better, but still has a lot of hair algae everywhere. Also afraid one of the cories is dying. It's swimming around weird

Powder blue just looking all beefy and adorable

FINALLY got a decent photo of one of the sparkling gourami (along with some of the lamp eye rasbora). Sparkling gouramis are so darn pretty and cute!

125g looking very yellow. Still not sure why my new phone makes the tanks look so yellow. Guess it just picks up that color really well or something.
It's looking a bit beat up right now. Think I need to add more root tabs.

Couple of semi-craptastic photos of my 2 dojo loaches. They still haven't gotten to their full potential hot dog size yet, but the bent one has caught up in size to the other one finally. Love these weird chunky little things! Will definitely be getting more if the tank when money permits and when the tank has gone at least a month or 2 without a mysterious fish death.

Just a look in to my experiment jar that's just a planted jar. It's dirty, but I really really love the look of it. If I had the room... and if DH was on board, I would so love to do a dark water tank to try to get this kind of look.. well.. minus the floaitng bits of soil

And finally my 5g hex. Added an algae wafer to the filter a few days ago. Need to check water parameters.
It's been doing ok though. Plants look decent and there hasn't been too much algae. Some spot stuff, but that's been about it.

That's it for now. All tanks need a water change and obvious clean up, but that will have to wait until Sunday or Monday when it warms back up. Hoping that I'll have some motivation to start cleaning up the 40 so I can transfer one of the swords to it then too

 

[lisals]

The pothos on the back of my 125 is doing SUPER well. Looks gorgeous with the coloring and the leaves are huge on the vines.

125 and pothos make a good team /nodnod
If I can find some idea I'd like to get it to start creeping up the wall behind the aquarium. Maybe just tack up some string in between 2 nails and let it grow on to that. Will need to remember to look for ideas

Pleco in the tank has started to munch all over the swords. There are chunks missing out of a lot of them lol. Oh well. The swords are huge and can take a little bit of a beating... for now.

Got a couple of overhead shots of the betta.

I promise little betta... if I can get the little one to take a nap after picking up his sister, I'll clean your tank.
I always forget that his tank and the other 5g just get inside tap water so I can do their water changes even if it's cold lol. DER... I worry about myself sometimes... sigh.

And to ramble a bit....
I am really really itching to get some work done on the tanks. Just hoping this motivation to get some work done lasts until the weather warms back up in a few days.

Been watching some YT videos and finally got around to watching more from that one woman's w/ fancy goldfish. Solid Gold Aquatics. Pretty girl w/ half blonde and half black hair. Anywho..watching her videos with her old fancy goldfish that unfortunately died.... it really made me want some. Like.. REALLY made me want some.
Obviously can't have any, but my gosh, those fat little fish are adorable and their fins gorgeous!
Maybe in the far far future.. once my husband's sanity has finally been lost... I can convince him that getting another large tank (just a 75g) would be a good idea so I could get some of those cuties. A girl can dream.... a girl can dream

 

[Flying_Rasbora]

Is that red on the betta normal?

 

[lisals]

Is that red on the betta normal?

It's orange IRL and yep.. totally normal. He's a koi betta so has some interesting coloration
I know the part on his back looks almost like a wound, but it's just the coloring on his scales

He's actually colored up a little more from what I first got him. Photo not the best but hopefully it shows what I'm talking about.

From what I understand some or all? koi bettas' colors will spread. Like some will end up going mostly red or mine.. some of the orange and white spots have gone blue. There is a betta photo thread in the photography section where someone has an example of that happening to one of theirs. It's pretty cool

 

[Flying_Rasbora]

Wow awesome fish! I was sad for a second there. I need to get myself a koi betta but between my girl and I we already have 4 bettas.

 

[lisals]

Wow awesome fish! I was sad for a second there. I need to get myself a koi betta but between my girl and I we already have 4 bettas.

Well, if you ever get enough room for one more.. koi betta seem to be sold everywhere nowadays. I bought mine from a LPS, but I've seen them at Petco and I think Petsmart too and a store called Pet Supermarket that I think is a chain but just on a smaller scale. They are gorgeous.... just like all bettas

 

[lisals]

I actually got some stuff done today!
WOOT!
It took a bit longer than expected b/c our pipes froze overnight. Didn't remember that until after I had drained half the water in the 40g. So guess who got to fill it back up with a 3g bucket..... this gal. :\

I would've waited to do water changes. It's supposed to be warming back up a little in the next couple of days, but hubs took the kids to church with him so that gave me the chance to go to Pet Supermarket by myself and I picked up a few new fish
They were having a sale on some of their fish.. something I wasn't aware of until after I was already home.. oops. I would've gotten more if I had known though. Oh well...

