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I'm a big fan of this tank I've decided

Oh no, , just in time when I decided that it needs change

During the water change I only had the 96w unit on in the middle of the tank. It seems sooooo dark now as the tops are really tall and wide.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

It's ok, It will live on in the pictures.

I think it's neat because it's really contrasty. Super bright green, almost black in the dark areas. Just neat. It would probably bug me though if I had to take care of it. Just knowing that the darkness keeps encroaching on everything else.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Like the tank too, but still want to see the right side reduced

My Scapes

I seem to remember a couple/three years ago commenting
about what one does when a tank reaches this point.

You and Tetra seem to have postponed the dilemma by
simply putting your energy into creating more and
more beautiful tanks rather than having just one.

If the scuttlebutt holds true that some of these plant
friendly substrates wear out over a year or two, then
you guys are all set. About the time the tank reaches
maturity and you grow "bored" with it, it would be time
to tear it apart and start anew.

Actually, you are probably right. As the tank unfolded
over these months, I personally lost track of the fact
that it is supposed to be a "Breeder Tank" and not just
another beautiful show tank. If you were to breed some
fish in this tank that eventually required you move the
parents to another tank, rear the fry, and then you had
to catch the fry to sell them, or move them, you would
have the devils own time trying to net any fish in that
beautiful, planted tank.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Like the tank too, but still want to see the right side reduced

That's what I would be going for, but it is a major undertaking. The ferns on the 3 main branches, plus the NL Fern that I just tossed into the middle between them, plus the various Anubias Nanas in there have all formed one major major major net of rhizomes and roots. If you pull on one end the whole hill comes alive with movement, all interconnected.


Frank, Breeder is just the name of the tank shape, like Long for another shape. I am not too much hung up on the idea of using it specifically for this purpose, although it would be nice if the Apisto would show some productivity. I selected this tank shape because it has the greates depth compared to the lenght and height of an standard tanks that do not cost a fortune. Depth is very important for scaping, just think about front- middle- and background. The fact that this tank is a walkaround makes the depth even more important as each side (at least the long ones) is a front. This would have been impossible to do in a 55 with its lousy 12" of depth.

If I had a choice, I would have a tank of 36" long, 24" deep, and 18" heigh. That would be awesome

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I would have a tank of 36" long, 24" deep, and 18" high

I know it's on the dark side, a place where we usually venture not - but that is almost the size of hubby's marine.

It is 36" long, 24" deep, and 24" high - perfect for building nice coral reefs - although we are not as talented as Matty & the others, it still looks quite nice.

Cheers
TW

I should try and take a picture of our reef tanks from work sometime. LxWxH : 48x36x18 I would love to have them take one down so I could set it up as a planted tank! Odds of that happening any time soon?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

You guys are too much, trying to get me to get a bigger tank, aren't you?

Anyway:

Robyn - your husband's tank is too high for me, 24 inches don't lean themselves to pruning maintenance etc. Plus - you need quite some light over that baby.
Wings - that is a whopping 135G, . 36" deep is awesome though, but overall way too large.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Yes, but his corals don't need pruning & the height & depth mean that a nice reef reef could be built on a gentle slope, ensuring good light to all the corals.

Still, I may go 22" in my 3ft planted (not yet ordered - still undecided). Yes, yes, I know - not your favourite height. But that's the height of tetratech's 72G & his tank always looks pretty darn good to me.

Decisions, decisions - I hate them.

Cheers
TW

If I had a choice, I would have a tank of 36" long, 24" deep, and 18" high. That would be awesome

LF, check it out:

http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=2

It's called the 65 wide, 36 X 24 X 17, available in glass or acrylic. It's pictured with euro bracing, but I'm sure you could get it with standard bracing. About $300 will get the acrylic shipped right to your door, the glass would have to be picked up somewhere.

Now I'll be on my merry way...

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Back in the saddle!

Oh NowherMan6,

Now you get me fantasizing about a new tank again

I have seen that site before and looked at several of their tanks, but never could convince myself that going to some pickup place is the right thing to do.

Plus, the tank in the picture is really ugly, with that glass bracing being in the way like mad, .

That is Eurot**** bracing,

I am very concerned about an Acrylic tank though, it is like owning a new car and getting the first scratch in it, just horrible. And I will get scratches, with kids and stuff (the cats died).

Also, I didn't find a stand for this tank on their site, I guess I would have to call Matty down from the mountains to help me with the handy work and built one myself (BTW, an object that is wider than 20" in its narrowest dimension would have to be assembled in the basement, the walkway - and door - would not permit larger stuff).

