Abilor's Glass Cat Tank

[TDWagner]

I think you need more tall plants to keep the Glass Cats secure. They teally like to be in the shade IME.

Mine also prefer the shade. I used a tip from Raskolnikov to make my tank shadowy. It involves blocking part of the lighting with cardboard.

See this thread:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62285

I don't have any real plants, so this was perfect for me. Since you DO have real plants, you might want to get a second opinion because I would guess that you don't want to block too much light from your plants or they won't grow.

 

[Abilor]

Today's exciting news is the arrival of THE STICK. My fiancee liked it so much, she was dissappointed it's going in the fish tank and not on the coffee table. Seen here, with the always photogenic Bruno LeChat, it will fill the tank nicely without crouding, and has a natural cave that I'm sure the loaches will enjoy, perhaps until I get a shrimp way down the line. That's my 10g in the shot, to get an idea of size. It's a piece of driftwood from tennesse I got on ebay. I had to bid high, since a lot of other folks wanted the cave feature. It was kilned at 250 for a couple hours and pressure washed, supposedly suitable for aquariums. I would boil it, but we don't have a turkey fryer around these parts. Any suggestions on sinking?

THE STICK will spearhead the planned liveplant invasion as soon as the clooudy water goes away and the wee biowheel is cultured, so I can QT everyone while I get in and reorganize the tank. Tall plants, especially grass and cover, is what I'm looking for. I'm plannig on lining the sides with val. spiralis, getting a couple of bushy cryptos, splitting the pennywort plug up a bit, which is covering and growing nicely, as well as getting some water lettuce to fill up even more. Some java moss will go on THE STICK, as well as several of the already existing java ferns. I will post pics, and ask advice about housing glass cats once the aquascaping is done.

Thanks for reading!

If anyone actually misses TCR, I can keep you updated, otherwise I'll just give the big anouncement when nitrates finally start piling up.

 

[cherrypie]

Nice hunk of wood you have there, I'd probably just place it in a bucket of water in some out of the way place for the time being, it should waterlog and sink by itself within a few weeks.

I really enjoyed reading your thread, nice change from the regular Q&A on here.

 

[Abilor]

Thanks for the suggestion from the other side of world! I wouldn't have thought of that, though I have a 5 gallon just sitting next to it that's perfect for soaking.

 

[Abilor]

UPDATES

Well, the stick is soaking now in the 10 gallon tank. Now that I have the 10 gallon tank hanging around, I find it has so many different uses. Anyway, I change it's water once a week, and the tannins are leaching out, but it doesn't seem less buoyant, perhaps a bit. I hope it only takes a month or so to sink it, but after that, I might just buy some slate online (LFS doesn't have proper sort for driftwood.

Chemistry is still s l o w . Still cloudy, but the fish are very happy, and the nitrogen levels are still very much in the green. I am changing 50% once a week again, since the levels are not out of control, and I want it to stabilize a bit. Anyway, one day soon, hopefully the water will clear up.

The exciting news is that I removed the cheesy cave, since the loaches aren't that impressed anymore, and added 5 giant hygrophilas instead, which offer a lot more cover and shade. Everyone loves them. What's really got me stoked though is the addition of a bamboo shrimp. This guy is great, he finds really strange spots to hang out on, and sticks his fans out, every once in a while stuffing food into his stomach. Very fun to watch, like having your own space alien. Right now he's hanging out under a big pennywort leaf.

Cheers!

 

[Abilor]

Major changes have occurred.

My fiancee and I were staring at the tank one morning, and she remarked that I had to pretty much chop up every plant in the tank since they were all covered with brown algae. "my shrimp will eat it", I replied, to which she scoffed. She explained that the algae was a sign that the tissue itself was failing, and the leaf was in the beginning stages of rot. Sure enough, as I pruned vigorously, I noticed the algae leaves were saggy and less turgid than others, and I've had this problem before with plants. I think of them like humans, and finacee botanist keeps reminding me that NOT pruning plants is hurting them, not cutting them wisely. Hopefully they'll grow back denser and livelier than before.

The algae overgrowth got me thinking me though, and I decided to remove my bubble wand since I was pretty sure the oxygen was just feeding the algae at night. BEHOLD! With the wand gone, my water column also cleared, and I finally got my first positive nitrite levels, and three days later, positive nitrates as well. Water is clear as glass. The fish are oogy since the nitrite has showed up, but I test often to check the concentrations, and the nitrate test was 5 ppm today. AT least my tank is finally properly cycling, and when it's done and my driftwood is sunk, it will finally be glass cat time.

The pennywort is vigorous and hardy, and doesn't have to be pruned much. I need the hygrophila to grow back though, and give me some more cover.

I also got three hermit crabs, since I was otherwise going to get a reef nano-cube, but I have to move in a year and I don't want to dismantle it just as soon as I get it going properly. I'll spare the aquarium forums hermit crab talk though.

More pics soon.