Rhaethe's 10g Venture

[Rhaethe]

Finally got tired of dillying around, and went out and purchased the tank stand. Once that found a home, I purchased glass tank, hood, filter.

I still need to get a power strip, and thermometer. I have a heater that should service, although it isn't dialed, so I may get a new one. I really dislike getting new stuff when I have serviceable stuff I can use, though.

I also have around 5-8 pounds of black sand leftover from when I switched the 5g out to sand. Since I'm not going to be planting this tank, that should do, but we'll see. I'm slightly dubious.

The main thing is going to be finding decent rocks for rockscaping. I might end up getting some driftwood ... I want something for height's value.

Allrighty then, here are two picks to show the "befores". And now I'm off hunting and shopping :D

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/1914/barebones.th.jpg (http://img683.imageshack.us/i/barebones.jpg/)

http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/2360/beforewithsand.th.jpg (http://img64.imageshack.us/i/beforewithsand.jpg/)

[Rhaethe]

Back from the shopping trip.

Here's a pic of some of what I managed to acquire. Pretty boring stuff, really.

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/541/morestuff.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/i/morestuff.jpg/)

What you don't see is the perfect piece of artificial driftwood that I snagged from my LFS. It was already in a tank, and I said "OoooOOOoooo". Shop owner said "If you'd like it, I'll sell it."

Already had java moss attached and growing on it :ssmile: I know I said I was going for an unplanted tank ... but I'm not sure Java Moss counts as "planted" :hmm3grin2orange:

Now, on to setup!

[octoxpuss]

Ha. well, i see you caved and bought a new heater. Ha. like the rocks.

[Rhaethe]

I did cave in. I started thinking about if I wanted the tank at 76 instead of 78 ... and I thought, "Might as get a dialed one".

My first snafu has already surfaced!

I didn't quite pay attention to the hood I purchased ... it has the hole for the HOB on the left side. I really need it on the right. Grrr.

Going to run to the LPS in the next door shopping center and see if I can snag a hood that is a tad more versatile.

[octoxpuss]

Wow u r really runnin around. Why on the right side?

[jcarr71]

Have you thought about stocking yet?

[Rhaethe]

Wow u r really runnin around. Why on the right side?

Due to the way the tank is situated, really. I didn't want the cords to stretch around the back or curl around in the front and be in the way. If its on the right side, the cords can just fall to the power strip without being in the way :)

I went ahead and snagged a glass canopy / hood light dealie that I FAR prefer the look of, so the initial snafu was beneficial, heh.


Have you thought about stocking yet?

Partially. I know my billy-goat of a dwarf gourami is going in there once the tank is cycled. Haven't quite decided what I'd put in there after him, though.

Allrighty. Cleaned the tank and the canopy. Now for sand rinsing!

[Rhaethe]

Sand rinsed thoroughly and placed into tank. It covers the bottom, but in a very thin layer.

I am still somewhat dubious.

http://img715.imageshack.us/img715/6650/justwater.th.jpg (http://img715.imageshack.us/i/justwater.jpg/)

I must say, now that this is the second time I've worked with Seachem's flourite black sand ... that I really love it. Doesn't take hours to rinse, and it clears up really quickly. Most of the cloudy in the tank right now is due to the backlighting from the windows behind.

I do plan on putting a black background. Just haven't done it yet. And I forgot when I was out and about.

I think I am going to fetch a spatula and move the sand around some.

[HeatherB]

It looks really good so far! You can always add some more sand later!!

Wheres the pics of that beautiful driftwood???

[korith]

Due to the way the tank is situated, really. I didn't want the cords to stretch around the back or curl around in the front and be in the way. If its on the right side, the cords can just fall to the power strip without being in the way :)


Remember to have a drip loop for all your electrical cords!

[Rhaethe]

Whew.

I think I'm going to need to purchase another glass canopy. I totally borked the sticky things on which to fasten the light. (blush)

I am really not fond of this fluorescent light bulb that is in the hood now.

This is hood one:

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/3329/firsttry.th.jpg (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/firsttry.jpg/)


This is hood two:

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/3247/secondlight.th.jpg (http://img708.imageshack.us/i/secondlight.jpg/)


And that's the nifty piece of artificial driftwood to the left. It doesn't look as nifty under the lights. In fact, both of the dark fake wood pieces look really pale and bleh under both lights.

I am not pleased. Hood two actually fits better, so I will probably keep it. I REALLY don't like the bulb, though. I would like a dimmer, warmer light. Honestly, I'm not sure I like either light bulbs.

And I need more ... stuff ... in there. I think. Maybe.

[Rhaethe]

And now I am having dubious thoughts over the canopy I purchases. I don't really like the bare glass edges.

The other canopy ... maybe I can mod it a bit.

[Zilla]

Is the glass top you're having a problem with or is it the bulbs? All monitors register differently but from where I'm sitting, the first light makes everything washed out and the second one casts a purple glow. It's not like a regular plant growing bulb color purple, it's more like bright purple with alot of blue undertones.

I like the rocks you bought. Is it zebra rock?

[Rhaethe]

It is indeed zebra rock :ssmile: I'd almost like to get one more larger piece of it to stick on the right side.

I actually think it's a difference of bulbs. I really am starting to loathe both, and I'm very much tempted to say "screw em both" and go fetch a hood from an LPS that has incandescent.

Then I can either use the incandescent or get the compact fluorescent bulbs I'm accustomed to.

[Zilla]

That's what I would do especially if the only bulbs you have access to give off such weird over and undertones.

[Rhaethe]

Took a trip to the LPS. The one incandescent hood they had didn't have a full hinged lid, but a teeny hole to feed through. Blarg.

So, I went ahead and picked up a new fluorescent bulb ... named "Sun Glo". Around 4700k. The purply blue one was 8000k.

It looks like the first one I tried.

http://img90.imageshack.us/img90/4772/newbulb.th.jpg (http://img90.imageshack.us/i/newbulb.jpg/)


I'm just going to have to deal with what I have at the moment ... and then just order a hood like I want.

[Rhaethe]

AHA!

And I got creative.

I took black fabric, cut it the size of the light strip, and put it on the canopy underneath the light.

Here is the 8000k bulb

http://img718.imageshack.us/img718/1391/modded8000.th.jpg (http://img718.imageshack.us/i/modded8000.jpg/)


And here is the 4700k bulb

http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/3121/modded4700.th.jpg (http://img717.imageshack.us/i/modded4700.jpg/)


And the 4700 bulb again (better pic)

http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/9991/modded47002.th.jpg (http://img199.imageshack.us/i/modded47002.jpg/)


The fabric is diffusing and dimming the light. I like. I might try out differing colors of fabric. Perhaps a warm brown.

Although, I am now wondering if the fabric will get too hot and catch fire or something :sconfused:

Folks in the place, looking at it, say the 4700k plus diffuser fabric works the best so far. Its hard to express in pictures.

[Rhaethe]

I started getting paranoid about the fabric. Didn't want it to get too hot.

So! I cut a piece of white posterboard I happened to have and laid it between the light and the canopy.

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/1966/posterboardtrial.th.jpg (http://img641.imageshack.us/i/posterboardtrial.jpg/)

Not sure about this. Might be too yellowy now.

But at least I'm on to something with the light diffusion.

[Rhaethe]

And here's the 8000k bulb with the posterboard diffuser.

I'm kind of partial to it. Maybe.

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2563/8000kposterboard.th.jpg (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/8000kposterboard.jpg/)

[Rhaethe]

Getting even more creative with black fabric. Went back to using the fabric to diffuse. Threw in the 8000k, and then draped black fabric behind the tank.

I will be REALLY happy when all the tiny bubbles go away.


http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/4165/withbackground.th.jpg (http://img39.imageshack.us/i/withbackground.jpg/)

[Zilla]

The 4700K pic looks pretty good. I was going to suggest using plants so you could use those instead of fabric to block out some light, then remembered that this won't be a planted tank.

How about fake plants? Get some tall-ish ones to act like a canopy? I don't think you'd need many, just a few to take the glare down a bit.

[Rhaethe]

I thought about it ... still pondering.

In daylight, the black fabric background looks odd :hmm3grin2orange:

I'll just do a regular black background with paper or posterboard. Or just buy one from the Petsmart. Am also going to cave in and trade in the florescent light strip for an incandescent one.

I discovered that what I think the problem is that the current hood has a reflector that is blindingly white. In contrast, the reflector in the hood on my 5g is simply a matte metal.

[Rhaethe]

Yep. It's the whole incandescent versus fluorescent thing. I returned stuff and got a good ol fluorescent canopy-hood combo. Then, with the exchange credit left over got CFL bulbs.

One of them is the exact same as I have in the 5g. The other turned out to be one that cast light in the more red spectrum. Will teach me to read the packages more carefully :hmm3grin2orange: Also went ahead and snagged a strip of the background stuff.

And now it looks MUCH better.

Unfortunately, my silly self left the camera running all night ... and now the batteries are drained.

Now that the lighting / hood / canopy issue is taken care of ....

MUST FIND MOAR INTERESTING ROCKS!

