Jeez! What is this fab thread doing in (my) seldom viewed forum, I thought it was JUST pretty fish, lol. I missed all the fun! I adore panda garras & although I've kept white clouds, your sewellia & gobies are on my short list. I love the matten filter idea too! I'll subscribe if I figure out how...
55 River manifold / HMF tank build.
- Thread starter happypoet
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Yeah, I never know which forum to put these broad, yet specialized threads in!
The mattenfilter is great. It is NOT a very good mechanical filter. This is because it slows everything down, as it draws in water across its whole surface evenly. This is actually a good thing for me, as food particles and various organic bits head toward it slowly, with heavier things sinking to the bottom of it. I placed some moss there, and it's a great place for my shyer fish to find things to eat, as well as the young shrimp. I'm hoping it will do the same for fry in the future. It is well-hidden and gives me marvelous biological filtration, while providing a false edge to the tank and letting me hide all the equipment.
More pics from today:
FTS: Sorry about the glare. You can see the addition of the driftwood on the left to cover the powerheads and provide another grazing area. Also, the bamboo stuff on the right it Platy's idea. I'm quite grateful for it! I'll secure it better with some black electrical tape shortly. Finally, I added a fifth light. Sorry about the glare and the mess! It's not exactly a careful shot, aesthetically.
This is my Panda Garra with the gill problem. I think it's genetic, and I think he'll live a full life. We'll see. I'm quite attached to him.
Here is one of the better shots I've taken of my favorite fish. He's Stiphodon atratus, also called "black stiphodon." He gets pitch black when trying to impress a lady, except for his glowing green cheeks, his red fin and tail, and that blue tip you can see here. This is his normal dress.
Two of one of my atros. Thanks, Rachel! They're great!
And one more of my Rhinogobius rubromaculatus. I adore this fish. I'm working on getting more, and I'll put them in a 20 with my duospilus, I think.
Thanks for looking!
The mattenfilter is great. It is NOT a very good mechanical filter. This is because it slows everything down, as it draws in water across its whole surface evenly. This is actually a good thing for me, as food particles and various organic bits head toward it slowly, with heavier things sinking to the bottom of it. I placed some moss there, and it's a great place for my shyer fish to find things to eat, as well as the young shrimp. I'm hoping it will do the same for fry in the future. It is well-hidden and gives me marvelous biological filtration, while providing a false edge to the tank and letting me hide all the equipment.
More pics from today:
FTS: Sorry about the glare. You can see the addition of the driftwood on the left to cover the powerheads and provide another grazing area. Also, the bamboo stuff on the right it Platy's idea. I'm quite grateful for it! I'll secure it better with some black electrical tape shortly. Finally, I added a fifth light. Sorry about the glare and the mess! It's not exactly a careful shot, aesthetically.
This is my Panda Garra with the gill problem. I think it's genetic, and I think he'll live a full life. We'll see. I'm quite attached to him.
Here is one of the better shots I've taken of my favorite fish. He's Stiphodon atratus, also called "black stiphodon." He gets pitch black when trying to impress a lady, except for his glowing green cheeks, his red fin and tail, and that blue tip you can see here. This is his normal dress.
Two of one of my atros. Thanks, Rachel! They're great!
And one more of my Rhinogobius rubromaculatus. I adore this fish. I'm working on getting more, and I'll put them in a 20 with my duospilus, I think.
Thanks for looking!
Awesome stiphodons, I haven't seen the black before! I'm a bit concerned about your garra, mine never exhibited that "head & tail up" posture but it might be the beginning of dropsy, I lost 3 eventually to it couldn't figure out a treatment, better luck to you.
Thanks! I love my stiphs. The atratus is really rare as far as I can tell. I've never seen them for sale. He came in as a contaminant in a group of "rainbow," as did my orange fin.
I don't think the garra has dropsy. His tail is not usually up like that--I think that's just because he's balancing on the rock in this pic.
The head is always up. He has that gill deformity on both sides, and his head is a little smaller than it should be. I think he's simply malformed. I've seen koi with a deformity like that before, so it's not unheard of, I guess. Time will tell!
I don't think the garra has dropsy. His tail is not usually up like that--I think that's just because he's balancing on the rock in this pic.
The head is always up. He has that gill deformity on both sides, and his head is a little smaller than it should be. I think he's simply malformed. I've seen koi with a deformity like that before, so it's not unheard of, I guess. Time will tell!
I found a bunch of white cloud fry in the intake-side of the mattenfilter last night (video coming), and today... someone on the glass! Either Sewellia lineolata or Panda Garra. Probably the former, but we'll see! Eggs are getting through the coarse mattenfilter, but not the fine intake pre-filters. I think I may be on to something here... While uploading I just found another. Sweet. What's great is not just breeding these fish, which isn't particularly difficult, but that this filter-system is acting as an automatic fry magnet and safe-haven.
Loach?
White clouds and brief fts (watch in 480 if you can. It's much easier to see the fry):
[YT]K4RluYti434[/YT]
Loach?
White clouds and brief fts (watch in 480 if you can. It's much easier to see the fry):
[YT]K4RluYti434[/YT]
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I'm super pumped. Things are hopping here lately! I edited the above post to include the vid and some more commentary 
Sadly, I did lose my little deformed panda garra this AM, but I guess I can't be too surprised. I still don't think it was dropsy, but I certainly could be wrong.
Sadly, I did lose my little deformed panda garra this AM, but I guess I can't be too surprised. I still don't think it was dropsy, but I certainly could be wrong.
Aww, I'm sorry. To me it looked like gill curl, but that's not something you usually see on smaller fish - the LFS I go to sometimes has a huge red tailed catfish which has gill curl 
(He is for sale for $150, yeah right...hence the LFS is his permanent home.) It is much more common on large fish that have been deprived of oxygen and space.
(He is for sale for $150, yeah right...hence the LFS is his permanent home.) It is much more common on large fish that have been deprived of oxygen and space.