I noticed that some of their dimensions seem to be off when referring to their supposed volume. Like the one they call 40 Long with 36 x 18 x 13. That doesn't seem right at all as my 40 Breeder is 36 x 18 x 16. And what exactly would make theirs a 40 Long? I find it rather short

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Their volumes are off, for the most part they're approximations (my 65 is technically 63.6) - they mention at the top of the page to go by the dimensions, not the listed volume.

And yes, that eurobracing is god awful But I don't think it's standard, thankfully.

As for the acrylic, it's not as bad as some make it out to be. It's VERY clear for one thing, and whatever kind they use to make their tanks, it's better than the stuff those little 2.5 G bowfronts are made off. I've been tinkering around in my tank with driftwood for a few months now, without a scratch.

Anyway, it's just an idea - the tank of your dreams is out there.

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Back in the saddle!

Anyway, it's just an idea

It is a great idea, NowherMan6

I didn't want to give you the impression that it did not strike me as an option, just have to get my act together first.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi.
Must be the old age... Ever since you started this thread
I've taken the title literally and as the tank progressed
you kept speaking of the fish and their fry. Ah well, at
least that explains (to me) why your "breeder" tank is so
lushly planted.

Isn't that a neat site Glass cages? Such a variety.

I wonder... how does one get that 400G tank off the truck?


You'd have to have a block party, several "6 packs" and
a boat load of pizzas to move that critter, not to mention
a special, extra wide, door.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Frank,

I can clearly see where the confusion is coming from, as you are right, I always talk about the Apisto fry that does not happen

I think I actually would prefer a lush breeding tank as I like what happened in my 125G when my Espei population jumped from 12 to about 100, all in a natural setting. Granted, the number of survivors is probably less, but it appeals more to me.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

My baby kribs were born in a fairly heavily planted tank - although their home now has been thinned & changed quite a bit from that look. Frank - it is the tank with the offensive silver heater - which I must do something about.

Cheers
TW

Weekly Tank Update - Week 43

Well, I feel like a little review of this tank over the last 30 weeks is in place, only to show the growth that happened over that time period.

Here you can see the tank in week 13, still containing the Micro Sword ground cover. Have a closer look at the Bolbitis leaves that you can see coming out on the left. Also, note the tiny 3 bunches of Narrow Leaf Java Fern (which may or may not be the Phillipine type). 2 are clearly visible, the 3rd is more or less hidden all the way on the right behind a branch. All 3 have been tied a little upwards onto the driftwood.

Attached Image:

Week 13

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10 weeks later, in week 23, the ground cover had been mostly replaced with some other plants, mostly Blyxa. You can see the Java Fern has grown a bit, I also added some "true" Narrow Leaf Java Fern from the 125 into the middle of that hill. You can note its really slim appearance.

The Bolbitis is beginning to grow, it took a little for it to settle.

Attached Image:

Week 23

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

By week 33, both ferns, the Java and the Bolbitis, had truly settled and began to grow on a faster pace. No longer can one make out the individual bushels of Narrow Leaf on the branches, it all has become a unit.

And the Bolbits just keeps on growing.

Attached Image:

Week 33

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the tank now from this weekend, week 43.

As you can see, the Bolbits and Java Fern have grown even more in the last 10 weeks, now both reaching the surface. A trim may be needed, but I know it will require some major action to do so.

In general, the week was calm and not much happened to the tank.

Attached Image:

Week 43 - This Weekend

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO HAVE A LOOK AT THE SMALL TANK HISTORY REVIEW ON BOTTOM OF PREVIOUS PAGE

Ok,

On to some detail shots. The first one is also from a few weeks back, from 3/18 to be exact. It shows the Blyxa in the front of the tank after it received more light for one week. You may note the newest leaves turning yellow/red/brownish.

Attached Image:

Blyxa 3/18

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is the same plant now, 3 weeks later. As you can see, it is much more yellow/red/brownish than it was in the last shot.

I am actually not so sure if I like it this way, the individual leaves seem also to be more curled up than they were when being green, almost as if they were wilting.

Attached Image:

Blyxa Now

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And just to show Matty that I am taking good care of his girls, here is the less dominant one looking for food on the side of the tank. She is being chased by the more dominant one whenever that one gets the chance to do so.

Attached Image:

Female I

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

And here is a shot of the dominant one, as you can see she is a little more yellow than the other one. Unfortunately it all is for nothing as the male shows no interest in mating, he chases her away all the time.

Attached Image:

Dominant Female

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I didn't get a shot this time around of the smallest, non-Matty, female. She is actually the yellowest of all, and hangs most often in the male's area (but not too close, or if so then sideways laying flat in a very devot position).

Here is the male, a little out from his usual hang-out spot close to the diffuser. That spot is the one he is defending, his source of drugs

Attached Image:

Male

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Here is a shot of the cleaner crew of the tank, or at least a few representatives of each. The Amanos actually hold their ground against the Otos, when one of the latter comes to close then it almost appears as if they attack them. The end result is that the Otos flee the battle field.

