• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

25 Liters - Low Tech

Bought 4 Carnegiella strigata - Marbled Hatchetfish. I know they are not the best choice with hard water but I read that Paracheirodon simulans can't live in hard water, but mine are very active and healthy.

Originally I had 1 male guppy, then I added other two males and they probably carried some hidden disease because after some days the first male and one of the 2 last added ones clamped their tails and died the same day. So I have only one male now, so I bought Marbled Hatchetfish which live near the surface. But the guppy continues to chase them, in particular he tries to bite their pectoral fins. I didn't know a guppy would have this behaviour. I hope it's only a temporary thing because he is bothering Hatchetfish since I put them in the tank some hours ago. Now I turned off the light hoping that guppy calms down a bit.


10xho4l.jpg
 
Hi all,
stefano-bonalume said:
4 Carnegiella strigata - Marbled Hatchetfish.
Click to expand...
They are quite tricky to keep long term, one problem is that they jump at feeding time, and if they have territorial disputes, you need a really good lid to keep them in the tank. Even though they aren't very big fish I wouldn't keep them in a tank smaller than 60cm long, as they can be quite nasty to one another. The other is feeding, they won't live long term just on dry foods, and they won't always chase Daphnia etc which are lower down in the water column. If you can get a "vestigial winged Drosophila" culture (they well them to feed Dart Frogs etc) it makes long term care easier.
stefano-bonalume said:
So I have only one male now, so I bought Marbled Hatchetfish which live near the surface. But the guppy continues to chase them, in particular he tries to bite their pectoral fins.
Click to expand...
I think its their shape, he thinks they are really ripe female Guppies and that they should mate with him.

cheers Darrel
 
I bought only 4 of them because even if they like to live in groups, I read that in an aquarium they sometimes could be aggressive with each other.
I know that my tank is not the best for them in fact of space, but I think that is not too bad, compared to most of the community tanks in which will end all the other Hatchetfish that there were at the fish store.
I hope to find some Drosophila flying around in my house so I can start a culture.

You are right about the guppy! While initially the guppy was constantly chasing them, after some hours he changed his behaviour. He is now calmer and less aggressive than before; he swims under one Hatchetfish and moves his anal fin\gonopodium like he would do during mating with a female guppy. He also has more vibrant colors.
I think that soon he'll stop mistaking them for female guppies.
 
Cleaned and repositioned Bolbitis heudelotii rhizomes. Many fronds were green but not attached anymore to the rhizomes, so I cut all to help water circulation and light to reach the rhizomes to encourage new growth. I cut some rhizomes that were growing where I didn't want and pushed them between the others, so they should stay in place while new roots grow.
I also found many little broken pieces of Lomariopsis lineata. I didn't want to throw them away so I tied them together on a mesh.
Not the best look for now but I am happy that I removed all those dead fronds.

j8mjxu.jpg

2ut53ck.jpg

idx2l4.jpg
 
I like the simplicity of it. Very natural looking. Any shrimps in there?
 
Thanks. I'm still trying to reach a satisfying scape but the problem is that I have not a definite project.
Yes there are 3 Caridina japonica and few Neocaridina davidi (probably Red Cherry x Red Sakura).
 
I'd like to find some thin but long rock of the same type of the one I have to put through the Cryptocoryne patch to give continuity with the right rocks side.
 
Great shape and composition. Lovely.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hi, very Nice triangular shape composition in such an low volume tank!:thumbup:

I really like the color of these crypts, great contrast.

I would add some ada aqua Gravel S size between the rocks and the sand.

Any problem with the 'algae moss ball'?
 
Thank you!
If I find smaller rocks of the same type I'll try to add them. I Don't want to add too much small rocks because I have the impression that it all gets too messy.
And no, I didn't have any problem with Aegagropila linnaei \ Marimo algae. What "problem" are you talking about? The only thing I could say is that I expected a much slower growth.
The bigger pillow more than a year ago was about 5 mm wide; now is about 4 cm wide. And the smaller pillow in the front originated from few hairs that came off from the bigger one and got stuck in Cryptocoryne parva. Maybe I'll reduce the size of the bigger one, tying it again to a little rock so hairs comes off less easily.

Here you can see how the biggest one I currently have looked when I first started the tank. I kept only one of them because I didn't know where to put them in my actual scape.

2jcwjea.jpg
 
I had it when I first started the tank, not now. Then I changed the gravel, added plants etc. The tank changed a lot since then.
I like bettas a lot, but they have a bad temperament and in such a small tank like mine, I would have to keep it alone. It would eat all my Neocaridina shrimps and chase Green Neon Tetras all the time, and it would be even more angry with the Guppy. Bettas limitate too much on tank mates you can keep with them. If I would have more than one tank, I would have at least one Betta.They observe and look interested in what happens outside of the tank and look more intelligent than most of the fish of their size. Definitely my favourite fish.
 
About marimo algae; some french aquascapers has got an invasion of this algae on their rocks, plants everything...always scared me to use it in my scape, I do love the look of this algae thought. 🙂
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top