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90x30x30 low maintenance

Surya said:
Thank you - hmm, sounds like a particularly sensitive species...? It's a shame as I really love the look of it. I'm glad you've got some that is working for your tank. I'll probably give it a try and see what happens.
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It might be that the ones I bought were infected with something at the farm? For the ones I tried propagating, perhaps I cut them with scissors that weren't sharp enough. Their rhizomes can get quite thick.

Sharing couple of pictures! So weird that these aren't Corydoras anymore

Brochis sp CW155
53797668293_afd12f178a_h.jpg20240617_224024 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Hoplisoma caudimaculatum and one Hoplisoma sp CW027
53797668368_5d34f8992d_h.jpg20240617_224239 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
I took a day off work today so I did a big water change this morning.

Was looking at the tank and realised that one of my ember tetras seems to have sustained a bit of damage on his dorsal fin. The tip of his dorsal looks pretty much gone. I do recall having one with a dodgy dorsal fin but that was years ago so I don't think it's this same individual. Doesn't look like it's rotting or fuzzy so I'm hoping it heals over soon. When I picked up my CW027s they all had torn up dorsals which healed up in a matter of days so I think he will be fine.

Anyway, here's a picture of more fish:

CW027 and CW051
53805587569_c8d6901d1e_h.jpg20240619_215113 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Not sure what happened but I saw a little rotting on the Anubias 'jade, where I last made a cut. I suspect that I didn't cut cleanly enough that time. I really should get a new pair of scissors. Had to remove a chunk of rhizome but thankfully it wasn't a lot.

Here's what's left of it which is still a good amount plus the one I propagated is growing.
53806428419_6139b9938c_h.jpg20240621_213800 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Happy to see some new growth on the Anubias coffeefolia
53806428429_7b731c2560_h.jpg20240621_212850 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
I'm supposed to do maintenance for my tanks this weekend but I am a little sick at the moment. My head hurts so much. I might skip the maintenance this week if I'm not better tomorrow.

A friend of mine went for a short trip to Malaysia and came back to 13 dead Corydoras with red blotches on their body. I am thankful that I've never encountered such an issue but it does make me wonder what causes it. I thought it might be a bacterial issue caused by high temperatures as Corydoras don't like overly warm water but I have two CW51s in an unchilled quarantine tank and they appear to be fine.

I might do a water change later in the evening if I'm feeling up to it. Otherwise i'll just rest.
 
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chickennublet said:
A friend of mine went for a short trip to Malaysia and came back to 13 dead Corydoras with red blotches on their body.
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That could be septicemia, which is caused by a bacterial infection. If it were, it would have a high mortality rate, which would explain a lot of deaths in a short space.

Definitely, it is time to ensure the aquarium has lots of filtration and increased maintenance. Even with antibiotics, the recovery rate is hardgoing.
 
Bradders said:
That could be septicemia, which is caused by a bacterial infection. If it were, it would have a high mortality rate, which would explain a lot of deaths in a short space.

Definitely, it is time to ensure the aquarium has lots of filtration and increased maintenance. Even with antibiotics, the recovery rate is hardgoing.
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The fish in his breeding set ups are all doing fine though and they are in smaller tanks than the one in which the fish died. Not sure what happened.

I was going to rest but after hearing about his tank I decided to do a big water change. Glad I did because I actually feel a little better after doing it!
 
Gave the fish a cube of bloodworms earlier. They finished it quite quickly so I might have to give them 2 cubes sometimes.

Noticed that one of my CW155 seems to have lost a barbel. All of his other barbels are intact and all the other fish have all their barbels. The substrate is fine sand so I'm not sure how he lost it and it stresses me out a little because I don't want to have to isolate him when they are so difficult to net.

My two CW51s grew their barbels back from almost nothing, so I hope this guy will grow his back without incident.
 
Haven't updated in a while.

No full tank shot since not much has changed. I tried increasing brightness a tiny bit but I didn't really like how bright it looked so I've reverted the changes. I don't think my fish liked the brightness either. Unfortunately, the Anubias pinto seems to be reverting with not much variegation showing on its latest leaf.

Have suffered a small spate of fish losses recently:
1. I lost a CW51 that was in quarantine, after it developed strange growths on its body and a cloudy eye. 6 days of medication and constant water changes did not save him. His tank mate (another CW51 that I've had for more than a year now is absolutely fine. I've moved him from quarantine into this tank now.
2. My 2nd Otocinclus cocama died. I won't be getting more so soon.
3. I think my Otocinclus vittatus (not sure of the species to be honest) died as I haven't seen him much lately. I've had him for over two years. A little bummed
4. Have not seen all 3 CW155s together in a few days. During feeding last night, I only saw 2 of them. Honestly rather worried.