Attached Image:

Otos and Amano

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Last shot for today is a look at the most disturbing place of the tank, the area behind the gap from the front (viewed from the back). Here, some form of very slow spreading algae has spread all over the wood that closes the gap. It looks rather decorative when contained, I could imagine a whole ground cover of this stuff, if it wouldn't spread all over the plants that is.

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Algae Carpet

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Looking good. Love the bobitus. When I look at this tank, it reminds me of two people meeting on the dance floor and one has to eventually lead, if you get my meaning.

Have you ever giving dropped a wafer in the tank and watched the fish chase the shrimp all over the place for it? It's really funny?

Alot of waste probably accumulates in the middle area, just suck stuff out more often.



My Scapes

Yeah, that algae you can see is feeding directly on detritus it's collected. Otherwise I doubt it would persist. I have a little spot like that in my 50.

Glad to see the females are doing well. I would think that even if the males didn't look so fantastic, I'd still want to keep the females. What other fish is that yellow and so often overlooked?

Anyhow, I really like the progression of this tank. but I think it will most definitely need a trim, just to be able to continue growing. It's like that with the HM in my tank. Every two weeks I throw out about a pound or so.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Have you ever giving dropped a wafer in the tank and watched the fish chase the shrimp all over the place for it?

You know, I never added any wafers into this tank. Who would they be for? The Otos? The Amanos?

it reminds me of two people meeting on the dance floor and one has to eventually lead, if you get my meaning.

- Absolutely

What other fish is that yellow and so often overlooked?

Well, when there was no male around, all the females did was squabble with each other and none was yellow at all.



Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Very interesting recap of the tank LF. It all looks so beautiful.

Well, when there was no male around, all the females did was squabble with each other and none was yellow at all.

Yep, in my experience an apisto girl without a male = a dirty brown looking girl. Add a male and that's when you'll see the yellow.

There seem to be a lot of reluctant dwarf cichlid romeos. I have one tank with agassizii male & 3 girls & another has nigerian red pair. In both tanks it seems the girls are keen but the males don't seem interested. What's up with these boys.

Cheers
TW

Hmm...I had a maleless apisto female that was beautifully yellow for quite a while without...too bad I had to take her back to the store when I moved.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Lucky Matty - my females have sometimes even gone brown if the male is there. Yellow showed me she was either in the "mood" or she was guarding. This was with my cac & my bita. You'd swear they were 2 different fish - depending on their mood. My agassizii girls, who I've only had a couple of weeks are always yellow - so it would be interesting to see what happened if the male left the scene (if they'd stay yellow or not).

The Amanos actually hold their ground against the Otos, when one of the latter comes to close then it almost appears as if they attack them. The end result is that the Otos flee the battle field.

That's surprising. My otos held their ground against all my guarding female apistos (cac, bita) and also held their ground against the krib mum too. With the krib mum, it cost them their tails (which have grown back) but they never seemed to care & usually the guarding mum was the one to get frustrated & give up, sick of of her "attack" being basically ignored.

Cheers
TW

With the krib mum, it cost them their tails

I guess mine are a little smarter than

Mine are actually still rather young and not yet fully grown (2/3rd the size of the ones in the 125G).

They have been well groomed by me, flight is better than loosing your tail could be one of my "rules on live"

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Agreed, yours are MUCH smarter. Mine are just plain stubborn and if they didn't want to move, they wouldn't - although you would think 2 otos, 1 mum krib & fry in 20G could find plenty of space without getting in each other's way.

Just plain stubborn.

Cheers
TW

Weekly Tank Update - Week 45

Well, there was no update last week as I went on vacation and did not have time to take a shot of the tank. I took one this weekend though, but I did not perform a water change (as I will do one during the week before our next club meeting - at my place).

The only thing to note is that I am not so certain I like the new Blyxa color and leaf shape, it seems to cause quite a few of them to grow rather smallish leaves and they come loose (the whole plant) much more often.

I cannot find one of the Apisto females (one of Matty's) either, even when looking at the tank with a flash light shining in the caves.

That's it for today, here is the tank,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 45

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Can't imagine how you could lose a fish in there :

I'm sure she'll show up.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

No, seriously Matty,

I think I spent about 30min just searching, and that was right after feeding. Doesn't look good I have to say.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Has she turned up? How long has it been? Could she be guarding? If that's not the reason for her absence at dinner time, I agree, doesn't sound good.

I commonly didn't see my female when guarding, particularly in a heavily planted tank. Hope she turns up.

