55 Gallon River Setup

[NoodleCats]

Huh, I would not have guessed freshwater sponge. Of course, I had no idea that might be a possibility.

As for the crabby cichlids, nobody like change, especially territorial fish.

I considered slime mold but it's wrong texture. Probably one of the cooler things to find at least

Freshwater Sponges — In Defense of Plants

www.indefenseofplants.com

Freshwater Sponges (U.S. National Park Service)

Mysterious creatures often mistaken for algae, freshwater sponges are sensitive organisms that only grow in healthy streams.

www.nps.gov

 

[fishorama]

Thanks for the articles. I guess I'd heard of them in a vague way but not in our tanks. Cool stuff!

 

[NoodleCats]

Thanks for the articles. I guess I'd heard of them in a vague way but not in our tanks. Cool stuff!

Not a whole ton of information I can find for aquarium incidents. Supposedly their weird reproductive strategy with their weird spore like capsules can survive a lot, so probably came in on the driftwood I foraged. Though it was bone dry. Pretty interesting.

Shall see if it does well longterm. It's got good flow that it can use to feed, but it's not like it's the most mature aquarium setup.

 

[jake72]

Does age have anything to do with it? Mine are young still.

Male has a looot of yellow in his fins.

Interestingly this shop has imported European fish, as was mine (not this shop) and their fish also have the very yellow fins.

Opal Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma borellii sp. Opal)

Opal Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma sp. Opal)

redfishbluefish.shop

This is where I got mine

Apistogramma sp. opal - $13.00

Apistogramma sp. opal -

angelfins.ca

But on their fb page they said that batch of fish shipment came from Europe, and that's as much as I know.

Age will impact colour and shape of fins a bit; for borelli there is a very wide variance in colouring so that aspect i'm mostly ignoring. There are also a very wide area where a. borelli and a. sp borelli are found and catch location of the original parents will also play a role in the fish colour/size/fins.

 

[fishorama]

Hmm, I agree that some "varieties" of fish are different from (I want to say cultivars but that's more for plants) subspecies, maybe variants? Hybrids in some cases... European makes me think of "Chech bred" fish...They have a reputation for hybrids (some artificial)...Many of our fish can hybridize with close species but to me this is just wrong. Some fish are rare but should be genetically kept "pure" from hybridizing.

I thought it funny they (the sponge folks) thought all algae were "slimy". Not in my tanks or my kinds of algae...almost none by my definition/perception of slimy...

I've only collected "wild" wood a few times. I did meet a future AC member when we were carrying a biggish log back to the car. He said something like "I hope that's going in a fish tank!" So we chatted for a while & met up later so I could give him plants. He's 1 of only a few AC folks I've actually met, lol.

Part of my problem is not being able to ID wood in nature. Most are safe but not all...By the time I removed all the rotting areas from my big bog log I was left with 2 much smaller, possibly fruit (cherry?) sweet smelling wood pieces. But what might yew or other iffy woods look & smell like? I think I chickened out, better safe than sorry. I used to have a tank safe wood site but it seems to be defunct for a while. It only said what woods were fish safe, not how to ID them. But still it was helpful as a starting point.

I'm sorry I've gone all off topic on your thread...again...it's a habit. I pretend we're just talking in real life...

 

[NoodleCats]

Age will impact colour and shape of fins a bit; for borelli there is a very wide variance in colouring so that aspect i'm mostly ignoring. There are also a very wide area where a. borelli and a. sp borelli are found and catch location of the original parents will also play a role in the fish colour/size/fins.

Hmm, I agree that some "varieties" of fish are different from (I want to say cultivars but that's more for plants) subspecies, maybe variants? Hybrids in some cases... European makes me think of "Chech bred" fish...They have a reputation for hybrids (some artificial)...Many of our fish can hybridize with close species but to me this is just wrong. Some fish are rare but should be genetically kept "pure" from hybridizing.

I thought it funny they (the sponge folks) thought all algae were "slimy". Not in my tanks or my kinds of algae...almost none by my definition/perception of slimy...

I've only collected "wild" wood a few times. I did meet a future AC member when we were carrying a biggish log back to the car. He said something like "I hope that's going in a fish tank!" So we chatted for a while & met up later so I could give him plants. He's 1 of only a few AC folks I've actually met, lol.

Part of my problem is not being able to ID wood in nature. Most are safe but not all...By the time I removed all the rotting areas from my big bog log I was left with 2 much smaller, possibly fruit (cherry?) sweet smelling wood pieces. But what might yew or other iffy woods look & smell like? I think I chickened out, better safe than sorry. I used to have a tank safe wood site but it seems to be defunct for a while. It only said what woods were fish safe, not how to ID them. But still it was helpful as a starting point.

I'm sorry I've gone all off topic on your thread...again...it's a habit. I pretend we're just talking in real life...

Well hopefully this clears things up or not regarding the apistos.



And never worry about off topic on my own posts, I never mind! I like the laid back chit chat.

I live on a river, so I have lots of driftwood opportunities, but also many unsafe species *dont* grow on the shorelines here. Majority are elm, they'll even grow in the water as emergent shrubs. These often get uprooted by the current. It makes for great pieces of driftwood.


But I also know trees locally to me, have identification guide books, and then also I like nature. I'm always trying to learn what's around me. I've gotten really familiar with what's safe and what's not for parrots as well since I use natural perches too.

 

[fishorama]

I used to know tree leaves that were safe to add to tanks for fish & shrimp. But just a branch or log in/near a reservoir, it was hard to say. For my birds I would cut off a branch of a tree I could ID. I never wanted to guess with my birds or fish health. It sounds like you're better at ID than I was/am. (& then there's your entire bird flower harvesting, so cool!!).

 

[NoodleCats]

I used to know tree leaves that were safe to add to tanks for fish & shrimp. But just a branch or log in/near a reservoir, it was hard to say. For my birds I would cut off a branch of a tree I could ID. I never wanted to guess with my birds or fish health. It sounds like you're better at ID than I was/am. (& then there's your entire bird flower harvesting, so cool!!).

It's not a whole ton different identifying branches either.

I'll take fallen branches from trees to use, and if they pass the "snap test" they're safe to use. If the branch snaps quick without resistance, it's dried enough that it won't cause ammonia spikes. And it is good to become familiar with what's in your area and not just the leaves.

Here's an elm stump I collected and it's the main piece in my 20g asian tank now.

 

[NoodleCats]

 

[fishorama]

Nice pics as usual!

How much smaller is the yellowish fish? Both top & bottom fins look shorter & rounded. There's only so far males can go to pretend to be female. But "she" should be yellower by now I think...

jake may be right about the differences of the variations. He's very experienced with some of the possibilities...& his "opals" are different...