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The Nymph's Spring (EA900)
- Thread starter shangman
- Start date
I've been observing the tank a lot since this oto issue started, so far there doesn't seem to be any other fish with any weird marks on them yet. One of the new otos is particularly fat which I'm suspicious of but idk if it's related, not sure about that one. The oto with a hole in its head died yesterday, poor thing (in the quarantine tank).
I did notice this morning though that my pygmy cories are breeding, I watched a big female and a small male making a T and then she wiggled all over some moss. They're often going around together in pairs, with other males tryingto join and then giving up.
Do anyone elses pygmy cories and kuhli loaches go absolutely made for sinking algae wafers? I put some in for the otos but before the otos ever have a go (they seem to prefer the dried leaves tbh), the otos and kuhlis find them and go mad for it. And even Mr Daffodil will come along and try and steal it and nibble a load. My kuhlis also love to scavenge, in the past 2 weeks I've caught one shoving it's head in a dead ramshorn snail shell and eating all the meat inside to leave an empty shell, and a group of 3 wiggling up to a dead shrimp (I was about to remove it) and leaving only a thin shell as if it was a molt. Then a snail ate the last of the shell. These new babies are very bold and ravenous which is nice.
Fingers crossed everything stays ok and I don't get any big dieoffs. The fish are so nice and happy and healthy (seemingly), I will always quarantine from now on, I don't want to upset this balance.
On the other hand theres SHEDLOADS of algae in the tank, but I've lowered he light and trying moving a filter to get better flow. I think I might need to get a pH pen to do a pH drop thing for the co2 to be properly correct, my drop checker is lime green but things definitely aren't right yet.
I did notice this morning though that my pygmy cories are breeding, I watched a big female and a small male making a T and then she wiggled all over some moss. They're often going around together in pairs, with other males tryingto join and then giving up.
Do anyone elses pygmy cories and kuhli loaches go absolutely made for sinking algae wafers? I put some in for the otos but before the otos ever have a go (they seem to prefer the dried leaves tbh), the otos and kuhlis find them and go mad for it. And even Mr Daffodil will come along and try and steal it and nibble a load. My kuhlis also love to scavenge, in the past 2 weeks I've caught one shoving it's head in a dead ramshorn snail shell and eating all the meat inside to leave an empty shell, and a group of 3 wiggling up to a dead shrimp (I was about to remove it) and leaving only a thin shell as if it was a molt. Then a snail ate the last of the shell. These new babies are very bold and ravenous which is nice.
Fingers crossed everything stays ok and I don't get any big dieoffs. The fish are so nice and happy and healthy (seemingly), I will always quarantine from now on, I don't want to upset this balance.
On the other hand theres SHEDLOADS of algae in the tank, but I've lowered he light and trying moving a filter to get better flow. I think I might need to get a pH pen to do a pH drop thing for the co2 to be properly correct, my drop checker is lime green but things definitely aren't right yet.
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John q
Member
Can't directly answer for the above fish but my panda Cory's go mental for algae wafers, as do the panda garra's. Keith, the female bristlenose usually ends up muscling in and finishes them before they manage to devour everything.
Talking of the garra's, they love a good snail if one happens to die in the tank, which thankfully doesn't happen too often.
NatalieHurrell
Member
John Q you have a female Bristlenose called Keith?! 
On another note, I know the Garra Flavatra are found in both fast and slow moving water. What sort of flow do you keep yours in and are they Amano shrimp safe? Thanks, Nat.
On another note, I know the Garra Flavatra are found in both fast and slow moving water. What sort of flow do you keep yours in and are they Amano shrimp safe? Thanks, Nat.
John q
Member
Sorry for the journal highjack @shangman
Yes my wife and daughter pick the fish names and they always seem to be male oriented.
I have 4 garra's in 2 different tanks, both have fairly fast flow, they often enjoy surfing the current.
Don't have any amano shrimp but will be adding some at the weekend.
The only aggression I've ever seen from them is towards each other or dead snails, so I'm not particularly worried about them with the garra unless the shrimp die, then suspect they'll be dining on Teppanyaki shrimp.
Yes my wife and daughter pick the fish names and they always seem to be male oriented.
I have 4 garra's in 2 different tanks, both have fairly fast flow, they often enjoy surfing the current.
Don't have any amano shrimp but will be adding some at the weekend.
The only aggression I've ever seen from them is towards each other or dead snails, so I'm not particularly worried about them with the garra unless the shrimp die, then suspect they'll be dining on Teppanyaki shrimp.