Cheers
TW

Thanks for asking Robyn,

I believe I have seen her two nights ago, but I cannot be certain. Both of Matty's females look alike and I never see two of them at the same time. So my challenge is to know exactly where one is while I search for the other, and in this heavily planted tank that is not easy as the visible female is always on the move.

What I found last night though, when searching in the underwoods with my flashlight, was a Cherry Shrimp. That was kind of a surprise to me.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

With regards to my last entry and the Shrimp that I found:

It gets even better

Last night I found a baby shrimp, maybe 1/3 of an inch long and reddish. I could not take a picture of it as it was in the root system of an Anubias, a wise position as the shrimp would make an excellent snack for an Apisto.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If you have one, there's bound to be more. Cool, LF!

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Weekly Tank Update - Week 45

I had to do a water change earlier during the week as I hosted the NJAGC meeting yesterday. I used that chance to clean the glass really well, something I haven't done in quite a while and it showed. The result was that people believed my water to be very clear, maybe it always was but I couldn't see it that well through the dirty glass .

I finally had it with the Blyxa, the floating and stunted growth drove me nuts. I removed all remaining stems and now have an almost non-planted surrounding of the hills, something that tetratech suggested all along.

Here is the tank,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 45

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi Ingo,
I started with this thread, and worked my way "upward"
through the rest of yours... I suspect that it is a good
thing that you don't host the club meeting every month!
If so, you would be one tuckered puppy.
The tanks all look beautiful
and yes clean glass does help!

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I had to do a water change earlier during the week as I hosted the NJAGC meeting yesterday

and I didn't get an invite. Imagine introducing me to the NJAGC. "And all the way from Long Island. The Self Proclaimed King of Protist Destruction"

Anyway yeah I think it looks better without the distracting Blyxa. I of course would like to see the mounds firmed up with the rockwork and of course the trimming of the right group, but one could only dream.
Funny thing, I took my Blyxa out of my 72G yesterday. I was tired of it. I think you had a similiar issue as I did in that the Blyxa did not put out a big root system. It just wasn't adding anything to me tank. I'll probably try it again in a different setup at some point.

My Scapes

and I didn't get an invite

You never asked to be invited

I think technically you would have to be a member (but for sure you could have been my personal guest) to attend a meeting.

Yeah, it looks "cleaner" with less plants around the hills, but maybe it will not look that good anymore when I trim the right group (someday).

Frank - You read all the logs? Very much appreciated
I am also glad that I don't host all our meetings, my wife would for sure not like this as I would spend way more time than usual on preparation and maintenance than usual.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I got some pictures to add, some nice and some rather sad I have to say.

Let's start of neutral. Yes the tank still has some HC, but it doesn't do much. It neither grows nor shrinks, it is just there. But the pieces that are there seem settled though.

Attached Image:

HC

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

In addition, and actually what started this photo session tonight, was the discovery of this thing in the Bolbitis. BTW, I see some of you writing it Bolbitus, where does that come from? Tropica uses my version.

Anyway, this is what I saw:

Attached Image:

???

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

In case you can't make out what it is, I got a better shot a little later on.

The RCS must have been born in the tank. It is about 2/3 of an inch long. They must be good hiders, I have to say.

Attached Image:

RCS

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Now it gets a little sadder, if that is a word.

Look at this constellation. Here you have the male Apisto coming in from the back, a female on the right posing, and in the middle the female that I could not find for the longest.

Attached Image:

Warfare I

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Now, the male came forward, and the middle female does try to get out of the way of the other female, probably not looking for the male from the other side.

Attached Image:

Warfare II

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And here we go, the male attacks. Just in the last second was the female able to dash out of the male's way.

BTW, all shots were taken at the dark area on the left short end of the tank, that is why they are rather shabby in quality.

Attached Image:

Warfare III

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Here is the male. He is not friendly to any of the females, the one he tolerates the most is the youngest (not pictured in this series), but even she is not safe.

Attached Image:

Male Apisto

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Here is the female that was first on the right of the Warfare series. She is in pretty good shape and sometimes offers herself to the male, but he is more into chasing her than taking the offer.

Attached Image:

Female I

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And here is the saddest of all, the female from the middle. When I saw her for the first time since she dissapeared on me I was in shock.

She is smaller now than the other female (both from Matty and about the same age), looks rather pale and spotty all over the body, and is just a very sad looking fishy.

I don't know what is wrong with her, maybe she guarded fry seriously and lost a lot of weight and strenght in the process. She is out more often now.

The picture shows her and her reflection in the side panel.

That's it for now,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Female II

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice to see all the females still there. Too bad about all the aggression from the male. It doesn't seem to wear too bad on the females though, they have full bellies, and decent color. It's probably because they are able to disappear in the fern for a while.

