90x30x30 low maintenance

[chickennublet]

Hiya

Starting another journal for my other tank which I set up two months ago (I think). Originally a smaller 60x30x30 tank but decided to upgrade.

Lighting is from Week Aqua but I've forgot which model. Using an Oase Biomaster 350 and an inline diffuser from Qanvee. Plants are all the low maintenance, algae prone stuff like Anubias, Microsorum and more recently added a bunch of Bucephalandra. It's got quite the BBA problem at the moment but I'm not too fussed about it. It's more of a fish tank than a planted tank to be honest.

Singapore is very hot, and most folks here keeping Bucephalandra tend to chill their water down to 24 or 25 degrees. The people I bought my Bucephalandra from keep them in 24 degree waters I think. Best I can do is a fan though. Temperature in my tank with the fans on is around 27 to 28 degrees. Using a fan from Ista which a friend of mine very kindly gave to me. It has three small fans although the middle one doesn't work (it was working when my friend tested it before handing it to me, I probably broke it. She wouldn't knowingly give me something that doesn't work). Without the fan on it's probably 30 degrees or something which is very warm. I might get myself a new fan and see if I can get the temperature down further.

I wasn't originally going to bother with a fan or chiller for that matter but I want to keep Corydoras in here and most of them prefer cooler waters. The things we do for our hobby...

Livestock are:

• 7 ember tetras (Hyphessobrycon amadae to be pedantic) - been keeping this species since early 2018 when I started keeping fish. Had 15 at one point but they are not very long lived so I've lost a bunch of them over a years.
• 10 Siamabese dwarf rasobras (Trigonostimga somphongsi) - an impulse buy, these are fairly uncommon but I immediately decided to buy a small group of these when one of our local shops imported them. At the time only two shops here had these. Had this group for 14 months or so now. Very pleased with them. I've not seen them in the shops here since I got them. My first "rare" buy
• 2 Corydoras sterbai - I had 5 of them at one point but again lost them over the years. Bought 3 of them in January of 2018, one of the trio is still with me. The other one I've had since either March 2018 or sometime in 2019. Can easily tell them apart because the big one was from the 2018 trio (they were already big when I got them) and then I got two smaller ones at two separate times but lost one of them without warning. Either way, these 2 are my longest lived fish yet. I love them. I just picked up 3 more little ones today that are in quarantine. Sterbai are not my favourite species but just want to make my current two more comfortable.
• 2 Corydoras CW51 - my first kinda expensive Corydoras. Acquired these two at the start of July. Doing well. Will get a few more
• 2 Otocinclus - i'm not sure of the species, either vittatus or macrospilus I think. Have had these for over a year. Keeping Otocinclus is a crapshoot. I think I bought maybe 5 of these last year? 2 died in quarantine, 1 more died in the tank. These 2 are doing well though!
• 1 Parotocinclus haroldoi - Bought this in early August. Beautiful fish, hardly see it. Did well in quarantine so it's in this tank now.
• 2 Parotocinclus maculicauda - Acquired on 20 August. Went through 4 weeks of quarantine and just released today
• 1 Otocinclus cocama - Acquired on 20 August, an impulse buy from when I picked up the Parotocinclus. Also just released into the main tank today

Some pics, first FTS and then pictures of the recent additions

Look at this beauty

Tbh very nervous about the Otocinclus cocama. Hope it manages to thrive in here.

 

[seedoubleyou]

Really nice simple setup this mate. A frosted background, and slightly thinner sand depth would really elevate this scape.

I really like those tank dimensions too.

 

[chickennublet]

Really nice simple setup this mate. A frosted background, and slightly thinner sand depth would really elevate this scape.

I really like those tank dimensions too.

Thanks you. Yeah i wanted to add a background but couldnt't be arsed in the end... it looked good before I added the fan lol.

I don't mind the sand too much since the Corydoras like it and they'll mess it up anyway lol.

