6 weeks
Lots going on in the last 2 weeks. I added 10 Crystal Red Bee shrimp, unfortunately one didn’t make it & was hauled out the next day. The rest settled in very quickly.
The floating plants took over the surface & the flow was sweeping them under, they piled up in a corner. I had to throw half them out, less than 2 weeks later & they’d covered most the surface again.
There’s a SSSI near me, The Basingstoke Canal, where I collected some autumn leaves. Oak, beech and alder. All the inhabitants of the tank seem to enjoy them.
I’ve been visiting a few local shops eyeing the stock. Endler Guppies are great little fish, colourful, active and small enough for my 2’ tank. I now have 6 males. Sadly 1 fellas acrobatics (and my preference for brimming the tank) meant he met his demise on the floor one night. The others are always very active and constantly playing in the flow at the front of the tank.
The Amano shrimp make sure to throw loads of soil over the decor sand every time I tidy it up. I upped the temperature from 22 to 24 degrees and there’s a noticeable increase in their activity. I’m considering swapping the light sand for dark and stopping playing their game. A group of 10 black Crystal Bee shrimp have joined the community. The red ones have already gotten quite fat & make the black ones look tiny.
Also added an air pump, running at night oxygenating the water, 1st night it was positioned directly under the dropchecker & it turned blue for the 1st time since installation.
My Pogostemon quadrifolius has grown in really nicely. The Water sprite however has not, it condition looks bad & as much as I don’t want to I think I’ll have to cut it back.
I’ve recently added 6 Celestial Pearl Danios which seem good tank mates for the guppies, size and colour are similar but the danios mostly prefer the low flow area, they circle the foliage, interact with each other and the guppies playfully darting about or swooping here & there.
I’ve noticed some interesting behaviour where one of the Danios sort of vibrates in front of another, usually when they’re hidden away amongst the planting.
The Guppy in the photo below was found in a row of tanks in the LFS with the Siamese fighting fish, very silly but also a real character.
There’s a load of tiny snails that have come from somewhere & I’ve added a pair of red nerite snails.
The CO2 out the aquario diffuser makes the water cloudy with bubbles (as seen in some of these photos) which makes looking at the tank rubbish so I invested in an inline diffuser which is so much better, particularly as I view the tank from the corner where the hose and aquario were. To improve flow I reduced the filter media and added some Purigen.
My other concern is feeding the Otos, there just isn’t enough algae & they don’t explore the tank, missing out on the back which is covered in the stuff. I tried vegges in the tank without success (as far as I can tell nothing touches them) so I’m going to try making up an agar & spirulina feed which I saw on UKAPS hopefully they’ll go for that.