I guess I don't have much help on why the male behaves how he does. I would just guess it's an individual thing.

Nice pics

EDIT: Just saw the last post....that one does look a bit skinny. Couldn't tell from the other pics. Maybe she's out and will eat a bit more now. I hope she pulls though alright.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

The RCS must have been born in the tank. It is about 2/3 of an inch long. They must be good hiders, I have to say.

As thick as your tank is with all the ferns, I am not that shocked that you are now finding RCS babies. I know from my tank that they are great hiders. Though, now that I have overpopulation going on with them I can always see some shrimp around. Do you have Amanos in this tank too?

As for the Apistos. It is good to know that they are all still alive. Though, it's too bad that they don't play nice. What types of food are you feeding these guys? It probably wouldn't hurt to try a live or frozen food to beef them up a bit. Your wife probably wouldn't like that though...


EDIT: So LF! Why haven't you been over to see my new pictures?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Yeah, she does look skinny and somewhat out of shape colorwise as well

Frozen food means I have to buy a mini-fridge just for it, as you identified right, Wings

And I will be off looking at your new pictures right now, if I find them.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Nice HC and rcs Ingo, wish I could have the HC in my tank, but I have too low wattage . Pretty little stuff though.

Too bad about the "Apisto Wars". Maybe if you ask them nicely (and bribe them with live food) then they might stop .

Keep it up !


~Morgan~

Thanks Morgan for the input,

Yeah - I don't know what this HC needs, I have a 96W unit right on top of it and it still doesn't take off, although it is in there since maybe around 5 months (if I remember that right). I would assume it cannot be a lack of ferts, I use the dosing and have EC as a substrate.

I pretty much give up on the Apistos and just let them be. I have a female that seems all sad and a male that is CO2 addicted, just the 2 other females seem normal (but I begin to doubt that they are of the same kind, as Matty's females look different - size and detail coloration - than the smaller one that I got with the male).

Oh - Wings - yeah, there are Amanos in the tank as well.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Weekly Tank Update - Week 47

Well, today I had enough of the totally overgrown tank - and albeit I didn't have the time to do a full Ingo-Redo, I at least completely dismanteled the right group, including the removal of all wood on the hill.

I took out all the needle fern that I stuck in there from the 125G (which I thought was narrow fern, but the gang told me otherwise). Then I removed all the narrow fern and placed a smaller batch in the center of the hill, rather than on the woods half way up as they were before.

Here is the tank:

Attached Image:

Week 47

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To me, it feels rather naked now, I guess I will have to give it some time to fill in a little more.

Here is a closer look at the new right side. Some of the Anubias have been removed as well and placed in the 125G.

Also, note the Apisto and Amano in front

Attached Image:

New Group

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Here is a look at the same group from the back, again with an Apisto in the picture.

In general (as you will see in more shots), the wildlife of the tank is more visible for now

Attached Image:

Back New Group

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And here is a shot of the whole tank from the back, again with an Apisto - this time the male.

I assume that sooner or later the right side will need a redo as well, but I will hold off for a while until the tank is more settled again.

Attached Image:

Full Back

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One animal that I thought was gone from this tank was the cherry shrimp group, but recently I found one or two. During the redo I saw at least 4, of different sizes.

Here is a bad shot of the adult one:

Attached Image:

Cherry Shrimp

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Here is a clearer shot of a young one, maybe 1/2 an inch in length.

Most that I have seen are about that size, maybe up to 2/3rd of an inch:

Attached Image:

More Shrimp

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And later on, when doing the full tank shot, I found this one in the Bolbitis.

He is also in the first picture of the full tank, but only visible as a red spot in the top right part of the Bolbitis:

Attached Image:

Shrimp In Plant

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And yes, Amanos are also still in the tank, although I haven't counted 7 (the initial load) in quite a while. Either some died or they hide too well.

Once in a while I can count 5.

Attached Image:

Amano

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On the other hand, I have a much easier time counting the Otos, and as of last Wednesday they have all been accounted for.

This was a surprise as I bought them way too young and as soon as they were in the LFS. I for sure assumed that I will loose one or the other.

Attached Image:

Oto

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And because she was not in the photo series from this week - she prefers to stay out of the way when fighting is going on - here is a look at the younger female Apisto.

Attached Image:

Female Apisto

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LOOK AT THE PICTURES ON PREVIOUS PAGE FOR UPDATES ON TANK LAYOUT AND MORE PHOTOS

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I don't think she is a double-orange, or an orange at all. She has a rather plain yellow black dress, unlike Matty's that have some orange in the fins.

Nevertheless, I like her.

That's it for today,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Female Again

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Nice pics Ingo, and nice storytelling as well

That right side did need some housekeeping, looks good

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Back in the saddle!