Anywho... bought 5 peppered cories

They look pretty good. Really good size on them but need some fattening up.
Hopefully they'll be ok b/c the little pygmy cories still aren't doing well
I know I should quarantine first. Running the risk though. Hopefully it won't bite me in the ass later.

Also bought 3 "flying fox" which I suspect are just siamese algae eaters.
I put one in to the 40g at first.

And had the other 2 floating while I waited to be able to do a water change in the 125.

I did release the 2 in to the 125, but nope. These sae are teeny tiny and I was afraid that the killifish would hunt them. The male killi did actually try to go after one of them not even 2min after releasing them. Thankfully these fish were easy to catch. Quickly scooped them back up and put them in to the 40.

While doing a water change on the 125... decided to go ahead and pull up the sword compacta to go in to the 40g.
Holy crap... I was NOT expecting this humongous plant

I was expecting a plant with yellowing leaves and a bit ratty looking, but nope. SUPER bushy, lush, healthy plant. I had to take off about 5 or 6 leaves for a little bit of damage here and there, but that was it.
Flippin love sword plants Hopefully the light in the 40 will be good enough. Dunno why it wouldn't be, but /shrugs

In to the 40g it went after I moved around some of the plants in it.

I still need to move a lot of plants around, but pretty sure this is where the compacta will stay.

Like these swords need to be moved...

The tank is just looking very full right now. A bit too much I think. I want to take out some of the crypts or at least bunch them together in the other corner. I dunno... I'll figure something out.

Few random 40 shots...

Also took out these stems. Didn't have a place for them in the 125 so stuck them in the 40. Hoping with the new lighting they'll do well. Would love to try to get more color in my tanks.

So.. if you were following my first thread... I made this mesh tunnel that I was hoping would become this cool pretty looking moss cave. Well..... yeah.....here is it...

lol....

Sparkling Gourami were looking mighty adorable. They were really showing off their colors earlier and just looking amazing

And of course.. the powder blue gourami

Here's the spot in the 125 that I took the sword from. You can't tell in the photo.... heck, you can barely tell in person that anything has changed lol.

I did do some trimming on the remaining swords. Not a ton. Just enough to get them off the vallis. They've started blocking the light on them again.

Really wish I had another tank just so I could remove 2 more of these swords lol. I've had success growing sword plants before. It's why I love them.... just not this much of a success. Never had them grow this HUGE.
I haven't added dry ferts in a few weeks. Meant to today, but forgot. Will do that tomorrow if I remember.

Just need to do something with my 125, but no idea what since my options are really really limited.

 

[lisals]

So I guess there is an actual difference to flying foxes and siamese algae eaters.
Honestly do not know which one I have. I THINK they're SAE after seeing some photos of the very slight differences, but I'm not positive.
The ones I have aren't "colorful" like flying foxes are. Also, the black stripe goes to the tail in, but kind of fades out in to it. It's not solid coloring in to the tail fin. That could just be from the stress of being moved though.
Also, the mouth area from what I could see isn't a sucker looking type of mouth that the flying foxes seem to have.
I dunno... the fish are super tiny so maybe once they get bigger, they'll color up and the difference will be obvious.
But for now, I'm gonna call them SAEs lol.
They seem to be doing well though. 2 of them were hanging out with eachother.
New cories are doing well too. Were very eager when I fed the tank this morning.

 

[lisals]

No real dramatic updates. Just feel like posting more pics b/c why not, right?

That injured barb is still hanging in there. Mouth is still funny looking, but it's eating and acting totally normal. I dunno..... just do not know.

Couple of cute photos of my dojos. I can't wait to one day have a big group of them in the tank Will be so much fun watching them interact with eachother.
Maybe later in the year that will happen. Hopefully then the tank will have had no mysterious deaths to worry about.

The mystery trio (and 2 sparkling gourami). Flying fox? SAE? Something else? /shrugs

3 of the new cories and one of the sickly pygmy cory. The new ones are doing well. Love watching them get excited when I feed the tank

All of the gouramis in the 40g. Love them!

Formally known as the jar sword. I'm tired so my brain can't figure out the name of it.... oriental sword? I hate calling it that, but that's what the store had it labelled.
As you can see, it was NOT doing well before and is only just now starting to finally get some new growth. It seems to like the 5g tank for now. Need to start dosing a little bit of ferts though.