 

[seedoubleyou]

Thanks you. Yeah i wanted to add a background but couldnt't be arsed in the end... it looked good before I added the fan lol.

I don't mind the sand too much since the Corydoras like it and they'll mess it up anyway lol.

That made me laugh. Not being arsed is definitely as good an excuse as any.
I really like your setup all the same.
I think simple is often best.

 

[chickennublet]

That made me laugh. Not being arsed is definitely as good an excuse as any.
I really like your setup all the same.
I think simple is often best.

I should try covering that cable with plants. Might move it to the right so that it's hidden by the java fern.

As for the sand... yeah I said I don't mind it much but I really should flatten it some.

I am quite pleased with how it's turned out still. Very simple in terms of set up and maintenance and still enjoyable. Can easily expand the scape by adding more plants too.

 

[chickennublet]

Since this is a journal, thought I might as well share some very early photos of the tank. It used to be a 60cm tank until I upgraded.

This was how it looked very early on. Must have been about close 6 years ago now?

Probably 4 years ago. It has not changed very much at all to be honest

Sometime last year

This, I think, was when the tank was at it's best. I was diligently maintaining it and scraping the walls. My trident ferns were beautiful too. Most of the Bucephalandra in this photo were new though and grown emersed. Almost all of it melted though lol. I wasn't very good at converting them at the time. I think I added some Otocinclus in here around this time.

Probably at the start of this year? You can see the algae starting to creep in on the tank walls. I started to get lazy and also thought that the dirty glass would be good for the Otocinclus. The Otocinclus did get food but the walls were just dirty.

This was a few months after I returned from Korea in early April. Photograph should be sometime in June? I made the mistake of turning my lights off. When I came back, one of my beautiful Anubias coffeefolia had melted and my gorgeous trident ferns started crashing. I think this was probably when I started getting problems with BBA

The scape and fish haven't changed much at all over the years, especially since I added the Anubias coffeefolia. The coffeefolia used to look so much better though but I reckon it's only a matter of time. This time i'll be keeping up with scraping the glass. I'm still getting lots of BBA everywhere but trying to sort it out with regular maintenance, a bit of APT Fixlite and consistent CO2.

 

[Tankless]

What does your maintenance schedule consist of with these setups?

 

[chickennublet]

What does your maintenance schedule consist of with these setups?

Not much.

Daily dosing with a heavily diluted fertiliser (a mix of distilled water, a fertiliser with N and P in it and another without). I'm using the same amounts in this tank as in my nano tank, the brightness, bioload and plant choice is vastly difference in both tanks so I reckon the same amount of liquid fertiliser will be sufficient here despite the difference in volume. Overall this tank gets 3ml of fertiliser a week. It has been a long time since i've tested for nitrates though so to be honest I'm not sure if it could do with more fertiliser. The plants do not show much signs of deficiency, but their health could be better considering the amount of BBA growing on them.

Feeding is almost daily. I feed the fish 5 to 6 times a week. Pellets for the top and middle dwellers and then either a wafer or pellets for the bottom feeders at night. I think it's quite a dirty tank because of all the food I dump in for my Corydoras. The tetras and rasbora don't get much. That might be one of the reasons for my current BBA bloom. I recently added some Neocaridina which I'm hoping will get rid of any food in the crevices which the fish can't reach.

And then 50% water change once a week! I try to siphon as much gunk as I can from the sand and anywhere amongst the plants and hardscape that I can reach.

I probably should clean the filter soon but haven't quite worked out how often I want to do that.

 

[_Maq_]

It's more of a fish tank than a planted tank to be honest.

... and your selection of plants does not feature the most sensitive. Why, then, are you injecting CO2?

 

[chickennublet]

... and your selection of plants does not feature the most sensitive. Why, then, are you injecting CO2?

Oh, I started CO2 in here when I decommissioned my nano a few years ago. Since I had the equipment lying around I didn't see why I shouldn't use it here. All plants need CO2, some more so than others. I'm certain that these are growing better with CO2 than without.

