Tanks, Glass boxes and Waterbowls

[MattW 136]

90L - New Scape​

Here is the new scape 5 days after setup. I had built this scape based on one I saw on a blog over on aquariumopstarten.nl. That scape used a great combination of wood, dragon stone and many plants in a 3ft tank. With my tank being a 2ft aquarium, it was a bit of a tight squeeze to fit everything into proportion, but I think I achieved a similar look. Of course, my tank currently doesn't feature any wood; that is being sorted out soon with oak branches. The tank was quite cloudy after its first fill, as I didn't pre-rinse the substrate this time. Using a skimmer + filter floss and some API AccuClear made quick work of that. The current filtration on this tank is a mature APS EF-150 canister filter, alongside a sponge filter and a DIY powerhead (for more water movement). I added the 6 Sawbwa and 5 Amanos a day later when the water had cleared up, as I had reused some mature substrate/media, + filters from the old tank. The fish seem more active and happy compared to when they were in the old scape. Making an open swimming area for them has definitely paid off. I've done 3 liquid tests so far and had no irregularities, which is great . I do intend to increase stocking. I currently have the 3 Sawbwa fry in the 12L. I have also decided to buy, when I can, a couple more Sawbwa to add fresh blood into the group, in case of future breeding. I'm still looking for Rosy loaches, but I do have a couple of backup options in the works, in case the Rosy's aren't available. There are a couple more things that I need to change/add to the scape, but overall I'm happy with it and will be even happier when the plants grow in.

Plant list - as of 20/11/25

• Anubias barteri Coffeefolia
• Anubias congensis
• Anubias barteri var. nana
• Cryptocoryne undulatus
• Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
• Cryptocoryne parva
• Cryptocoryne nurii "Rose Maiden"
• Schismatoglottis prietoi
• Süsswassertang
• Limnophila sessiliflora
• Ludwigia repens
• Vallisneria
• Hygrophila corymbosa 53B
• Crinum calamistratum
• Nymphea Tiger Lotus
• Water Lettuce
• Bucephalandra Theia Red
• Bucephalandra Lamandau
• Hornwort
• Hydrocotyle tripartita
• Pogostemon Q. 'Octopus'
• Mermaid weed
• Monte Carlo
• Microsorum Pteropus Windelov
• Rotala H'ra
• Pothos
• Ludwigia Repens 'Rubin'

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

Over two weeks since set up and no problems whatsoever. I've done a couple of water changes and another liquid test, which had no alarming results. Reusing the filter, substrate and plants from the old scape has made this an effortless tank to maintain in its early stages. I have been dosing a lot of API Leafzone recently, which has benefited the plants greatly. I decided to add in a few stems of Limnophila hippuridoides from my 60L to give the tank a bit more colour variation. I do think I could do with adding in another red plant, though. I'm looking at trying Ludwigia Palustris again or Ludwigia Repens 'Rubin'. Repens has done much better in my tanks than Palustris previously. As for the oak branches I was going to add. I'm having second thoughts now. I think the plants and cobbles are just enough. As for the current stocking, they are still flourishing with breeding every day. Also, I didn't realise how fast Amanos could swim . Those pheromones really do have an effect on them.

60L​

This tank is still recovering from the vicious trimming I did a few weeks back. I ended up gravel vaccing the back area when I pulled up the plants, as it was heavily compacted in with mulm and waste. Thankfully, I had no complaints from the neocardina and ricefish as they now have a lot more swim room. The cuttings I planted are now getting new stems appearing, so they will hopefully be back to their jungle look in the next month or two. The next job is sorting out those crypts are the front. I don't really want to mess with them as they are beautiful-looking plants, but they have taken over the foreground and are smothering the bucephalandra that sits behind them. Some may have noticed the slight change to the Fluval U3 filter. I found that the smaller ricefish were struggling with the flow at the front of the tank when I was using the spray bar mode. Switching to the other two modes just resulted in the same issue, so I decided to add a DIY filter baffle made from a sponge filter housing. This directs the outflow to 4 different positions rather than one (see pic). The positions allow for both surface agitation and underwater flow at the same time, meaning there are no stagnant areas of the tank and no areas that are too fast-flowing. Ideally, it could have been better if the housing were black. A simple fix would just be to add a sponge to cover the housing, but I'm not sure how much impact that would have on the flow, as I don't want too slow an outflow. Another thing that has surprised me is the resurgence of red form Neocaridnia shrimp. As the original group was a mix of cull-grade shrimp, I expected a tank of brown colour and clear shrimp. Amazingly, the number of red colour shrimp is increasing each week! Sadly, my 4-year-old nerite snail passed away this week.

