Back to black

[Retired Viking]

I have a small old black cat, she is as light as a feather. likes to watch the fish

 

[Retired Viking]

Tetra eggs are photosensitive and in tanks with lots of light, the eggs don't hatch.

Thanks, I will keep that in mind, I tried to have lots of leafy plants and in the middle of the castle there is a dark area where there is very little light.

 

[AquaBarb]

Different perspective when I came in this evening

View attachment 96882View attachment 96883

Oh in case you're wondering its not a small tank. He's a big lad.

My Parrot keeps doing this now to tell me im paying more attention to the fish than her. She wouldnt go near them at first but keeps trying to get her point across now

 

[Fishmanic]

You need to enter one of your awesome pets in our Pet of the Month Contest...next one starts in Mid March

 

[seangee]

Final water change of the week done.

I did a massive clear out of the frogbit last week but it has already resumed its quest for world domination.
Down the other end of the tank the vallisneria is just starting to mount its own quest for world domination. This surpised me a bit because the water is very soft and acidic. I almost abandoned it a couple of months ago because of its affinity for algae - but the addition of 8 otos to this tank has taken care of that.

I have finally abandoned any hope of amazon sword in this tank. The bristlenose simply will not tolerate it in his space. And for the record he regards the entire tank as his space. Meanwhile the lotus plant (now mostly obscured by the crypts on the left) continues to do absolutely nothing. It is perfectly healthy, with bright red leaves but is not showing any inclination for growth. So I will continue to leave it to its own devices until it chooses to grow or die - or the bristlenose destroys it.

 

[seangee]

And finally it is back to black ... water

Haven't added tannins to the tank since switching substrate. There is a fair bit of wood in here but its very old so not having too much effect on the water colour. Added some today and IMHO the difference is amazing. Not too obvious in the pic taken from my phone without properly setting the white balance, but the difference to my signature pic should be noticeable.

Oh - and the plants have grown a bit since then

 

[AquaBarb]

And finally it is back to black ... water

Haven't added tannins to the tank since switching substrate. There is a fair bit of wood in here but its very old so not having too much effect on the water colour. Added some today and IMHO the difference is amazing. Not too obvious in the pic taken from my phone without properly setting the white balance, but the difference to my signature pic should be noticeable.

View attachment 99278
Oh - and the plants have grown a bit since then

Looking good Sean plants look great

 

[seangee]

Looking good Sean plants look great

Thanks. Bristlenose has just been on a mini rampage so I have some new cuttings to plant, or throw out
Over winter I was stricter than usual about temperature matching so the temp never varied. Now its warmer I let the tank drop by a couple of degrees for todays change and everyone is super frisky. Even the otos are chasing each other around. Poor old BN doesn't have any girls so he's taking it out on the plants.

 

[AquaBarb]

Thanks. Bristlenose has just been on a mini rampage so I have some new cuttings to plant, or throw out
Over winter I was stricter than usual about temperature matching so the temp never varied. Now its warmer I let the tank drop by a couple of degrees for todays change and everyone is super frisky. Even the otos are chasing each other around. Poor old BN doesn't have any girls so he's taking it out on the plants.

Ahhh get him a mate lol

Cant believe how dark your frogbit makes the right side of your tank look. Its like 2 tanks in 1 and almost changes the colour of your substrate. It looks brown on the last picture

 

[seangee]

. It looks brown on the last picture

That's the tannin. I used rooibos leaves. The water looks like its gold and everything looks a lot more mellow.

 

[Retired Viking]

Your frogbit is looking good, I found plenty on Ebay not expensive at all. Have you had any luck having any tetra fry? I moved the rest of my hornwort to my tetra tank today. The glow light tetra fry seem to really like hiding in it. It does not look as nice as your frogbit but I am going to leave it in there for now for the fry.

 

[seangee]

Your frogbit is looking good, I found plenty on Ebay not expensive at all. Have you had any luck having any tetra fry? I moved the rest of my hornwort to my tetra tank today. The glow light tetra fry seem to really like hiding in it. It does not look as nice as your frogbit but I am going to leave it in there for now for the fry.

Not really had much spawning activity while the temp was constant. Main problem with the tetras is the eggs and newborn fry are light sensitive, the cardinals much more so than the glowlights. 30 cories in the tank is, of course, a secondary factor . One benefit of the tannin is that it really does cut the light. Last night when my main light went off and the sunset lights came on I actually struggled to see into the tank and the pencilfish changed colour even though the light was still on. Once this went off I could see almost nothing in the tank even though the room light was still on.

TBH I keep changing my mind about whether to stock up on these or increase the size of the cardinal group when they die off. Currently leaning toward the latter. According to wikipedia glowlights live for 2-4 years if kept in good conditions. The last time I bought a group (of 6!) was in 2015 and I still have 13 - so most of these are much older than 5 years. I have only lost 1 in the last 12 months - I assume to old age. So I am going to let nature take its course. If I get fry that's great and I will have glowlights for many years to come. If I don't then one day I will be able to up the cardinals to 50-60 - I have around 30 now.

Just FWIW in my experience temp changes trigger spawning in most of my fish ... but I have read (source forgotten ) that glowlights are more sensitive than most to sudden or dramatic temperature fluctuations, so I try not to drop this tank by more than 1 or 2 degrees at water change time (that's probably 2-4 of your degrees). In winter I set the controller so the heater comes on when the temp drops by 0.5 degrees, when its not winter I let it go to 2 degrees, so they get natural variation but no sudden changes

 

[seangee]

Guess its almost time to thin them out again

 

[Barry Tetra]

Why some fishes like neon tetra can tolerate black water? I thought there is only mudskipper that can live in black water.

 

[seangee]

Why some fishes like neon tetra can tolerate black water? I thought there is only mudskipper that can live in black water.

Firstly black does not mean dirty. The "black" is tannin in the water and typically occurs in forests where the water passes over tree roots and branches. Very often, as in South America and Asia this water is incredibly clean and pure. This is why many of these fish are intolerant of or sensitive to poor water quality. The tannin has zero affect on water quality, although as the water is so pure it may contribute to making the water more acidic.

Since this usually happens in forests it means the fish are not used to bright light. This is due to a combination of the tannin in the water, floating plants and the tree canopies shading the water. That is why I am happy to let my floating plants grow so thick, as that creates a natural environment for my forest fish. In this tank the right half is completely covered over, and it is really quite dark in there - even with the lights on.