Even though I'm using this tank primarily to collect fish that doesn't mean I don't care about how these plants do at all. I still regularly trim and remove old leaves, especially the very old ones heavily infested with BBA. The new growth looks good and clean so i'm certain the plants overall are healthy. Might seem a bit contradictory to what I said about how this is more of a fish tank than a planted one.

The eventual goal here livestock wise is to keep small groups of my favourite Corydoras species and dwarf suckermouth catfish. For the plants here, as long as they are passably healthy and keep growing well, they don't have to necessarily be completely algae free.

Was the point of your comment to suggest that CO2 injection is wasted here?

 

[chickennublet]

Random fish pics

Some ember tetras and Trigonostigma somphongsi

Parotocinclus haroldoi

CW51

 

[_Maq_]

Random fish pics

Very nice pictures!

Was the point of your comment to suggest that CO2 injection is wasted here?

My impression is that people inject CO2 somehow automatically, without much consideration. As if there were no other way, and as if it had no downsides.
But I don't intend to elaborate on this topic here. You've made your choice, and your tank looks healthy. So, fingers crossed.

 

[chickennublet]

Very nice pictures!

My impression is that people inject CO2 somehow automatically, without much consideration. As if there were no other way, and as if it had no downsides.
But I don't intend to elaborate on this topic here. You've made your choice, and your tank looks healthy. So, fingers crossed.

Thank you, I was worried. There are definitely downsides... I think I really started getting BBA problems around the time I started CO2 injection. Started CO2 around May of last year. Can't remember when I noticed the BBA, but I definitely didn't have much of it before injecting CO2. I did have loads of other algae though. I also noticed appreciable plant growth after starting CO2 (especially in the Microsorum species) which is why I decided to continue. The only reason I started though was because I didn't have a reason not to since the equipment would go unused otherwise...

Before moving everything to this tank I was using a hang on back filter which I think probably caused CO2 to fluctuate a lot because of the evaporation. I think it also distributed CO2 poorly. There was also a period of time when I was hardly doing any maintenance except for water changes. Didn't scrape the glass or try to clean the substrate. I was also using a lot of fertiliser at one point. Definitely way more than necessary.

Now using way less fertiliser and a much larger canister filter. I am hoping that the BBA situation improves a little but not too confident as I'm seeing BBA growing on my inlet right now lol.

I would actually be grateful if you could elaborate on why I should reconsider though. Or maybe point me to where I can find more information on this.

 

[chickennublet]

One of my CW51s jumped in the night. I'm not sure why. Corydoras are known to gulp air from the surface but I don't think they jump. I left the water level higher than usual last night after a bit of maintenance so I wonder if that might be the cause. Will have to lower it.

I've had Corydoras sterbai since 2018 and never once have they jumped out. A little heartbroken because I love these little fish and they are also rather expensive. I only have one left and they are not exactly widely available here so I'll have to get more while the shops still have some in stock.

 

[chickennublet]

Took some pics of the Parotocinclus today

P. maculicauda 1 and 2

P. haroldoi very reclusive. At least I know it' alive and looks like it's doing well

 

[Luciën]

Love those parotocinclus, especialy that maculicauda. I would love to have some but here they are expensive and to my understanding they are best kept in groups so it would stretch the budget to much.

 

[chickennublet]

Love those parotocinclus, especialy that maculicauda. I would love to have some but here they are expensive and to my understanding they are best kept in groups so it would stretch the budget to much.

Yes, they are rather expensive and not very easy to come by. I only have 2 maculicauda and 1 haroldoi though. I also only have 1 Otococinclus cocama and 2 Otocinclus sp... I really should get more when I have the chance.

 

[chickennublet]

A bit of an update. I've got 3 Corydoras sterbai and 2 CW51s in quarantine at the moment. The sterbai were from someone who was trying to reduce his bioload whilst the CW51 were the last two pieces at my usual fish store. The owner of the shop was trying to clear the last of his stock so that he can bring in new fish so I got them for considerably cheaper than usual. He's had them for over a month now. The thing is... they are small. And very skittish. One of them nearly jumped out this morning when I went to check on them. It is quite a small and bare tank. They probably hate it in there.

