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90x30x30 low maintenance

Got off work late. The shop I visited did not have metro. Have no time left tonight to head to another shop they will close by the time i head there.

A different branch of this shop has metro in stock. Will head out early tomorrow to get some.
 
Obtained some metronidazole and have dosed the tank with it. I soaked some frozen bloodworms with it and fed it to the fish as well. Am using medication from a local brand which a lot of local hobbyists trust. Have only heard good things about their meds and I've used their praziquantel product before.

Will dose for 2 more days according to the directions, then do a big water change and follow up with praziquantel if no improvement.

Also just to update, I have let four CW51s into the main tank. They are all active and eating well. Colouration is normal too.
 
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Decided to do maintenance on my filter late last night and made a very unexpected find in my canister filter

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20240519_004520 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Corydoras sterbai fry! I only found two of them in the filter. I did notice that the eggs in the aquarium disappeared and I wasn't going to raise them anyway but to find two fry in the filter was quite a surprise and makes me think that there might be other fry in the tank.

I don't have any live foods to feed at all and i don't have a set up to hatch BBS at the moment (nor do I want one to be frank) so I shall try feeding these guys powdered food (i'll just crush pellets, basically) and hope they make it to adulthood.
 
Wanted to share an update on the Corydoras CW51s

Number One which I acquired on 1st June last year and who I've had nearly a year. Noticed in late March that he was doing very unwell. Clamped fins, would not move away from the back left corner of the tank, lost his barbels and showed no interest in food. I attributed this to stress from the recent heat wave we had in our country (someone I know lost all his flagtail catfish when his water went up to 32 degrees Celsius). Obtained a used chiller to maintain the temperature between 25 to 26 degrees Celsius and moved him to a breeder box in the middle of April (I received some flak for this here but I had to make sure he ate). Has had massive improvement since then. Actively searching for food. He has stopped clamping his fins constantly although I do notice him doing it from time to time. He did clamp his fins sometimes even when he was healthy so perhaps he's just a little more timid than other individuals. Unfortunately, it appears that only one side of his barbels have recovered and he has taken on a strange colouration. But he seems healthy otherwise so I wonder if whatever it is that's responsible for pigmentation got damaged permanently from the heat. In any case, I think it's time to move him out of the box to join the rest of the CW51s. He is eating well and not skinny, which I think is a really good sign.

Number Two is a small one which I acquired in late September last year. Maybe because this one is younger than Number One (I assume he is younger because he is considerably smaller), he seemed a bit more well adjusted than Number One. During the heat wave, did not have trouble eating at all, although did appear less active than usual and also lost his barbels. They have regrown beautifully and is now in the main tank.

Numbers Three and Four are two small ones which I acquired on 13 April 2024. No issues with them so I've let them out.

Numbers Five and Six are the two biggest ones I have and I bought them on 4 May 2024. Number Five took to pellets immediately and is very active in the tank. Number Six was initially not interested in food but is slowly coming round. Saw him eat frozen bloodworms and recently has taken to pellets as well so I think with proper maintenance and feeding, all six of them will be fine.

Here are Two, Three, Four and Five chilling
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20240514_164354 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Five and Four
53732870461_6593db48fb_h.jpg
20240519_215514 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

One and Six are in here. Six is in the front. Can't really see One here. I will be letting them out this week.
53732870456_64f88a7d77_h.jpg
20240519_220823 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
The CW51s in the breeding box are eating. I have been feeding them food soaked with metronidazole and I hope that takes care of the majority of any parasites they might have. I think it's working as I have 3 Corydoras CW27s in quarantine (they came with damaged dorsals) and I fed them some of the food two nights ago and last night when I came home from work noticed some strange poop on the bottom of the tank.

I am a bit hesitant to dose levamisole because of the shrimp and there are probably some random snails in there too. I am also worried about whether I will be able to remove any worms the fish purge after the treatment but... I have ordered the medication just in case I need it.

EDIT: Saw the CW51 in the box pooping at it looks normal. Not white or stringy. Hopefully they won't need any more medication!
 
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I did a very small bit of rearrangement. I wanted more water volume in the tank so I decided to take out two big pieces of seiryu stone which aren't even visible. I also wanted more space on the left and right sides of the tank so that the Corydoras would have more space to chill. Unfortunately... I don't really like the end result. The Java fern is honestly massive now and I think the scape would look better if I got rid of some, but considering the number of fish in there at the moment I feel like I want all the plant mass I can get. I do prefer how the tank looked just before the small rescape, and also how it looked on the first page when there was less plant mass overall but the plants stretched to the right. Will probably mess with the scape again over the weekend.

Also did a big weekly water change of around 70% I reckon.

For the Corydoras CW51s, I let the one with the big blotch into the tank and moved the one I had the longest to a 45x30x30cm quarantine/hospital tank as I noticed that his eyes looked a little sunken in. I recall reading something that Ian Fuller said before, that Corydoras with sunken eyes are either old and are nearing the end of their lifespans, or is not getting enough nutrition. Since the rest of the fish appear to be healthy and chonky, I will be paying closer attention to this one guy. Haven't gotten round to deworming and will do so tomorrow.