Pretty nice shrimp shots. The tank was in need of some trimming. I am sure it will be back to over grown in no time. Right now I kind of feel like this tank is missing something. It doesn't seem tied altogether any more.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

It doesn't seem tied altogether any more.

I agree, and I think it is the fact that the hills have no connection with each other. Maybe the HC will finally start to grow in some more and connect the 2 blocks.

There is also the need for a trim on the left hill though.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I agree, and I think it is the fact that the hills have no connection with each other.

You've created to separate groupings and have two distinct focal groups. You need to push the entire right side more to the center so it's not left vs right and have some more blending with "BOB" dominating. Right now it's a battle.

My Scapes

Who is BOB? I'm confused.

I think it looks like a tank that just got overhauled, so I don't think I can say what could to be done, except to let it grow out a bit. It sure looks a lot brighter in that tank though. I think that the bolbitis and java could easily mesh again to make a cohesive group, bu moving them closer together would help that.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

BOB - must be BO-l-B-itis

Yeah, I could start moving things around, but I am into waiting a little. In particular because the left side will need some trimming as well, given that all new Bolbitis leaves are floating on the surface.

And what is wrong with a battle anyway,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Seems I'm out voted, but I like the less is more look of your tank after the trim. I see more detail of each plant, plus as you point out, we can more easily spot your occupants. But then again, I'm not such an artist at planting as the rest of you.

The plants will grow so quickly, that any filling out that might be needed, will happen all too soon.

Enjoyed all the shrimp & fish shots too. These shrimps are not easy to find here, but I'm thinking of getting some cherry reds, if I can find them. I thought apistos would eat them - but yours seem to do okay together?

Cheers
TW

Robyn,

LOL, you are not outnumbered - you have 4 votes

Anyway:

I thought apistos would eat them - but yours seem to do okay together?

You may not have seen this photo a while back then, right?

Ingo

Attached Image:

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mmmmmmmnumnumnum.

This is why I'm hesitating to put even the adults in my 50. I think they would get munched on by the pearl gourami. Oh well I guess. I still like them in the 5.5.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Matty,

The one in his mouth was an adult and not one of the juveniles. I chased down the Apisto and tried to remove it as I was worried he will choke to death (he was breathing hard). But, after I finally got the Apisto like 30min later, I only could recover the back half of the shrimp as it fell out of his mouth. The rest was on its way to his stomach

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ok,

On to my horror story from this week. While planning to update my first frozen food feeding documentation in the 20G QT log, I had to change my mind as Thursday evening turned into a High Tech Nightmare. But from the beginning:

I decided to go to my fishroom, aka basement, around 7PM to feed the fishies. I haven't seen them all day as I was at work.

So once I come down there, the first thing I see is an Oto on its side on the substrate of the 40G. So naturally, I think he died, once in a while fish die. Upon closer inspection, I notice that he is still breathing, and soon after I see an Amano also on its side kicking its legs. Now this seems odd and I look to see if I find more of this kind. But instead, I cannot find any other fish at all.

After a few seconds, I noticed the diffuser going like mad. I check on the bubble counter below the tank and bubbles are rushing through like crazy, for some reason, the low pressure gauge went from 8psi to 14psi, aka all the way up. I had a new CO2 bottle hooked up on Monday and it was almost empty, Panick!!!

I removed the lights and glass cover, put one light back on and hunted for fish. Overall, I collected 5 of the 6 Otos, and the weakest (not because of this, just in genenral) of all Apisto Females. I could take them out by hand as neither had the strenght to swim away. I placed them in a small net and without adjustment phase placed the net in the 125G, but in a way that the fish cannot swim or fall out.

Once completed, I lowered the water level about 20% and had the spraybar above the water line to create as much oxygination spelling) as possible, furthermore I added a small air pump to the tank. And this is when I had the time to take the first picture:

Attached Image:

Tank In Danger

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In this picture you can see the rescues fishies in the net in the 125G, there was no danger of them jumping out as they barely moved. They stayed in there for maybe an hour.

Attached Image:

Rescued Fish

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Here you can see another shot of the spraybar pumping water into the tank. By that time I had found the other two female Apistos, which where hiding behind the heater at the surface and because I lowered the surface they came into view.

I also found the male, but I had to remove the entire right group to get him out from underneath the wood.

Attached Image:

Spray Bar

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About an hour after I stared the airation the situation seemed to have gotten better, the Amano that was on its side was uptright again, but didn't move otherwise yet.

Attached Image:

Amano

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And another hour later the Apistos were swimming again. Here is the female that is in best shape. Now the other ones were also back in the tank.

Attached Image:

Female Apisto One

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And here is a shot of the youngest female, she actually seemed to have made it through the event the best of the 3 females.