Not much has changed in terms of routine. Clean glass and big water change weekly. Trim the overgrown java sometimes. I was recently stressing over not seeing all 5 of the Hoplisoma caudimaculatum too but just a few days ago I saw all 5 of them so I know they are fine. I do hope the CW155 is fine too.

The two big CW51s that I bought in May that I was stressing out over a while ago are doing incredibly well. I took a picture of one of them a couple of weeks ago.

2024-08-04_10-40-42 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

I also found their new favourite food: freeze-dried tubifex worms. They are quite messy as they float around a lot even though they are supposed to stick to the glass. They do sink when I tear them into smaller portions and squeeze them underwater really hard. The Corydoras love it, although I think that the smaller ones find it difficult to eat their share. Here's a video:

 
Hi everyone

Did a bit of rearranging recently. Unfortunately I only counted two CW155s and no Otocinclus so I really did lose them. Couldnt find their bodies either. My ember tetra and Trigonostigma somphongsi numbers are dwindling as well but I guess that's to be expected since I've already had them for a while. The rest of the Corydoras are all accounted for.

I decided to rearrange it so that there would be more room for the Corydoras to hang out on the left but as expected they still prefer to hide in the back. I'm trying to feed them on the left side so that they get used to coming out in the open but when I put food in, they still head to the right first because I used to drop their food there where there's more shelter. Anyway, here's a picture. Some of the Corydoras are out in the open but I did take this picture shortly after feeding. Hopefully they are figuring out where I want them to eat.

20240918_195810 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
Small update.

Recently a friend of mine who works at a part-time fish store helped me to pick up a Hoplisma caudimaculatum and 3 Hoplisoma concolor. Probably one of the better stores in my city as they don't misidentify fish and take husbandry quite seriously. I would have gone down to the shop myself to buy them but I was way too busy so he kept them for me in his home tanks for a while. I just picked them up last Thursday.

I also finally had time to drop by the store on Sunday as I said I would pass him some Java fern and I ended up leaving with 5 Gastrodermus hastatus which were bred by the store.

I decided not to quarantine them, which I hope will not turn out to be a terrible decision. I realise that I am taking quite a risk here. Thankfully, all the new additions are so far showing no signs of illness. All very active (and greedy for food!). Only thing I did notice is the caudi having rather short barbels but I don't see any wounds or strange growths on his face. They will grow back.

I also decided to try feeding them JBL Novotabs again. A year ago when I started this journal I only had a few Sterbai and CW51s and they didn't seem to like this food very much but I bought a fresh bottle recently. I'm not sure what changed but the fish really seem to like it, especially my CW155s. Also happy to say that they are a lot more daring than before, they come right up to the glass to eat. They still spend most of the time hiding but at least they are confident enough to come out to eat. Here is a short video:

 
Not a very nice update. I have lost one of the hastatus already. Not sure what happened but it lost it's tail. I got it out of the tank the moment I saw him. Pretty sure he couldn't be saved so I euthanised him with a bit of clove oil. I am hoping that the rest of the fish will be fine but if not then it's just the consequences of not quarantining them and I will have to live with it.

I should be down to four of them.

I also noticed a bit of rotting in some plants. I did a bit of siphoning two nights ago and when I added water back in some Anubias jade leaves floated off. Also noticed a bit of mushy rhizome in one of my Anubias coffeefolia from the oldest end. I've cut off the affected portions but I would really hate to lose my the Anubias coffeefolia. I'm also concerned the rot spreading because of all the Anubias nana petite in there.

Will have to look over the rest of the Anubias this weekend which will take a lot of time so that I can get rid of any other affected plants before it's too late. Not looking forward to it but it has to be done. If my Anubias is too far gone, I might consider a simple rescape.
 
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Haven't seen anything wrong with the rest of the Anubias which is good. I got rid of a bunch of Bucephalandra kedagang which was growing very poorly and straggly. Also topped a bunch of Bucephalandra silver powder because they were growing very straggly too. I have quite a lot of them now. I think they are quite a plain species of Bucephalandra but I still quite like them.

All the fish are still accounted for, which I am grateful for considering how I lost one of the hastatus recently.
 