[Zilla]

I guess that explains the whole purple thing you had going on. :hmm3grin2orange:

Next time we go to my LFS, I'm going to bug them about getting some zebra rock in. It's neat looking...

[Rhaethe]

I really like the zebra rocks. Looks really good against black sand, as well as the pale creamy sand (I tried it against some I saw in the store).

It seems to have decent weight and density but not so much that you are displacing a lot of water out of the tank, or worry that it's going to crack the tank.

Going to see if I can find some on ebay.

Crap. I just realized what I typed in the last post.


good ol fluorescent canopy-hood combo

I returned the fluorescent and got incandescent. The incandescent looks much better.

[Rhaethe]

Crap. I just realized what I typed in the last post.

I returned the fluorescent and got incandescent. The incandescent looks much better.

Ugh. I returned the flour hood and got incandescent hood, but put in compact fluorescent bulbs.

I'm just not having a very clear day today :hmm3grin2orange:

I definitely think I need some more rocks. Not necessarily large ones, but some small ones to scatter for accenting.

I am undecided to see if I can find more zebra rocks, or if I should just use another type of rock. Don't think I want the smooth riverstones, though. Something with the same texture as the zebra rock, if not the same color.

[Rhaethe]

Ooooo. New thought.

Although we do keep the blinds drawn, I have noticed stray sunbeams making their way into the tank.

This started me thinking about possible algae outbreaks. Which then made me think ... well, the boyfriend would be happy ... he wants me to get a pleco. The tank is too small for a pleco, however, and I put my foot down about that.

Then! I remembered marimo balls. And the fact that they easily outcompete other algae forms (or so I've read).

So .... I think I am going to construct a rock shelf (or buy a resin one) and have myself a shelf of marimo balls.

[Rhaethe]

Had a small scare with seeing worms (planaria). Made the decision to ditch the fake driftwood piece that had java moss on it. Even if the worms are harmless, I didn't know what else might have been hiding in the moss.

Cycle continues.

Took a peek on Drs Fosters and Smith. Saw some cichlid caves that would match the current color ... I like them. I think I will go ahead and order some. Looking forward into the future, I can always re-use them when I actually do get a cichlid tank.

Am wondering what other fish like caves.

[HeatherB]

You are very funny to read Rhaethe!!

Maybe you should keep the driftwood! Eventually you will starve the little wormies!!

I got a moss ball from the store today and I really like it! A whole shelf of them would look cool! But, how do you get them to stay down??? Mine just floats!

[Rhaethe]

I've never actually owned marimo balls before. But, I've heard that they float around and sink on their own.

Which, brings up a good point. Floater-sinkers wouldn't necessarily stay put on the shelf.

Will continue to ponder.

[sheamurai]

You don't have to get planted plants, lol.
Some floaters like water lettuce give a very nice effect, and diffuse light for you...

happy pondering...!

[Rhaethe]

You don't have to get planted plants, lol.
Some floaters like water lettuce give a very nice effect, and diffuse light for you...

happy pondering...!


Very true. Although I have a billy goat of a dwarf gourami that is currently in the 5g that will be going to the 10g. I've tried differing floater plants with him before. All become food and/or toys for him. The frogbit he systematically would snip off the roots at the base ... and continued to do so as if he were mowing the lawn any time they started to grow roots again.

Once he goes into the 10g, I'll be getting nice floaters for the 5g :ssmile:

[Zilla]

Somebody needs to invent a form of Bitter Apple for fishtanks. Give a plant a spritz and fish will leave plants alone. :thumbup:

People that have tanks of non-chewers or shredders don't realize just how annoying it is to have a lawnmower or two in a tank.

They say:

Just add MOAR fish. Uhhh...no! I have a tank gangsta tank as it is, thankyouverymuch.

Use moss. Nope, they shred that.

Use floating plants. Nope, that doesn't work either. Instead of a planted salad, it's a floating buffet.

The only thing I haven't tried are anubia's. Since they have wide, flat leaves I'm almost willing to bet they they shred it.

[sheamurai]

Come to think of it, my water lettuce were turned into rootless leaves too, due to my dwarf gourami...I'd forgotten about that as my "trying plants" phase died a quick and slimy death, and that muncher fish got moved to my plantless ten gal at work...

[Rhaethe]

Quickie update:

Finally got the heater twitched to the exact setting I want. Speaking of heaters, all the "new tank bubbles" have completely disappeared except for the ones clustered on the bottom half of the heater.

Still not much in the tank as far as decoration.

I'm harboring doubts on whether or not I should move the dwarf gourami to the 10g. He seems perfectly happy and content in his 5g world, and I'm one of those "if it ain't broke don't fix it" types. Of course, as I type this, I turn to look at the 5g and he's grazing on the micro-sword again.

10g is trucking along with its cycle. Nothing really exciting to report on that score.

There's a fairly large and exciting auction going on this Sunday, sponsored by a local fish club. The 10 won't be cycled by then, unfortunately ... but I'm going to go anyway and hope I can find some neato rocks, caves, and the like.

[Rhaethe]

Allrighty. The day of the last post, I nabbed media from my old 5g filter and stuck it in the 10g and jacked up the temp a bit.

Cycling is scooting along now! Might even be done by Sunday. Not sure. We'll see.

Grabbed some new decos today. I am VERY dubious of the fake leaves on the "tree", but I can always take them off if I want. I'll be getting some rocks Sunday ... grey shale. What I have in there now might just be enough though. Not sure.

Apologies for the blurred pic. I still haven't gotten batteries for my camera ... snapped this one with my blackberry.

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/6362/newdecos.th.jpg (http://img684.imageshack.us/i/newdecos.jpg/)

Edited to add ... I am REALLY REALLY dubious of those fake leaf things.

[Rhaethe]

The leaf things are gone. I like it much better now. Allows more visible room for some teeny rocks here and there. If I ever feel froggy, I can drape some java moss or other interesting moss over the wood deco. And I think that would be fine.

Kicked up a bunch of sand and clouded the water while situating things though. Dagummit.

Also moved the bulb over to the other side of the strip. I decided I only wanted one bulb for lighting. Have yet to decide which side I want the bulb on, though.

Again with the blurry pictures.

Right side:

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7631/rightsideh.th.jpg (http://img94.imageshack.us/i/rightsideh.jpg/)


Left side:

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/3203/leftsidea.th.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/leftsidea.jpg/)

I think I am partial to having the light on the right side.

[HeatherB]

I like it on both sides. It makes the other darker side seem a little more....idk...mysterious!

[Rhaethe]

I caved and got some plant life for the aquarium. At a local fish club auction, I acquired some Christmas moss. It is so ... defined and fluffy. Leafy instead of stringy. I love it.

Draped it over one of the driftwood pieces, and didn't even need string to keep it down. Again apologies over the blurriness.

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/5329/christmasmoss.th.jpg (http://img706.imageshack.us/i/christmasmoss.jpg/)


Placing the moss there also determines which side the light gets put on.

[cichlids209]

that 10 gallon looks awesome !! good work

[Rhaethe]

Thanks :)

Once I get batteries in my real camera, I will take better pictures.

Since the tank was ready for some stock as of yesterday evening, I have a couple small things in there as of today. Small handful of red cherry shrimp, a nerite snail, and a guppy.

Params still look good, and they are acclimating nicely.

Never thought I'd have a dang guppy ... but he was at the auction yesterday, and I so succumbed to impulse buy. I like him. He has more personality than I thought guppies would have.

[korith]

Thanks :)

Once I get batteries in my real camera, I will take better pictures.

Since the tank was ready for some stock as of yesterday evening, I have a couple small things in there as of today. Small handful of red cherry shrimp, a nerite snail, and a guppy.

Params still look good, and they are acclimating nicely.

Never thought I'd have a dang guppy ... but he was at the auction yesterday, and I so succumbed to impulse buy. I like him. He has more personality than I thought guppies would have.

haha. I ended up buying 2 plants, and some of the dry goods. Someone had one of those small betta bowls in the dry goods part, and had a few bags of hikari food. Was it a fancy guppy you ended up buying?

[Rhaethe]

Is indeed a fancy. "half-black cobra guppy" was the notation on the bag. He was quite striking in the bag, even with being in it so long. Once in the tank, he paled up for a second, then immediately colored up and scooted about. He's even more brilliant in the tank.

He's left alone the shrimps I put there, too. Thus far, anyway.

Speaking of the shrimp, they are very nice, thank you for them. Much more hearty and active than the shrimp I've ever tried previously.

[Rhaethe]

Alrighty. Got some batteries in the camera.

I really wish I could figure out this camera so I could take crisper pictures.

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1690/mar8tank.th.jpg (http://img97.imageshack.us/i/mar8tank.jpg/)

[Taurus]

It's coming along nicely. I like it. thumbs2:

[korith]

I think I'll go looking some rock like that, marbled black/white has a nice look to it.

[Zilla]

Nice lighting effect. It makes a person look just alittle closer so they can see what is in the right, back corner.

I went to my LFS for Java Moss this morning. While they were a clump off of their Java Moss Tree, I poked around looking for Zebra Rock and they didn't have any. All the rock they have at the moment is blah looking. Where did you find yours?

[Rhaethe]

I think I'll go looking some rock like that, marbled black/white has a nice look to it.