I have a Corydoras sterbai in my main tank which is also rather small. I've had the little one for 4 to 5 years now and I think it has grown slightly bigger but is still not the same size as the first one I bought. It makes me wonder if they were not given enough food when they were much younger which affected their development. Can only hope that the ones I have now do manage to grow bigger over time.

Anyway, they seem healthy enough so I will probably not be keeping them in quarantine for too long lest they stress themselves to death. The sterbai have been there for a week and absolutely hate me. The CW51s I just picked up yesterday and are thankfully a lot less scared of me. I think I'll move them to the main tank in a week.

I still have plans to stock this tank with a couple more fish, but I probably won't be getting any more so soon since I'm leaving for a short holiday in a month. After I come back I'll see if I can acquire a slightly larger tank. I want to try my hand at scaping another 30cm cube tank and display that next to my existing planted tank, so that can serve as quarantine for a while.

Maintenance was today. Water change, not much else. Threw in an Indian almond leaf for my shrimp, they liked it the last time I did that. Quite a lot of tannins but I quite like the look.

Pics:
FTS

Otocinclus cocama

Yet another picture of Parotocinclus maculicauda. Just look at this thing!

Random shrimp pics

 

[chickennublet]

Been observing the tank for a bit after feeding at night when the lights turn off. I usually feed my Corydoras at night.

My Parotocinclus haroldoi appears to be an blahblahblahblah hole. Chasing all the other Otocinclus and Parotocinclus for some reason. I'm not sure if I should add another one so they can wail on each other and leave everyone else alone. I'd catch it if I could, but it tends to hide in the day and come out at night.

Thankfully... the fish don't seem to care. They get chased off for a bit then immediately go back to their original spot to continue looking for food.

I wonder if my CW51 got spooked by the haroldoi and ended up jumping.

UPDATE: Spent the better part of an hour trying to net the guy in the dark (cos he won't even come out with the lights on) so that I could isolate him in a breeder box but without any success. The only thing I succeeded in doing spooking all the fish and going to sleep later than I intended.

I don't think his harassment is going to do any real damage to the fish but it is unnecessary stress for them. Also he goes after the Corydoras when they go near the Anubias coffeefolia. I don't want any more Corydoras getting spooked and jumping out the tank! I'll try netting him again maybe tomorrow night, after everyone has calmed down some.

 

[chickennublet]

No picture update.

I've decided not to net the Parotocinclus haroldoi in the end. It will be really difficult for me to remove him and will probably stress out all the fish unnecessarily. Will leave him in there for now. I might get a 1 or 2 more so that they have conspecifics to squabble with.

I've been feeding the Corydoras with a brand of food from Germany that's simply called DiscusFood. The Corydoras and the Loricariidae seem to like it so I'm very pleased. The other fish and the shrimp seem to like it as well, although the pellets are quite a bit too big for the nano fish.

Happy to say that I've been seeing a good number of shrimplets in the tank recently.

In other news, my ember tetras and Trigonostigma somphongsi have become quite shy recently (I saw recently but it's probably been a couple of months already). I think the ember tetras either need some kind of dither fish or greater numbers. I only have 7 embers at the moment and I reckon a larger group will boost their confidence so I'll probably go get 6 more this weekend. They are one of my favourite fish, not because I particularly like how they look but because I've had this species since I started keeping fish so it's a little difficult for me not to keep them. I could just keep my current group until they all eventually expire, but I don't want them to be miserable either and I don't think they are very happy at the moment.

If I get them this weekend, they will be in quarantine until I come back from Tokyo in a month's time. I'll only be away for 9 days and ember tetras are super hardy and not very expensive so seems to me like they'll be perfect to keep the cycle in the quarantine going too.