It's been over a year since I've shot updated photos of this tank. Not much has changed, but there has been a lot of growth. The java fern tree, which started as 1 leaf with some roots, now fills nearly the whole tank, despite removing the largest leaves regularly. the java fern root mass, is about as big around now as probably a soda can or more, and is really dense. it is soft and flexible... but absolutely dark and solid. The terrestrial growth is amazing, if you compare it to photos from a year ago... and the roots from the island into the water have really filled out, and add a really nice element to the darker area of the tank.
I recently removed all the cherry barbs that had been born in here and their ******* father, who was a terror to the hatchets, and the amano shrimp I had there, which stole everything from the otos. so it's now stocked with
3 marbled hatchets
1 silver hatchet
3 otos
2 nerite snails
a ton of CRS and MTS
The hatchets are my favorite. they're really skittish, and terrified of my hands. They love to hide under plants, and do a lot of jumping at feeding time. I took around 300 photos yesterday, trying to catch a hatchet jumping, but only got the landing... oh well! and when I say they jump, I mean they jump 6-10" straight up, often bouncing off the lid, which is high up. They don't however, restrict themselves to the surface. In fact I find they really like to rest down low, where the ferns create dark slow areas. They can be hard to feed sometimes, since they won't touch it if it's started to sink, even if it's above them. Their favorite is wingless fruit flies and randomly caught bugs... but they readily accept hikari micro pellets and wafers, as long as they float. An interesting thing I've noticed about hatchets, compared to other fish I have... They stop eating when they're full.
I'd like to take the removable island and java fern and throw it in a larger tank, to give the hatchets more territory. I'm planning on adding more otos or some cory (habrosus) soon, and would like to remove all the MTS and shrimp, leaving a more south american stocking in place. I also plan on adding a fair amount of leaf litter soon, since very little light reaches the substrate for new plants.
this tank is now nearly 2 years old... I originally planted it on 07-29-2007
The tank sounds really great!
