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#4 - River shore

Jordi, about your last question. May I point you to 2 things: this is my current layout http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/aqua-at-pet-shop-season-2-layout-5.38273/page-2#post-433780 - as you can see there is a lot of stems plants growing well without any substrate at all at the top of the tree: they are literally inserted into fronds of bolbitis and that's all. Should I also say there is slow injection rate and lean ferts dosing?
Also, recent video from Dennis Wong: - this guy said we could grow stem plants without root system.

OK, I guess you get the point: stem plants could be grown more or less successfully without planting them into rich substrate. I guess many species, like hygrophila, can be grown without anchoring them into substrate.
Take for example h.pinatifida: it grows like an epiphyte plant - on rocks or wood. Also, pinatifida can grow very tall, I guess you know this and probably have seen that video from ADA view channel with tall pinnatifida in the backgroud. The only problem with tall pinatifida - it looks quite ugly with big internodes.

So, I'd try to anchor to rocks or somehow else some simple stem species, including ceratopteris (which is terrible weed) and see what happens.
 
Hi Alex

Thank you very much for your advice. I use H. pinnatifida with success as an epiphyte, but I was not sure if this would work for all the stem species. My guess is that it would work for most of them but some would need a deep substrate (even some stem plants). But yes, I agree with you that attaching some (for example) H. siamensis or corymbosa to the rocks/moss would easily work (probably adding more nutrients in the water column, I dose lean now).
I am a bit afraid of using Ceratopteris because it becomes a monster and my tank is just 60 liters. But on the other hand "I have mentally switched to the jungly layout mode" :) and I don't mind something growing outside the tank.

Jordi
 
Hi all,
To be honest my preferred one is C. thalictroides but I am not sure if it can be considered an epiphyte (I've read some of you got them floating... what about anchoring it?).
You can plant it, or leave it floating. It gets bigger planted, but it isn't a long-lived plant, and it continually produces new plants from the fronds.

I got fed up with re-planting it, and I just left them float now. If you have reasonable flow it will remain subsurface, but in low flow it will grow up through the surface.

This is when I still had them planted. The fish in the centre is a really old female.

old_female_web-jpg.13534.jpg


cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,You can plant it, or leave it floating. It gets bigger planted, but it isn't a long-lived plant, and it continually produces new plants from the fronds.

I got fed up with re-planting it, and I just left them float now. If you have reasonable flow it will remain subsurface, but in low flow it will grow up through the surface.

This is when I still had them planted. The fish in the centre is a really old female.

old_female_web-jpg.13534.jpg


cheers Darrel
Thanks Darrel, I've just stripped down my small tank and I have found loads of Bolbitis completely buried under the stem plants. It is incredible how this plant grows and the amount collected from such a small tank! I think I will just recycle it and I will probably add some bits of other plants. They will look nice covering the coconut cave for the cockatoos

Jordi
 
Hi all,
I have found loads of Bolbitis completely buried under the stem plants
Amazing isn't it, you forget you ever had it, you never see it and then when you break the tank down there it is, quite a large plant. I think it is the "fancy plec" of the plant world, you think it has died but then eventually you see it is three times as big as the last time you saw it.

From <"http://ukaps.org/forum/threads/tropica-anubia-melt-rot.20636/#post-210060">
I've found that for me, for both Anubias and Bolbitis, they do best when they are hidden in the "jungle" and totally ignored.
Cheers Darrel
 
Hi all

I have been conditioning my fish during the last days with frozen food. They are improving their color significantly, especially their fins. Here's the female:

24607605703_aed79b5816_k.jpg

They were regularly visiting some natural caves between driftwood and rocks, but just in case I have built a new one recycling plant pots and wrapping them with plants. Here's the new cave and the male:

25234405365_552a85a176_k.jpg

And another pic with both really interested in the new cave:

24866715819_70d7b4f647_k.jpg

They are continuously courting each other, but I begin to fear if the male is becoming too much aggressive. The female displays laterally (swims slightly heeled in front of the male) but since yesterday the male is chasing her and beating her side more frequently, and she remains more time isolated in one corner to avoid this pressure. Hope this is normal...