5g finally got a much needed water change. Had to siphon out a lot of gunk though. Algae really holds on to every little clump of it. And as you can see... I totally forgot to actually clean the glass off lol. Oops. It's not hurting lil bettaman, so it's ok

40g tank shot. I'm really not sure what to do. I know I want to reposition the small swords in the front left. They're all scrunched there right now.... but other than that? /shrugs
Maybe take out some of the crypts and remove a lot of the wisteria?

And 125 tank shot.
The vallis are still losing a lot of their leaves. Thinking it's leaves from when I recently dosed metricide to try to kill some of the BBA. The val is still alive and kicking though.
The tank is getting more BBA spots. It hasn't gotten to that super hairy point just yet. May use more metricide again if I see plants getting hairy.

 

[lisals]

Quick little update...

Finally got around to testing the 5g hex. No nitrites, but super high ammonia and high nitrates. Not in any hurry to stock it, but I will be doing a water change on it tomorrow to get rid of some of the algae growing and to lower the ammonia some so the plants aren't getting damaged by it.
Can't remember if I mentioned this or not, but Pet Supermarket can/will order cherry shrimp for us when we want them. Just have to tell them at the latest on a Tuesday what we want. That way they can order it and it will get to them on Wednesday. And since the shrimp are tiny, they won't put them in to their tanks, so at least no risk of contamination from their own tanks that all actually look fairly healthy.
So that's great news for when I want to finally get some stock for the tank when it's ready.
Right now though, we don't have the extra $$ to spend on that.. so again.. not in any hurry for the tank to finish cycling

Going to do some water changes tomorrow and try to clean up the 125 some more. It's getting a lot of brown algae everywhere. Pretty sure it's b/c I've been overfeeding. Need to do an every other day feed schedule... or just stop giving in to the fish wiggles and only feed them about half of what I do lol.

New fish in the 40 are looking good so far. I haven't actually seen the mystery fish FF/SAE ones eating algae. They do pop up when I feed the tank though.. so.. /shrugs. When they get bigger, I'm going to transfer them to the 125.... maybe.

That's all for now. Will get photos tomorrow!

 

[lisals]

Well.. it seems as though I'm on an every other week water change schedule now b/c I did not get one done when I wanted. My energy level has been non-existent.
It's warming up though so at least I won't have to worry about dumping freezing cold water in to the tanks again when I do eventually do water changes.
Oh and hubs decided to clan out that room on the day I wanted to do the water changes so I couldn't really get in there. Oh well.

Tanks are looking ok though. No idea if the SAE/FF are doing anything for the algae in the 40, but the algae does seem to be controlled a bit better.

Going to try my best to try to bunch up some of the plants a bit more. We'll see what happens.

125 is still being attacked by brown algae. Hopefully it hurries up and works itself out soon.
But in other news.. since removing the compacta sword... the crypts and swords around it have really spread. I wish I could show just how huge the swords are. They have gotten HUMONGOUS. I've had amazon swords since I first started planted tanks years ago and I've never had them get this big before. Absolutely LOVE it

Anywho.. now that the room is clean.. I tried getting a double tank shot lol

I think once we have some extra money... I want to get more anubias. I'd like to add some to the bettas tank and maybe the 40g too. I like faster growing plants, but looking at photos of some tanks on FB... anubias really are quite pretty

 

[The Dude1]

Both tanks are filling in nicely. I love sparkling gourami's. They are so pretty. I don't think they would work in large groups though and that's where my interests lie at the moment. Tank room looks good!

 

[lisals]

Problems!

So I finally got my water changes done and done. Bigger than usual changes and I did some trimming and moving around in the 40.
I also added dry ferts and more clay root tablets to most of the tanks (no root tabs in the 125) b/c I've been seeing some pinholes appearing in the crypts. Thinking its just lack of nutrients since I wasn't doing dry ferts in all of them. Hopefully what I added helps and I'll have to remember to dry fert them again next water change too.
Also forgive all of the glare and reflections. I did this mid-afternoon and there was just a ton of light coming in.

First up is the 5g hex
I can not remember the name of the plant but one of them was not happy in this tank. I dunno if it's the cycling process and high ammonia that caused them to die, but thinking maybe?
So I got most of that out and now.. just a waiting game really. I know it looks a little empty towards the window, but I'm hoping the sword in this tank starts getting bigger soon. No idea what kind of sword it is. Probably another argentine one? since it seems as though I got a ton of those lol.

I'm gonna be on the look out for a small piece of wood to put in to it. Maybe spider wood or heck, maybe something fake if it looks nice enough. I just think it needs something, but it's gotta be small.

