Badger's Sumatran Rice Paddy

[itiwhetu]

Hey, look! Rice!
(I changed the name in my signature back to "rice paddy"...ha ha ha)

View attachment 158069

Love this photo, your tank is like mine, it looks better in real life. I'm so happy you have your rice growing, well done.

 

[Colin_T]

How many years did it take to get the rice to grow?

What did you finally do to get it growing?

 

[Boundava]

So glad you finally got it to grow. Looking good

 

[WhistlingBadger]

cool! i'm starting pinto beans in the tank... is that harmful to my fish?

Shouldn't hurt them, and might look really cool if they grow well. Some garden plants have toxic leaves, but I don't think beans are harmful.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

How many years did it take to get the rice to grow?

What did you finally do to get it growing?

Been trying for a little over a year. Some of these are plants I started in buckets and let them get tall before I planted them. Others are from seeds I dropped in the tank. I've dropped a LOT of rice seeds. Most of them don't make it, but a few do, and they've added up over time.

Yay, a rice paddy!

 

[Colin_T]

Collect the seeds from the ones that grew when you dropped their seed into the water. Use them to grow more. After a few generations you will have a variety of rice that can be directly sown into water and sell them to other people wanting to do that. You can also eat the seed or feed it to birds.

 

[Sgooosh]

Collect the seeds from the ones that grew when you dropped their seed into the water. Use them to grow more. After a few generations you will have a variety of rice that can be directly sown into water and sell them to other people wanting to do that. You can also eat the seed or feed it to birds.

cool!


nice, i want to eat the 12 seeds of rice that i farmed lol

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I'll make a fortune in the rice-paddy-biotope market!

 

[itiwhetu]

I'll make a fortune in the rice-paddy-biotope market!

I'm sure there is immense potential. You are likely to become the rice-paddy biotype Guru

 

[Colin_T]

I'm sure there is immense potential. You are likely to become the rice-paddy biotype Guru

Better a rice paddy guru than a cow paddy guru

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I will be the Jeff Bezos of rice paddy aquariums.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I'm re-designing my pump setup for easier maintenance. This is a Walstad-setup, no filter, just tons of plants and a tiny water pump to move the water around. The way I had it before kept clogging up and it was awful to try to fix. New setup should be easier...but it's another example of Redneck Engineering, so we'll see. There's nothing you can't accomplish with enough silicone glue!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I had to rehome one of my Betta imbellis, so I'm down to just one now. The two males I had were brothers, and they got along beautifully for several months, but quite suddenly one turned against the other and began chasing him relentlessly. It makes me sad; I really liked having both of them in there, but it's for the best. These fish are certainly more peaceful (and much prettier, IMO) than splendens, but I think a 36" x 9" tank just isn't big enough for a group of them. When I had a male and female, the male hounded the female so badly that she died before I could find her a new home, and when I had three males, the two younger ones ganged up on their father.

Everybody else is doing great. Plants look fantastic. The paddy herb and water fern are not as lush as they once were, but the christmas moss is more than making up for it. I still have all five of my original Pangio cuneovirgata, happy and healthy. They are really, really cool fish, adding a bit of mystery to the setup. Lots of happy amano shrimp scuttling about, and the trumpet and assassin snails are starting to achieve a nice balance.

The eight dwarf rasbora (Boraras maculatus) are doing great, but they've never really colored up that much. I prefer the look of chili rasboras, but those don't fit my biotope. Maculatus are sort of a filler fish, I'd say: They give some movement to the tank, but they aren't very colorful and, other than their tiny size, they aren't really that interesting.

Next time I order fish, I'm planning to add a big school of emerald eye rasboras (Brevibora dorsiocellata). I think they'll add a little extra color, and their behaviors sound really interesting. Thinking about trying blue rasboras (Sundidanio goblinis), as they were one of the original reasons I started this tank. But they're wild caught, and they come from an endangered ecosystem, so it's hard for me to justify buying them unless I'm certain I can establish a breeding colony. And I am far from certain of that.

I made a new top out of pieces of glass, to reduce evaporation but allow the rice to grow through. The new water circulation system is working perfectly. So, overall, all is well!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Quick video.

 

[Back in the fold]

You're gonna need one of those pointy coolie hats too.