I never had such interesting fish, they are continuously interacting, hunting small critters in the tank, exploring the plants and caves...

Jordi
 
Hi all

Good news. The female spawned last Monday and she is in her cave (finally the natural one) guarding the eggs night and day: no eating, no movement, nothing but being beside them. I can spot pinkish eggs attached to the ceiling. However there is something quite confusing to me that happened this morning. The male was not allowed to go into the cave until now, but this morning they were both inside... as fas as I understand the eggs were fertilized the same day the female spawned, ins't it? I don't understand how the male is allowed to be in the cave now that the eggs will probably hatch in the coming hours.

Jordi
 
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Hi all,
I can spot pinkish eggs attached to the ceiling.
They are viable.
The male was not allowed to go into the cave until now, but this morning they were both inside... as fas as I understand the eggs were fertilized the same day the female spawn, ins't it? I don't understand how the male is allowed to be in the cave now that the eggs will probably hatch in the coming hours.
I don't know all of mine have spawned in caves with really small entrances, so the male can't physically fit in the cave.

Usually the female doesn't let the male do any brood care in A. cacatuoides.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all

Unfortunately this first attempt of breeding failed. I suspect the male in the cave was the first indicator of things going wrong. The fact is that the female also left the cave and the eggs disappeared. I keep on conditioning them with Grindal worms, blood worms and they consumed a whole batch of BBS that was ready in case of having to feed the fry... the male is now a kind of supersize male and nearly doubles the size of the female (they were not that different in size when they came home). As far as I have read with these Apisto it is just a matter of time and they will hopefully try it again in a few weeks. However I am a bit worried for the female, sometimes she is completely fed up with the male who seems to like the idea of trying it as soon as possible. She hides for some hours among the plants.

Just one doubt... the size of the caves' entrances was quite large, enough for allowing the male to go in. Is it a constraint for successful breeding? Now I have added stones to have very small entrances but it seems that the female is not visiting them.

I'll update the tank pictures this afternoon, now a little jungle that the Cockatoos enjoy very much.

Jordi
 
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Hi all

It seems that the female spawned again, she is hidden in her cave for 3-4 days. Let's see if this time the fry survive. As mentioned in previous posts, I have changed the layout from a minimalist look to something more complex and suitable for the cockatoos.
Here's a short summary of the layout since last August...

20595290438_e8a6567237_b.jpg
Just hardscape

22431139656_1fdde05e9c_k.jpg
Planted but minimalistic, I liked it very much like this, but my feeling was that my Apistos weren't very happy in there

26073368045_e20757fe44_k.jpg
On the way to a little jungle

I expect a lot of growing during the coming months, as all the background is planted with Bolbitis, Java fern (standard and trident) and Rotala rotundifolia red/indica. I've also planted some bits of Hydrocotyle tripartita and I want this plant to spread all over the tank in the mid ground.

Jordi
 
Jordi, this tank is just awesome! There is so much going on, so many little details and lovely textures but it doesn't look too busy or messy, just looks great. Well done :clap:
 
Hi all

I just got back from a work trip and I found the cockatoo female dead :(
It is very sad, as before leaving she was in her cave (I think she spawned again a few days ago, although I never saw the eggs).
I am wondering if she had a problem while spawning or if she was exhausted due to the male chasing her continuously. No room in my tank for more than one female though, so the female gets the male attention all day long.
I think the tank conditions are ok. The male keeps on growing and developing nice colors and both fish were daily fed with pellets, grindal worms and/or frozen blood worms. I was even changing water every 5 days...

Jordi
 
Hi all

I got a new cockatoo female last week. It seems that this time the couple is doing well, the male seems less aggressive than with the previous female. She is also much more yellow than the previous one and I would say that her belly is getting big. I spared some time with the guy at my LFS discussing what the problem could be, and after mentioning all the details of the tank and fish maintenance, he just told me that in a few cases Apisto pairs are just not compatible. This can lead to continuous aggression until the female get exhausted and dies.
I hope this time things will work better... In the picture below, both were hidden in one of the caves.

26249987262_51f741e71e_k.jpgApril10th by Jordi Domingo, en Flickr

Jordi
 
Is that red Colorata? Great growth.
 
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