It's called zebra rock. edited to add: I got the last bit of it at an LFS ... I think I have some pages bookmarked where you can buy it online, though.

Further update:

This 10g is turning out to be an orphans tank :hmm3grin2orange:

I went to an LFS to pick up a small number of green neon tetras. So I go to the tank where they keep all their "mini-me's" ... i.e. really small fishes. They only had three, so went ahead and chose those and asked them to put in an order if they could so I could get 2-3 more.

While he was bagging them up, I spied this lonely little rasbora (schooling with the green neons. I asked, and the guy mentioned that it happened to come in as a hitchhiker with the last shipment of green neons. He wasn't sure what kind of rasbora it was, but that it was perfectly content schooling with the green neons ... it even looked a little like them. I told him to go ahead and bag it, too, not wanting to take the little fella's school away.

And then! Then I spied a dario dario. Poor thing was the palest I'd ever seen a fish. Tail fin was slightly nipped. I asked, and the guy said it was a female dario dario. She had come in with some males, but someone had bought the males and left the female behind. Now, dario dario aren't schoolers, so being left alone shouldn't have been an issue, but the mini-me tank is pretty bare. Then I saw a school of ember tetras harrass her.

I asked him to bag her up too.

The green neons and the rasbora (id'd him later as a least or exclamation point rasbora) are doing fine.

The dario dario, as soon as she got in my tank colored up almost immediately. Contrary to some writeups, she did not favor the caves and rocky outcroppings I have, but far prefers the Christmas moss tree. She weaves in and out of the moss, all self-possessed and pleased with herself.

Some of the RCS are bigger than her :ssuprised:

Anywho, long story short, my stocking plans got tweaked.

What I have now:

1 Fancy Guppy
6-8 Red Cherry Shrimp
1 + 3 Least rasbora + Green neon tetra school
1 nerite snail
1 dario dario

[Rhaethe]

After some long thought, I've decided to keep Gus in the 5g. A fair number of reasons why, and ultimately between them and my gut instinct, will be the best.

Now, that being said, my further stocking options have opened up a bit.

Currently, there is:

1 Fancy Guppy
6-8 Red Cherry Shrimp
1 + 3 Least rasbora + Green neon tetra school
1 nerite snail
1 dario dario

What I plan to get soon-ish is another nerite snail, a boy dario dario, and prolly 2 more green neons, to round out the school to 6.

I think I have room for another fancy guppy.

After that, am not sure, if anything.

[sheamurai]

lol
ya just never know what you're going to see - and want - and buy - at the fs!
Looking very good Raethe!

[Rhaethe]

Slinked by the lfs yesterday while it rained and snagged another nerite and a fancy guppy.

The nerite is almost red in color, with black stripes. The guppy is what is called a "Purple Dragon Guppy". Although he's not really purple at all. White, really, with a sheen of lilac-pink and sky-blue. I'm not as fond of his look in my tank as I was in the lfs tank.

I think it's the tail. I really don't like the delta or long/wide fan tails. The first guppy actually has a naturally shaped large spade tail. Unfortunately, I can't find any seller that sells these. They always sell the delta and fans.

The old guppy (cobra guppy) has not taken kindly to the new guppy (dragon guppy) at all. I'm going to hazard a guess this will ease off a day or so, but I'll keep an eye on the aggression. The new guppy does not attempt to peck at the old guppy, interestingly enough.

Little Miss (dario dario) still seems to be doing well. I'm really very fond of her.

Vacuuming the substrate will be a b****, though. She's brave, curious, fairly nosy ... And even though my vacuum has a tiny tube, she's still small enough to get sucked in. I may see if I can invest in a good turkey baster or something to spot-clean as needed.

[Rhaethe]

New Guppy is aggravating me. Twice in one day he's poked and rearranged my carefully draped moss and made it tumble.

Now, certainly my fault I didn't use some thread and anchor it, but still.

Pulled the tree out and anchored the moss. We'll see how it goes. Old guppy is still not pleased with New Guppy. I'll give them a couple more days to sort it out. No damage is being done ... to fishes at least.

The shrimp are doing reasonably well ... yet another decided to molt today ... which I take as a good sign. They are pretty peaved I had to rearrange the tree, though.

[korith]

New Guppy is aggravating me. Twice in one day he's poked and rearranged my carefully draped moss and made it tumble.

Now, certainly my fault I didn't use some thread and anchor it, but still.

Pulled the tree out and anchored the moss. We'll see how it goes. Old guppy is still not pleased with New Guppy. I'll give them a couple more days to sort it out. No damage is being done ... to fishes at least.

The shrimp are doing reasonably well ... yet another decided to molt today ... which I take as a good sign. They are pretty peaved I had to rearrange the tree, though.

Thread works well, until the moss gets a chance to attach itself. Shrimp molting is a good sign. Try to catch one when they are just about to molt, very cool to see. Then sort of hunch over, like a cat does when stretching, then the shimmy out of their shell. Goes by really quickly a few seconds or less. Can leave the shell in the tank, the shrimp will forage on it. Good source of calcium.

[Rhaethe]

Snagged a third male guppy to hopefully sort out some of the mild aggression issues The first guppy was having. This one is a turquoise guppy. Half navy blue, half gold, with a sky blue spinal stripe. Semi-transparent tail.

The first guppy tagged him about for a bit, but ti's starting to ease off already when the second guppy got in between the first and the third. And the first gets confused.

I'm assuming that in an all male tank, you should have odd numbers of them?

[Rhaethe]

The water is still a little cloudy from yesterday's extensive mucking about with the tree and rocks and whatnot.

Went ahead and bought an AC30, put the media from the old into the new.

This is guppy number two. He's a pig. He also has odd coloration that changes depending on the lighting.

http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9244/guppy2.th.jpg (http://img18.imageshack.us/i/guppy2.jpg/)


In the foreground is the little hitchhiker fish that I've tentatively ID'd as a least rasbora. Although I did go to a pet store that had gold tetra fry and they looked quasi-similar.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/6351/hitchhiker.th.jpg (http://img690.imageshack.us/i/hitchhiker.jpg/)


And here's a picture of the Little Miss. As tiny as she is, it's difficult to get decent pictures. Also in the picture are two juvenile shrimp. And yes, I need to spot vac the sand there, meh.

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/9435/littlemiss.th.jpg (http://img294.imageshack.us/i/littlemiss.jpg/)

[wolf_eyes]

your hitchhiker looks like a black neon tetra to me. I own some least rasbora and they look a little different.
http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/black-neon-tetra-1.jpg
Does that look like your fish?

[Rhaethe]

Not quite. The top stripe is more yellow blue green. And the bottom black stripe isn't as prominent. I will see if I can take better pictures of him and maybe post a separate thread on getting him id'd.

[HeatherB]

I am falling in love with that Little Miss. What did you say she was? A dario dario?

Guess I don't have any room for those huh??

[Rhaethe]

She is indeed a dario dario. Common name of Scarlet Badis. They are not aggressive to other fish, but the main thing would be if any other fish would see them as food because they are so tiny. They need at least one patch of extensive cover, be it rocks and caves or plants / moss. And they are pretty snippy with their own kind. Not like a betta, but while they are quasi social, they still carve out their own territories, regardless if they are male or female.

Guppy 3 is dead. Woke up to that. Didn't see any cause or reason for it, although it is very possible he just didn't survive the transition / acclimation. I've read that happens with guppies (especially full grown ones) sometimes. And this one came from Petsmart. The other two came from private breeder / local fish store.

Tested, and I'm at 0,0,5 ... so that's good there.

Also could have been a guppy fight, although I've never heard of those.

I did notice that the guppy that died had been constantly skimming the top with his mouth touching the water surface. Wouldn't go anywhere else, ignored food. Just swam back and forth constantly skimming the surface.

[HeatherB]

All my guppies from Petsmart/Petco did that too. Eventually I am going to try guppies from a LFS and see if I have better luck with them. I can't get them to stay alive very long. Just chalk it up to Petstore fish.

[Rhaethe]

Well, at least I don't feel so bad anymore. Been racking my brain at what could have happened.

My favorite fish in this tank thus far are the dario dario and the "I think I'm a neon" cobra guppy.

Although the cobra guppy has now taken to hanging out in the driftwood cave. Bastard thinks he's a catfish now.

*sigh*

[Zilla]

:hmm3grin2orange:

I'm not willing to bet on it, but there is a good chance he'll stop playing catfish when he adjusts.

[Rhaethe]

Guppy number two just passed. A couple hours ago, fine. Looked over and it was dead, getting munched on by a shrimp.

Cobra guppy is still alive and is no longer hiding. Seems perkier than before. Shrimp and snails fine. Little Miss is fine. Green neons fine.

Will test water and see what's going on.

[Rhaethe]

Water at 0,0,5. It's still has a pale white haze from when I mucked about with all the moss and whatnot.

The largest of the green neons (a female) died not but two hours after guppy 2. Its body was discolored black in patches near the belly and tail. But not like a fuzz or anything. Whatever it was, was internal. Now, she did have a black patch bisecting her blue bar when I bought her. Since she seemed normal otherwise, I'd not worried overmuch.

