I love dwarf gouramis in fact its all I have in my tanks. I have 12, 6 in two tanks. They can be a little mean to one another it seems when there are 4 or less. I kept all males for about a year or so and when I decided to try breeding and got females all the males aggression died, they do seem to be more comfortable in the larger groups....*hint-especially with females*. I had the problem of finding females which wasn't possible locally. I ended up ordering mine online, I guess LFS's don't carry the females because they are the dull colored smaller counterparts and "don't sell". I actually like them the regular dwarf females are silver and when fed well have yellow tiger stripes. I also have 2 neon blue and red females, just a duller ALL neon coloring and smaller once again in size. Breeding them is actually very easy and amazing to watch, just like betta's they need shallow (roughly 8 inches) warm water with no flow and they build bubble nests. My 20 gallon planted is my "front room tank" all my beautifully colored neon's are in there with a Betta.
I'm going to set it back up again
- Thread starter THE V
- Start date
We'll I had a few minutes tonight and took a few pictures.
I spread out the val's across the back. They are really loving the tank and spreading well. I'm going to have to find an outlet for some extra plants in a little bit of time.
Starting to do some more pruning as the plants get bigger. I added in 3 more little BN pleco's and bye-bye snail problem and most of the algae.
The sword in the corner has 3 plantlets on the flower stalk now. Hmmm... I might have find someplace to put them.
For some reason that small amazon sword has never done well. I moved it and it seems to be doing better. Still not looking the best.
Popped 6 of these into the tank. These guys are all personality that's for sure. They don't seem to have any fear in my tank.
I wasn't planning on adding SAE's to the tank but I like them too much and the small amount of BBA that always forms on the log is under control with them. They are going to turn into the monsters in the weeds in time compared to the rest of the tank.
I spread out the val's across the back. They are really loving the tank and spreading well. I'm going to have to find an outlet for some extra plants in a little bit of time.
Starting to do some more pruning as the plants get bigger. I added in 3 more little BN pleco's and bye-bye snail problem and most of the algae.
The sword in the corner has 3 plantlets on the flower stalk now. Hmmm... I might have find someplace to put them.
For some reason that small amazon sword has never done well. I moved it and it seems to be doing better. Still not looking the best.
Popped 6 of these into the tank. These guys are all personality that's for sure. They don't seem to have any fear in my tank.
I wasn't planning on adding SAE's to the tank but I like them too much and the small amount of BBA that always forms on the log is under control with them. They are going to turn into the monsters in the weeds in time compared to the rest of the tank.
Your tank looks great. I love the way you have set it up. I can see you have experience doing it in the past. Much better tha I am at the "aquascaping" part of the process. When your plants fill all the way in they will be stunning.
Well I snapped a few shots of the tank again.
Since the last time I've done this I've been to 5 countries and 3 states on business travel. Really had a test of the whole low tech/low maintenance design. All my wife did when I was gone was dump the fertilizer and food into the tank that I left in pill boxes.
Next month I'm out of town for 3 weeks. Going to have to ask my sister-in-law to do a water change while I'm gone.
Sorry about the reflection on the tank. My two year old thought it was funny to play with the lights to make me yell.
The plants on the left have finally started to grow out of whatever was stunting them. I've thought about it and I think I may need to add a powerhead to increase the flow to that area. I think it's just lack of gas exchange. When they get up higher they are taking off.
Center of the tank and the two C. wendtii are loving life up front and center. I've been tossing in extra chelated iron for them and they are really showing the red color well. The E. bleheri are really starting to grow and the lighter green color is really nice contrast.
This one is just next to the previous shot but I got the Iran Rainbow in a rare moment of hovering. The seven I have in the tank are starting to color up very nicely (4 males & 3 females). When they are displaying (morning) the males are bright red.
I had to do a massive pruning of the val's as they were dominating the top of the tank. I used a sharp knife and they don't seem to be melting back from the rough treatment.
