Indian Biotope Journal

[SchizotypalVamp]

w00t! I'm very glad, looking forward to how it turns out. The Darios may go after the gourami-they are related and look similar.

 

[calivivarium1]

I have been wondering about that as well, schizo. I am thinking that I will start off with the Dario dario and Hara jerdoni/hara. When I eventually add the gourami I will watch for aggression and if there appears to be any issues I will put as many of the dario in my paludarium as will comfortably live. The rest I will find homes for locally.

 

[jpappy789]

Interesting tank! Can't wait for more

 

[calivivarium1]

Well, I just ordered my first set of plants. I won't be surprised if I re-arrange things a bit in a month or two, but here is my beginning flora stock list:

Cryptocoryne ciliata, crispatula, lutea, and wendtii green/red.
Limnophila "hippuroides"
Rotala rotundifolia
Vesicularia dubyana

 

[DAVIDFBT]

You could bend the indian biotope and go for southeast asian biotope, which would let you get a school of Kuhli Loaches if you had a 20 Long instead of a 10 gallon tank.

 

[calivivarium1]

So, my plant finally arrived from Aquariumplants.com! Overall, I am satisfied with my order. Some of the plants I received were pretty large, while others were pretty puny. I believe the plants were picked on purpose to "even out" each other. I have everything planted now, but I fear that I may have too much Limnophila and Rotala. I think some of it may die off.

Since I took these pics I did a bit more re-arranging. I"ll have more pics tomorrow...

 

[calivivarium1]

So... I think my tank may have a fatal flaw: Its too hot. I checked on the temperature the other day and it was running at 87f! I immediately shut down the heater but it was still quite hot. It was almost "nightime" anyway so I turned off the lights and left the lid off overnight. In the morning the temperature was still over 80f(room temp was 72) so I immediately suspected my Azoo powerhead(which felt hot to the touch). Now that I have the powerhead off as well my water temp seems quite stable at approximately 79-80f. At this point, I am not too sure whether this is too hot or not for the intended flora/fauna..

 

[DAVIDFBT]

Try turning everything off except the lights and heater, if it is still too hot, turn off the heater. If it is too hot again, consider adding a fan to the hood so it won't heat up as much.

 

[calivivarium1]

I may go with a small fan to keep the temp down on hot days, I have to buy some stuff from the PC shop soon anyway. It appears that the culprit was my Azoo powerhead. With heater/powerhead off the temperature is a stable 79-80F(even with the light on it appears).

In other news, one of my stands of limnophila is melting. I am not sure if this is because of Flourish Excel or my newbie plant skills. The crypts appear to have stopped melting, I hope to see new growth soon.

 

[calivivarium1]

Its still hot in there.. I just realized I have my ballast under the tank(where the tank was designed to house them, oddly enough):idea: Perhaps that would explain my ugly temps and slow temperature decrease.. I will move them tonight before bed and check temps tomorrow. I will also set up my (hopefully) new and improved DIY CO2 tomorrow evening.

Expect some new pics in the coming few days. I have some MTS and a pair of dwarf Gouramis for the time being. I succeeded in killing all of the Limnophila, probably due to the high temps. I added some Wisteria to grow in its place. The various crypts appear to be doing good, and the moss is being fodder for my male gourami(I'm assuming he is using it for his bubble nest)