12L​

Not many changes to this tank since the last post on it. I'm still keeping up with WC's and regular feeding. The Sawbwa fry are getting close to the size I would be comfortable adding to the 90L. No sexing colours have appeared yet. The only difference between these fry is that one has a larger black spot than the other two. A prominent sign of a female fish. Definite confirmation of the sexes is through colouration, though. The ricefish fry are still way too small to be added to the 60L.

Waterbowl​

Autumn has taken its toll on this pond. As you may see, the majority of the bottom of this pond is covered in leaves. The resident ramshorn population is almost gone, with only a few left. I will definitely be doing a better job with this pond when spring comes around. The majority of aquatic plants are gone or melting away, along with the Arum lily dying back and the Reed mace turning brown.

 

[Back in the fold 9]

Awesome !

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

This tank is doing great so far. I did hit a diatom algae phase, which I think has passed. Mainly coating the glass sides and broader leaf plants, nothing that a toothbrush couldn't handle . I added 3 new Sawbwa on the 8th, and they have been settling in well. A single male and two new females, which takes the total up to 9 now. I ended up adding some Ludwigia Repens 'Rubin' that I got off eBay. Those stems are still settling in but are showing new growth. Now it's just a waiting game to see if they can achieve the red look in this tank. I have discovered a number of dead bladder snails popping up recently. My first thought was that they were older snails, but I found a very small one dead the other day, out of its shell. I'm interested to know what's causing this. Are Amano shrimp capable of this?

60L​

Since the last update, I removed a couple of Crypt nurii "Rose Maiden" from the foreground. It has improved the overall dynamic of the tank as the Daisy's have more room to scavenge at the front and make use of the Bucephrandra as an egg-laying area. I did end up trialling a sponge over the filter baffle, but it ended up as an alage sponge instead, so I'll have to think of something else. The stems and val are still recovering and probably will take longer than I thought to get back to the look I want.

12L​

So the 12L has been put on temporary hold for the moment while the fish have been moved to a 20L bucket for more growing room. The fry are all doing fine and recently enjoyed a buffet of live daphnia, which ended up being eaten in less than 3 days. The colours are slowly coming through on the Sawbwa Fry. I believe I have 1 male and 2 females at the moment. As for the two Daisy fry, they are growing a lot slower than the 30 or so I bred previously. I am wondering if the colder temps are a reason, as the bucket most mornings is sat at 19c and becomes warmer through the day. I do have a makeshift lid to reduce heat loss and a spare heater, which I'm considering adding now.

Waterbowl​

I went outside this morning to check on the waterbowl after some cold temps last night. Ended up finding a 1-2cm thick sheet covering the water. I did crack it open with a rock, as there are a couple of snails still hanging around. It's a good job I removed the pump last week, as this definitely would have damaged it badly.

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

There are now 12 Sawbwa in this tank, as I added the 3 fry I had bred. Turns out I had 2 males and 1 female. So the total is 5 males and 7 females. A good ratio imo. There have been a few additions plant-wise, as well as a DIY CO2 system from Dennerle plants. I ended up adding all my Crypt nurii "Rose Maiden" from the 60L into this tank as their size was becoming an issue. I also added the Bolbitis from that tank and put that above the disused sponge filter that hides in the back left corner. The amano shrimp seem to love that part of the tank now. I also had a move around with some of the other plants. I brought the Anubias coffeefolia & Schismatoglottis prietoi towards the front, so I had more room to plant more Ludwigia stems as the Limnophila sessiliflora had become stunted. I am still on the search for a suitable loach species. I have found a couple of stores on the other side of Manchester do have possible species. It's just finding the time and way to get there at the moment.

