New Beginnings

[P&J]

Then these are pictures of the right hand side with a special shot of the H. corymbosa on request .

Thank you!

Looking good!

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Filling in nicely, shame about some of the Fern leaves.

 

[Biulu]

Filling in nicely, shame about some of the Fern leaves.

I agree with you. I have been looking for better java ferns but have not been able to find it, so for the moment I am stuck with this one. Once I find another one, hopefully with some smaller leaves, I will replace it.

 

[Steve H.]

Looks amazing Biulu! Those greens and colors really pop!

 

[Biulu]

Thanks very much Steve! I am currently in Mexico and have not been on-line for a few days as I was without electricity. Luckily it has been restored now!

 

[lljdma06]

Hi Biulu, nice to see this tank progressing well. I've not been around lately. It looks lovely. Good, lush growth.

L

 

[Biulu]

Hi Biulu, nice to see this tank progressing well. I've not been around lately. It looks lovely. Good, lush growth.

L

Thanks Liz! Sorry, I did not see this; somehow I don't get informed about people posting in my journal...

I am away from my tank, I have been in Mexico for the past 3 weeks. I have been told though that 2 of my angels are making attempts to form a pair! They are liplocking, shivering their bodies in front of eachother, etc. I do hope the male is being accepted by the female as these 2 are the favourites in my group of 4!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Where areeee you!!!!!!

 

[Biulu]

Thanks FF, I am finally back in Montreal. The tank did pretty well during my absence of a month; no fish deaths and only diatom algae on the glass . The water sprite and the corymbosa did disintegrate though so I have an empty spot on the right back.

My susswassertang was too not well attached and gathered in a corner of the tank; I think I put it too thickly on the wood and then most of it didn't get a chance to attach. I also decided to use a hairnet instead of just thread and that almost cost me one of my female bettas . I found her completely stuck in the net and literally had to cut her loose, so now I need to urgently redo the hairnet to avoid more victims. I separated her and put melafix in her tank and luckily she came out unscathed. She'd better; I plan on breeding her with a red and white male!

I was also finally able to remove the rock that held down the driftwood. I kept one piece of rock in as it is being used by my loaches.

Stockingwise a lot has changed. I brought a lot of fish from Mexico, both newly bought and from my own stock. Before I left the stocking was:

4 angels
3 zebra loaches
1 histrionica loach
6 espei/hengeli rasboras

I now have:
4 angels
4 zebra loaches
4 histrionica loaches
8 espeis
3 cherry barbs
3 female bettas

In terms of fish species, this is it. I only want to up the numbers of the cherry barbs and the espeis. And in a not so near future, I will replace the female bettas with some b. albimarginata. A friend of mine has bred them and the juveniles are growing slowly.

The night before I left I had 7 cherry barbs and the following morning, there were only 3 left! I took everything out of the tank, but no, that was it! And no trace of bodies or anything; I have no clue whatsoever what happened .

I will be trying to take pictures tomorrow.

 

[Biulu]

Thanks FF, I am finally back in Montreal. The tank did pretty well during my absence of a month; no fish deaths and only diatom algae on the glass . The water sprite and the corymbosa did disintegrate though so I have an empty spot on the right back.

My susswassertang was too not well attached and gathered in a corner of the tank; I think I put it too thickly on the wood and then most of it didn't get a chance to attach. I also decided to use a hairnet instead of just thread and that almost cost me one of my female bettas . I found her completely stuck in the net and literally had to cut her loose, so now I need to urgently redo the hairnet to avoid more victims. I separated her and put melafix in her tank and luckily she came out unscathed. She'd better; I plan on breeding her with a red and white male!

I was also finally able to remove the rock that held down the driftwood. I kept one piece of rock in as it is being used by my loaches.

Stockingwise a lot has changed. I brought a lot of fish from Mexico, both newly bought and from my own stock. Before I left the stocking was:

4 angels
3 zebra loaches
1 histrionica loach
6 espei/hengeli rasboras

I now have:
4 angels
4 zebra loaches
4 histrionica loaches
8 espeis
3 cherry barbs
3 female bettas

In terms of fish species, this is it. I only want to up the numbers of the cherry barbs and the espeis. And in a not so near future, I will replace the female bettas with some b. albimarginata. A friend of mine has bred them and the juveniles are growing slowly.

The night before I left I had 7 cherry barbs and the following morning, there were only 3 left! I took everything out of the tank, but no, that was it! And no trace of bodies or anything; I have no clue whatsoever what happened .

I will be trying to take pictures tomorrow.

 

[FishFanatic04]

I almost fell for the trick and read both posts. Glad your back! Also glad your betta girl made it through. Did you leave a food block or do they just do well enough on their own?

 

[Biulu]

Sorry about that; internet was slow and it showed that the page couldn't be displayed. I am only noticing now that I post it twice!

I have automatic feeders but didn't put them as it was planned for only 1 week. Then it took me almost a month! The fish were without food for 2 weeks (I had somebody feeding them the rest of the time). It didn't affect this tank but it did affect a 20 gallon long I have with mainly cories in them. I lost all my laser juveniles . I have noticed that when the tank is well planted the resilience of the system is so much higher in any aspect! The cory tank has anubias and java fern but the plant mass is not nearly as high as in this tank.

 

[Biulu]

I went to 2 lfs today to look for plants, but wasn't impressed. I only found ceratopteris that looked healthy enough and fits into my system. I did see a nice afzelia but as far as I know it is an african plant, plus I was looking for background plants, so that one was off the list.

I also saw lots of nice cories but after several died during my last absence I decided to establish some rest in my tanks first. I got hygro for the uptake of extra nutrients. My aim is now to breed the trilineatus I have and the loxozonas and then I can expand.

BUT, the best surprise was: they had gorgeous peacock gobies! I have been looking for this fish for over a year now and these were decently sized and of good quality. I got myself a pair and hope to breed them. They are currently getting used to their new environments, but tomorrow will be photo time.

Promised...

 

[FishFanatic04]

ceratopteris is water sprite right?

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Looking forward to pics, love peacock gobies