58g Planted w/overflow and sump

[myswtsins]

Enabler! lol

I wish I wish, oh how I wish! But yes, I think some puppy fish would be good for them. My mom LOVES the goldfish, she spends most of her time by the pond with them. Unfortunately I think the furniture will win over A fish tank in general and they like the one we have because we put so much into it ourselves so a new tank would hold no sentimental value.

 

[fishorama]

Well, a bit more enabling, lol. Dojos & fancy goldfish, a match made in heaven! Stocked lightly, maybe 4 of each behind Uncle's big sofa? Then your mom could enjoy them year around...I bet she'd love it!! How's your dad on fish choices? You & mom can probably convince him, you know we women can do that, lol! Work on it...Maybe Dad would like a big pleco? There'd be room...

 

[myswtsins]

OMG now a big group of acei and labs are available for super cheap, only exactly what I want to put into the 135g! LOL (crying inside though) Never gonna happen but I will talk to them about the whole kit and kaboodle tomorrow.

Golddust Molly Fry - Look at that giant light one! It looks even bigger from the side but those pics were so blurry from the scratches on the box and hard water line on the aquarium.





And some of the changes to the 58g include removing extra plants. I may have gotten carried away lol. This is only the usteriana, balansae(all) and affinis but I don't plan to remove more than a couple hudoroi and nurii so this is most of what will be removed. Pictures don't do the mass justice though, it fills front to back and almost half side to side.



I got some "free" plants today, paid shipping only. I really should have started tearing the tank apart yesterday though cause I am not gonna get those new plants in tonight. Nothing too exciting just some bronze crypts for this tank. Probably will throw the random stems in here too though.

Also got some oriental swords but I am afraid to add them to this already root crazy tank. Agree? Plus, the only place I could put them is in the corner where the balansae was and there is not enough light there. The affinis that was growing back there was almost completely without bullation and much taller than the stuff in front. Unfortunately I don't have another tank with decent lighting so I just don't know what to do with them.

I was already working on the tank so it is messy but you can see the affinis in the back, almost flat leaves and almost twice as tall.

 

[fishorama]

Sniff! You're making me feel bad about my poor crypts! I do agree the swords probably would not be happy. The fry are cute (for livebearers, )

I thought your parents hated you African cichlid tank before? I've never kept them but I know you loved yours...I bet they won't like it this time either. So is their new furniture in the LR yet? What size tank will really fit? I'm a pragmatist... 6ft or 4ft tank? 3ft? Near the tv?

I still like my idea of goldfish since your mom likes them...4ft tank? 3 & 3 dojos? 3 & a pleco? Of course I hear fancy golds can be almost discus needy...

 

[myswtsins]

They did hate it but they LOVED the colors and the rockwork and the acei were their favorite. If it was only the most docile mbunas I think they would like it and I would be fine with a 6ft tank full of acei (maybe yellow and white tail for variety cause I am not saving ANY babies next time) and labs (maybe yellow and white) with a big group of syno cats and/or 1 big syno cat. I've given this NO thought though!

We are not fans of fancy goldfish, we prefer the (healthier) elongated ones but I would love to see some of my long finned sarassa comets or the shubunkins from the side on a regular basis.

The furniture is not here yet. They are selling his house and want the furnishings till it's sold. Mom says NO fish tank will fit (although she is the one who wants it most) and dads says maybe the 72 will fit. Realistically it is the furniture or a fish tank I think and I think the furniture will win. Especially when you add in the extra weight of the 135 in my old house. I did not get to talk to them today but I may have messaged the guy with the 135g tank asking questions lol.

Pictures of this tank coming in a couple hours!

 

[dougall]

If they like the colors... make them a SW tank...

 

[myswtsins]

If they like the colors... make them a SW tank...

Hush! We do not speak such evil words here! But in all seriousness IF I had a SW tank it would be somewhere I could see it all the time and that is not in my parent's living room, although that IS what they really want.


Couple hours=24 hrs? Yes. It is nowhere near where I intended it to be but I promised pictures.

Out with the old - Removed 50+ crypts including all the balansae, which was down to like 4 plants and the roots were very diminished. Replaced the scraps of wood that were left in front of the usteriana, moved the wood cave behind the nurii.

In with the new - I added some bronze crypts to the back center leaving a an empty spot between it and the overflow box where the light is the lowest. And that was all I planned to add but the other freebies in my plant package were in such bad shape I had to give them the best chance possible and that is in this tank. So in front of the bronze is a few oriental swords and scattered about are 4 kinds of stem plants, but I think only one will survive

The wood - I had it perfect except one piece was too long and needed to be moved. Moving that one piece made the entire (tightly zip-tied together) arrangement of wood just completely fall apart! Over an hr of work gone and I couldn't get it back how it was, couldn't even get it to stand up. SO frustrating! So it is what it is for now. I will adjust it and add anubias and java ferns to the base of it (under the usteriana).