NatalieHurrell
Member
Fine dining indeed!
NatalieHurrell
Member
And yes, sorry for the journal hijack!
That panda garra is lovely, they're definitely on my list of fish to try and keep one day, I've heard and they have really funny arguments with eachother! Seems like a dead snail in our tanks is not such a bad thing for the little loaches we keep. Do yuo keep them in an open-top tank, or covered?
No worries at all!! All sharing on here is awesome, that's what it's for
If anyone wants to chat with eachother on here I think that's awesome John q
Member
They are in a lided tank shangman but think they'd be fine in a open top if the water level was maybe an inch or so below the glass.
They certainly have character, when they were younger and presumably deciding who the dominante one was they would quarrel fairly often, most of the time these were harmless and quite funny to watch but every now and then they'd have a full on battle.
You can tell when things are serious, the colour drains from them completely and they turn grey. Luckily no serious harm was ever done and they now happily hang out together.
They certainly have character, when they were younger and presumably deciding who the dominante one was they would quarrel fairly often, most of the time these were harmless and quite funny to watch but every now and then they'd have a full on battle.
You can tell when things are serious, the colour drains from them completely and they turn grey. Luckily no serious harm was ever done and they now happily hang out together.
Oh that sounds so fun and interesting, a group of them sounds like a lovely tank addition!! You should make a journal for their tank, it'd be great to see them and how they live in your tank
)))This morning I woke up to a tank fullllllll of spirogyra. It's been slowly growing for a few weeks but went BANG today. I think this is because..
a) I pulled out the plug of the twinstar accidentally and broke the programming so the light was at 100% for a few days
b) 2 days ago I swapped the jet lily pipe by co2 was coming out of, and replaced it with a normal lily pipe because I thought it would make the co2 come out broader and get it to go around the tank better. But it actually just pushed co2 straight to the top.
c) also 2 days ago I did a pre-filter cleaning and ever since my main filter has been a bit slow, whereas I realised that my secondary flow-only filter is putting out a lot more flow/power
d) I moved the back flow-only filter from the back-right, to the back-left. I think that this configuration is better than the old one, but in combination with the above just made it worse.
So today I did this:
a) swapped the filters so the flow-filter is front-right, and the slower media-filter is back left
b) moved the co2 diffuser to this flow-filter. The co2 has always been in this front-right position, but now on a filter with more ommph
c) moved the jet lilypipe to the front-right again, so the water+ co2 really comes out powerfully.
d) whacked the co2 up because I could see the bubbles were not saturating the tank as much. It's now properly lime green. Just got to keep watching the fish today to make sure it hasn't been overdone.
e) removed as much algae as possible and trimmed any rubbish leaves.
Fingers crossed all of this makes a difference, the reason I haven't been posting many pics of this tank is that I've had subtle algae issues and slow growth the whole time. I've got a ~feeling~ that this configuration is right now, but we'll see!! I will post a FTS tomorrow after the waterchange so if/when things improve I can show off the difference
a) I pulled out the plug of the twinstar accidentally and broke the programming so the light was at 100% for a few days
b) 2 days ago I swapped the jet lily pipe by co2 was coming out of, and replaced it with a normal lily pipe because I thought it would make the co2 come out broader and get it to go around the tank better. But it actually just pushed co2 straight to the top.
c) also 2 days ago I did a pre-filter cleaning and ever since my main filter has been a bit slow, whereas I realised that my secondary flow-only filter is putting out a lot more flow/power
d) I moved the back flow-only filter from the back-right, to the back-left. I think that this configuration is better than the old one, but in combination with the above just made it worse.
So today I did this:
a) swapped the filters so the flow-filter is front-right, and the slower media-filter is back left
b) moved the co2 diffuser to this flow-filter. The co2 has always been in this front-right position, but now on a filter with more ommph
c) moved the jet lilypipe to the front-right again, so the water+ co2 really comes out powerfully.
d) whacked the co2 up because I could see the bubbles were not saturating the tank as much. It's now properly lime green. Just got to keep watching the fish today to make sure it hasn't been overdone.
e) removed as much algae as possible and trimmed any rubbish leaves.
Fingers crossed all of this makes a difference, the reason I haven't been posting many pics of this tank is that I've had subtle algae issues and slow growth the whole time. I've got a ~feeling~ that this configuration is right now, but we'll see!! I will post a FTS tomorrow after the waterchange so if/when things improve I can show off the difference
I'm down 4 otos out of my 5 new ones now, the first two had that nasty white infection, but the second two have had no marks on them, I think maybe it's that classic thing where they were starved for too long, poor babies. I forgot to ask the shop how long they'd had them in for cos I was tired, won't make that mistake again. Not sure if the last one will survive, I guess we'll see. So far no other fish or bigger otos seem ill, but I'm still going to wait a good month before adding any other fish to make sure.