60L​

This tank has been a strange one recently. I added the 2 DRF fry from the 12L, and they fitted right in with the others. Neocardina shrimp are still thriving, yet I find the adult ricefish have become less active at the front, with them preferring to remain under cover, only coming out for food. The younger fish are always at the front, along with loads of swimming shrimp. I do wonder if the recent temperature and scape changes have sent them into a bit of shock, as we have had some very cold nights, and I did remove all the adult Crypt nurii at the front. I think the tank does look better without them taking up the front since they swamped the other plants. There are still some smaller Crypt nurii in the tank, but they remain at the side rather than the front. I seem to have hit a crossroads with my Vallisnaria, as some plants are doing well while others are not. I did put in some twisted val to add some more variety at the back, but they have yet to take off. I also added giant duckweed as a measure to combat excess nutrients that BBA has taken advantage of. So far, it has spread very quickly, so there must be quite a fair bit of excess nutrients. I have also bought some liquid carbon that I have been dosing every couple of days. Hopefully, with some more time, everything will even out.

12L​

Since there are no more fry left, I returned from the bucket to the 12L. This tank has become a plant dump/microfauna breeding experiment. I am currently attempting to start a mini culture of Daphnia and Copepods using yeast as their main food source. I did remove the heater as I don't think it's necessary for what I need. So far, I have seen small microfauna starting to pop up when using a flashlight and magnifying glass.

Waterbowl​

The first snow the other week ended up freezing the bowl solid, and hopefully didn't kill the plants . I expect temps to get much worse now, so I'm hoping the plants can make it through the extremes. I'm excited for spring, however. I hope the wildlife will make use of this pond.

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

A lot of things have happened with this tank since the last post, both good and bad. The good is that I now have a loach species in the tank that adds so much activity at the bottom. Vietnamese Giraffe Loach (Annamia normani), and there are 5 of them. I currently don't know how the sexes differ, as they all look very similar, but I've been reading up on them, hoping to find out any differences between the two. I do really enjoy watching them scuffle for the best spot on the pebbles in the bottom left corner, which now has a mini pump creating an ideal flow for these hillstream loaches. Now the bad.. I have had a nightmare scenario with the Sawbwa within the last 2 weeks. 6 fish have died in total, all with similar symptoms of heavy breathing, discolouration and weight loss, along with a couple of other things. At first, I thought the Loaches may have introduced something; however, the timing of the first illness falls around 2 weeks after the loaches were added. IMO, too long a period to have passed for something to go wrong and be caused by the laoches. These loaches were in the LFS in early December when I first saw them. This store medicates their tanks often, so I know the conditions there cannot be a cause. At the moment, I'm dumbfounded by what caused this issue. The tank is currently on an Esha Gdex medication plan. So far, no other fish have shown any symptoms since the last fish died.

60L​

So this tank has been doing very well. Probably because I've been keeping up with my water changes . The introduction of the duckweed has definitely taken a hit at the many algae I have in the tank, so that makes me happy. I did remove the Val and the octopus plant in the end, and added in some Rotala rotundifolia and a few stems of Hygrophila Siamensis. The fish and shrimp are doing really well, especially when food drops into that plant ring. You can see a handful of shrimp on the ring just after I fed some freeze-dried tubiflex.

12L​

So this tank has basically been abandoned. I haven't done a water change in two months, as there is no need. The snails have continued to breed without much input from myself. I did manage to get a large quantity of copepods spawning by just feeding fine yeast, but that population has died back a lot now. The plants have taken over, and that's a look I like!

Waterbowl​

This pond has had nothing done to it since last year, apart from me adding surplus water lettuce from my tanks. The Reed mace has started to show new growth, so I'm happy the winter didn't kill it. The Lily, on the other hand, has shown nothing yet (hopefully it's a late bloomer). The corkscrew rush is doing really well and has grown a lot. Plus, there is some wildlife still using the pond, but I reckon once we hit summer, it should be a hive for insects and birds.

