125 gallon planted project

[Wyomingite]

...What happened to this topic?

Anyway, I'm extra peeved at the albino pleco at this point. Looked at the tank today and not only has he kept digging under the dragon stone and completely ignored the new log ever since I put it in, but over the course of last night he managed to uproot nearly all of my best-growing section of ludwigia despite it not being too terribly close to the digging spot.

Moved the rock around a bit, filled in the hole, replanted the ludwigia farther away and repositioned some of the driftwood nearby so it fits into everything better. Got the pleco to scoot into the log cave just so he knows where it is, except I came back a minute later and he was back on the tilted piece of driftwood where he sits before going back to his digging. Uuuuugggghhh...

I'm this close to just rehoming the thing.

Sorry, we got a little side-tracked. It was all in the name of fun.

It's kind of a pain, but I quite often use cork rounds in my tanks. I cut or rough up the edges a bit so that the cut ends aren't so even and they look more natural.

The pros: they're natural, my badis love to spawn in them (I'm sure other small cave spawners would like them too), mosses, java fern and anubias attach to them well, they come in different sizes and shapes to accommodate all kinds of fish that like shelters, and plecos (including BNs) love them.

The cons: they take forever to become water-logged enough to sink and have to be weighted down, and plecos (including BNs) love them.

Discussing the pros:

1. Most are self-explanatory.
2. Plecos love them. They love to hide in them and enjoy having a source of wood to gnaw away at right in their hideaway. The shape of the round keeps plecos from digging up areas under rocks or around driftwood to build a hideaway they're comfortable in.

To address the cons:

1. Weighing them down can be a major pain. I've created some cool structures out of rocks, cork rounds and drift wood that look like an old mass of roots and rocks along a shore, and I've used rocks to weigh them down from behind where the rocks are hidden behind plants and or driftwood and can't be seen. Finally I've weighed them down with slate by drilling a couple of holes in the bottom of the round front and back, drilling holes in a piece of slate (slate tile is cheap, slate is easy to drill, and easy to cut with a coping saw as long as you keep it wet so it doesn't overheat the bit or blade), and then looping cut-to-length plastic coated twister seals through the round to the slate, tying the two ends underneath the slate. Anyways, getting them to stay sunk is a little work but I love the end results.
2: Plecos love them. They love to hide in them and enjoy having a source of wood to gnaw away at right in their hideaway. That gnawing can wear down the round pretty quickly and before long it's more of a cork sieve than a cork round. That really sucks if you've managed to get good plant growth established on that cork round or if you've used the round as part of a more elaborate decorating scheme.

WYite

 

[Sprinkle]

This is what WYite meant: https://zoomed.com/natural-cork-rounds/

They look and are natural.

—————

Ps. My pleco is no better, he woke me up in the middle of the night because he decided to play with some foil

 

[Snagrio]

No pics at this time but here's what's going on.

I was doing the weekly water change and noticed the salvinia is just, gone. Vanished without a trace. I'm convinced it was the snails, I distinctly remembered seeing chew marks on some leaves and none of the fish could've been responsible so, that really sucks. They thankfully haven't touched anything else though.

While doing the water change I tried to see if any of the Javas and anubias had grown in enough. Only the biggest Java stayed put, I did two more plants and they weren't even close. Attempted to replace the rubber bands with sewing string but my giant clumsy hands just weren't doing a good job at it so I left the rest of the rubber bands alone, next water change I'm going to get some gorilla super glue and take out the decor to glue the plants on one by one because I've grown tired of this.

The vallis are exploding. One has not only reached the surface but has a leaf stretching along the entire width of the tank.
The Amazon sword is still growing frustratingly low and isn't putting any effort into height.
The ludwigias are almost always free-floating no matter how many times I replant them.
The bacopas are staying put but aren't faring all that well thanks to brown algae setting in which has been affecting them more than the rest I feel.
Baby Javas are everywhere.
The anubias look more or less the same, maybe a new leaf or two.
The micro swords are on their last legs, just a few sprigs remaining from each plant.
The crypts are doing okay-ish. They weren't happy about being moved twice but are recovering.

At this point had I known how much of a pain trying a bunch of different plants was going to be, I would've just gotten a large batch of vallis to grow throughout the tank and call it a day. Oy vey...

 

[Snagrio]

Been a while hasn't it. Here's how things are looking now.

As of now, the residents are:
1 Giant danio
1 Eastern rainbowfish
2 Bristlenose plecos (there were two babies but I don't believe they've survived unfortunately)
4 Three-striped dwarf cichlids
8 False blochi corydoras
5 Fairy corydoras
21 Neon tetras
20 Black neon tetras
1 Glowlight tetra
1 Male guppy
5 Mystery snails






Some extra schooling shots.





Two of the fairy corydoras (Atropersonatus).


Some mystery snail pics (they go CRAZY for cucumber).



Closeups of the three-striped apistos (Trifasciata).



Vagrant the stowaway guppy. He's fully developed now and looks unbelievably stunning. This pic doesn't do him nearly enough justice (though the back of his tail sadly has a slight tear).


And finally the orphan glowlight. It's been doing well. Notice the bunches of Javas in the background, those are all just a handful of the children my main plants have been producing at an insane rate. If you look closely you'll see them dotted throughout the aquascape.


As a bonus, new pics of the 17 silver hatchets and 2 prized farlowella catfish in quarantine. The hatchets have been dealing with ich since the second day they've been here but are responding well to heat treatment as the pest is nearly gone.

 

[fishorama]

Well, what nice pics of all you tanks (2?)!! I love your "fairy" corys...but I prefer real species names...work on them Some of us old timers don't speak "common names" well...lol Help us...I thought I knew a few pages ago but maybe not...

 

[Snagrio]

Well, what nice pics of all you tanks (2?)!! I love your "fairy" corys...but I prefer real species names...work on them Some of us old timers don't speak "common names" well...lol Help us...I thought I knew a few pages ago but maybe not...

I did put the Latin name in though...? On their picture and not the stocking list granted but it's there.

 

[fishorama]

Well 6 pages in...you may well have said but I'd appreciate real species names as a reminder...you know us old folks, memories like sieves, lol...

 

[Snagrio]

I tend to mishmash. If it's blatantly obvious everyday species like neon tetras I just about never go all scientific because let's be honest everybody even remotely familiar with aquariums knows what a neon tetra is.

But I do try with more uncommon examples like my cories and apistos, especially since the former are two species that are a little "off the beaten path" when it comes to corydoras in the hobby.

 

[fishorama]

So, what are your corys again? Fairy is not a cory name I recognize...don't make me google, goodness knows what I may find...lol

 

[Snagrio]

So, what are your corys again? Fairy is not a cory name I recognize...don't make me google, goodness knows what I may find...lol

Oi, okay let's go over this one more time...

1 Giant danio (Devario aequipinnatus)
1 Eastern rainbowfish (Melanotaenia splendida splendida)
2 Bristlenose plecos (Ancistrus sp.)
4 Three-striped dwarf cichlids (Apistogramma trifasciata)
8 False blochi corydoras (Corydoras delphax)
5 Fairy corydoras (Corydoras atropersonatus)
21 Neon tetras (Paracheirodon innesi)
20 Black neon tetras (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
1 Glowlight tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus)
1 Male guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
5 Mystery snails (Pomacea bridgesii)

There, I trust that should suffice.