KevinVA's 75gal Journey in Planted Tanks

[Carapar56]

Yeah now we have the gold and all these other forms. I've seen some pretty densely marked opalines too. Some of my favorite gouramis have to be the pearl gourami and the chocolate gourami. Both are really gorgeous. I always liked the dwarves too but due to their whole genetic diseases and their proneness to death I haven't had any in years. Found a nice website that sells wild caught dwarves though, so when one of my 10 gallons frees up I may get a dwarf for it. And I'm glad to hear all your shrimp survived, maybe in this bigger tank they'll do better and maybe breed? Can't wait to see new photos of the tank. Oh and question, are you going to use anything to fill in the front area of the 75 gal? You had dwarf sag there before correct? If your lighting is adequate a nice little carpeting plant would do nicely, baby tears, dwarf baby tears, glossostigma, dwarf hair grass? Just to name a few that would look nice.

[KevinVA]

Nice vid, steeler. I agree. I love the variety of the Blue that we have now. My favorite is definitely the Opaline, though. I love the designs of the deep/light blues throughout the body.

lol Carapar, their "proneness to death" certainly puts a damper on the dwarf variety. One of my first fish was a Blue Dwarf Gourami and he succumbed to the Iridovirus of their namesake. Beautiful fish, but always a crapshoot. It's a shame.

As for the 20 Long, it's definitely made a difference. I don't think there was enough room for everyone in the 10 gal. The shrimp were constantly hiding. Today, I saw 4 of them out and about... and then I saw a tail and some legs... I'm hoping that's another molt, but I have my doubts. I tried looking for the 5th and couldn't find it. That doesn't mean much, though, as I could only see 3 or 4 in the 10gal on a good day, while I also saw a molt which I thought was a body... which turned out to be a molt. There are definitely size differences between the 4 I saw. The larger are seemingly fearless and put theirselves out there, while the smaller certainly move around a bit more.

I'll try to get a photo or video of them tomorrow.

[Carapar56]

Great to hear they're settling into the 20. I'm still contemplating what to do with my second 10 gallon when it frees up. I know I want to make one into a take for Phoenix Rasboras and Desert Gobies but not sure on the other.. The site I want to get the wild caught dwarf gouramis from only sells them in groups of 3's or more which would be catastrophic in a 10 gallon.. I think I may look around on aquabid for some fancy tropical betta species, not just the typical betta splendens. There are dozens of other betta species I've loved to own. Oh I was wondering have you thought about uping your school of serpae's?? I see you only have 11.

[KevinVA]

Thanks Carapar.

I actually just inspected that shrimp body and it looks like it was another molt. I took it out and played around with it. lol It looked like a hollow shell, so I assume the 5th shrimp is in there somewhere. For the longest time, I thought I only had 3-4 left in the 10gal, so they're probably hiding again. Three of them are out in the open, foraging for food right now. Unfortunately, my wife took the camera with her to her baby shower, so I can't get any pictures/video. I'm just getting used to these guys, so it's still bewildering to see a lifeless shrimp body on the substrate (when it's actually a molt). lol Apparently, water changes can provoke molting, and young shrimp molt more often, so I guess I'll have to get used to it.

I also noticed that one of the Otos has fungus on his nose. I guess the move must have been more stressful for some of the inhabitants than others. My betta, the snails, shrimp and the other 2 Otos are perfectly fine. Just started dosing with Melafix. ;/

My plan for the 20L is to add more Otos to make a nice school. I'm also thinking of female bettas. My male has been building bubble nests like crazy, lately, so I assume he's very comfortable with his home and is anxious to get mating. I wasn't going to go that route, but I feel bad knowing he doesn't have a chance, unless I give him a couple. Of course, I'm not sure how the males handle females after spawning. Could be a bad outcome and I'd have to rehome to prevent deaths.

As for the 75gal - I've thought about upping the Serpae numbers and I may do so. Originally, I was going to do 12 Serpaes & 12 Phantoms, but obviously that didn't work out. I may up the Serpae numbers to 14-15. They look visually stunning in greater numbers, that's for sure.