Betta 5 gal got a much needed cleaning WITH the glass being cleaned too. I didn't forget! lol
But there's a problem. Betta has white fuzzy spots on his eyes. I've had this happen to fish in the past before and I THINK it might be b/c his tank wasn't as clean as it should have been. I'm going to do another water change in a couple of days to really try to get up the rest of the debris that has settled in some areas. I got a lot of it today b/c I did a 90% water change, but there's still some dirty spots.
Hoping that with nice clean water the spots on his eyes will clear up.
I also moved the anubias nana that was in the 125 in to his tank (on the right side of the rock). I wouldn't mind finding a piece of wood for his tank too. Again... I think I'd like something like spider wood. Gotta just wait though since don't have extra funds right now.

Other than the eyes... how pretty is he?

The 40 got a much needed cleaning too. I also did some rearranging. Moved the small swords to better spots where they should get better lighting. I also moved 2 crypts towards a more shaded spot just to free up more room up front and I trimmed the wisteria down a bit. While trimming the wisteria I found one of the new cories dead Probably dead for maybe a day or so. Not too long. Poor thing. Hopefully not something it caught from my tank and hopefully not something the other ones have too.
If something else dies in this tank, I think I'm going to treat it. For what? I dunno. I don't think it's parasites, so bacterial something?

Had a couple of aponogeton offshoots that were floating around. Planted them so we'll see if they get better or not.

One of the mystery fish. All 3 are still doing well and they have all doubled+ in size since I got them. I dunno if they're eating algae, but they're thriving it seems so.. yay

Not sure if it's the same one or a different one.

The java fern that I had in this tank died... but it has baby attached to it. Took off a few and plopped them in to the 125.
I have absolutely no luck with java ferns. Like... ever. Every single one I've ever gotten has turned black and died.

I also moved the ornament and the reddish colored rock. Rested the rock on the other 2 to create a bridge type of thing and just wanted to move the ornament from the right side b/c the moss is taking over that area and it looked very crowded.

Also.. I think I'm going to remove most, maybe all of the wisteria from the 40 and move the argentine swords to the back. OR take some of the corkscrew val from the 125 and move it to where the wisteria was. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.
Maybe next water change I'll do it

And the 125 is still chugging along. BBA looks like it's slowly winning this battle. I'm hesitating to use the metricide b/c I don't want the val to get messed up more. It's my own fault for not keeping up consistent weekly water changes.

Sure, they can be aggressive little turds, but they sure are pretty fish

Funky back dojo loach. I know I say it all the time, but I love these fish SO much. These have quickly become one of my favorite fish. Not shy and pretty active, but not too much. Definitely not spazzy like their little wiggly kuhli cousins. And come on.. look at that face. How cute is he?she? Like a little wormy baby Predator lol
I'm getting more dernit! Oh yes... I'm getting more.

And that's all for now. I've been trying to think of ways I can get the ozelot sword more visible without completely removing the wisteria or needing to remove and relocate the sword. Got nothing yet :\

 

[JJ09]

Like your new fish. They look like SAE to me- I had a few one time... used to feed them zucchini. Saw a flying fox in a LFS last year and it looked very different- a lot darker in color. I am getting really fond of my peppered cories. How are yours doing with the temp? I have mine at 74° which I think is a little warm for them, but any cooler and my oto in there would suffer. I love your fat blue gourami. The sparkling gouramis sure are pretty. I didn't know they could live communally, either. Your large tank sure is lush. Wow, those swords. I'm always super nervous to pull a big plant from my tank for the mess it makes kicking crud into the water column.

My betta got that eye cloud once. It was when water quality had gone downhill. I did extra water changes during the week and it cleared up. Keep it clean and he should be ok!

Cheers. Nice to see your tanks again, I hadn't visited your journal in a while.

 

[lisals]

Like your new fish. They look like SAE to me- I had a few one time... used to feed them zucchini. Saw a flying fox in a LFS last year and it looked very different- a lot darker in color. I am getting really fond of my peppered cories. How are yours doing with the temp? I have mine at 74° which I think is a little warm for them, but any cooler and my oto in there would suffer. I love your fat blue gourami. The sparkling gouramis sure are pretty. I didn't know they could live communally, either. Your large tank sure is lush. Wow, those swords. I'm always super nervous to pull a big plant from my tank for the mess it makes kicking crud into the water column.

My betta got that eye cloud once. It was when water quality had gone downhill. I did extra water changes during the week and it cleared up. Keep it clean and he should be ok!