Here's a new one to me. The black spots are a little bit of algae growth. At first I thought it was BBA but its not a hair algae. It grows in little black specks are flat against the plants and glass. The pond snails, BN plecos, otos, and SAE don't seem to be touching it. It's not a big problem just a little strange.
Since the last time I've done this I've been to 5 countries and 3 states on business travel. Really had a test of the whole low tech/low maintenance design. All my wife did when I was gone was dump the fertilizer and food into the tank that I left in pill boxes.
Next month I'm out of town for 3 weeks. Going to have to ask my sister-in-law to do a water change while I'm gone.
Sorry about the reflection on the tank. My two year old thought it was funny to play with the lights to make me yell.
The plants on the left have finally started to grow out of whatever was stunting them. I've thought about it and I think I may need to add a powerhead to increase the flow to that area. I think it's just lack of gas exchange. When they get up higher they are taking off.
Center of the tank and the two C. wendtii are loving life up front and center. I've been tossing in extra chelated iron for them and they are really showing the red color well. The E. bleheri are really starting to grow and the lighter green color is really nice contrast.
This one is just next to the previous shot but I got the Iran Rainbow in a rare moment of hovering. The seven I have in the tank are starting to color up very nicely (4 males & 3 females). When they are displaying (morning) the males are bright red.
I had to do a massive pruning of the val's as they were dominating the top of the tank. I used a sharp knife and they don't seem to be melting back from the rough treatment.
Here's a new one to me. The black spots are a little bit of algae growth. At first I thought it was BBA but its not a hair algae. It grows in little black specks are flat against the plants and glass. The pond snails, BN plecos, otos, and SAE don't seem to be touching it. It's not a big problem just a little strange.
Well its been a few months and I've been a little bit busy. I've visited a couple more countries and a handful of states. All I've been doing the basic maintenance and tossing in food and fertilizer.
The swords are getting huge. I've got a few of the offspring in the QT tanks gaining some size.
I had a few losses in July when I traveled for 3 weeks and didn't get a water change for the time. Ended up with a pH drop and some fin rot.
The plants of course have gone feral especially the swords. I've been ripping of leaves like crazy to try to open up some light for the crypts.
I was in the big box DIY store picking up some supplies for the floor to ceiling bookshelves I'm working on building. I saw some LED lights that look interesting. They were $20 a piece so it would cost $200 to do my tank but it's worth watching. I think I need some more light to punch down to the crypts on the bottom. I've got a lot of shade now and the low growing ones are showing it.
The fertilizer mix that I made up is about 1/2 gone. I think I may double up on the KNO3 the next time I make it up. See if I can push the growth to be a little more lush. then again that's something to worry about this fall.
Got a trip to France next week, NY & PA the following & MI &OH the following week. Then Brazil, ID, & FL in October. I may have one more trip in December then I can start looking at fililng up the QT tanks and adding some more stocking. It looks like I'll be mostly home for four months this year.
The swords are getting huge. I've got a few of the offspring in the QT tanks gaining some size.
I had a few losses in July when I traveled for 3 weeks and didn't get a water change for the time. Ended up with a pH drop and some fin rot.
The plants of course have gone feral especially the swords. I've been ripping of leaves like crazy to try to open up some light for the crypts.
I was in the big box DIY store picking up some supplies for the floor to ceiling bookshelves I'm working on building. I saw some LED lights that look interesting. They were $20 a piece so it would cost $200 to do my tank but it's worth watching. I think I need some more light to punch down to the crypts on the bottom. I've got a lot of shade now and the low growing ones are showing it.
The fertilizer mix that I made up is about 1/2 gone. I think I may double up on the KNO3 the next time I make it up. See if I can push the growth to be a little more lush. then again that's something to worry about this fall.
Got a trip to France next week, NY & PA the following & MI &OH the following week. Then Brazil, ID, & FL in October. I may have one more trip in December then I can start looking at fililng up the QT tanks and adding some more stocking. It looks like I'll be mostly home for four months this year.