It'd be nice to see another betta species. I just read an article about Brunei Beauties in Tropical Fish Hobbyist. They would be awesome to own. The Desert Gobies are pretty interesting fish, too.

[KevinVA]

Oh and question, are you going to use anything to fill in the front area of the 75 gal? You had dwarf sag there before correct? If your lighting is adequate a nice little carpeting plant would do nicely, baby tears, dwarf baby tears, glossostigma, dwarf hair grass? Just to name a few that would look nice.

Missed this question. Sorry about that. I was thinking of Baby Tears or some kind of clover, and I've thought about dwarf hair grass. I used to have Pygmy Chain Sword plants. They really get out of hand, sometimes. Mine would shoot chains all over the place and you can't control where they're going, so it ends up looking like a mess. Instead of dealing with it, I decided to rid myself of them. I do have a few in my 20 Long, now... but they were barely growing in my 10gal, so we'll see how that goes. I'm hoping they don't grow, again, and just stay short and green. haha

[fishmommie]

Thanks Carapar.

I also noticed that one of the Otos has fungus on his nose. I guess the move must have been more stressful for some of the inhabitants than others. My betta, the snails, shrimp and the other 2 Otos are perfectly fine. Just started dosing with Melafix. ;/.

Hey Kev. You might want to do half doses of the melafix if the betta is in the tank. I did a lot of reading when my neons had a little bit of fungus and there's much discussion on whether betta's can tolerate full doses. melafix can put an oil slick on the surface of the water and since bettas are labyrinth fish and must breath from the surface occasionally, there is a school of thought that melafix and or pimafix can damage their gills. again = some say it's okay, some say not, just thought I'd toss that out there.
Just posted a new video of my 90 on my journal BTW in case you want to check it out :o0)

[Carapar56]

If you go the route of breeding you can only chose one female. As after the male choses his female, he'll attack any others that are present, usually. And yes you'd have to remove the female after. As the male, like some cichlids, is the care taker of the young. The mother will simply try to eat the eggs which would result in her being attacked by the male. Males always make bubble nests it is a sign that they're ready to breed but I sort of like to think its also something for them to do when they get bored, ya know? I wish someone would look into breeding females with longer fins and brighter colors like males.. I'd really love to have some over the top gorgeous females in a group. Especially King Bettas. I hate going to pet stores and seeing 2-3 inch long king bettas but have them all be boys. Granted female Kings are smaller but they can be kept in groups as with male Kings they're bigger and tend to be more aggressive :/

[KevinVA]

Hey Kev. You might want to do half doses of the melafix if the betta is in the tank. I did a lot of reading when my neons had a little bit of fungus and there's much discussion on whether betta's can tolerate full doses. melafix can put an oil slick on the surface of the water and since bettas are labyrinth fish and must breath from the surface occasionally, there is a school of thought that melafix and or pimafix can damage their gills. again = some say it's okay, some say not, just thought I'd toss that out there.
Just posted a new video of my 90 on my journal BTW in case you want to check it out :o0)

Thanks for the head's up, Cindy. I appreciate that. Unfortunately I already dosed for one day, but I'll definitely halve the dose from here on out. I'll probably have to be careful with the Gourami in the 75, as well, since she's a labyrinth fish, too. I did notice the oil slick tonight. Thought that might be from the meds, but wasn't sure. I'll definitely check out your vid. Love your tank.

@Carapar, not sure I'd want to deal with that. I'd love to get the betta a mate, but I'm not sure where I'd place the females, after he's done choosing one. I don't know if Petsmart carries females or not, so I'm guessing I'd have to order them, which means I'd be stuck with them. Don't think they'd fare too well in the 75, either, but maybe the unused Rabbit snail breeder. =/

[KevinVA]

I need some advice. =X I have no idea what kind of plant I should put in the foreground. I'm not even sure if I should make it a carpeting plant or not, because I'm concerned about the GBRs getting their fill of sand. haha

Any thoughts/ideas? I'm open to anything.

[MandyK]

I think you should do the baby tears. I've heard they are hard, but if anyone can pull it off it's def you. I know it's caparpeting, but it'll be pretty.