Attached Image:

Apisto Female Two

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Here is a look at the male, once he recovered he sure did not look happy. I don't know what upset him more, the fact that he almost died or the fact that the CO2 was turned off completely now.

Attached Image:

Apisto Male

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And here is the only Oto that I could find in the tank after I added them back in, he was just sitting on the ground. I think they in particular took it pretty hard.

Attached Image:

Oto

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And, for what it is worth, by chance I got the best shot ever of the male Apisto after the situation was back under control. Do you agree?

Attached Image:

Apisto Ingo

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And even better, my buddy Joe from the NJAGC took exactly the picture above and ran it through some photo software. The result shows me that I think I have to learn more about that aspect of photo taking.

Now I will take a short break, feed the fish, and then continue with some shots from the next day.

Attached Image:

Apisto Male Joe

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OK,

On with the story. BTW, feeding now concluded in me seeing all the 6 Otos, so all are still there.

Here is closer look at the strongest female the following day, as if nothing had happened.

Attached Image:

Apisto

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I actually ran the tank without CO2 from Thursday to Saturday afternoon, it seems like it did ok.

Morgan, we just talked about this in your log, the air bubble producing algae. Here is some hair algae on my HC that produced the only air bubble in the tank without CO2 injection:

Attached Image:

Air Bubble

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The Amanos seem to have recovered as well, although I never find them all anyway. I have supposedly 7 but at most I counted 5.

Attached Image:

Amano

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Ha, did you notice the small patch of BBA next to it? One should not assume that my tank is spotless, LOL.

Here is another Amanon, showing why it is so hard to find them. He is in the middle of the Bolbitis Fern bush.

Attached Image:

Amano Again

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PLEASE MAKE SURE TO VIEW THE PREVIOUS PAGE FOR A REVUE OF THE CRISIS I HAD LAST WEEK, WITH LOADS OF PICTURES

Now, we talked of all the fish and critters that were suffering, but there was one that seemed to be thriving. As if it would be the best day of their lives, maybe because of the lack of pretadors, these guys were out and about during the entire event.


Attached Image:

Cherry

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I counted at least one adult and 5 juveniles, most were pretty red, aka girls.

That concludes the horror story, I seem to have made it through ok. Long term effects will show themselves later. On with one more Shrimp shot, and then follows the weekly update.

Attached Image:

Red Baron(ess)

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Weekly Tank Update - Week 48

What a week it was, if you read the previous posts then you know what I mean.

Well, this weekend all was back to normal, the CO2 was hooked up again (and yes, the first action of the male Apisto was to get a good hit).

Here is the tank after the water change and some trimming of the Bolbitis:

Attached Image:

Week 48

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I want to show you the 3 Apisto females in comparison, as you sure will notice some differences between them. And this is not CO2 crisis related.

First off, here is the young female that came with the male.

Attached Image:

Young

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And here in comparison is the strongest female that I got from Matty. As you can see, she has some red in her fin while the young one does not at all. Ergo - she (the young one) is not a double-orange. But she is nice anyway.

Attached Image:

Female Strong

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And now check out the weak one of the adult females. She is another one I got from Matty and not too long ago she looked just like the other one. But then she went into hiding and only recently came back out and is visible more often. This would not be the after-effects of fry care, or would it be that way?

Also, note the much stronger red in the gills.

Attached Image:

Weak Female

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Last but not least, a shot of the HC under the influence of CO2 and a water change.

As you can see, there are many more bubbles on it and this time they don't come from any algae. I actually removed most of the hair algae that was surrounding it. In the background you may be able to notice an Amano.

Puh, that was a long log update (as I also updated the 20, 29, and 125 logs - go check them out), but now I am done,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

HC Bubbler

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That's a drama you could have done without Glad all have recovered, including the otos.

I had this same thing happen to me much earlier last year and I think it seems that as long as you catch it before they die and then start aerating the water, recovery is good. Mine all recovered by taking same action as you.

Lucky you did not pull an all nighter in the office on that particular day/night. Otherwise, by morning it may have all been too late.

Very nice shot of the male, as well as your other fishies too.

Cheers
TW

Sorry to hear about the Co2 mishap. If your in this hobby long enough especially with multiple tanks something will eventually go wrong as you can probably recall the Tetratech Brewery

I was as lucky, many of my fish succumbed to it.