Did a partial WC. All fish hid. All shrimp and snails kept on as if nothing happened. I happened to notice the temperature, and it was around 73. I did remember turning it down slightly the previous evening because I felt it was too warm. I turned the heater back up a touch and went to bed.

Woke up to all fish acting normally. Put out a couple flakes, and there was definite interest in food. Temperature looks better ... although I suspect my thermometer is off. I will get a new one.

Shrimp have always been the canary for me .... whereas I could tell any problems with water quality by their behaviour. Throughout all of this, they were perfectly fine. For that matter, so was the dario dario.

It's the guppies and tetras that appear to be the sensitive ones.

Keeping an eye on the tank.

Tested again, still at 0,0,5. Water still a pale whitish cloudy color. I suspect I have a bacterial bloom, but not enough critters producing bioload. Hopefully it will even out on its own. Not introducing anything new until water clears and behaviour evens out.

Tank stock down to:

2 green neon tetras + 1 juvie gold tetra (shoal)
6-8 red cherry shrimp
1 male fancy guppy
1 female dario dario
2 nerite snails

[Taurus]

Not introducing anything new until water clears and behaviour evens out.


Good decision.

[Rhaethe]

Either I'm crazed, or the water is already starting to clear a touch.

Cobra guppy gorged (I think) and is now spending his time sitting on the bottom of the tank. His belly isn't over-pooched, but its definitely got a plumpness to it. He'll swim around if prodded, but otherwise prefers to be lazy, sitting on the sand. I need to keep this in mind, judging on how much I'm feeding.

The shoal is perkier.

Getting accustomed to new fish behaviour (previously only used to gouramis) kinda bites.

Quite a few articles on guppies state that they are very hardy fish. Of course, upon further reading, people believe its really hit or miss on their hardiness and sensitivity ... mainly due to the extensive overbreeding and inbreeding.

I don't think I will get any more guppies. Period.

That decided, even though I'm not stocking the tank with anything else any time soon, I need to start reading and researching on what I may decide to put in there at a later date. Anything that will try to eat the dario dario is right out, heh.

[Zilla]

Sorry about the guppies.

Want my 20? I had all my plans of having a nice invert tank only to find out that Flourite as copper in it. I'm not replacing the substrate, so either it will become a expensive decoration with no fish, or it will house a Betta or possibly a pair of Rams.

I'm not happy...

[Rhaethe]

Odd. I'm using Flourite black sand ..... doesn't seem to be causing any issues with the snails in the 5g or the snails and shrimp in the 10g.

Although Flourite might have a different chemical makeup than the flourite black sand variety.

[Taurus]

Anything that will try to eat the dario dario is right out, heh.

I don't know that much about Badis, but it doesn't sound like finding her a compatible mate is very promising. They are usually sold in mated pairs.
They males are beautiful and go by the trade name of Scarlet Badis.

I agree that it's hit or miss with the guppies.

I found this page to be very helpful, hope you will too.

http://www.future-digital.com/aquarium_info/info_freshwater_tropical_fish/dario_dario_7.html

[Rhaethe]

Very helpful page!

I've definitely not seen her eat any flakes ... but I see her pecking at things fairly regularly. Other articles I've read mention they eat tiny zooplankton, planaria, and other teeny bugs that you'd otherwise never know were in the aquarium.

I've tried worms. She turned up her nose and continued to peck at the ground and moss.

Aaanywho ... water is already clearing up I believe! And yet another shrimp molted. That still freaks me out, heh.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8192/clearingup.th.jpg (http://img412.imageshack.us/i/clearingup.jpg/)

[Zilla]

Tank looks good.

Tomorrow if I remember, I'll take a picture of what my pack of boneheads did to one of the clumps of Java Moss I have in with them. It looks like somebody took a strand and stuck it in a outlet.

Two rocks about the same size with roughly the same amount of moss on them and they had to pick apart the one in the middle. The Bows and Gouramis make the moss look like it has monkey hair and the cories come along and clean each strand that is standing up on end. :doh:

[Rhaethe]

Pics or it didn't happen :ssuprised: :hmm3grin2orange:

Aaaand cobra guppy kicked it. No indication of anything bad externally. Just went belly up over and over again. Bah. Never guppies ever again. I suspect swim-bladder on each of the guppies that died. Not sure exactly what caused.

All other critters are eating fine and behaving with perk.

Hell, Little Miss is now scooting about like she owns the damn tank.

[Zilla]

Sorry

My Geo had the 55 to himself for the longest time. I often think he would have prefered to keep it that way. :hmm3grin2orange:

[Rhaethe]

Little Miss has got to be related to Sid ...

I have posted before about Sid, my snail inhaling sparkling gourami. An inch, and he circles snails like a puffer.

I just caught Little Miss circling and pecking at a nerite snail 10 times larger than her. :sconfused: :hmm3grin2orange:

[Taurus]

Little Miss is a micropredator that feeds on small aquatic crustaceans, worms, insect larvae and other zooplankton. She's a bit of a carnivore.

Sid is an omnivore and will feed on algae, but still enjoys the same menu as Little Miss.

[Rhaethe]

Little Miss is definitely maturing. She has discovered the EVIL REFLECTION. Well, she already knew about it, but hadn't reacted much to it. Now, she arches and postures at it. GRRRRR! She's becoming an adult and definitely doesn't want another adult female dario in her territory.

I tried to snap a picture of her posturing. Way up in top left.

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/4261/littlemissgrr.th.jpg (http://img705.imageshack.us/i/littlemissgrr.jpg/)

[Rhaethe]

I am a bad person. I swore I would wait a bit more before I added someone new. But when I went to lfs to pick up some foods, I happened to see they had pearl gourami. Three.

No, I didn't get all three. There was one small one tho ... and I did the finger trace against the glass trick, and the small one did the feeler thing to my finger, followed me around.

I succumbed. I did ask how long he'd had them in the store, and the guy said "Oh, at least 6-7 months or so. Most people buy the honeys."

I'm not sure if this fish is a boy or girl.

Thus far, the temporarily dubbed "Ari" has poked around the tank, felt up everything, poked at the moss. Shrimp were felt up and summarily ignored, as well as the neons, snails, and even Little Miss. Little Miss didn't appreciate getting felt up, but it was interesting to watch such a teeny fish posture at the pearl ... and then the pearl swim off. The two now ignore each other.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9297/ari1m.th.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/ari1m.jpg/)

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/5185/ari2o.th.jpg (http://img705.imageshack.us/i/ari2o.jpg/)

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1010/ari3.th.jpg (http://img10.imageshack.us/i/ari3.jpg/)

http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/6686/ari4.th.jpg (http://img52.imageshack.us/i/ari4.jpg/)

Right now, Ari is spending quite a bit of time at the top slurping. I know that gourami do this, but Gus (dwarf gourami) doesn't do it as much as Ari does now. Of course, I seem to remember (maybe?) Gus going through a phase of it ... typically when I rearranged things in the aquarium. Maybe it's a nervous habit?

[Rhaethe]

One thing I do not like is the habit Little Miss has of "disappearing". Usually she's somewhere hidden in the moss or under the rocks or something, and she comes out in due time. Still don't like it though.

[Rhaethe]

Am a little worried. Little Miss doesn't normally stay hidden this long. I'm very tempted to go rumbling around in the tank to shoosh her out ... but I will resist that ... no need to cast up all the sand and stress everyone else.

[korith]

Am a little worried. Little Miss doesn't normally stay hidden this long. I'm very tempted to go rumbling around in the tank to shoosh her out ... but I will resist that ... no need to cast up all the sand and stress everyone else.

Normal for them to hide out and camp somewhere during parts of the day. Also I think you mentioned you added another fish to the tank. May take a while for old one to get used to the new one.

[Rhaethe]

True. The only thing that has worried me ... even since I obtained her, is that she is so small, that if she got ill ... I'd never know. Those shrimp are voracious critters! :ssuprised:

[Taurus]

It's so hard to resist a Pearl Gourami. Even at a young age, they're beautiful.
The Pearl hanging out at the surface is normal behavior. He or she (you won't be able to tell until he or she is a bit older) likes to build bubble nests in the middle of floating plants at the surface.

The single Pearl will be ok in your 10g for the immediate future, but eventually will need a bigger tank. A tank 30" or longer should do according to all the advice and research I've done. Pearls are peaceful, I don't think there's any threat to Little Miss for the immediate future.

If you had purchased a pair of Pearls, you'd need that 30"+ tank fairly soon.
But you only purchased a single, so I see a 20g long (30" in length) in the Pearl's future. :ssmile:

And you are a bad person because you've gone and purchased other fish that I'd love to have in my tank. 8?) Stop that because your 10g is pretty well stocked.

[Rhaethe]

Yep.

I don't see stocking any more. Maybe 2 green neons to make the school number 5 at some point.

And, this morning, when I take a peek ... out comes Little Miss from somewhere behind the big driftwood piece, take a look at me and then starts her circuit around the tank bottom, hunting and pecking.

Ari is not spending as much time as yesterday at the surface. Which makes me feel better. From what the LFS told me, Ari is at least a year old already ... so while he/she may have some growth left ... I think it will be more in bulk over time. This makes needing to graduate up to a larger tank less in the immediate future.

