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Dario Ditch: rescaped

akwarium

Member
Joined
20 Feb 2010
Messages
219
Location
Haskerhorne, Netherlands
After a few years without an aquarium, I decided it would be nice to restart the hobby with a small tank. I still had a 50 cm tank, some filters and other materials collecting dust so it put that thought in to action. Since I'm much more a fishkeeper then an aquascaper, I chose for a biotope...

The tank:
50 x 25 x 30 cm, 5mm glass, clear silicone.
Lighting:
5x 3watt 6500K LED
Filter:
Eheim classic 2213, 440 l/h

Plants:
Limnophila sessiliflora
Najas sp, (maybe Najas graminea)
Nymphaea nouchali (syn. Nymphaea stellata)
Rotala rotundifolia

Fish:
Dario sp. Myanmar.

Hardscape and other materials:
Driftwood, dried leafs and some small pebbles.
Substrate: sand mixed with keto (a loamy clay-like black soil used in bonsai)
IMG_1016.JPG
 
My first idea was to set this tank up for licorice gouramis, I have kept and bred half a dozen species before and they are my all time favorite fish. Small, colorful and very interesting behavior: the males dancing trough the tank trying to impress a female is just magnificent. Sadly my supplier could not get hold on any of the species I asked him for, but said he would get in some rare Dario species. including Dario sp Myanmar. I immediately ordered 5 of them.


Two males of Dario sp Myanmar are included in the description of Dario hysginon, however most people expect it to be a different species after all. They are from Kachin state in North Myanmar, in an area around the city Myitkyina. According to the description they were collected in a small stream and a ditch. Which sound like typical Dario habitats:
Slow flowing or stagnant, clear or turbid waters, usually between dense marginal grass-like vegetation, submerged aquatic plants and waterlily's. the substrate is usually sandy or muddy, the water soft and with a pH around neutral.

For the substrate I went for sand and mixed in some keto, I used it before to create a muddy look and I like it.
I ordered Najas indica and Nymphaea nouchali, However the Najas that I received does not look like the indica.... after seriously considering dying it now starts to grow.
I mixed in some Limnophila sessiliflora and rotala rotundifolia, just because they are easy to grow and I figured that might help prevent algae..
Planting is definitely work in progress... any suggestions are welcome.

I also want to change the filter in and outlet. I want something that creates as little current as possible, any idea's?
 
Looking biotopey indeed :thumbup:
Can''t spot the fish :( Can''t see the Nymphaea either:(
Why not have the spraybar just under the surface? Will increase oxygen a bit.
Even with a biotope don''t forget to do waterchanges:p

The fish are a bit shy, the Nymphaea is behind the wood on the right, I'll try to shoot some pictures of both tomorrow.

The spraybar is pointed towards the surface, any closer to the surface and it turns into a fountain. Pointing it towards the front disturbs the substrate, and clouds the tank. (turning the water into cappuccino:shh:)

waterchanges: twice a week 30 %
 
Ruinemans currently has 2 Parosphromenus sp. (Bintan and Sentang) in their collection..
https://www.ruinemans.com/nl-NL/2264/parosphromenus.html

Because Ruinemans is a wholesale importer the minimum order is 10 pcs. If you have a PetsPlace shop with aquarium department near :) At PetsPlace i know you can order anything from Ruinemans regardless if you wish to buy less than that. At smaller LFS you might need to take all 10 if they have no personal intererst to keep this sp. in collection.

For the Dario, i tried them too. Gorgious little fish. They are all wild caught and predatory (Perch Family). I exerienced them beeing ver picky eaters and wont accept anythings else but life food. If you don't have enough of that to hopefully get them conditioned to take anything else. Than you run soon out of Dario's with running out on life food. You need a steady supply of life food, they are quite hungry fish for their size. :)

Good luck.. Tank liiks nice.. :thumbup:
 
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Nice. It has good potential.

2 things i personally would do...black out the back (cost about £2 from a LFS) and paint the spray bar with acrylic (can get from a craft shop for £1).

These improvement will not only disguise the spraybar, but the black background will really make the plants pop.

So far as the scape goes, i think you have nailed it for the look you are going for.

This was my attempt at a similar style scape. I'm not saying that mine is right and yours isnt by any means as its all personal taste, but i just feel your will pop more with the black background.

example.jpg
 
Ruinemans currently has 2 Parosphromenus sp. (Bintan and Sentang) in their collection..
https://www.ruinemans.com/nl-NL/2264/parosphromenus.html

For the Dario, i tried them too. Gorgious little fish. They are all wild caught and predatory (Perch Family). I exerienced them beeing ver picky eaters and wont accept anythings else but life food. If you don't have enough of that to hopefully get them conditioned to take anything else. Than you run soon out of Dario's with running out on life food. You need a steady supply of life food, they are quite hungry fish for their size. :)

Good luck.. Tank liiks nice.. :thumbup:

Parosphromenus sp Bintan and sp. Sentang are quite common in the trade, nice fish but just not the species I was after this time. In terms of general care Dario and Parosphromenus don't differ much, both will only eat small life foods. The difference is mainly in water chemistry.