I keep forgetting to take a photo, this si with the light on a bit low in the evening in the ramp down.
On the upside all the moving around of filters and upping the co2 has made a big improvement in the tank - there is no longer any melting!! And along with that, all plants are putting out new leaves finally, and there's a lot more pearling. There is still a lot of hair algae (see photo below) but it's growing much more slowly now. I'm planning on doing a blackout this weekend to give it a shock, this worked well for me in my lowtechs and I've heard in hightechs it works even better. I really hate how bits get stuck in the algae andthere's just loads of crap floating about the tank, urghhhh.
I'm planning to add 10 wild cardinals so I have a nice school of 20 total (once the month of waiting is over with no fish problems). I'm going to get them before I decide if I should have a school of some sort of fancy small rainbow, I think maybe with the tetras it might feel full enough. When I started this tank I kept imagining all the lovely new fish I could get and how exciting that would be, but I'm really happy with the fish I already have acting more naturally and confidently, so it's still just about adding a few more of what I have so I can get the most interesting behaviours. I used to think that acting responsibly with stocking would make for a more boring tank, but I am really enamoured by the behaviour of the fish I have now, and how much more confidently they act when I add some more. The pygmy corydoras are still bundles of joy, and seeing the kuhlis more is GREAT.
I do want to add a second female macmasteri apisto. Originally I thought I could maybe keep another pair of apistos in there but clearly that's rolling the dice and things are very nice right now, I don't want to upset that balance, or keep another tank if things go very wrong (not yet at least 👀). Apparently macmasteri are harem fish who don't form strong pair bonding so it should be ok with a second female, and I'd like one that isn't related to mix the genetics up a bit. I suppose I will get some mroe otos again at some point, but not until I know some really good ones are in stock which have been at the shop for a month minimum.
Eventually I'd also quite like some bamboo shrimp, as the flow is high and right in the direction of the big wood, so I think they'd do well, and it's easy to feed that area. Would vampire shrimp work as well as bamboo shrimp? They look amazing but can they climb a lot? I think this is a creature for when the planting and everything is going really well though, a final stocking for in a few months. Maybe a Christmas present to myself
Finaly, I wanted to show off this amazing little lotus I bought from World of Water, it's put out two new leaves and I'm so glad I fixed the co2 so it didn't melt. I wasn't planning on adding any lotus to this tank, but I simply couldn't resist, this is my favourite plant from Christel's book! Hopefully once the tnak is more balanced and growing really well with less algae I can slowly raise the light and get it to put out some floating leaves (baby plantlets come out of floating leaves apparently!).
I keep forgetting to take a photo, this si with the light on a bit low in the evening in the ramp down.
On the upside all the moving around of filters and upping the co2 has made a big improvement in the tank - there is no longer any melting!! And along with that, all plants are putting out new leaves finally, and there's a lot more pearling. There is still a lot of hair algae (see photo below) but it's growing much more slowly now. I'm planning on doing a blackout this weekend to give it a shock, this worked well for me in my lowtechs and I've heard in hightechs it works even better. I really hate how bits get stuck in the algae andthere's just loads of crap floating about the tank, urghhhh.
I'm planning to add 10 wild cardinals so I have a nice school of 20 total (once the month of waiting is over with no fish problems). I'm going to get them before I decide if I should have a school of some sort of fancy small rainbow, I think maybe with the tetras it might feel full enough. When I started this tank I kept imagining all the lovely new fish I could get and how exciting that would be, but I'm really happy with the fish I already have acting more naturally and confidently, so it's still just about adding a few more of what I have so I can get the most interesting behaviours. I used to think that acting responsibly with stocking would make for a more boring tank, but I am really enamoured by the behaviour of the fish I have now, and how much more confidently they act when I add some more. The pygmy corydoras are still bundles of joy, and seeing the kuhlis more is GREAT.
I do want to add a second female macmasteri apisto. Originally I thought I could maybe keep another pair of apistos in there but clearly that's rolling the dice and things are very nice right now, I don't want to upset that balance, or keep another tank if things go very wrong (not yet at least 👀). Apparently macmasteri are harem fish who don't form strong pair bonding so it should be ok with a second female, and I'd like one that isn't related to mix the genetics up a bit. I suppose I will get some mroe otos again at some point, but not until I know some really good ones are in stock which have been at the shop for a month minimum.