Small update

I've lost 2 Gastrodermus hastatus and have just 3 left. 2 of these are quite big and round. There is is one that is small and also starting to look a little rough. Tail fin appears to be torn. A little scared to repeat what happened the last time so I've quickly set up another tank and moved this little one over. Filtration is just a small internal filter with media from this main tank for now. I also have a sponge filter that I will set up very soon I'm just waiting on an air pump at the moment.

I also poured the water from my canister filter into that other tank. I know BB doesn't really live in the water but I hope that will go some way towards establishing some BB in this tank. The water looks really cloudy at the moment but I think it should be alright. There were a lot of shrimp in there too.

Just some pictures of the the main tank in the meantime

20241103_210052 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
20241001_190743 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
20241103_225817 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
chickennublet said:
Small update

I've lost 2 Gastrodermus hastatus and have just 3 left. 2 of these are quite big and round. There is is one that is small and also starting to look a little rough. Tail fin appears to be torn. A little scared to repeat what happened the last time so I've quickly set up another tank and moved this little one over. Filtration is just a small internal filter with media from this main tank for now. I also have a sponge filter that I will set up very soon I'm just waiting on an air pump at the moment.

I also poured the water from my canister filter into that other tank. I know BB doesn't really live in the water but I hope that will go some way towards establishing some BB in this tank. The water looks really cloudy at the moment but I think it should be alright. There were a lot of shrimp in there too.
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I've been watching this tank's progress for , I guess , 4 maybe 5 years now . Both here and previously on TPT. Probably one of my favorite builds . But I've got a couple of questions :
How are your plants stuck to the rocks ; glued , tied ?
How do you deal with the spaces between the rocks ? Do you fill them with substrate , or just leave the spaces open ?
If the voids between the rocks are open , any problems with fish going into the spaces and 'never being seen again'?
 
Someoldguy said:
I've been watching this tank's progress for , I guess , 4 maybe 5 years now . Both here and previously on TPT. Probably one of my favorite builds . But I've got a couple of questions :
How are your plants stuck to the rocks ; glued , tied ?
How do you deal with the spaces between the rocks ? Do you fill them with substrate , or just leave the spaces open ?
If the voids between the rocks are open , any problems with fish going into the spaces and 'never being seen again'?
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Hiya! Thank you for the kind words, I'm actually flattered. Not sure why I stopped updating my thread on TPT I should probably do so soon.

To answer your questions:
The Anubias nana petites and Bucephalandra are for the most part tied to small lava rocks. I bought all the Anubias nana petites from other hobbyists and from aquarium shops already attached to the rocks. Some of the Bucephalandra are tied to small lava rocks as well. But a good number of Bucephalandra and Anubias nana petites are sort of just wedged in wherever there is space. Since these plants are so small I usually wedge any loose rhizomes I might have into other Anubias clumps. There's so many of them that they sort of hold each other together in place.

That big Anubias coffeefolia is not tied or glued to anything. There is a small piece of wood in there and I originally sort of loosely wedged this plant in there but it never really attached itself very securely to the wood. I think it's currently being held there just by how big it is and also by all the java fern behind it.

The Java ferns are nearly all not attached to anything. Only the leftmost piece of Java fern is tied to a small piece of wood which again I bought years ago at an LFS and it came with the driftwood. The wood itself is not very interesting. The rest of the Java fern is just there but they are such thick clumps that they kind of hold themselves in place. They are kind of squeezed between the back glass and the Anubias in front of them.

So there's not much hardscape in there at all. There are some small lava rock in the front part of the scape, where the Anubias and Bucephalandra are growing, then a small piece of wood behind the big Anubias coffeefolia. The space under the Anubias coffeefolia and behind it is open so that the Corydoras can swim through, but it's dark there so not very obvious. The Corydoras tend to hand in that little space there. I'm not sure how to describe it so i'll take a picture soon. The rest of the plants are just there and held in place from how big they are lol.

The spaces between the rocks are open but there aren't many in the first place. They are wide enough for smaller Corydoras to swim between them but the chunky ones won't fit.

I have had some Otocinclus, Parotocinclus and one Corydoras CW155 disappear this year, but I'm not sure if any fish has ever gotten stuck between the hardscape. It's possible but I've never seen it myself. I did a bit of rearranging in September where I removed all the plants and ended up putting them back nearly exactly where they were before but I didn't see any bodies then.
 
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