I set up my 29g back in October, and stocked it with gambusia, my male and female BNs, and a bunch of ghost shrimp. The BNs were around 3 inches at the time, and have grown to sound 4ish inches. They are exhibiting breeding behavior, and the male has staked out several things that he seems to like as his cave - the skull decoration and a couple pieces of mopani. They have not spawned yet - that I know of - but they have displayed for each other and he is actively trying to get her into a cave.
The mopani had naturally lowered the pH of the tank, but I had a problem with nitrates spiking, so did several large water changes in an attempt to bring it down. (The filter was the culprit - it had collected a lot of plant debris in the pump housing.) My tap water has a pretty high pH, around 8, and the large amount of water changes brought the tank pH up, and it has been staying higher - around 7.8. The ghost shrimp vanished, and I have since found it nearly impossible to keep them in the tank, but the rest of the fish seem fine. It was suggested that the BNs being larger now might have increased the bioload to the point the tank can no longer sustain the shrimp.
I have been considering moving the BNs to the 180g I set up in March. I have some concerns about moving them partly because they seem to be courting in the 29 and I don't know how moving them will affect this. They are active and very visible in the 29, and I'm concerned that they might get shy and hide all the time if I do move them. (The gambusia tend to hang out in the wisteria at the top and are pretty skittish, unless it's feeding time.) The 180 has 2 Sengal bichirs, a sunfish, 3 pictus cats, 4 tinfoil barbs, and 3 Dennison's barbs (roseline sharks) - so I'm concerned about them trying to breed in a tank full of predators. The 180 has also been holding at a slightly higher temperature than the 29, and I'm not sure how this will affect them.
I did set up the tank with plenty of driftwood for hiding places because I had included BNs on the stock plan. However, no one seems able to get any in that are larger than 1-1.5 inches, and I'm pretty sure the sunfish and larger bichir can easily eat 1.5 inch BNs.
Anyway, I'm wondering if moving the adult pair to the 180g is in their best interest, or if I should leave them in the 29g.
The mopani had naturally lowered the pH of the tank, but I had a problem with nitrates spiking, so did several large water changes in an attempt to bring it down. (The filter was the culprit - it had collected a lot of plant debris in the pump housing.) My tap water has a pretty high pH, around 8, and the large amount of water changes brought the tank pH up, and it has been staying higher - around 7.8. The ghost shrimp vanished, and I have since found it nearly impossible to keep them in the tank, but the rest of the fish seem fine. It was suggested that the BNs being larger now might have increased the bioload to the point the tank can no longer sustain the shrimp.
I have been considering moving the BNs to the 180g I set up in March. I have some concerns about moving them partly because they seem to be courting in the 29 and I don't know how moving them will affect this. They are active and very visible in the 29, and I'm concerned that they might get shy and hide all the time if I do move them. (The gambusia tend to hang out in the wisteria at the top and are pretty skittish, unless it's feeding time.) The 180 has 2 Sengal bichirs, a sunfish, 3 pictus cats, 4 tinfoil barbs, and 3 Dennison's barbs (roseline sharks) - so I'm concerned about them trying to breed in a tank full of predators. The 180 has also been holding at a slightly higher temperature than the 29, and I'm not sure how this will affect them.
I did set up the tank with plenty of driftwood for hiding places because I had included BNs on the stock plan. However, no one seems able to get any in that are larger than 1-1.5 inches, and I'm pretty sure the sunfish and larger bichir can easily eat 1.5 inch BNs.
Anyway, I'm wondering if moving the adult pair to the 180g is in their best interest, or if I should leave them in the 29g.