My Scapes

Yeah good thing they all recovered, that would have been horrible if all of your Apistos died (and of course your ottos and shrimp)

About the algea: so it must be true then, that algea can bubble (now if only my plants might follow suit )


~Morgan~

wow, what a story. I've been pretty dang lucky so far, to have my CO2 act properly, especially when I was running DIY for quite a while, no check valves or any of that business. I'm glad to see the fish made it out ok for the most part. The tank looks good btw.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Thanks folks for the input,

I am as glad as I can be that I made it through that event without any further damage, but - at least for the time being - I am paramoid about the regulator going crazy again. I was checking the gauges hourly yesterday,

Matty, any idea about the "weak" female thing (see pictures above)?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Ingo , Hi I've been reading this log and your 125g log . Wow , I'm amazed at your ability to scape tanks . They both look fantastic . My wife tells me I've become addicted .
I've just come back to the hobby after 30 years . I love planted tanks and have a 60g with which I have been relearning and trying to catch up with all the advancements . I came onto this site looking for advice as I'm setting up a 6 ft tank and reading your logs have taught me so much . Thank you for all your efforts in keeping the posts going for so long .
I have a lot of questions that I would like to ask you , however I don't want to hijack your thread so I will try to ask them in context . One that I need to resolve , as I'm in the purchase stage for my new tank , did you guys ever resolve the flow rate discussion you had re canister filters ???
Looking forward to further instalments .
Garry/:'

Well I'd want to get her into a tank of her own, away from the male and other females, if you can. That will definitely help her eat if she's not now. I'd doubt it's parasites or something since you've had her so long now.

Sorry for the late reply....I'm out of town.

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Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Could you put her in the 20 or 29?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

First off, thanks Garry for the nice compliments. Believe me, I sure learned a lot during the last 2 years as a member of FP (where is my second bar as today is 2 years?), but I am still far far away from being an excellent scaper.

Wings and Matty, I haven't been reading my thread in a few days either so I didn't see your suggestion until now. The female Apisto is very elusive and I rarely see her, maybe once every other day. I doub't that I can catch her, with all the hiding places and stuff, without ripping it all apart or waiting until she is too weak to "run away".

Anyway:

Weekly Tank Update - Week 49

Not much has happened during this week, all is the same. I added some plants, or maybe I should say I parked them as they will eventually go somewhere else.

Here is a full tank shot:

Attached Image:

Week 49

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The additions are on the back side of the tank, namely a group of Nana Petites.

Oh did you notice in the last shot the red dot on the front rightish hand of the tank? That would be a cherry shrimp. And maybe you saw the yellowish small plant dead center - that is a Eriocaulon cinereum, but so weak and tiny that it probably will not make it.

Here are 6 Petites:

Attached Image:

6 Petites

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And only one more shot for now, another 4 petites in the back right corner of the tank, all out of focus

In the shot is also the male Apisto and the youngest female.

That's it for now,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Group Shot

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Oh goodie,

Nobody has anything to say about this tank. Well, just let me know if you had enough and I will end the entries.

In the meantime:

Weekly Tank Update - Week 50

Not much happened this week, with the exception that my Amanos were in one spot all over each other for an entire week. I assume it is breeding related.

On another note, I haven't seen the weak Apisto female in at least 5 days, I have to assume she is gone.

Tank is really overgrown in the Bolbitis area right now, but I am too busy () to do a major redo at this time. As a result, fern leaves are starting to grown out of the water.

Attached Image:

Bolbitis

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And here is the full tank, not much to see there. Oh, the Nana Petites from the shots from last week are no longer in the tank, they are now part of the 125G layout.

That's it,

Have fun,

Ingo

Attached Image:

Week 50

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Ingo , fishing for compliments . I don't feel up to making too many comments on your tanks , but I read your logs and updates avidly . Please please don't stop posting to this or your other logs. We would all be that much poorer . By the way I have read all your logs all the way thru and I do not believe the

but I am too busy () to do a major redo at this time

comment . I'm sure you are already thinking of what to do Look forward to some thoughts from you when I start my log in the next week or so .
Garry

Well Garry,

I am actually at a loss when it comes to a redo of this tank at this point, my inspiration was just good enough for the big one.

I will not stop posting (just renewed my premie) when I know that people actually read what I write, this is not some ego-trip that I am on, just simply a matter of time wasted or not.

I am looking forward to your log, if you have read all my logs (this was a major job on your end, thumbs up to you for that ) then you pretty much will know what I have to say:

- loads of plants, right substrate and light, not toooo many fish, know your ferts ... and so forth

Thanks for letting me know that someone is looking,

Ingo

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Out of all your tanks this one may be my favorite .
Mainly because you have some of the same plants I have so I can always look at yours to see what mine should look like. I have a small bolbitis fern also that I just attached to my large piece of driftwood. I was guessing it was a slow grower but after seeing yours I started contimplating that . Anyway my tanks floor is all micro sword, I noticed you had that as your ground cover but took it out, why? Aslo what ferts do you use? I use some from the Seachem line.
Well I really like you log so dont stop it!