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

Things haven't improved with this tank. In total, I had 18 fish, 13 sawbwa and 5 loaches at the end of January. Now I have 9 fish, 6 sawbwa, and 3 loaches. In the end, I tried 4 different treatments, all of which failed to stop what was killing the fish. I have since given up and am just waiting out this tank to probably inevitably fail. I have increased water changes and even begun gravel vaccing as an attempt against this mystery. Thankfully, it has been a full week since the last death. In the back of my mind, I am considering a move away from my beloved Asian species and trying something new if this tank crashes

60L​

Again, this tank is thriving. Plants are taking off, shrimp are breeding like mad, and the ricefish are constantly begging for food and attention. I did do a big trim a few weeks back and moved some plants around. I also topped up the stems with some Tetra Crypto tablets. The trident java fern does need a trim as well, but I can't bring myself to ruin its work. It has flourished, and the difference in size and growth between now and November last year is insane. The crinum is also showing new growth, which is good as it didn't originally take to its new environment very well. The duckweed has certainly dampened the BBA. There are still some, but it isn't as bad as it was.

12L​

I recently discovered that this tank has become a hive for Hydra. I don't mind this, as this tank holds no animals of importance, and the plants won't be used for anything soon. Essentially, this tank has become a micro ecosystem with the only input from me being water top-ups and adding the occasional Novo prawn pellet for the snails. I'm starting to look at this tank more often, as there is always something to watch. Whether it be a snail, a copepod, a hydra or even a flatworm racing across the glass.

Waterbowl​

I had an unexpected find when cleaning out the pond this week. A common frog has claimed the rock pile and wasn't pleased to see me netting out all of the dead leaves and algae buildup! We have christened it 'Jezza' after Jeremy Fisher. The corkscrew and reed mace are looking great so far, but sadly, no movement from the Lily yet. We have had a couple of cold nights recently, so I have delayed putting the pump back in. There are an increasing number of Mozzies however..

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

Thankfully, no deaths to report since the last update. The issue now is that green fuzz alage has swamped the Vallisneria & stems at the back. I have reduced lighting intensity and even stopped liquid ferts. This has sadly not made an impact. I'm starting to wonder if some of the pond soil has been exposed and is causing a nutrient bomb in the tank.. In other news I have upgraded the filtration on this tank to an Oase Thermo 100, which has an extra 200 L/ph over my old canister filter. Having the thermo model also allowed me to no longer have a heater in the tank, as it's built into the filter.

60L​

As custom now, this tank is doing very well . The plants have certainly made use of the Crypto tablets, especially the Ludwigia, which has grown insanely quick compared to the other stems. I've managed to get a good rhythm going for Water changes and filter cleaning on this tank. Which I do think is part of the reason this tank is doing so well recently. I did have an unexpected death of an older female the other week. I believe the cause was due to feeding, similar to what happened a couple of years back with another DRF. It's kind of hard to avoid this issue with this species, as they are little pigs.

12L​

Same as the last update with this tank. Just lots of microfauna living in a jungle! Seriously though, I do think microfauna are an underappreciated part of our tanks. I managed to watch a hydra capture a baby copepod the other day. What brutal little green things they are.

Waterbowl​

Done a fair bit of work on this recently. We added in some Hebe shrubs to create areas of cover behind the pond, along with some smaller plants at the front. We are currently picking and choosing what gravel we intend to use to fill in gaps. It has to be big enough to stop cats from treating it as cat litter and small enough not to impact wildlife like Jezza. Added in some duckweed as the water lettuce wasn't doing well. It seems to be a 50/50 split with the duckweed at the moment on surviving. The Arum lily was removed as the pot ended up spilling into the bowl, as a magpie thought it was a good place to land on top of.. Thankfully, there was no growth to show for, so it isn't a big miss. I added the pump back last week and have it inside a mesh bag to reduce the intake sponge from getting clogged so easily. I also made a frame from scrapwood and a spare acrylic sheet for the solar panel as extra protection from the weather. So far, no issues have occurred

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

So, a couple of weeks after the last update, I had another fish die. I'd been pondering the idea of starting fresh for a while now, especially after the first wave of deaths. Luckily, I had some time off to do that. When stripping down the tank and pulling up the plants, I saw that the soil was about 1cm below the gravel cap in the back left corner. Originally, this was over an inch when I set this tank up last October. So I think I found the cause of the alage issues and most likely the increased Mycobacterium cases amongst my fish. The new scape is already done with the fish added yesterday. I will make a post on that shortly.

