Llj's 2.5g Planted Tank Journal

[lljdma06]

When are you expecting the shipment?
I hope we get to see pics when you get them.

Well, I met their order deadline, so barring anything being on backorder, by Friday. I'll try and take pictures. This is what I've always wanted for the 2.5g, a species tank for dwarf corydoras, so hopefully I won't be disappointed. It would be nice to get them to breed, I'm starting with a group of 12 (incase there are any losses during shipping). The species seems to enjoy breeding in groups and are kind of like C. pygmaeus in that they shoal in open water and in the middle levels, whereas C. habrosus is more of a bottom-dweller.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

When are you expecting the shipment?
I hope we get to see pics when you get them.

Well, I met their order deadline, so barring anything being on backorder, by Friday. I'll try and take pictures. This is what I've always wanted for the 2.5g, a species tank for dwarf corydoras, so hopefully I won't be disappointed. It would be nice to get them to breed, I'm starting with a group of 12 (incase there are any losses during shipping). The species seems to enjoy breeding in groups and are kind of like C. pygmaeus in that they shoal in open water and in the middle levels, whereas C. habrosus is more of a bottom-dweller.

llj

No email from the website, so probably no fish or plants on Friday. I'm home all day gardening anyways, so if it turns out, I'm getting something, I'll be there to receive it. I took a lousy photo of this tank. Again, a no frills scape. This bulb is old too, about a year and a half, and a desk lamp no less, so the bulb isn't designed for this sort of thing. It is easier to find a good bulb of this type, though, and I think I won't have the problems that I'm having with my 8g. I'd like to upgrade to an 18W fixture over time, which I think will be great, but I'll see first.

It's way too green, but hopefully the C. hastatus will liven things up. They like leaves and stems to rest on, so I catered the scape to their needs. I will probably thin out the Bacopa, especially if the marsilea takes off.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Yeah, no email because I don't go to bed at 11:59pm, which is when the email was sent. So today, I was pleasantly surprised with a shipment from Arizona Aquatics (don't use them, shipping is ludicrous). I received my plants and fish.

I didn't receive C. hastatus, I definitely received C. pygmaeus, which is fine, I like C. pygmaeus better.

Will post pictures later and in Corydoras.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

I've lost a little more than half the order from Arizona Aquatics ( A lesson learned!!!). I tested my water and nothing is wrong with it, no ammonia, pH is within their recommended care, no nitrites, and I don't dose ferts, so the nitrates are actually very low. I don't use hairspray around the tank or perfume and all my other fish, except for the ember tetras (Also from Arizona Aquatics) are fine. I realized something was amiss when after a day or so, the corydoras were not active and stayed near the back of the tank. That's just not normal for this species, they are not reclusive. I started dosing with melafix at 1/2 strength, and I've had no more deaths so far, since I started three days ago. I haven't had disease in my tank since a mild case of ICH in my 20g, and all the infected fish survived. The fish have responded well to the treatment. Will not use that company again.

 

[lljdma06]

Enough complaining about bad stock, it's time for pictures of adorable pygmies!

Time to let the cats out of the bag!

So very tiny! They are between .5-1" in length. They are in a 2g and honestly, I think they would be overwhelmed in anything much larger than a 10g, unless they were in huge numbers.

Which is my better side? This side?

Or this side. Ignore the algae. I'm not cleaning too much on purpose until the round of melafix is over.

Group shot. They are behaving more like little catfish now, foraging for food. The first three days were terrible. I'd wake up, find one or two dead, test the water, do a water change eventhough the water was fine. Very frustrating.

Thank you for looking

llj

 

[aaronnorth]

how big do pygmies get? sorry about the fish, were there any signs of disease?

 

[lljdma06]

how big do pygmies get? sorry about the fish, were there any signs of disease?

No, no sign of disease that I could discern, though the surviving fish have now colored up very nicely and are getting some metallic sheen, which they didn't have before. Because of the effectiveness of the melafix, even at half strength, I'm inclined to think that it was bacterial. Possibly something that they had before they left, and the transit made them weaker.

Pygmies hover at around an inch, give or take. I've seen some fat females get to a little over an inch (nearly an inch and a quarter), and some smallish males only just pass .5", so there's quite a size difference. There are two other "pygmy" species commonly available. C. hastatus is the lightest colored, and slim like C. pygmeaus. C. habrosus is a bit larger and more chunky.

Good news! I learned about this store in Miami and sure enough they had both C. pygmeaus and C. habrosus in stock. I purchased a few more pygmeaus to beef up the numbers and some habrosus to keep them company. I have to monitor the water for a few days while they settle in, and I'll continue to dose with week antibiotics, just incase. Eventually, I may set up another small planted tank and separate the species, as I want to attempt to breed. Both are good species to try; they don't require much grow out space.

 

[saintly]

hi,

a bit of the subject, but what i like about your tank (tanks i looked at your journals ) is that when yopu look at them, you cant work out the size of the aquarium if you know what i mean?

amano is brilliant at it. if been looking at your pics and didnt even realise how small it was. i gues its all about layout etc. nice work.

ignore mi spelin lljdma06, cus i no ur wana thos Professor tipes

 

[lljdma06]

hi,

a bit of the subject, but what i like about your tank (tanks i looked at your journals ) is that when yopu look at them, you cant work out the size of the aquarium if you know what i mean?

amano is brilliant at it. if been looking at your pics and didnt even realise how small it was. i gues its all about layout etc. nice work.

ignore mi spelin lljdma06, cus i no ur wana thos Professor tipes

Thanks for the compliment. Don't worry about the spelling, I'm a professor of music, not of English grammar. There's not much to the layout, I used to be much better, before I started at the University. The tank looks larger because the fish are ludicrously small. I almost always pick much smaller fish in relation to tank size. It allows me to have more fish. Also, after nearly two years trimming and retrimming my Bacopa, the leaves will actually get smaller to cope with the stress. The tank needs a good clean. I have some diatom growth from the last clean and I have to reposition some Bacopa, tidy up the marsilia, and remove some algae from the anubia leaves.

The tank has become a hive of activity since I introduced the C. habrosus. They've kind of brought the C. pygmaeus out of their shells, and all fish seem to be adjusting well, though I will do a water change tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to breeding these guys.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Some pictures of the new C. habrosus. The fish, so far are super healthy and are showing no signs of disease. I am dosing with antibiotics for one more day, and then performing another water change. Then I'll begin conditioning the fish for breeding.

llj

 

[goin_all_out]

nice little cory, how is the whole tank doing?

 

[lljdma06]

nice little cory, how is the whole tank doing?

As of now, very well. Much better than the first batch of cories. This new crop is good stuff, they are hardy and eating well. The habrosus will probably be the first fish bred, so they can serve as clean-up crew for subsequent batches of fry. Supposedly, they are excellent at this.

llj

 

[goin_all_out]

im considering setting up a 5 or so gallon in the near future with just some dwarf cories so this gives me another species to look into.

any shots of the whole tank for an update?

 

[lljdma06]

im considering setting up a 5 or so gallon in the near future with just some dwarf cories so this gives me another species to look into.

any shots of the whole tank for an update?

Yes, these little guys would work well in your setup.

Page 5 had an updated picture, but here it is again. I may tweak things a bit, so I'll post a new picture once that is done.

llj

 

[goin_all_out]

i was also wondering what sort of heater and filter your suing for this set up? i'm doing what i love to do and reasearch every possible setup before i jump at it. probably my favorite thing to do, other then setting it up.