[Taurus]

How long is Ari now? If there is no redness around her throat area, then Ari is probably a she.

rich311k is a pearl fan and has actually kept them. You might want to contact him if you feel it's necessary.

[Rhaethe]

Including fins, around 3 1/4 inches (8.3 inches).

There isn't an obvious red at the throat. A soft blush in certain light. I've read that girls tend to stay smaller than boys.

If Ari is a girl, then I've got a sorority tank, heh.

[Taurus]

Females and males can be hard to tell apart when it's not breeding time. The male's breast would be bright red when breeding is near. I have only seen a male and female in a tank together at a LFS. Seeing them together, the male was obvious...his breast was bright red. Either way, it does sound like Ari is close to being full grown. From what I've read, they top out at around 4". Females could be a bit smaller.

Well, anyway, congrats on aquiring Ari. Please do enjoy her!

And now you've left me wondering whether my 20g long would accomodate a Pearl. Hmmm..

[korith]

True. The only thing that has worried me ... even since I obtained her, is that she is so small, that if she got ill ... I'd never know. Those shrimp are voracious critters! :ssuprised:

Shrimp are a decent clean up crew. In some of my tanks I don't even feed the shrimp directly, they forage and live off whatever is in the tank. They don't really require much effort to keep alive, other than decent water quality.

[Rhaethe]

While skimming off some uneaten food at the surface (well, food I didn't want them to eat yet, anywho) I spotted Little Miss lying on her side on top of the thermometer. The water level had been just enough to maker her think she could skim over, but not enough to actually let her skim ... over. That, or she flipped herself on top of it while posturing and flipping at her evil reflection.

I nudged her off, and now she's in a comer, pale and angry. The pouting wasn't helped by a curious Ari trying to feel her up and see what was going on.

And just as I type this, she's summarily disappeared from the corner off to somewhere. Meh.

[Rhaethe]

Bad News: I found Little Miss hung up in a crevice of the driftwood. She has since passed. I got a good look at her, and she seemed a bit starved. Some things I learned keeping this dario dario. They are a joy ... but they are definitely challenging to feed.

Good news: The shrimp continue to thrive ... found the third and fourth molt.

The snails and other fish doing well also.

[HeatherB]

Sorry to hear about your Dario! They are so cute!

[Rhaethe]

Here we are .... tank hasn't changed much in a week or so. Now that the shrimp have finished hiding from molt, they are coming out again. I kind of like how they appear like red berries on the moss tree from a distance.

I know understand why people say pearls are so gentle. Ari is! She just swims about with a graceful self-possessed "gait". Very curious about everything, still ... but not frenetic about it. She loves coming up to the tank glass to play "feeler against finger".

Current stock:
Red Cherry Shrimp
1 january tetra
2 green neon tetra
1 female pearl gourami

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7176/tank1x.th.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/tank1x.jpg/)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/5674/tank2m.th.jpg (http://img195.imageshack.us/i/tank2m.jpg/)

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/1782/shrimpies.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/i/shrimpies.jpg/)

[Rhaethe]

Procured three more mini-me's. Microrasbora Erythromicron aka zebra rasbora.

Their stripes were barely visible at the fish store. But now that they've been in my tank for about 2 hours, I can see the stripes :ssmile:

They look to have a little more coloring up left to do, so am looking forward to it.

Ari did her obligatory feeling up of them, and then went back to doing her own thing. She's funny ... always wanting to feel everything up with her feelers.

[wolf_eyes]

Sounds like a sweet little girl. I love pearls, they are easily my favorite gourami. Great catch on the zebra rasbora, I've wanted some of those myself. Your LFS sounds like a great store!

[Rhaethe]

I actually snagged these at another store. It's a PetLand, but the new aquatics department manager is a long time member of a local aquarium society. And the store manager is allowing him (mostly) free reign to transform that department into something awesome.

I managed to snap some pics of the new guys. I had to pull out the flash, since they like staying in the darker portions of the tank.

Their red coloration has definitely come out, and one's stripes are very evident now. They love posturing at their reflection ... almost like bettas, lol. They all appear to be males, and I think the one with the strongest stripes is the dominant male. They hang with each other pretty tightly.

I had been worried a bit, after reading that they were really shy eaters ... but they seem to have no problems getting their share. They aren't as voracious as the january tetra or the pearl, but they definitely get their share.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/6314/minimes.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/i/minimes.jpg/)

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/3568/reflectionposture.th.jpg (http://img265.imageshack.us/i/reflectionposture.jpg/)

[wolf_eyes]

Beautiful little guys! I have noticed that fish you buy from chains that are said to be hard to feed aren't. I think it's because they're already accustomed to eating normal foods whereas ones you get from breeders or the wild may not be. My roommate bought some peacock gudgeons from petsmart (of all places) and they were already used to eating flake. Peacocks are one of the fish that are supposively notorious for being picky/shy eaters.

[korith]

Procured three more mini-me's. Microrasbora Erythromicron aka zebra rasbora.

Their stripes were barely visible at the fish store. But now that they've been in my tank for about 2 hours, I can see the stripes :ssmile:

I think I may have to go by their tomorrow and get myself a few of these guys. This one betta I bought was a dark red/blue, after spending a night in the aquarium, the next morning it looked like a totally different fish.

[Rhaethe]

I got the last three in the tank (blush)

Unless Ken got a new shipment in.

They DID have a fair number of really nifty looking gold halfbeaks, though.

[Rhaethe]

Well, about 3 days after I got them, I found one of the rasbora lifeless on the intake. About 2 days after that, the january tetra disappeared completely. The next day I noticed one of the green neons looking really really beat up ... to the point of me having to cull him.

Today, I found out why. Ari has gotten completely possessive over every inch of the tank. She's mercilessly chasing anything and everything and biting if she can catch.

Now, the only thing I can figure is that she wasn't full grown at all when I got her ... and she's continuing to grow ... and evidencing that age-old tank-too-small aggression.

I will try to rehome her this Sunday. For now, I've taken Gus and Sid out of the 5 and placed them in the 10 ... and placed Ari in the 5 temporarily.

No one seems inordinately aggravated by the switch-around. Will watch.

[Rhaethe]

Wow.

The change of attitude in the 10g is now very marked. The two rasbora are now coming out a little bit more and even the shrimp are scooting about in the open ... where they did not before. Sid has made the moss tree his new home.

I think the switch was a good move *nod nod*

I already have a prospective new home for Ari, which will leave the 5g open ... I think I'll get some more plants and moss for it and get a beta.

[Zilla]

Sorry Ari didn't work out.

I have a new found appreciation for Betta's since I've gotten mine. I didn't think they were bad or anything before, I just never realised how much personality they have.

While I really wanted a invert tank, my water is having nothing to do with it ( I have 'trates coming out of the tap. Meh!) Elvis likes having his castle to himself. He earns his keep by sniffing out the pesty snails and letting me know where they are. He circles and acts like he's going to go in for the kill only to look at me as if to say "Are you going to take care of this thing that is in my house?"

[Rhaethe]

It's all good. I'm pretty lucky to have a very active and large aquarium club in my area ... someone is usually interested in (and understands) when you have fish that you need to relocate.

Since I understand bettas don't often tear up plants, this will allow me to re-scape the 5g. Perhaps put some crypts and marimo balls in there.

As far as the 10g, I think I'll get a school of ember tetra, some marimo balls, and some more shrimp.

[Rhaethe]

Allrighty then. I learned something aobut fish today.

First, the adventure of redoing the tanks and whatnot.

So, I go to the local fish club meeting. After the meeting (GREAT speaker by the way, on Anabantids) there was the auction, and I went crazy on plants. Got some shrimp and some ember tetra as well. And the pearl gourami got a good new home.

So, long story short, I ended up trying a variety of plant combos amongst the two tanks. I don't have substrate with any depth in the 10g, so all rooted plants had to go in the 5g. And I've realized I just don't like floating plants much anymore. MESSY.

What I learned about fish is that they all don't necessarily like dark places. Ever since doing the feng shui theme with the 10g, every time I added fish they all tended to cluster on the left side, where the light was ... even the ones that like open water. I added some narrow leaf java fern to the right, stuffing them into a piece of fake driftwood and put a lightbulb in the right side of the hood as well.

BAM!

All the fish come out and swim around. The schoolers are schooling, the shrimp are all out, and Sid and Gus look more pleased then I thought they could. It looks like a real fish tank should, with life doing its thing. Lesson learned ... the unique lighting and deco has merit ... but so does the traditional thing, too.

Here are pics of the new versions of the tanks. I'm not as happy with the 5g ... but I hope the crypts will grow out nicely ... at the very least I hope it will be a good beta home. The two zebra rasbora in there now seem to like at at least.


http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/3830/newtank1.th.jpg (http://img534.imageshack.us/i/newtank1.jpg/)

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7023/newtank2q.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/i/newtank2q.jpg/)

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/993/newbettahome.th.jpg (http://img441.imageshack.us/i/newbettahome.jpg/)


So ... Current stock is as follows:

Ten Gallon:
1 dwarf gourami
1 sparkling gourami
1 green neon tetra
3 ember tetra
2 nerite snails
15 red cherry shrimp

Five Gallon:
2 zebra rasbora
(future betta home)


Concerns:
I really need to refill the tetra schools ... right now, the green neon is schooling with the embers. He'd had friends previously, but they got ate by the rehomed pearl

I'm also a little concerned over how I put the java fern in the tank. I'd stuffed the rooty rhizome-ish parts into the hole depression of the fake tree stump. I'd heard where you can't bury rhizome ... they aren't exactly buries ... but they are stuffed into the wood thing.