I feed them vinegar eels, daphnia and infusoria, The trick with wild caught fish is to keep temperature low for the first weeks or even months, it will slow metabolism down and give the fish time to adjust to their new diet and environment.
 
The trick with wild caught fish is to keep temperature low for the first weeks or even months, it will slow metabolism down and give the fish time to adjust to their new diet and environment.

Very good tip!! :thumbup: Sounds very obvious.. But not something one would obviously think off. What temperatur is your best experience?.

Regarding tropical, i always like my tanks at the low side, 22°C averagely. In the summer i have to go with what i get i don't use coolers.
 
Lovely layout, looks very natural :)

I think extra holes, bigger holes or a longer spray bar would lessen the force of the individual jets if it's a bit too turbulent as you are trying to mimic slower flowing waters. Or you could ditch the canister and just go for a little sponge filter.

I have Dario Dario - it surprised me the size of food they will eat - happy take full size daphnia, brineshrimp and mosquito larvae or baby cherry shrimp. Only live though - even spat out frozen daphnia when I mixed it with the live.
 
Very good tip!! :thumbup: Sounds very obvious.. But not something one would obviously think off. What temperatur is your best experience?.

Regarding tropical, i always like my tanks at the low side, 22°C averagely. In the summer i have to go with what i get i don't use coolers.

The North of Myanmar has a subtropical climate, so I keep them on room temperature for no which is around 18 degrees. For more tropical species I would ad a heater set on 19 to 21 degrees, depending on species.

Lovely layout, looks very natural :)

I think extra holes, bigger holes or a longer spray bar would lessen the force of the individual jets if it's a bit too turbulent as you are trying to mimic slower flowing waters. Or you could ditch the canister and just go for a little sponge filter.

.

thnx, I might try a spraybar with bigger holes. Although I really like the looks of something more like a lillypipe
 
Nice. It has good potential.

2 things i personally would do...black out the back (cost about £2 from a LFS) and paint the spray bar with acrylic (can get from a craft shop for £1).

These improvement will not only disguise the spraybar, but the black background will really make the plants pop.

So far as the scape goes, i think you have nailed it for the look you are going for.

This was my attempt at a similar style scape. I'm not saying that mine is right and yours isnt by any means as its all personal taste, but i just feel your will pop more with the black background.

View attachment 121178
agree +1:snaphappy:


and in the tank i am Really missing the biotope feel (if thats what your shooting for) because this is where they originate from:
Water_Lagoon_Majuli_Assam_India_4543.jpg


The brahmaputra river, specifically in tributary systems
 
agree +1:snaphappy:


and in the tank i am Really missing the biotope feel (if thats what your shooting for) because this is where they originate from:
Water_Lagoon_Majuli_Assam_India_4543.jpg


The brahmaputra river, specifically in tributary systems

No, Dario sp. Myanmar is not from de brahmaputra river system, its from the Ayeryawady (Irrawaddy)river system.
The only descriptions of their habitat are: ‘stream about 1.5 km on road Myitzon-Myitkyina’ and ‘ditch marginal to fish ponds about 40km N Myitkyina, on road to Myitzon’
So it will take some time and research before I have a final plant selection, as I said: work in progress.
 
Keep an Eye on this youtube channel



Fishplore is about fish sp. filmed in the wild biotope mainly India regions. This video is from a stream near Buxa Wildlife sanctuary Nothern west Bengal.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Buxa+Forest

One day they might come up with the Dario sp. Myammar filmed in the wild.. In above video a Dario Dario is filmed, note the current it is in.. :) Not the most likely place to encounter a Dario sp. according description. But still there it is. :thumbup:
 
You could try a poppy style Lilly pipe on your filter outflow. The cup shaped ones that point at the surface and make like a vortex effect.. This should slow and also add o2 to your water.
 
You could try a poppy style Lilly pipe on your filter outflow. The cup shaped ones that point at the surface and make like a vortex effect.. This should slow and also add o2 to your water.

thnx, a poppy pipe looks nice, guess I might order one to see how it works out.
Why don't u try a small dither fish with them like a small rasbora species? Will probably make them feel more secure and visible as they will feel safe with the visible shoaling fish.

Cheers

In a display tank I think I would ad a dither fish, but Dario's are easily out competed for food and this is only a 30 liter tank, besides it would limit chances of offspring and it might be hard to find a species from the same biotope.
 
I took some snapshots during feeding time:
IMG_1030.JPG
IMG_1031.JPG

No. 6, gives an idea of how small these fish are,
IMG_1034.JPG

No. 1 and No. 2
IMG_1041.JPG

No 3 and No 5
IMG_1059.JPG

No. 4 and I think No. 6

The tank has a nice variation of algae, but I don't have issues with it. Some algae is to be expected a few weeks after setup, and as long as the new growth of the plants is free of it, it does not bother me. I expect a new filter outlet and some floating plants to arrive tomorrow, nice opportunity to do some cleaning.

In the mean time the question is: to add CO2 or not to add CO2? What do you think? Will be some diy setup.
 
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Have you read the forum on "old school" CO2 dissolution? Perhaps worth a try and easily removed if you don't want to pursue/go to full pressurised...
 
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