120 Litre Set-Up...from Lake Tanganyika to South America

[~firefly~]

Ha ha, yes I've seen the same in my peppered cories. Never in the super-shy sterbais tho. The peppereds are bold (or dumb) and they push me out the way if I'm replanting in case I upturn any tasty goodies. I swear I could catch them in my hand if they didn't spot a net and bucket on standby.

[~firefly~]

New plant I haven't got room for. Pogostemon stellatus spec.



Baby assassin!



Assassin egg (one of many I'm sure...given the burgeoning population)



Out of control moss. It's a great catch for detritus.

[~firefly~]

More Pogostemon stellatus spec.



The roots on the Anubias barteri are like nothing I've ever seen. One of them at the back of the tank has roots around a foot long - they just keep going until they hit the substrate...quite amazing.

[~firefly~]

One more tedious tank shot (for my own record of the planting).

[steeler1]

Thought of you and your Cherry barbs when I found this video. They look pretty good with the Gold tetras, Kribs and Dwarf neon rainbows. Hope your mouth feels better.

[talldutchie]

I'd be interested to see a tank shot. By now that tank must have lost it's "just planted" look.

[~firefly~]

Wow, those gold tetras look amazing! I'd consider adding some if my tank wasn't fully stocked already. Aqadvisor...oddly - rates my tank at 189 litres when I put the dimensions in, which is odd, as it's definitely 120 litres (I counted the 12 litre buckets when I filled it), but even with that:

You have plenty of aquarium filtration capacity.
Your aquarium filtration capacity for above selected species is 296%.Help on Filtration capacity
Recommended water change schedule: 41% per week.
Your aquarium stocking level is 133%.
Your tank is overstocked. Unless you are an experienced aquarist who can meet the maintenance/biological needs of this aquarium, lower stocking levels are recommended.

What's funny is, when you walk in the room - my tank genuinely looks empty as all the barbs are hiding. Only after you sit still for a few moments do they all come out. Even then it doesn't look particularly crowded in there.

Talldutchie - do you mean an update shot of my tank? I'm not sure it has changed much since the last photo - it looks pretty much the same as the last shot. How would I stop it looking "just planted" - like you say? I didn't think it did. It's looked like that for at least 6 months.

The Pogostemon stellatus didn't last though - I pulled it out as it lost nearly all its leaves. I trimmed it down and put it in my shrimp tank as the light is more intense in that tank. I'll see what happens to it in there.

[talldutchie]

The last shot is almost 2 months old. Things must have grown by now?

[~firefly~]

Sorry to disappoint you. All the plants are mature already and at full height. I keep it pretty well trimmed (probably a minor trim here and there for dead leaves and such like each week and good cut back every two or three weeks) What would you suggest if you don't think it's good enough? I don't really have ground covering plants so there won't be filling in over the substrate. You also have to remember that my lights are crap.

Here are shots taken about 2 minutes ago...straight from the camera. I did a heavy prune 8 days ago.

[~firefly~]

Suggestions?