[korith]

So, I go to the local fish club meeting. After the meeting (GREAT speaker by the way, on Anabantids) there was the auction, and I went crazy on plants. Got some shrimp and some ember tetra as well. And the pearl gourami got a good new home.

I'm also a little concerned over how I put the java fern in the tank. I'd stuffed the rooty rhizome-ish parts into the hole depression of the fake tree stump. I'd heard where you can't bury rhizome ... they aren't exactly buries ... but they are stuffed into the wood thing.

Floaters can be messy, just have to keep their numbers in check. Frogbit and dwarf water lettuce aren't too bad, can just take out a cupful every week or two. Shy fish will go out into the open areas of the tank a bit more, if they have some cover on the surface. Did you add any substrate into the tree stump for nutrients for the java?

It was a good meeting, good speaker, I didn't realize there were so many antabanids. Did you see some of the bags the speaker brought with him? some very nice bettas, sadly they were already sold. I picked up some narrow leaf java fern and some hygro. Had a few other plants in mind but I got outbid by you hehe.

Hardest part about the auctions is not to get caught up and bid on too much. I've done that too many times, then I get home and there is no where to put the plants, or worse I get fish then try to find a place to put them.

[Rhaethe]

I didn't put any substrate in there ... but I can later.

I saw an unruly bit of plant leaf I needed to cut off and grabbed the wrong pair of scissors not even thinking until I saw myself dunk them in the water. They were NOT my aquarium scissors. I panicked and did a quick water change ... and the java fern floated right out of the stump ....

Took a while to get it back in. Kept wanting to float out. Ended up tying back a few leaves loosely to keep it place. That being the case, I think it might be ok since the fit isn't (evidently) all that tight.

This is what it looks like now. Note all the fish blurs zooming about ... in comparison to the lack of fish shots in the pics weeks ago:

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/9449/newtank4.th.jpg (http://img21.imageshack.us/i/newtank4.jpg/)

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/4854/newtank5.th.jpg (http://img691.imageshack.us/i/newtank5.jpg/)



Edited to add: For anyone remembering my story of Gus and the Pit he made in the 5g's substrate ... note the PIT in the sand already present in the right front corner under the java fern.

He likes the wallow, the little piggie ...

[Rhaethe]

Tank is fully stocked now. Nabbed three White Cloud Mountain minnows. The dang loner green neon has been adopted. Previously he tried to school with the ember tetras and failed most of the time. He keeps up with the white clouds, though, and they actually like each other. All out and about together. I never would have thunk it.

Shrimp still molting and scaring the bejeebus out of me. There's one matriarch shrimp in particular that snags food away from the fish and defends it successfully.

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/9729/tanknow1.th.jpg (http://img638.imageshack.us/i/tanknow1.jpg/)

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/9758/tanknow2.th.jpg (http://img442.imageshack.us/i/tanknow2.jpg/)

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/4109/tanknow3.th.jpg (http://img697.imageshack.us/i/tanknow3.jpg/)

The last pic is pretty typical of the personalities in the tank. Gus up top begging for food ... the schoolers all out in the middle, the matriarch shrimp basking, and Sid in the shade of the moss tree.

[Rhaethe]

Newest update.

The white clouds had to go. Once they were comfortable, one in particular started nipping everyone. First just his kind ... and then I saw him (and later the other two minnows joined in) start in on Gus and Sid. Of course, neither of them were having none of it.

And neither was I. Found a nice place to relocate them to. Then I called around to find Ember Tetras. Figured I'd fill out that school to total six. Found the store, went, picked up the embers, and then saw a lone wee little baby sparkling gourami.

The three new embers aren't colored up yet, but the first three took a week or three to actually start showing colors. Otherwise, the three new ones are shoaling nicely.

Little Man has found the moss tree and has made it his new place. He's pretty colorful. More so than Sid. Perhaps Sid is a she? At any rate, Sid does chase the wee one about occasionally. In return, the wee one stalks and sneaks up on him. I'll keep an eye on them.

The moss needs some trimming I think.

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8595/tanklastofapril.th.jpg (http://img190.imageshack.us/i/tanklastofapril.jpg/)

[Taurus]

Nice job with the prefilter sponge. Does the new little guy approve?

[Rhaethe]

He seems to.

At the moment, the new sparkling is camped out in the moss tree. He occasionally forays out, but appears to be happy in the moss.

Over time, I've developed a certain fondness for sparkling gourami and zebra rasbora (green dwarf rasbora). I keep on saying that the newest tank I craft will be a variety of differing things ... and then I think about it. And then I go ... more sparklings and green dwarfs!

Although I've been lured in lately by badis badis. I hve been doing a lot of reading on dario dario lately, and come to find out that the death of the one I had may not have been entirely my fault. Survival rate on those poor fish is pretty low, due to a variety of factors. Kinda like pea puffers. Badis are a bit sturdier.

[Taurus]

No reason not to develop a fondness for them as both sparkling gourami and dwarf emerald rasbora are very interesting and beautiful fish.

Did you know that microrasbora erythromicron (dwarf green rasbora) has been
reclassified as danio erythromicron? Same fish is a member of the danio familiy now.

Is Sid and\or the newbie trichopsis schalleri (sparkling pygmy gourami) or trichopsis pumlia (pygmy gourami) because sparkling are a bit more colorful and finnage is longer. That could explain the difference between Sid and newbie.

[Rhaethe]

That's possible.

Watching the interchange between the two is neat.

Little Man tails after Sid, following. He comes across another fish in the tank, and Little Man does the "rear back tail curl" indicative of defensive aggression ... and then sees Sid do nothing, so he continues on trailing after Sid.

I even caught Sid nabbing tiny morsels of shrimp pellets and then dropping them near the little one under the tree. Now whether that is intentional or not, I dunno. But I've seen it twice.

If it is adoptive parenting, then its likely Sid is a male as the males are the caretaker amongst that species, if I remember correctly.

[Taurus]

Amazing. :ssmile:

[Rhaethe]

Update:

I am now fully stocked. Perhaps slightly overstocked, but I am also overfiltered, and stay on top of parameters, so I believe it will be fine.

I added 4 pygmy cories. Fat teeny little buggers. And they like hovering in the middle of the water column sometimes ... looking like little bumblebees. They do not like the light much, so I might look into some different lower wattage bulbs.

I also find it quite fascinating, now that the baby sparkling has made his home out of the moss tree, that Sid, the adult sparkling has willingly moved residence to the java fern. Of course, that may also be due to the fact that the occasional baby pond snail can be found on said java fern. And Sid is still Mister Snail Hunter.

[Taurus]

Pictures please, at your convenience. Oh, and yeah, it's time for a new tank. :wink2:

[Rhaethe]

Getting pictures of the pygmy cories is somewhat difficult, as they really do prefer the dark.

Got one I took two nights ago ... you can see two of them. One is perching on the rock. They do like to perch on things. The second picture I'm posting to show off how sparkling Sid can get sometimes. And the expression on Gus' fishy face is amusing.

As a side note, all the shed moss strands on the substrate disappeared (I assume by the shrimp / snail / perhaps cory? combo) by the next day.

http://img693.imageshack.us/img693/2175/coryperch.th.jpg (http://img693.imageshack.us/i/coryperch.jpg/)

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/7419/whomewhat.th.jpg (http://img682.imageshack.us/i/whomewhat.jpg/)


And ... I hear ya on the new tank thing .... hush you! :hmm3grin2orange:

[Taurus]

And ... I hear ya on the new tank thing .... hush you! :hmm3grin2orange:

HUSH!? I can't do that. :ssmile:

So, you have Gus, Sid, and Sid Jr. in the same tank along with ember tetras and pygmy cories?

Sid and Gus are both beautiful by the way.

Never mind...I scrolled back and reread. Yup Gus, Sid, Sid Jr., pygmies, embers all in the same 10g tank. NICE TANK!

[Rhaethe]

HUSH!? I can't do that. :ssmile:

Lol!


So, you have Gus, Sid, and Sid Jr. in the same tank along with ember tetras and pygmy cories?

Yep. Current stock list is:

2 Nerite snail
6 Red Cherry Shrimp
1 Green Neon Tetra
1 Dwarf Gourami
2 Sparkling Gourami
6 ember tetra

And that's about as stocked as the 10g is going to get. I am not putting anything else in there. Everything's been in there for around a week now, and I've not noticed any territorial disputes, as everyone has their own section of the "world" that they prefer, and it doesn't crossover much. Water params are stable and all appear content. Even the shrimp ... which I can tell by all the damn molts they leave behind.

Once Sid Jr gets to adult size, there may be issues ... and I'll re-evaluate then.


Sid and Gus are both beautiful by the way.