60L​

This tank is going well. Today, I trimmed back all the Ludwigia as the surface had become stagnant with duckweed, leading to little flow and minimal gas exchange from the airstone. I did notice an oddly coloured shrimp the other day (see pic). I do have brown shrimp, but nothing as dark as this one I spotted. It easily camouflages in this tank unless you have a flashlight and good eyesight . I have also started to see rili variants popping up and even orange coloured shrimp. Which is a surprise, as a couple of my original shrimp from 2 years back were orange.

12L​

The only thing to note on this tank is that it's become a filamentous alage factory..

Waterbowl​

This pond has been maturing really well this spring. Both the Reed mace and Corkscrew rush are growing very well. The duckweed however, is a hit-and-miss plant. Some days it's green and lush, the other brown and perishing. Overall, the pond is doing very well.

 

[MattW 136]

90L - New Scape again..​

I've just realised I only posted about the last scape when it was new, in October of last year . This makes me look very impatient to those who haven't seen the issues I faced with the old one. Anyway, here is the new and much improved scape!

With this new scape, there is no planted type substrate and jungle areas to take away swim room! Only hardscape and a half inch of fine gravel for it sit on, as this tank is 95% a hardscape and epiphyte plant mad tank. The hardscape is made up of black lava rock and root wood, mainly for its combined lighter weight & areas for BB to colonise. Some may have also noticed cobbles in the back left corner as well. They were added in for my hillstream loaches. This time, I decided to use the biggest cobbles I had that could fit, so there would be no territorial fights for the best spots in the flow.
As for the hardscape design, I went for a driftwood island style, making use of the root wood's odd shape to fit in both lava rock for stability and create loads of areas for epiphyte plants to inhabit. The wood also made for a great cave in the centre, which the Amano shrimp love to sit in during the day. The island design also allows the Sawbwa to have areas to hide in if they are spooked. Sadly, there are quite skittish after the loss of over half the group in the last few months. Something I will have to make a decision on soon.

The tank has been setup about a week now. I haven't added any liquid ferts yet, as the tank cycle did take a hit. As no old substrate was used from the old scape, the filter being the only mature place that the BB colonises. I also haven't tested the water at all. Laziness on my part, but fish and shrimp behaviour shows me there are no major issues occurring. The odds for something to happen are quite low anyways, as this tank is lightly stocked. Speaking of the stocking its now 5x Sawbwa (1M 4F) 5x Amano Shrimp and 3x Vietnamese Giraffe Loach.

Now here comes the best part..

The plant list as of 26/05/26

• Anubias barteri Coffeefolia
• Anubias congensis
• Anubias barteri var. nana
• Anubias Nana Petite
• Bucephalandra biblis
• Bucephalandra pygmea Bukit Kelam
• Bucephalandra Theia Red
• Bucephalandra Lamandau
• Cryptocoryne undulatus
• Cryptocoryne wendtii brown
• Cryptocoryne parva
• Cryptocoryne nurii "Rose Maiden"
• Ludwigia repens
• Lilaeopsis
• Microsorum Pteropus Windelov
• Microsorum Pteropus Trident
• Proserpinaca Palustris 'Mermaid weed'
• Schismatoglottis prietoi

I have been looking at trying some Hygrophila pinnatifida again. The hardscape will benefit it, I reckon. Overall, I'm happy with what I have created and hope this can be a longer-lasting scape than previous ones

 

[BlaiseinLondon]

It's beautiful!