The mess - I still have to fix the affinis from it's ripping apart and the extra plants are everywhere and blah blah.

It's such a mess! And I need to take pics from my seat cause the wood looks a little better from here.


The middle. The stick kinda seperates the bronze and swords, completely unintentional


One of the buces was doing quite well actually, this is the one that flowered twice. Maybe I should put it back!


And these guys are coloring up a tiny bit more every day, still not eating as vigorously as I would like though. Eating fine but I want to power feed them (very unlike me)

 

[myswtsins]

Sorry no pictures today, just did a WC and cleaned the sump so the water is extra cloudy. Sorry for the wall of text, 2 weeks between updates is too long apparently lol.

Ok, so the seller finally got back to me and told me the SR BN are probably about 4.5 months old now. I don't really trust this guy though (he was off about the sizes by 50% too and the color and was very short and rude with the entire transaction) so that means I am probably looking at another 2+ months for them to sexually mature and I can divide out a breeding group. BUT although I do not see any signs of bristles they have started fighting to the point of fin damage and I take that as a sign of maturing, right? As of now only one of them seems to have a strong chance of being female but it might just be a runt too. 4 of them are most likely male (just based on their wide heads, overall size and aggression towards each other) with 1 in question.

So I think I will take a couple out, one for the 58g and one for the 72g (my 8+yr old LFABN passed recently so that tank is in need of a worker). I will also add more caves to the 30g for now. BTW they have been in the QT for 4 weeks but I haven't figured out what I am doing with them yet lol. I will need the QT in a couple weeks too so I gotta figure out my tank arrangements asap! Everything I have come up with requires adding yet another tank though, ugh, MTS at it's worse!

Let's talk about why I need the QT! Stocking this tank has been driving me crazy because I don't want anything that will bother my inverts. The tank has been inverts only for a yr (next week is a year since planting actually) so I think I would be ok without fish forever really. But that means I need more inverts! I'm thinking I want...

-Bamboo or vampire shrimp - I think there is enough flow for them and if not I can toss a small power head in there.
-Mystery snails - I might just get 1 of every color! At first I was like control yourself but there is no need with this size tank and livestock choices.
-Rabbit snails? - This is a maybe. They tend to like their water warmer than intend to keep mine plus they are expensive and hard to find
-African dwarf frog? - Another maybe. Need to do more research but preliminary results suggested they could be a good match.
-Micro crabs? - So small I never saw paying their premium but whatever.

IF I go with fish I would probably choose some male guppies or meteor minnows (which I am getting anyways) just for some color and movement. The mollies are too nippy and they killed 2 females, I had to move the last one out.

Any further suggestions?

 

[fishorama]

I saw "super red" BNs a far but good shop the other day. They look like yours, maybe 1.5", so maybe they just take a long while to color up. Too bad about the sex ratio...but do you really want more than 1 pair?

Inverts...
I really liked my purple & pink mystery snails but I kept them in a rimless 40g long & they'd often climb out & fall to the wood floor. They made a ping pong ball-like thunk noise & I almost always heard it to rescue them. 1 was out almost a day I think, but survived. The egg masses got tiresome after a few.

Filter shrimp look cool!! But I also think they just sit in 1 spot & might get boring after a while.

Rabbit snails, again look cool & are expensive...Does Rachel still sell them? I know less of them than filter shrimp.

Dwarf frogs, meh, I don't see the appeal. & having to hand feed the little buggers...I'd vote no!

Micro crabs...kinda cute...aren't they self cloning & make a ton of the little things...Me & heavy breeders, not so much.

What about the expensive shrimpies (caridinas)? I know I don't have the $$$ for them & they must be a bit difficult since I don't see them much anymore...& then there's your water...Neo blue shrimp are pretty...are your RCS still doing well...finally after the other tank's issue? Are they in this latest version of this tank? I've gotten confused...

Nerites, so many cool looking kinds! I know you have some...how're they doing?

BTW, since we're catching up on all you tanks, what did your parents say re Africans or goldfish in possible 135g? Uncle's furniture etc?

 

[dougall]

If you want to try getting the SRs to color up, try feeding red food.. say red pepper. If you make your own adding paprika will help out.

The fighting will likely mean they need more caves.. I am pretty sure mine have bred before getting significant bristles

IMO Thai crabs should be in a species only small tank... Even then it will be difficult to see them. They don't self-clone and there have not been many records of them being bred in captivity.

If you go with rabbit/tylo snails, be sure to QT well and watch for leeches and/or other parasites... But if you can get them in good condition I believe they are easy to breed and should be easy to sell.

If you want to go with shrimp, yell what you want and I will see what I can find.. I know I can spare some Malawa shrimp if you want something small and can't see. And I know I could likely spare a bunch of red rili shrimp.. I think there are blue dream too but no idea of their number.

Otherwise I will be looking untidy at a picnic at Hand Aquatics next month, and at the international shrimp competition in Chicago in November; so at be able to find a source or 2 for you.