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ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (month 5)

Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

I just added another chocolate zebra after I found a bargain when I was off on my hols last week. It has taken me over a week before I spotted it again due to all the plants and wood hardscape!! It is also a fair bit smaller than my other plecs so is probably hiding a bit until it settles. Lovely little fish and have brilliant character.

I have not kept L129 but they are lovely looking little fish.

I would think it would be easier to find an L270 than an L129.

Andy
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

I can understand your hesitation after the trouble you had with Marvin. How much do the L129's retail for? I suppose it depends what you want as I suspect a group of Otto's would do much more cleaning of algae etc and would probably be cheaper than a lot of Plec's. On the other hand an addition of a plec often gives you a fish with bags of character and interest.

I could not own a fish tank without a plec in it anymore it would just not be the same.

Tank is looking cracking by the way :thumbup:

Good luck with the decision.

Andy
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

Yeah, I am on the cusp of getting the L129. They are £24 in Amazon Aquatics/Last Trading Post. He has one about 5cm and a couple nearer 10cm. They grow a bit bigger than that but not much from what I can tell.

Price wise I could get 10 otos for that but, although they are nice, they don't have quite the same wow factor. Mike at Amazon did say the same; that the otos would make a better cleanup crew but I'm not sure that's a deciding factor for me. I don't have much algae anyway. (BTW, I wouldn't get 10. Probably a group of 6 to avoid overstocking).

Thanks! I'm very happy. A few small bumps along the way but overall smooth and am loving having a planted tank. Two month in and it's looking good!

I'll sleep on the decision and unless I can think of, or be told, a good reason to go one way or the other I'll choose in the morning.

Rob
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

According to my book L129 max out at 10 -11cm so the larger ones will be nearly full grown. I like to buy fish a little smaller and bring them on myself.

£24 seems very reasnable. I picked up my choc zebra last week for £20 but I was lucky they are normall arund £30 - £40.

Andy
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

Well, I've done a bit more reading and I think I'm going with Otos now. I'm planning a 120cm tank later in the year and I think I'll hold off til then before I get a plec. Then I will have more scope for choice as well.

L129 is definitely a nice looking plec, so I may end up still getting one, just not yet.

Andy, how is your chocolate plec doing? DO you see him much? I've read that they are on the shy side, even for a plec.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

Hi all,
L129 is definitely a nice looking plec, so I may end up still getting one, just not yet. Andy, how is your chocolate plec doing? DO you see him much?
Click to expand...
I think I have 4 of these (L129), but even by creeping up on the tank at night and shining a torch on it, all I ever see is their fast retreating tails. They are even more light phobic than the L333 that is in the tank with them. He has settled in a cave which I can see into, but all the other visible caves are untenanted. I think they must spend their days sleeping under the wood in "the jungle".

Mike may remember them, as he had another 10 juveniles (from me) from the same hatch.

I did manage to catch one (in its cave) about a year ago and it was a tubby little fellow, but they are about 1/3 the size of the L333 that came with them (stripy Hypancistrus fry are very difficult to ID). They also get a lot browner as they get older, with the lighter stripes thinning right down.

An Ancistrus like A. claro LDA08 would be similarly sized, but a bit more visible during the day. I think all loricariids, even Otocinclus, become more nocturnal as they get older.

cheers Darrel
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

One way to see nocturnal fish is to use a red light as they apparently cannot see that spectrum. TMS sell a flexible strip of red LED's, but there is a multitude available :thumbup:
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

I'd love to have a variety of plecs but that will have to wait til the big tank arrives.
I'd heard of the red light thing as well. In fact I've seen red nets too, which are apparently invisible to fish. No idea how true that is though.

Well, this morning I picked up a group of 6 otos. Settling in now. They seem to shoal nicely but that may be due to them being in a strange environment.

Here's a quick iPhone snap of some:

7255487404_7a5e78683f.jpg

Pretty much fully stocked now but I'm sure there is plenty to do with the scape and planting.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

pariahrob said:
Well, I've done a bit more reading and I think I'm going with Otos now. I'm planning a 120cm tank later in the year and I think I'll hold off til then before I get a plec. Then I will have more scope for choice as well.

L129 is definitely a nice looking plec, so I may end up still getting one, just not yet.

Andy, how is your chocolate plec doing? DO you see him much? I've read that they are on the shy side, even for a plec.
Click to expand...

Well out of the 4 types of plec I have kept my Chocolate zebra is the most bold of them all. She will come out during light on and feed on veg or pellets all the time. The L134's are much more difficult to spot and the blue phantom just cruises around whenever he feels like it. The new chocolate zebra came down to feed last night when the lights were still on. It even had a spat with the blue phantom who is 3-4 times its size and the little one was not going to back down so I was well chuffed. Didn't expect to see it feed for weeks or even months. I feed half an hour before main lights out and watch them come out a bit and once the main lights go off I have 2 crappy little marina submersible spot lights which with the room light means I can see all of them out and about feeding.

An example of my C. Zebra and her not being shy. That wood is only inches from my front glass!!

100_0825.jpg

100_0822.jpg


Sorry for spamming your journal with my pics but this will give you an idea of what the C. Zebra's look like nearly fully grown.

Andy
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

Spam away! You're giving me lots to think about which is good! Great looking fish by the way. Nice to see she isn't too camera shy.
My black widows are mostly still in hiding during the day. Only a couple seem to entire out much. I've just added a couple of floating plants to give a sense of security. I'm not so fond of them for looks but easy to take out for photos.

RR
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

It can take a while for fish to settle so I am sure they will settle soon. Have you decided to add to the group or not?

I think it was a couple of months before the C. Zebra settled and I saw her properly eat etc. She seemed to come out more once I added the Blue Phantom! Since then she has been great. This was my first plec and at the time the most expensive fish I had ever bought. I have since surpassed it in cost but she is still my favourite.

Plec's would definitely look cracking in the new tank you are planning.

Andy
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

I would expect them to join together into one shoal. May take a little while for them to settle and establish a pecking order. I added to my shoal of Congo tetra twice as I didn't want to add them all at once and they all socialise.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

I'll leave it for now and see how they go over the next few weeks I think.

I had a shock today too. A friend's tank burst, so I'm rehoming his cardinal tetras for a couple of days. Hope they don't upset my tank too much. At least there aren't too many of them!

Here's a little video from this evening.

 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

did you stick his filter on your tank too ? thinking about it , i dont know if that would be more trouble than solution to be honest (in terms of when you removed it for example). i hope the extra load with your ottos PLUS extra cardinals does not push your tank over the limit again mate :( You do like living dangerously :rolleyes: LOL Good on you for helping him out though. I reckon a bucket, his tank water and his filter/heater might have been another solution.
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 7) video

Nitrivec will help.... A couple of capfuls would be fine :)
 
Re: ADA 60-P planted tank 'Prairie' (week 8) video

Your otos look nicely busy. And good to see your elusive widows!
Your friend's lucky to have you close; hope all the fish come through ok. Keep up with the water changes (it's my cure for everything!).
 
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