Cheers. Nice to see your tanks again, I hadn't visited your journal in a while.

My cories seem to be doing ok other than the one I found dead. I need to buy more of them when I can. Give them a decent size group. At least 8... maybe 10.
The temp of the tank doesn't seem like it's an issue for them. I haven't seen them acting strange, but it is difficult to spot them since the tank is planted pretty heavily. I honestly didn't even think about the temp of the tank when I bought them. I know panda cories like cooler water, but didn't even think about what other cories would like too. Woops. I really need to get more pf the pygmy cories. There's only one healthy one left and the poor thing is lonely I'm sure

That's great to know about my mystery fish. I think they're SAE too. From all the photos I've seen, flying foxes have a more distinct coloration on the upper back/spine part of their body and they also have color on their dorsal fin (maybe a stripe?) and mine definitely do not have that. Plus the black stripe on them goes all the way in to their tail fin which I think is an indication that it's a SAE.

Yeah.. I wasn't sure about the gouramis living together either tbh. I was even planning on taking the blue one to the LFS if I had to, but it has all worked out great. I don't think the blue one sees the sparkling ones as a threat. I'm sure the tank size and all of the plants help too to give them all enough space. I'm more than happy that it all ended up working out

/nodnod I was nervous about kicking up gunk when I pulled the sword, but it wasn't a problem thankfully. Other than some BBA covered pebbles, the bottom of the 125 is pretty clean.

Figured it was poor water quality since there was still a lot of gunk in his tank. Will definitely be doing those extra water changes this week

Anywho.. thanks for dropping by my thread!

 

[touch of sky]

I love your journal. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your previous one, as well. Dojo loaches are fascinating fish, and I, too, love them. They are not particularly easy to find in my lfs. I started with three, gosh, it must be 10 years ago now. I am down to only one, but that one is still going strong. Anyway, I thought I would let you know how much I enjoy your thread!

 

[JJ09]

The peppered cories are the main ones I know of that prefer cooler temps. In fact, I bought mine to live in an unheated tank that gets below 64° in the winter months. (But my paradise fish was hogging their food so I moved them). I don't think warmer tank makes them sick, but I've read it will increase their metabolism, they won't live as long, and they might not breed. On the flip side, tank on the warmer end of their temp range makes the fry grow quicker.

 

[touch of sky]

I keep my cories in a tank that stays around 70 f., and some have lived to 13 years. The peppered and bronze ones have been the longest lived for me. I have kept peppered, bronze (both brown and albino), julii, bandit, and I just recently added 8 pandas. This is the first time I have kept pandas. I have had the peppered cories breed, and it was when we were away and the thermostat was turned down, so you are right, JJ09, cooler water seems best for breeding. Cories are such great little fish!

 

[The Dude1]

Do the sparkling gourami's have any trouble competing for food?? Your pics pushed me over and I got 3 today. I want to add 3 - 6 more in my 150. If they can handle living with Tiger barbs they shouldn't have any problems with anything I'm going to stock. How does the group dynamic work?

 

[lisals]

Do the sparkling gourami's have any trouble competing for food?? Your pics pushed me over and I got 3 today. I want to add 3 - 6 more in my 150. If they can handle living with Tiger barbs they shouldn't have any problems with anything I'm going to stock. How does the group dynamic work?

I have mine in the 40g, not in the 125 with the tiger barbs. I think they would adjust to needing to get their food quickly before the barbs ate it all, but I personally wouldn't even think of putting them in with the barbs. They're not very fast fish and barbs are greedy little turbo charged gluttons.
My 3 are fine with getting food. One isn't as shy as the other 2 and will come to the front of the tank.. eyeball me and eyeball the water surface waiting for food lol. The other 2 come out eventually when they figure out that I'm feeding the tank.
Hope your new little gouramis do well in your tank! I'm sure they're going to love all of that room they're getting

Thanks for the info touch of sky and JJ09! I made a newbie mistake. Really shouldn't have impulse bought the cories, but I was there and saw them and needed them lol.
Disappointed that I may never get babies from them b/c of the warmer water though lol.

touch of sky- Aww thank you for reading my ramblings Dojos aren't that easy to find here either. At least, they weren't before Pet Supermarket opened up. The LFS that I got my 2 from is too far away to go to frequently and they're also not very reliable with fish quality/health. Such a shame really.
Wow, that's awesome that you still have one that is that old. Pic? I love the big full sized hot dog ones lol Mine are slowly getting to their adult sausage sizes