Thank you! I will let them know as well :sbiggrin:

[Rhaethe]

Bah, forgot the 4 pygmy cories on that stocking list.

[Taurus]

Is OK. I knew they should be include. :ssmile: Oh maybe you weren't talking to me.

[troy]

Pygmy corydoras like eating vegetables. My 4 will devour a piece of spinach overnight.

[korith]

Pygmy cories are great little foragers as well, will spend a lot of doing this. Instead of lowering the wattage of the bulbs, you could add in a few floating plants like dwarf water lettuce, or frogbit. That will create some nice shaded spots. Also the surface won't seem so 'open' anymore with the some plants providing cover, which will put fish at ease and more willing to be out in the open.

[Bristley]

I really like how your tank is set up Rhaethe. Keep the pics coming as time goes on.

[Rhaethe]

Thanks!

I trimmed the moss tree last night and got rid of the excess straggly bits.

I also got to witness one of the new embers make a deadly and unfortunate mistake. It decided it wanted to explore the moss tree, and kept darting in and out of it. It is possible the tetra may have also nipped Sid Jr.

Sid came out of the moss tree and bam! The tetra wobbles and flees. And then Sid Jr comes out of the moss tree and chases the tetra toward Sid Sr.

This was constant. I tried breaking it up some, but it didn't work. The whole ordeal ended fairly quickly (in retrospect) with the tetra laying on the substrate, gasping, a huge red blotch under its skin. I scooped him out and euthanized him when it started to "float". I'd seen this type of attacking before from sparklings in another tank. When they don't like something they can be vicious.

The two sparklings went back into the moss tree. Sid Sr came out again after a bit, "patrolled" the tree, and went to the java fern.

Curiously enough, they let Gus use the moss tree as a sleeping spot without issue.

I've known that sparklings will cooperate against an enemy. Its still fascinating to watch, even after the first time.

[Rhaethe]

I am just not destined for tetras. At least not with a small tank where territory is at a premium.

I'm down to 3 ember tetras now. And the same lone survivor green neon.

The tetra seem determined, for some reason, to keep going inside the moss tree. They never have before. And this new moss tree fascination is what sparked the aggression on them ... so it wasn't the aggression that made them want to go there.

And the three gourami are having none of anyone going into their moss tree.

[Taurus]

At the risk of repeating myself, fascinating! If the embers don't work out, would you consider trying some cherry barbs? Or would you make the tank "small gourami heaven" for Gus, Sid, Sid, Jr.?

[Rhaethe]

At the risk of repeating myself, fascinating! If the embers don't work out, would you consider trying some cherry barbs? Or would you make the tank "small gourami heaven" for Gus, Sid, Sid, Jr.?

I'm leaning heavily toward small gourami heaven.

The pygmy cories seem to be doing fine. It appears that I have at least one fat female. Maybe two. They shoal the tightest I've personally seen fish shoal. Although occasionally, I'll see one of the 4 get left behind to nap or something. They also like the middle of the tank just as much as the bottom, which I find neat.

Some tetra behaviour I am seeing right now with the lights off: The fat tetra has come out and one of the thinner tetra is hovering nearby, with the other two (neon included) are chasing after each other. I turn the light on, and they become super shy.

They were not this way before.

[Taurus]

Small gourami heaven is a good idea. I like it and approve. :jumpeveryone:

Sparkling gourami are not only attractive, but their behavior is interesting, too. If I ever find some, I would add one or two to my 20gl.

Well yeah, when the light comes on now, the embers, green neon, ect. feel exposed and vulnerable. Gus, Sid, Sid Jr. on all on attack watch and won't hesitate to go into ninja mode.

[Rhaethe]

Well, was gone for the weekend. Left Friday afternoon, and just got back about an hour ago.

I had anticipated another tetra or two disappearing.

However, after the fish count, I have:

12 red charry shrimp (approximately)
4 pygmy cories
3 ember tetras
1 green neon tetra
1 dwarf gourami
1 sparkling gourami

Yep. Sid Jr is missing. Could be just in the moss tree somewhere, but I don't have a whole lot of confidence in that.

Oddly enough, the tetras are back out in the open again, even with the light on.

I don't think I'll increase the tetra school. I believe I might even try capturing them and rehoming if possible. Not sure.

Going to leave things be for awhile.

[wolf_eyes]

I wonder if they were trying to spawn in the moss and this is why they were trying to go in the moss. Sorry to hear about the loss :(

[Taurus]

Yep. Sid Jr is missing.

I hope he shows up. :ssuprised:

[Rhaethe]

Monthly update.

Sid Jr was found the next day, but I had to euthanize him. Sadly. I find it suspicious that all the fish that I got from the new LFS all perished within a couple days. I don't believe I'll be going there again.

I find it very probable that whatever sickness they had ... the other fish sensed it and at least one (not even sure it was Sid for all of them at this point) attacked. In retrospect I do remember even the tetra getting overly aggressive with one of the now dead tetra.

All the rest of the fishes are doing fine. Gus is even finally growing back one of his feeler fins that had gotten nipped back in March.

No new fish have been placed in the tank. I feel I've struck a happy little equilibrium with current stocking:

1 dwarf gourami
1 sparkling gourami
3 ember tetra
1 green neon tetra
4 pygmy cory
2 nerite snail
12 red cherry shrimp

I even saw a shrimplet scooting around one day! I was fairly surprised it lived as long as it did. Sid and Gus are pretty darn good and hoovering up shrimplets, although they leave the larger shrimp alone.

I must admit I am really really fond of the pygmy cories. I was never a fan of the larger cories ... but the pygmy cories are just fascinating to watch ... they are like little bumblebees. Their whiskers are getting nice and plump / long.

If I could ever catch the little bastages, I'd rehome all the tetras.

[korith]

If I could ever catch the little bastages, I'd rehome all the tetras.

Good luck with that, for a month now I've been trying to catch all the ones in 20g and move them to a 40g. Sounds like your fish have settled into the tank.

[Rhaethe]

No real updates as far as looks on this one. The moss continually grows and continually needs trimming. Other than that, I've not fiddled with it's appearance.

Stock wise, it's the same as well, although two tetras passed (no idea why) and the pygmy cory flock got a boost recently. I had obtained a nice school to place in my 20g, and the laetacara in there decided they looked like lunch. I retrieved them all out of there with no casualties and placed them in the 10g with the other pygmy cories.

This makes the 10g a little more stocked than I would like, but, I'm keeping an eye on things, and there appears to be no aggression on the part of Sid, who is usually the first to get testy when he feels crowded. I would imagine this is because all the "extra" fish are so tiny and all part of the same school that likes to occupy the area of the tank he doesn't bother much with.

I really enjoy the pygmies. They buzz around like bumblebees, play games in the filter current and wiggle about .. cute as buttons.

They are really hard to get pictures of, however.

The remaining two ember tetras really boosted in color after the other two tetras passed. Behaviour wise, I can't tell that they are displeased or stressed. As mentioned before, if I could catch them, I'd rehome them to someone that has a larger school.

Stock list:
1 - dwarf gourami
1 - sparkling gourami
2 - ember tetra
14 - pygmy cory
2 - nerite snail
12 - red cherry shrimp

[Rhaethe]

Latest picture. As mentioned previously, I've not fiddled with it much other than giving the moss a trim when it needs it.

A fair number of fronds have either fallen and made their way to the substrate, or are left over from snipping. I've opted to leave them there. Gives the illusion of a groundcover, and the shrimp really enjoy it.

The pygmy cory crew tend to prefer cuddling in the corner until either nighttime or dinnertime.

http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/4092/img0956a.th.jpg (http://img812.imageshack.us/i/img0956a.jpg/)

[lugnut]

I like the look of your tank and also agree with you that the "groundcover" is neat too. Reading some of the previous posts, your tank sounds fun!

[korith]

Looks good as usual, you have a good eye for aquascaping. My planted tanks look like they've been scaped by a blind man. I tend to overfill the tanks with too much stuff. If you are ever in marietta feel free to come by and redo one of my tanks!

[Rhaethe]

One of these days I just might take you up on that :sbiggrin:

I love to decorate the things ... new ones that is. Then when they finally get to a certain state, I looooathe doing the prune -snip thing.

[Rhaethe]

Figured I'd update the stock list for this tank.

1 - dwarf gourami
1 - sparkling gourami
2 - ember tetra
1 - danio erythromicron
10 - pygmy cory
1 - nerite snail
12 - red cherry shrimp

Not sure that I can actually account for what happened to 4 of the pygmy cories. Either I counted too many one time, I didn't count enough the second time ... or some passed at some point and were quickly consumed by shrimp. And I'm not entirely positive that there's 10 of them. Maybe 9.

It's really hard to count these. Their favorite thing to do is have a cuddle party in the back corner and under the driftwood piece. They do come out and buzz around sometimes, but they don't stay still for very long.

The danio erythromicron, or zebra rasbora, is the last one of a school that had initially started in the 10g, then depleted and got moved to the 5g, and then became just one. I finally managed to scoop him out of the 5g after I re-scaped it. He is an interesting fellow. He spent most of his time in the 5g dodging the snarly betta.

