New 10G tank planted and running
- Thread starter oscaremmy
- Start date
Found a nice piece of bogwood/root in Goodwill today for $1.99 - I had been keeping an eye open for something that would naturally lower the pH in the first tank (see previous posting on high pH levels). I am soaking it. I will boil it also...you never know. It looks great, very gnarled but smooth. Will post pics of the tank shortly. Will be doing a water change this evening and will post weekly cycling figures. Just bought the KH test from API also...water here is pretty darn hard. Not sure the corys or tetras will be impressed, not to mention the plants!
Oscar - I don't know what killed the rasbora; the high Ph alone should not have done it, but just wanted to say kudos to you for going all out to give him a chance; I don't know many people who would put themselves out to try and get him an isolation net like that.
Plus, I love this thread - tank has looked fantastic throughout, and very informative on how you are doing it
Plus, I love this thread - tank has looked fantastic throughout, and very informative on how you are doing it
Newest pics of first tank.
Thanks Coler. At least I have the net now for future emergencies!
I am posting some fish pics of the oldest tank tonight. All figures are just great now, with full cycling having been accomplished, I am certain.
Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates somewhere between 10-20 (guess about 15), prior to weekly water change. pH reading 8.0
Today, April 7, added the bogwood (after boiling, 3 water changes and clear soakwater for the past 12 hours). Now waterlogged and therefore stable on the substrate. Corys started immediately swarming all over it. Set it up to provide a cave as the corys like to get underneath cover, it seems to me. It will be interesting to see if the pH falls with this wood in there. Maybe the big weekly water changes will keep it high.
I enjoy the bronze corys in particular - their colors are superb, iridescent under the lights. The peppered corys are really growing fast and I am on the lookout for much larger tanks, but will have to put these in the basement. CL turned up a 75g with solid wood cupboard-type oak stand for under $100, with another ad showing a 55g complete with everything for only $150. Both good deals. I don't want to put 850 pounds of tank/water plus sand and stand weight on our old Victorian floor joists, as I could find the tank disappearing through to the basement anyway! Anyway, here are the pics...
Oscar - I don't know what killed the rasbora; the high Ph alone should not have done it, but just wanted to say kudos to you for going all out to give him a chance; I don't know many people who would put themselves out to try and get him an isolation net like that.
Plus, I love this thread - tank has looked fantastic throughout, and very informative on how you are doing it
Thanks Coler. At least I have the net now for future emergencies!
I am posting some fish pics of the oldest tank tonight. All figures are just great now, with full cycling having been accomplished, I am certain.
Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates somewhere between 10-20 (guess about 15), prior to weekly water change. pH reading 8.0
Today, April 7, added the bogwood (after boiling, 3 water changes and clear soakwater for the past 12 hours). Now waterlogged and therefore stable on the substrate. Corys started immediately swarming all over it. Set it up to provide a cave as the corys like to get underneath cover, it seems to me. It will be interesting to see if the pH falls with this wood in there. Maybe the big weekly water changes will keep it high.
I enjoy the bronze corys in particular - their colors are superb, iridescent under the lights. The peppered corys are really growing fast and I am on the lookout for much larger tanks, but will have to put these in the basement. CL turned up a 75g with solid wood cupboard-type oak stand for under $100, with another ad showing a 55g complete with everything for only $150. Both good deals. I don't want to put 850 pounds of tank/water plus sand and stand weight on our old Victorian floor joists, as I could find the tank disappearing through to the basement anyway! Anyway, here are the pics...
More corydoras photos
More cory pics from 7 April 2008. These guys know how to stay still for photos...what hams!
More cory pics from 7 April 2008. These guys know how to stay still for photos...what hams!
Gourami died
Well, here's my office tanks update, 9 April 2008. Returned to work after a 6 day absence. Had a friend feed the fish 4-1/2 days ago, and believed it would have been enough to see them through, but sadly found the dwarf blue gourami had died and had apparently been dead a while, because there wasn't much left of him. What a sad loss - he was a beautiful fish. I had not wanted to use the auto-feeder, more concerned with polluting the tank with too much food than with feeding too little..just shows you. In future, these fish will get auto-fed and I'll just limit the amount the machine picks up.
Did a water test, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20-40, pH 8.4 in the tank where the fish died. That tank had plainly cycled.
On a happier note, the 3 corys and 4 rasboras had made it in nice condition in the 10g tank. Had been soaking bogwood for a few days here and added that, plus a water change. Am now bringing water from home because the water at the university is so awful. Mix of RO and well water. That, plus the bogwood, should bring the pH down where it will suit the corys and rasboras more.
Since I put the lights timer in with a 10-hour cycle, and feeding less, the algae has almost totally disappeared. I have posted some pics of the tank tonight and also some of the inmates!
I am not sure that I will reuse the 5g. It will make a good quarantine tank. I could put a betta in it, but am reluctant to get any more fish after this loss.
Levels in the 10g tank still indicate it hasn't cycled. This is very heavily planted with ammonia-hungry plants. Lowering the pH could make ammonia spike, so I will keep a close eye on it. Today's readings (including nitrates) all zero, but pH 8.2
RIP little gourami.
Well, here's my office tanks update, 9 April 2008. Returned to work after a 6 day absence. Had a friend feed the fish 4-1/2 days ago, and believed it would have been enough to see them through, but sadly found the dwarf blue gourami had died and had apparently been dead a while, because there wasn't much left of him. What a sad loss - he was a beautiful fish. I had not wanted to use the auto-feeder, more concerned with polluting the tank with too much food than with feeding too little..just shows you. In future, these fish will get auto-fed and I'll just limit the amount the machine picks up.
Did a water test, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20-40, pH 8.4 in the tank where the fish died. That tank had plainly cycled.
On a happier note, the 3 corys and 4 rasboras had made it in nice condition in the 10g tank. Had been soaking bogwood for a few days here and added that, plus a water change. Am now bringing water from home because the water at the university is so awful. Mix of RO and well water. That, plus the bogwood, should bring the pH down where it will suit the corys and rasboras more.
Since I put the lights timer in with a 10-hour cycle, and feeding less, the algae has almost totally disappeared. I have posted some pics of the tank tonight and also some of the inmates!
I am not sure that I will reuse the 5g. It will make a good quarantine tank. I could put a betta in it, but am reluctant to get any more fish after this loss.
Levels in the 10g tank still indicate it hasn't cycled. This is very heavily planted with ammonia-hungry plants. Lowering the pH could make ammonia spike, so I will keep a close eye on it. Today's readings (including nitrates) all zero, but pH 8.2
RIP little gourami.
Sorry abut your gourami.
Thanks rsanz; I wonder why they die so often - wonder if it's that they don't handles stress well? It couldn't have been the water parameters, unless the high pH did it...but he looked 100% fit and healthy when I left the office last time and he'd been in there a couple of weeks without problems. He was already starting to recognize me when I came in and came up for food whenever I approached the tank. Great fish, though and I'd like to keep a proper tank of them one day, when I have more time and space.
Thanks JohnEX,
They are great together - the harlequins are VERY peaceful with the corys, although they chase each other a little, but nothing serious. They have great coloration when the light is on them and they are in good condition - hard to get their colors into a photo - they are beautiful little fish. The panda corys stay quite small, so that's why I have them in the 10g tank. I am in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, with labs around me, so having tanks on my desk is not too strange. Hope you get these species too - they are a real pleasure. The panda corys are more lively than the bronzes I have, but they are all less crazy than my dwarf albino corys...sheesh... those are real hundred-miles-an-hour-fish!:grinyes:
