148.6L (39.2 gallon) aquarium journal

[Colin_T]

Yeah. The tank's aquascape is still at its early stages, the males have been trying to please the girls more tonight and many nights after that.

LOL, yep, they do that
No predators, nice clean environment, lots of food, they are happy

 

[elephantnose3334]

LOL, yep, they do that
No predators, nice clean environment, lots of food, they are happy

And a tank all to themselves.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Staying up in the middle of the night to experiment some quiet jazz music being played to the silvertips. The music is calming and keeping an eye on them 'till half past 1 in the morning. And welcome to 2025, what a year that will be...

 

[elephantnose3334]

Dosed the tank today with a small amount of Flourish, following my routine twice a week and then adding trace elements on Monday. Removed some visible hornwort needles and mulm that might be stuck on the filter with my hand and observed the fish's behaviour during that time.

 

[Colin_T]

You can probably get away with adding fertiliser once a week considering there's only a few plants in the tank. Either that or use a 1/2 or 1/4 dose.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Today's photo dump. The eldest trio (the ones with slightly nipped tails over time and originally at the old 10 gallon tall) are close to their original colour displayed when they were at the Petbarn 2 years ago before I brought them. Some fish have blue on their eyelids when facing the front (Photo 3), which makes them look like they have blue eyes. Last photo is the shot of the setup currently. Best photos I took today are Photos 1 and 7. Note that the males look less colourful because of the lighting.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Sometimes, two of the more colourful males swim together away from the group, their movements almost synchronised with precision, flickering their fins and shimmying at each other as if they're in an unspoken dance, a tango. Meanwhile the rest of the group shoal lightly around the driftwood. I haven't got pictures of it, but I have seen it.

 

[Colin_T]

The 2 males swimming together are sparring and showing off to each other saying I'm better than you. A lot of fish do it especially if you have a group and the males are similar sized.

 

[elephantnose3334]

The 2 males swimming together are sparring and showing off to each other saying I'm better than you. A lot of fish do it especially if you have a group and the males are similar sized.

It kind of looks like a synchronised dance, their sparring. It's interesting and their movements are subtle in precision. I've been spending time with the fish more frequently.

 

[Colin_T]

It kind of looks like a synchronised dance, their sparring. It's interesting and their movements are subtle in precision. I've been spending time with the fish more frequently.

Yeah it does. My rainbows would do it all day every day and they would show off for hours. Two males would pull up next to each other and swim up and down the length of the tank flaring their fins, flashing different colours and completely ignoring the females. Every now and then another male might join in and then it was on, all the males would get involved and they would all be showing off and the girls would be going "Hey guys, were over here". But the males didn't care, it was "who is the prettiest out of us boys".

You should record it and save it in a video collection.

 

[elephantnose3334]

I had added another piece of driftwood into the tank. It had been waterlogged for three weeks before it was put in. I will monitor any leaching tannins into the tank, and will do water changes when the tannins are a bit wild.

 

[elephantnose3334]

I saw there were a few red worms on the driftwood. One of the silvertips ate one of them, and the other is still hanging on wriggling around. Is this a good worm or bad worm? Is it natural for driftwood to host these worms?

 

[Colin_T]

The red worm isn't clear enough to ID but it's probably a bloodworm (Chironomid midge larvae). Harmless insect larvae that is sold at pet shops as frozen fish food.

The new piece of wood needs to be moved to a back corner and stood upright. If you move it to the back left corner, then move the other wood to the right a bit so it's more balanced. Right now the new piece is covering the middle of the tank and you can't see the fish as easily. You want plants and ornaments (especially large items) at the back so the fish swim at the front where you can see them. You also need to make sure you gravel clean under driftwood and ornaments to prevent the sand going anaerobic under those items.

 

[elephantnose3334]

The red worm isn't clear enough to ID but it's probably a bloodworm (Chironomid midge larvae). Harmless insect larvae that is sold at pet shops as frozen fish food.

The new piece of wood needs to be moved to a back corner and stood upright. If you move it to the back left corner, then move the other wood to the right a bit so it's more balanced. Right now the new piece is covering the middle of the tank and you can't see the fish as easily. You want plants and ornaments (especially large items) at the back so the fish swim at the front where you can see them. You also need to make sure you gravel clean under driftwood and ornaments to prevent the sand going anaerobic under those items.

The new piece is too tall so I had to lie it on its side, but I will do your suggestion a bit later on.

 

[Colin_T]

Driftwood doesn't have to be completely submerged. I had a few pieces that stuck out of the water by a few inches. One piece had the top 6 inches out if the water. And if you don't want it out of water, you can sue a saw to cut it so it's a little bit shorter.