Now? He has become an aggressive little bastage on his own ... at least toward the ember tetras. He is only slightly longer than them. He doesn't care about any of the other denizens ... but he loathes the tetras.

[Taurus]

Glad to hear the the Dwarf gourami and Sparkling Gourami are doing well. I'm sure the Ember Tetras feel the same about the Zebra Rasbora. :boxing:

[Rhaethe]

1 - dwarf gourami
1 - sparkling gourami
2 - ember tetra
10 - pygmy cory
3 - nerite snail
12 - red cherry shrimp

Not much to really update here. The zebra rasbora mysteriously got eated. Well, I wouldn't say mysteriously, insomuch as I think the other denizens got tired of his antics.

I think, as adorable as pygmy cories are ... I won't acquire them again for a tank. They simply seem to far prefer cuddling up in a corner for most of the day. I'm fairly positive they come out at night and whirr about ... the few times I've stayed up super late, I've caught them at this.

The ember tetras are really nice. It's taken a few months for htem to color up, but they have, and the colors are truly nice. I'm sure they would be more pleased if there were others of their own kind in the tank, but every time I snag some ... the two little bastages chase and harass them down ... and they get mysteriously "eated".

This tank has some cracked out inhabitants.

[Rhaethe]

And pictures to go with the update.

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/5992/img1025v.th.jpg (http://img251.imageshack.us/i/img1025v.jpg/)

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/294/img1028ca.th.jpg (http://img193.imageshack.us/i/img1028ca.jpg/)

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/9242/img1029f.th.jpg (http://img511.imageshack.us/i/img1029f.jpg/)


Gus was feeling particularly friendly to the camera today.

[didyabridger]

amazing thread, im a complete begginer, and have learnt alot from reading not only your posts but everone elses too...

tank looks FANTASTIC

[Rhaethe]

Well, its the end of a small era. Gus, my first fish, passed on. He was good ol grumpy fish.

Now the 10g stands there, looking bare. Sid is still fine, as is the other denizens. I'm fairly sure it was simply Gus' time.

Looking at things positively ... am wondering if the tank is not due for a rescape. Or at least a little bit of a change.

[Cermet]

How about some cherry shrimp? At some point, since I have a spare 10 I intend to try my hand with them ... :22:

[Rhaethe]

I have shrimp in there currently, they are doing fine.

I think I may yank all the moss that is in there out, however. And replace it with some flavor of fern. Maybe make it a fern tank.

After Gus passed on and I posted over the weekend, I fiddled with it just a tad. Got rid of the fake driftwood piece, moved the fern more into the corner and surrounded it with some river stones. Not certain I like it much this way, but it will do for a temporary measure.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/4792/img1034r.jpg

[Rhaethe]

Curious little thing I noticed. The pygmy cories that have been hiding in a cuddle-lump in a dark corner ever since I got them a year ago are now out and about far more often.

They even hover in open water now, looking out the tank like little hummingbirds.

Don't get me wrong, they still like their cuddle-lump in the corner behind the plant ... but they are out and about now more than they used to be.

I will hazard a guess they didn't like the presence of Gus much, and with him gone now, are more bold.

[Rhaethe]

New denizens for the tank!

I went by the pet store over the weekend, and saw that they actually had sparkling gourami in one tank. With green spotted puffers. So, I inquired on how much they were ... and they said "Oh those little pea puffers?" Long story short, they actually pulled out their fish bible, and I showed them the three variants of sparkling gourami. And they said, "Well, I'll be damned. We ordered pea puffers, though." I took a closer look at what they had ... and they were the schalleri variant ... which is what Sid is. So I purchased two. They acclimated quite well.

Back at the same store today, to pick up some brine shrimp, and I saw the other two in that tank, just peering at me ... and I saw where the puffers were still in the tank with them.

I succumbed.

So, now I am slightly overstocked. But, I am overfiltered, and I think we'll be OK with a bit of extra care. Acclimated the two new ones, and after a bit of time, I happened to hear that classic croaking click! I was so very excited ... and mentioned to the boyfriend what had happened ... he said "Oh, that brrrbrrrbrrr clickie sound? Been hearing that off and on most of the day"

:hmm3grin2orange:

As for the pygmy cories, they don't mind their new tankmates at all ... and are still growing bolder and bolder, buzzing around like bumblebees.

[Cjjam313]

I've so enjoyed reading your journal!!! The stories of Gus and company were really kool :11: .....I'm currently planning out my 10 gal tank as we speak....you have some interesting landscape ideas which i may need to "ninja" if its ok....(Thinking if I ask permission its alright :18: )...anyways I will be checking back in with "General Fishpital" soon...thanks for the inspiration!

[Rhaethe]

Feel free to snag whatever designs you wish :shappy:

And yes, it has become General Fishpital in this tank. I had a gut feeling that having 5 sparklings, only 4 of whom have grown up together, in the same tank would either turn out decently ... or very poorly.

Of the 5 sparklings, there was Sid ... biggest and oldest, and the "outsider" to the other fish, although he'd been in the tank first. There is also Squirt .. a little runt of the new crew. Everyone pretty much leaves Squirt alone. Then there's the Three Bastards, who are always posturing to each other.

Sid had been hiding much more often of late, and today I found out why. The Three Bastards decided to forget their own issues with each other long enough to join forces and beat the hell out of him. His tail is completely shredded, one of his ventral feelers is half torn off, and one of his eyes is injured.

I removed him from the tank and placed him in the 20g, since the hospital tank is currently out of commission. The fish in that tank aren't nippy, so if he's going to recover, he should be able to there. I don't have the highest hopes, however, but we'll see.

[Rhaethe]

Update of the Ten Gallon Fishpital (heh).

Sid did not make it. The Three Bastards then became the Two Bastards ... once Sid was removed from "their" tank, two of the three ganged up on one ...

Sparkling gourami are adorable "looking". But if you happen to get all males in a group that is slightly too large for the environment? ... they are cutthroat little bastards. No lip locking, no chasing, just middle-of-the-night ninja style assassination. Yeesh.

Oddly, Squirt was still left completely alone.

The dynamics in the 10g have finally settled out. One Bastard "owns" the moss tree. The other Bastard "owns" the java fern on the other side. And Squirt, bless his heart for being smaller than either of them ... "owns" the open area in between and in front. And holds his own in the posturing department if the either or both are on "his" turf.

The pygmy cories blithely buzz about without a care in the world. All the sparklings ignore them.

[Rhaethe]

Started a little bit of the breakdown of the 10g. Am consolidating my tanks (or will be) so that I'll have a 33 long in the front room and a 20 high in the bedroom.

First step was transferring the pygmy cories from this 10 into the 20H. The christmas moss got all sorts of smushed in the process. Wonder how long it will take to fluff out ...

The eventual plan is to place the 3 sparklings into the 33 long. I am hesitant to put the bastards in with the honey gourami.

[Taurus]

Just make sure you have plenty of places for the bastards and the honey to hide...driftwood, rocks, and plants or thick groves of moss. Good luck with the new tank.

[Rhaethe]

Finally came to the decision to rehome the bastards. The balance in the 20 is so settled that I do not wish to futz with it.

As much as I will miss their clicking and communication, the three of them are comfortable enough with each other now that there is little of it that they actually do anymore :sbiggrin:

There is a fish club member here that plans on trying to breed, so I am rehoming them with him .... larger tank and womens! I always like it when I can rehome my fish into a breeding tank.

So, that will leave the 10g empty ... which meeeans that I can go ahead and break down the 5g thing and stick the betta from there into the 10.

[sheamurai]

happy days for the betta!

[Rhaethe]

Hehe!

The bastards are in their new owners' 125g now. And the 3 inch plakat is in the 10g.

Truth to be told, he's spent most of the day in his new digs swimming around all flared up, circling like a shark.

Reminds me a lot of an alpha dog marking new territory or something :sbiggrin:

[sheamurai]

ahem! where are the pics?

[Rhaethe]

Bah. This tank will be dismantled soonish, too .... So I've let the moss grow untrimmed.

But, full tank shot.

http://img607.imageshack.us/img607/8692/img1095de.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/607/img1095de.jpg/)


Then a couple shots of the betta. He would rather attack the camera or give me nothing but tail, so sometimes I have to do a whirl, spin, snap thing to catch him off guard. So, slightly blurry.

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/7010/img1108jg.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/35/img1108jg.jpg/)

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/5630/img1100i.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/560/img1100i.jpg/)

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/462/img1104dg.th.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/195/img1104dg.jpg/)


But yes, this tank, also is getting dismantled. When I get the 40g installed and set up, betta will go in there.

[Taurus]

When I get the 40g installed and set up, betta will go in there.

Can't wait to see the 40g, but, I guess I have too. :wink:

[sheamurai]

Yes, it will be very interesting to see the 40.

This betta is a nice lookin fella.

[Rhaethe]

I come bearing updates.

This tank has finally been dismantled, and the plants sent to my brother in law. The betta is now in the 40g breeder. He has grown yet bigger, if that can be imagined, and has deepened in color to this burnished yellow red cream funky color.

This tank may get transformed into a Tanganyikan shellie tank. I am not yet decided. It and the stand are in place and empty ... am just deciding if I want to or not.