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

Well, this tank has been a bit of a rollercoaster since setup. First off, Anubias rot.. The first weeks saw rot on mass with all anubias species except the coffeefolia, for some strange reason. I did lose a couple of plants, and many of the established anubias were hit hard. Thankfully, that phase has passed, and now new growth has been spotted. Secondly, it has been a battle to deal with tannins, which was expected but not to the levels it reached. At one point, you could have passed this tank as blackwater, but with 75% frequent water changes, it seems to have cooled down. I may look into adding in Purigen to the canister filter. Finally, the fish. I had a very unexpected surprise in the last couple of weeks as two of my Sawbwa, whom I was certain were females, developed orange heads and fin tips! So either they were late bloomers or the tannins have hormonal qualities and allow fish to change sex . This morning I sadly found a dead loach, which means I now have one left and only 6 fish remaining in the tank. Overall I'm happy with the tank so far, as it's much less of a burden than the last scape and its problems.

60L​

Same old story with this one. Fuana and Flora are flourishing. I did do some trimming to the Trident and a couple of Buce to free up some room at the front. The recent heat wave hit this tank hard, but thankfully the fish and shrimp didn't seem affected. One thing I have noticed is how well the susswassertang is doing on the wood. It seems just below the filter is the best position for this plant, as growth has been rampant.

12L​

This tank finally got some maintenance the other day after the filamentous alage had finally choked the surface, leaving the water stagnant. It actually took a while to clear the majority of it up. In the end, I had a golf ball's worth of alage removed. I did also notice a fish the other day.. It seems the susswassertang that came loose in my 60L had an egg attached and managed to hatch in this tank. I'm just going to leave it and see how it does, as I have no room in the 60L for another daisy. Good luck, lil fish.

Waterbowl​

Well, the summer months have not failed this pond. The Hebe's are full of flowers, the reed mace is the tallest it's ever been, and the corkscrew has gone gigantic and put out flowers. The one downside is that with the sun comes alage which clogs up the pump quicker. So far, this past few months, it has had to be cleaned 5 times.

 

[Boundava]

Wow, those tanks are gorgeous!
Sorry to hear of your issues in the 90L, but it is looking great.
Those plants are loving life in the 60L. I also find that once the susswassertang finds some wood it explodes in growth.

 

[MattW 136]

90L​

Several changes to this tank in recent months. Firstly, the remaining loach died within a day or two of the other. No idea of the cause, and I'm still irritated by their passing. Secondly, the remaining Sawbwa seem to have nothing affecting them for the moment, apart from the smallest suffering from 'fainting goat syndrome' that was self-diagnosed in another thread. Thirdly, I added in some new Anubias Nangi & Barteri nana clumps + red root floaters, as well as my Anubias from the 60L. Also swapped out the beige gravel for JBL Manado. Lastly, I added my newest addition to the hobby, 11 Hyphessobrycon sp.'Muzel'. They are a breath of fresh air in this tank. No scaredy-cats among the group, and they've even improved the mood amongst the Sawbwa, with even schooling behaviour between the two species. I'll be watching the tank for the coming weeks to see if any adjustments need to be made.

* Forgot to mention I changed the filter output to a spray bar to reduce the flow for the new fish.

60L​

Not much of a change to this one. I did wake up one morning to find the majority of the Susswassertang afloat, so that had to be trimmed down and portioned. I do also think it looks better without the Anubias in the centre. The only thing I've been considering is a change to the background plants. I will keep the current plants, but I reckon something taller and perhaps broader-leafed would look much better with the finer-leafed plants in front of it. My search for said plant begins today. The fauna remains to thrive in the tank.

12L​

A big change-up to this one. I ended up adding a small amount of fine gravel in an attempt to make a home for Tubifex worms. To cut a long story short, Bladder snails are vicious little predators. Also, the single DRF has grown up and is now no longer an eyelash of a fish! I decided to remove the vast majority of mid-water plants so the fish has more swimroom. I could do with cleaning the front glass, however.

Waterbowl​

Same as last time. The pump is still getting clogged with algae. The new issue is the heatwave. This pond is losing water fast, and I'm topping up almost every day currently. I am using chlorinated water in a watering can, but I do let it settle for 24 hours before adding.

 

[Jennet 58]

@Matt W - What make of nano cube is it that you have there, and do you know if they still make it please?