Eventually I'd also quite like some bamboo shrimp, as the flow is high and right in the direction of the big wood, so I think they'd do well, and it's easy to feed that area. Would vampire shrimp work as well as bamboo shrimp? They look amazing but can they climb a lot? I think this is a creature for when the planting and everything is going really well though, a final stocking for in a few months. Maybe a Christmas present to myself
Finaly, I wanted to show off this amazing little lotus I bought from World of Water, it's put out two new leaves and I'm so glad I fixed the co2 so it didn't melt. I wasn't planning on adding any lotus to this tank, but I simply couldn't resist, this is my favourite plant from Christel's book! Hopefully once the tnak is more balanced and growing really well with less algae I can slowly raise the light and get it to put out some floating leaves (baby plantlets come out of floating leaves apparently!).
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John q
Member
To late mate, you're already on the slippery slope by letting that thought pop into your head 😆
I have the tank in the shed (100lx40dx30h), and the wood, and the plans for plants & stocking (100% rainwater, blackwater, wabi kusa emergents etc)... but things have been complicated by the flat downstairs from us (we're the top flat in a 2-flat maisonette) suddenly became potentially available to buy, so all money + time is going into trying to get that right now. Of couse if we did get that, then I could have a wonderful large tank and in the renovations plumb it into the house and do a big roof rainwater collection system and all sorts of fabulous stuff like that, so things are on hold for a little while for a good reason. Also it is good to try to get this tank under control first lol!
If it falls through, I always have the one in the shed
I really want to keep dicrossus, and since I don't think they'll fit in this tank, they'll have to go in another!!John q
Member
Well I hope the potential purchase works out and you are indeed wise to concentrate on the current newly set up tank.
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Luciën
Member
I just love that lotus. If I have the right place for it I would definitely try it someday.
Thank you, big fingers crossed! It would so good, I'm already fantasising about all the lovely tanks we could keep if we had the whole space. And an amazing pond/waterfeature in the garden
And honestly, focusing on this tank, and one of my other smaller tanks (45L which is a mess right now and needs a good rescape) and getting them under some control so weekly maintenence keeps them going well is definitely a priority. Now it seems like real life is finally slowly returning I want to enjoy the aquariums as part of my life, rather than most of it as it has been during covid. It's been the best hobby to discover and learn and enjoy over this past year and a half, and I want to continue it forever so making sure it fits into life when things are more busy is an important step I think.
And ignoring the scape side, I've still got to decorate the cabinet! That's the next big job, I'm currently planning some sort of Chinoserie-style aquatic painting lol.
Thanks! It is a beauty. It doesn't really fit in with the style of this scape but I just couldn't resist, especially since Brexit has made it so hard to find rarer plants. Every interesting plant found must be snapped up!
I did a blackout which ended today, and it's gone quite well. While there is some spyro left, the vast majority of it is gone. I'm going to wait a week to see if it returns and needs another blast (the Tom Barr method says to do it several times to really weaken the algae before it goes), but I also want to make sure my plants will be ok. Most plants seem fine, just the lotus has very long stems, and the stem plants at the back are a bit elongated. I have some bba on the top-half of the tank (see photo below), so I'm going to turn my attention to that next. I think by painting it with excel during a water change, and just trimming it off (on the moss which the excel would kill anyway). Watching the IAPLC really made me think... I need to get my plant health up to scratch and really adjust everything better, that growth is amazing no matter the layout. If they can do it I can, just need to keep watching and slowly adjusting.
When Mr Apisto started eating the nice black cherries in the tank, I rescued 6 of them (all I could find over several days), and put them in a fish-free tank. I thought that since Mr Daffodil had lived with a load of cull shrimp in his other tank he wouldn't eat the black ones (He never bothered to try to eat the culls in that tank), but he really loved them.... a lot.
I decided instead to put some cull shrimp (which live outside in a pot-pond) in this tank to help eat algae, and I thought if he didn't notice them in the small one, maybe they will be ok in this one. Or maybe they will be eaten and Mr Daffodil will have some fun idk. Interestingly, some of them have turned into bright red adults. Easy pickings for Mr Daffodil, you might think, but there's about 5 big adults in there now who are out all the time and seem totally fine. They live on the top-half of the tank amoungst moss and buce. I thought this was really strange, surely a red cherry is very easy to see and eat, until I realised that from below, they just look like the underside of most of my buces, which are red underneath... so bright red cherries end up camoflaging really well. I catch several babies whenever I clean the filter, so hopefully I will end up with a clever little cherry colony after all The top red thing is a shrimp, and below it is a buce leaf to see what I mean!
