[lauraleellbp]

LOL @ EBB

Tex and/or god- LMK if you want a baby back- I've got one growing now on the end of the flower stalk! First to claim it gets it... Or I'll end up planting it somewhere myself.

My tank is FINALLY crystal-clear- wooohoooo!!! I went ahead and added all the Pristellas to the tank in celebration. I'll try and post some pics tonight.

 

[deleted_user_16]

pleeeeeeeeez pics sooner, i wanna see tank!!! how did u get it crystal clear?

 

[lauraleellbp]

LOL I can't get decent pics till after dark, too much reflection coming in off the windows.

I just waited it out. Was the least popular option, but it worked!

I figured there had to be nutrients in the water column whether or not my test kits were picking them up. I also figured that algae were the most likely to be able to use up the nutrients the quickest, since most of the plants in my tank are swords or other slow-growers (except the Bacopa). Of all the algaes, I'd rather GW take them up than anything else... so eventually it had to all run its course and balance itself back out. I'd have to go back and look to be sure, but I think it was about 6-8 weeks all told?

The Purigen cleared up the tannins, too. I've had to regenerate it 2x now- that's how much my DW was still putting off even after all this time. (I stuck the Purgen in my AquaClear this time so it's easier to get to, don't have to unhook any of my filters to look at it or pull it out...)

 

[lescarpentier]

My tank is FINALLY crystal-clear- wooohoooo!!!

Bought a UV sterilizer on the sly,didn't you?:hihi:

You devil you!

 

[Ozymandias]

cant wait to finally see it all cleard up Lauraleellbp

 

[@[email protected]]

well if its newly clear, and has new fish, then we need new pics.

 

[lauraleellbp]

OK. I spent most of this evening working on eradicating duckweed from my QT tank (ugh) but couldn't finish b/c I learned we're out of paper towels (double ugh)... so that's a project for tomorrow. Sorting duckweed out of riccia and guppy grass is NOT FUN! I'll also have to tackle the stuff in the 90gal soon, before the stuff gets totally out of control in there...

Anyways, here's lots and lots of pics!

Sword flowers have bloomed and are wilting

Being replaced with a swordlet (is that a word?)

Here's the sword and, L. repens, and one of the female GBRs

The dominant GBR male under the sword

Dominant male and 2 of his harem

Better pic of the dominant male

This is the subordinate male (very out of focus- sorry!)

A little better pic of him, just further away

Berried female Amano (top view)- you can see how huge she is in comparison to the other Amano on that piece of wood with her!

In silohuette

My Clown pleco is under the driftwood on the right, first pic I've gotten of him ever, maybe?

Scavenging Cories

Fat Otos

My new truck

And.... Pristellas!

FTSs

 

[CobraGuppy]

Nice new truck!

Wow, your tank looks even better now that it's clearer. Did it just go away?

 

[lopez_316us]

Congratulations!

I love you GBR they look so beautiful.

 

[deleted_user_16]

NICE EVERYHTHING!!!! i like the GBR!!!!

 

[Ozymandias]

so good to see every thing cleared up, and man the tank looks good

 

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks, everyone. It's nice to be able to see throughout the entire tank and be able to better keep an eye on all the plants and critters. The GBRs are nonstop entertainment- like a soap opera in there; they're always "jumping in the sword" with a different fish every time I turn around! LOL

If anyone ever wonders if just waiting out GW actually works- my tank is proof positive! :thumbsup:

We picked up my Ridgeline this past weekend, it was time to move on from my old Civic (either that or pour $ into it; timing belt and all that jazz)...

EDIT I was about to call it a night, and walked over to switch off my tank light... when I saw this!

So of course I've been glued to my tank for the past hour. I started watching all the other rams... and then I noticed this...

Can't really see much in the pics, but on that very bottom leaf is another female guarding another clutch of eggs. And this is the female I think the male is actually spawning with. After watching them for an hour, I'm pretty sure the male isn't even fertilizing the eggs from the other female, he's just "confused" and guarding them instead of the eggs he keeps going over to fertilize. He won't let the smaller female in the first pics lay eggs in his presence; the small female keeps trying to get him to spawn with her but he always chases her off. She lays her eggs on the leaf when the male goes over to the other side of the sword to fertilize the better hidden eggs.... Drama drama drama!

 

[@[email protected]]

wow. funny rams, lol.

congrats on the eggs, though i doubt they will survive to maturity.

 

[lauraleellbp]

You're probably right, Marko- plenty of fish in this tank to take turns distracting the parents while someone else swoops in and snags some eggs or wigglers...

This morning all the eggs that were on the exposed leaf are all gone. Not at all surprising.

However, the eggs on the hidden leaf are there, there are more of them, and the parents are diligently standing guard.

It will be interesting to see how well/how long they fare in my tank.

 

[@[email protected]]

i dont know about ram fry raising, but if you have a spare tank, i suggest removing a few when they hatch and raising them seperate if the can survive without their parents. that way at least a couple survive, and those you can be sure arent hormone-pumped and will die in under a year.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I've really no interest in raising rams right now (and I certainly don't want to cut up my sword plant just to get eggs out of the tank), so I'm just going to let nature take its course.

 

[@[email protected]]

yay, live food!!!
lol

i find a certian irony in the fact that the moment your greenwater is completely gone, THEN your fish decide to spawn.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Actually these guys have been spawning since just a few days after I got them... they've only been in the 90gal tank since after the GW cleared up b/c they were in QT till then. Horny little boogers! LOL

 

[rasetsu]

A little OT, but with the current price of gas, keep the Civic on hand. Timing belt and water pump should only set you back about $500. If it's still a worthy car (it's a Honda, no reason why it wouldn't be), then just get the minimum insurance on it and keep it around as a beater.

 

[lauraleellbp]

Actually the Civic is now my sister-in-law's car.