Bookshelf Blackwater - 12g Long

[doylecolmdoyle]

Really like the driftwood shape, very pleasing flow to it

Cheers, its actually about 6-8 bits of wood stacked up to try make it look like one bigger piece.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Updated FTS, need to add some more almond leaf tea bags, water is a fair bit lighter. Still loosing buce leafs daily, they just dont like this tank.

IMG_1997 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[zozo]

Still loosing buce leafs daily, they just dont like this tank

It can come back, just wait patiently.. I grew buce in high tech and transfered rather large plants over to a low tech.. Lost all matured leaves rather soon and it took months, but new ones will eventualy grow but will stay significantly smaller for i do not know how long in low tech. But the plant will revive..

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Tried to take a few macro photos today, camera just wasn't playing nice, only got a few interesting snaps, fish are looking good since starting to feed live micro worms, couldn't really get any good super close up photos, reflections where driving me crazy for some reason.


IMG_2188 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2225 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2223 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2220 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2194 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[Tim Harrison]

Very nice...that's one well fed Rasbora.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Very nice...that's one well fed Rasbora.

Thanks that last one is huge! I have some fairly small fish even tho I have had them all for about 2 years, makes me think perhaps some have bred, tho I have never noticed fry.

 

[paul_j]

Nice pictures, really shows the tannins!

 

[Tim Harrison]

makes me think perhaps some have bred, tho I have never noticed fry.

I know what you mean, I have a shoal of 20 or so and I'm sure they must have bred since numbers seem to have increased if anything.

 

[Edvet]

Still loosing buce leafs daily, they just dont like this tank.

I would try one outside the water with the roots on the wet wood.(maybe cover the leaves with a wet tissue for some time)

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Added two more otos today, have 4 now along with the 20-30 boraras, all in all not much has changed with this tank since I set it up, very slow growing, which is what I wanted, fair bit of BBA on the wood but i hit it with h2o2 every now and then to keep it in check, plants are fairly algae free, buce never really flourished in this tank and i loose leafs faster then they put out new leafs.


IMG_2360 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_2363 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Few new photos


IMG_3003.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_3005.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_3006.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_3012.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Almost 2 years on and still yet to trim or remove a plant (apart from frogbit), a comparison from day one and today.


IMG_0891 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8308.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

I got a bit to lazy and neglected cleaning the filter for too long, BBA was starting to become a bit to abundant, probably due to lack of water changes also.

Today I cleaned the filter and man was it full of brown gunk / poop / stinky stuff! Took the chance to fit my stainless pipes, will see how they go for awhile, need to sort some acrylic clips to hang the pipes on the side of the tank, for now I have to use many suction caps to keep them in place.


IMG_8433.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8420.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8419.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_8418.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

 

[Kalum]

looks like it's filling out a lot more with your buces and anubias even if it has taken a bit of time, do you think it's settled or are you still losing leaves?

love the depth the blackwater gives it, part of me would love to try this but i think my OCD would win over and want it back to crystal clear

 

[CooKieS]

I would put 2 bags of seachem purigen...OCD.

Nice buce btw.

Could you tell me which brand is that light stand? Thanks

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

looks like it's filling out a lot more with your buces and anubias even if it has taken a bit of time, do you think it's settled or are you still losing leaves?

love the depth the blackwater gives it, part of me would love to try this but i think my OCD would win over and want it back to crystal clear

Cheers, the buce never really took off in this tank but I think they have settled, havent noticed any leaves dropped in awhile, tho they dont thrive like they did in my old jungle cube scape.

I would put 2 bags of seachem purigen...OCD.

Nice buce btw.

Could you tell me which brand is that light stand? Thanks

Cheers, I am not sure what the stand is called, I purchased from hinterfeld ages ago, seems hinterfeld is now gone? If you ebay search aquarium light stand seems the same stands appear in the search

 

[Jules vH]

Do you think co2 is a must in a blackwater tank?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Do you think co2 is a must in a blackwater tank?

You can just use floating plants and then you don't need to worry about CO2. Pistia stratiotes is pretty much universal in the Amazon basin anywhere there is enough light reaching the water surface. Ceratopteris thalictroides is another option.

cheers Darrel

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Do you think co2 is a must in a blackwater tank?

No the tank probably doesn't need co2 at all, tho I have been running co2 24/7 since day one (about 1 bps) and all seems fine, the fish seem very happy, even the pigmy corys I added from my old jungle cube, all my ottos are doing well and I havent lots a fish in over a year (that I know off)

 

[JEK]

Man, I gotta start a blackwater tank again someday. Have you thought about trying to add a black background? I think it might enhance the dark blackwater feel.