When Mr Apisto started eating the nice black cherries in the tank, I rescued 6 of them (all I could find over several days), and put them in a fish-free tank. I thought that since Mr Daffodil had lived with a load of cull shrimp in his other tank he wouldn't eat the black ones (He never bothered to try to eat the culls in that tank), but he really loved them.... a lot.
I decided instead to put some cull shrimp (which live outside in a pot-pond) in this tank to help eat algae, and I thought if he didn't notice them in the small one, maybe they will be ok in this one. Or maybe they will be eaten and Mr Daffodil will have some fun idk. Interestingly, some of them have turned into bright red adults. Easy pickings for Mr Daffodil, you might think, but there's about 5 big adults in there now who are out all the time and seem totally fine. They live on the top-half of the tank amoungst moss and buce. I thought this was really strange, surely a red cherry is very easy to see and eat, until I realised that from below, they just look like the underside of most of my buces, which are red underneath... so bright red cherries end up camoflaging really well. I catch several babies whenever I clean the filter, so hopefully I will end up with a clever little cherry colony after all
The top red thing is a shrimp, and below it is a buce leaf to see what I mean!
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Another update to say that the changes in flow and increase in CO2 even more after the blackout (just a tiny tiny touch of the dial) seem to have worked really well, things are definitely growing better and faster. I still think I might need to up it a tiny bit more, as my java fern and bolbitis are still not growing right yet, but we'll see, I think maybe just some stability for a few weeks will tell me a lot though so holding off for now. I also realised I should've been dosing 40ml of ferts a day and was doing more like 30, so will see if that makes a difference starting this week. Some bits of the tank are actually starting to look.... nice, finally. Hopefully this is an upward tragectory now towards great plant health. The hair algae is also definitely receeding now, you can see the mosses on the top more clearly. I also added some more cull red cherry shrimps that live on the top, maybe they help a little. Yesterday I did a bit of a rejig to define the different areas more because things were looking off, I think it's looking better now, and now I can really see where I need some new plants and where I can just let things grow into niceness. I still have a lot of leaves in the back which is blocking the light to the lower archway, but that'll go away in a bit when the otos finish eating them.
This wood section is my favourite, it looks much better irl lol. Still obsessed with the idea of bamboo shrimp feeding on this log, as it gets loads of flow.
This left area needs a lot of work, but now I've moved things around there's more light and more space (took some twigs out that were blocking being able to reach it easily). Hopefully bolbitis will start to grow well soon as that's one of my favourites and can cover many sins.
Ms Apisto is doing her eggs behaviour again, this time I have some dried bbs eggs ready to go as her last 3 broods have all died within a week and I think it's from lack of food, I won't feed them like I did with the original group (6 feedings a day with a syringe!!), but I will feed them at least once a day and see how that goes. And if they all disappear again I know it's from the other fish eating them lol. I'm on the lookout for a second female if anyone sees nice ones around, I want one that isn't related to improve genetics if they do breed lol. I really wanted another pair of apistos, but then realised actually jsut another female would be great and enough, Mr Daffodil is the King of this tank and I don't want to stress him out with any rivals.
Here's a big kuhli in the front, a rare sighting! You can really see how much bigger they are than my baby ones, who seem to not be afraid of me at all and are always out unlike the big guys.
This wood section is my favourite, it looks much better irl lol. Still obsessed with the idea of bamboo shrimp feeding on this log, as it gets loads of flow.
This left area needs a lot of work, but now I've moved things around there's more light and more space (took some twigs out that were blocking being able to reach it easily). Hopefully bolbitis will start to grow well soon as that's one of my favourites and can cover many sins.
Ms Apisto is doing her eggs behaviour again, this time I have some dried bbs eggs ready to go as her last 3 broods have all died within a week and I think it's from lack of food, I won't feed them like I did with the original group (6 feedings a day with a syringe!!), but I will feed them at least once a day and see how that goes. And if they all disappear again I know it's from the other fish eating them lol. I'm on the lookout for a second female if anyone sees nice ones around, I want one that isn't related to improve genetics if they do breed lol. I really wanted another pair of apistos, but then realised actually jsut another female would be great and enough, Mr Daffodil is the King of this tank and I don't want to stress him out with any rivals.
Here's a big kuhli in the front, a rare sighting! You can really see how much bigger they are than my baby ones, who seem to not be afraid of me at all and are always out unlike the big guys.
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