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Bookshelf Blackwater - 12g Long

Still kicking along with little to no maintenance, never trimmed any of the plants in the tank.

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Photo from today, I swear there are fish in the tank, I spooked them when taking the photo

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Bookshelf Blackwater Aquascape by Colm Doyle, on Flickr
 
As my photos never capture any fish... and I am surprised how well these boraras have thrived in this tank I decided to take a video, these boraras have been in this tank for about 3 years or more back when this tank was a iguwami, also a few cory catfish, a few otos (not seen), a bunch of shrimp and a heap of pest snails, the odd planaria, snail leach and all that stuff you dont want :p

 
New FTS, finally cleaned the filter after a plantra (spelling?) outbreak, man that filter was full of gunk.

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untitled-2366.jpg by Colm Doyle, on Flickr
 
Shot a very quick video tonight testing out some new software, all hand held (stabilised in post) with the tiny old canon eos m, running magic lantern shooting 1080p raw video... all I can say is wow so cool for a $200 camera and $100 lens!



This fishtank is going strong, I have not done a water change since I cleaned the filter on 23rd dec... I will change the water this weekend but seems I can do monthly changes and keep things ticking along.
 
Quick video of my usual test subject when I want to test out a new lens / video process... this time I didn't overexpose and it shows how dark this tank really is, I guess the low light has helped because I have not done a water change since I last cleaned the filter about 6 months ago :p Due to no maintenance the tank is a bit messy with many snails... but I dont mind

 
Quick update, the tank is well overdue for some love, I told myself last time cleaned the filter / tank that I would keep on top of maintenance, well I have have not, last water change was when I did the filter clean in October 2019... still going strong. I would like to eliminate the small snails. I am tempted to try some chemicals... does anyone have any tips?

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IMG_3128 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr
 
Really love this tank.

Do you have any shrimp in the tank or is it just fish? I have never tried to kill snails with chemicals, I just tend to put a piece of cucumber or lettuce in there and remove them when they congregate on it. If you only have fish you likely have more options.
 
mort said:
Really love this tank.

Do you have any shrimp in the tank or is it just fish? I have never tried to kill snails with chemicals, I just tend to put a piece of cucumber or lettuce in there and remove them when they congregate on it. If you only have fish you likely have more options.
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Thanks Mort, there are also red cherry shrimp in the tank, I may just try go the natural route and bate the nails with food, first I will tackle cleaning up the overgrown right side of the tank this weekend
 
mohamed elsorahy said:
hi doylecolmdoyle
Loved this tank
any update ?
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Hi mate, no real updates its still ticking along with very little maintenance, just top up the water weekly, it is due (well overdue) for a filter clean and generally clean up, will take some photos when I get around to that.
 
Easily one of the nicest tanks out there, or has ever been. I don't say that easily either, the growth is excellent and proves patience is key for the low tech tanks. I wouldn't even know where to begin with trimming that though.

Do you get much of a smell from the wood?
 
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I really like the simplicity of this. At some point I'd probably want to set up a similar tank, long and shallow, ideally with some more emerged material.

Looks like it needs a bit of a trim as well by the way :). I find it curious that no plants have emerged and crawled on top of that wood over the course of two years - have you been purposely keeping it clear?
 
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