Low Tech Spider

[3rdTimeLucky]

Tank is looking good - I also like the changes


Tiger Shrimp are my fav for their algae dedication
Red nose are the best BBA cleaners

Thanks! I never read much about the different shrimp options - I just went straight for amano shrimp. Oh well, I guess they will help with any uneaten food etc.

Do red nose shrimp come under any other names? I've not heard of them before?

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

I am not sure about water flow circle here. Dirt, fish poop... might not be cleaned up. Perhaps rearrange inlet deeper with a hose on the left hand side of the quoted picture imo

Unfortunately that won't be possible - it's a sumo set-up and the inlet/outlets are fixed & sealed in their current position. I had been a little worried about how debris from the bottom will ever be cleaned up - the flow is actually very good (I have 2 X 2000lph pumps pushing the water around and into the sump). I'll just have to keep an eye on it I guess, feed sparingly, and get some good clean-up crew. I will get some corys at some point.

 

[alto]

Do red nose shrimp come under any other names? I've not heard of them before?

sorry I missed this

Red Skunk Shrimp - these guys are fabulous to watch

Caridina Gracilirostris - several shrimp seem to ship under this "name", I've never had any reach 6cm & several websites list 3-4 cm size
eg, these "lesser long nose" often arrive in shipments

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

Hi everyone - long time since an update, and quite a few changes. I have kept it low-tech with no CO2, and some plants were not successful. I've gone back to plants that are likely to be fine, and i'm getting good (but slow) growth.

I have plenty of fish - about 25 cardinals, which look really great (photos hardly do them justice at all). There are 9 lampeyes, a solo pencilfish (rescued from a friend), 2 bolivian rams (sadly the 3rd died when i had a heater-failure), plus a pair of south american cichlids that i would appreciate if someone could ID for me. There is a photo of the male below. It was labeled as an apistograma flame double red, but i'm not so sure. They are both doing well, and completely ignore the rams, which i was a little worried about. There are also 5 neon rainbows, which are really active and whose colours are getting better and better.

I'm really pleased with the tank. I'm hoping the long crypts might reach to the surface and then creep across the surface to break up the light a bit. There are loads of shady spots, but the rams always look a bit washed out when the light comes on. They look better when the light is off.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

There is a photo of the male below. It was labeled as an apistograma flame double red, but i'm not so sure.

That looks like a female <"Apistogramma agassizii">.

cheers Darrel

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

Hi all,That looks like a female <"Apistogramma agassizii">.

cheers Darrel

Hi Darrel. Thanks for this. I think i've been sold an all-female pair! I assume there were no males left in the tank because otherwise i would have noticed the difference.

Here is a photo of what i had thought was the only female - much smaller than the fish in the other photo. You can get a sense of the difference in size by looking at the second photo in my previous post (they are both towards the bottom-right). The smaller one seems to have different markings, but is that just because it's a juvenile? Or do you think they are actually different species?

If i try and get a male, what do you suggest? The two females i have get on without any issue whatsoever, and both ignore the two bolivian rams as well.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The smaller one seems to have different markings, but is that just because it's a juvenile? Or do you think they are actually different species?

Female of a different species.

It maybe Apistogramma cacatuoides (you can see three faint stripes below the lateral stripe).

cheers Darrel

 

[Sweded]

Some java ferns and some cryptocoryne beckettii petchii in this cape and you are good to go.

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

Hi all, Female of a different species.

It maybe Apistogramma cacatuoides (you can see three faint stripes below the lateral stripe).

cheers Darrel

If i had to get a male, which species would you recommend? Or whichever i get, would the other-species female get harassed?

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

cryptocoryne beckettii petchii

Thanks - yes i could do with some darker brown shades of plant- there are a couple of cryptocoryne wendtii brown already, but perhaps something else. Red plants probably won't look great due to no CO2

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

If i had to get a male, which species would you recommend? Or whichever i get, would the other-species female get harassed?

It could go either way, but usually Apistogramma with different body shapes are OK together.

I'd see which male you can get, Apistogramma agassizii is a bit more demanding than A. cacatuoides, which is a very placid fish for a cichlid.

cheers Darrel

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

Hi all, It could go either way, but usually Apistogramma with different body shapes are OK together.

I'd see which male you can get, Apistogramma agassizii is a bit more demanding than A. cacatuoides, which is a very placid fish for a cichlid.

cheers Darrel

I found a shop selling both, and despite cacatuoides being the less demanding, i still went for an agassizii. I just preferred the colouration and shape. A (poor quality) photo is shown below. It's a beautiful fish, and is was pretty active very soon after being added to the tank. He's slightly smaller than the female at the moment, so i guess he still has some growing to do.

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

Over the 48 hours i've had a flower develop from one of my anubias. This is a first for me, and i hope it indicates a relatively healthy and well-balanced tank

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

 

[3rdTimeLucky]

Hi everyone - a few full-tank shots, and a couple of close ups below.

One day (when i feel this scape has reached its end - hopefully a while away yet!), i'd like to experiment with a scape where it goes against putting foreground plants in the front and background plants t the back. I'd be keen to have lots valisneria and cryptocoryne balansae growing front-to-back. I image it like a kelp seaweed forest in the ocean. I saw a display tank at London Aquatic Design Centre which did this really well. Anyway, that's for another day. My tank has little touches of this, with a few balansae in front of other plants, with the aim they will keep growing right to the surface, and provide an interesting environment for the fish to swim through (and not just on front of).

Anyway, i know my tank doesn't come close to those hi-techs on this site, but comments welcome