Here is a full tank shot. It looks rather dim as I took the picture close to 11pm and there was a lot of condensation so the glass is a little blurry. The Corydoras were all out but hid the moment I wiped the glass
53749217063_8469891636_h.jpg
20240526_225138 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Here is the other CW51
53747763768_d0e0705f97_h.jpg
20240525_095445 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
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richardcunliffe said:
More of an island composition than triangular now, maybe just needs to make its mind up. Still a great tank!
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Thank you! Yeah, I just need to decide what I like more. It is currently growing on me actually. I'm not sure if the Corydoras appreciated the right being a little more shaded though. Will probably need just a bit of tweaking.

53755111635_a003bd884e_h.jpg
20240529_192737 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
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A bunch of Corydoras were out and about yesterday evening so I decided to take a picture.

Current fish list
1. Corydoras sterbai x 5
2. Corydoras caudimaculatus x 5
3. Corydoras CW51 x 5 (6th one in a hospital tank as he appears to be approaching the end of his life)
4. Corydoras CW27 x 3
5. Corydoras CW155 x 3 (small)
6. Corydoras CW115 x 1 (small) (was given to me for free from the breeder of the CW155s)
7. Otocinclus cocama x 1
8. Otocinclus sp. x 1 (not sure what species as the common ones look very similar)
9. Trigomostigma somphongsi x 8
10. Hyphessobrycon amandae (ember tetra) x 7

Filtration is one Biomaster 600. I used to use a 350 but decided to get a bigger one recently. Would have gone for the 850 but I don't have the space for it. I might get a large-ish HOB filter for more filtration.. Very unlikely to add any more large bottom dwelling fish. I might get a small group of Corydoras hastatus but we'll see how it goes.

53756889378_67756d2dfb_h.jpg
20240529_214644 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
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chickennublet said:
Filtration is one Biomaster 600. I used to use a 350 but decided to get a bigger one recently. Would have gone for the 850 but I don't have the space for it. I might get a large-ish HOB filter for more filtration.
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I wouldn't have thought you need any more filtration, if it's more flow you require the use of small powerhead would suffice and they're certainly no more obtrusive than a HOB.
But maybe that's not what you're after so take it with a pinch of salt.
 
bazz said:
I wouldn't have thought you need any more filtration, if it's more flow you require the use of small powerhead would suffice and they're certainly no more obtrusive than a HOB.
But maybe that's not what you're after so take it with a pinch of salt.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I'm just a little worried about the number of fish actually and how messy they are when eating. And I say I very likely won't add any more of them, but I still want some Corydoras concolor and Corydoras eversi if I can get my hands on them. Also one of my favourite LFS also recently received stock of some really nice CW028 and CW204. I'm having a difficult time resisting them. And I still want some Corydoras hastatus in there...
 
Rearranged yet again yesterday. Finally satisfied with the layout. Kept the big java ferns to the right of the tank and kept the shorter ones on the left to get a slightly more triangular composition. I prefer it like this. It looks like I thinned out the ferns but I kept virtually all of them in there. Very pleased!

I also bought a really big clump of Bucephalandra kedagang today which is at the right foreground behind some Anubias nana petite but I'm not sure if I like it there yet. I might perhaps need to thin it out a little so that it looks less straggly.

I'm not sure what kind of Microsorum pteropus I have in there. I have narrow leaf for sure which has grown quite monstrous from when I first acquired it last year. I also have a small bush on a piece of driftwood that I've had since I started keeping fish and it has stayed small and cute. Then I also have some really massive ones broad leaved ones and I have no idea what they are. I recall buying some that were sold as Microsorum pteropus "Philippines" a couple of years back and I wonder if it's that.

Anyway, full tank shot here. Am probably set in terms of planting. I might add a Bucephalandra or two to this tank but it's not gonna need any more plants for a while. Maintenance wise probably gonna have to thin out the Microsorum pteropus and trim the Anubias nana petite every couple of months and just big water changes and siphoning once a week.

53764088543_1acdc5464b_h.jpg
20240602_214118 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
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Just sharing a picture of my Corydoras caudimaculatus shortly after I acquired them

I bought 5, but I haven't seen all 5 of them in recent days. I did rearrange the scape a bit recently, a little worried that one of them might be stuck under some hardscape but should be very unlikely since there is only one medium piece of wood and one branch in there and not many rocks. I did see 4 of them hanging out last night. They are very small so I think it's likely that the 5th one was hiding. Will be watching the tank for a while.

EDIT: happy to say that all 5 Corydoras caudimaculatus are accounted for!

53768528385_7027609793_h.jpg
20240217_211841 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr
 
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This is just another photograph of the tank. Nothing has changed since the last full tank shot but almost all my Corydoras were out chilling so I took a picture:

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20240604_225714 by Lenny Lim, on Flickr

Four Corydoras sterbai on the left, the 5th one was in the middle of the tank but swam away before I took the picture. I've had two of them since early 2018! They are chonks. Can also see three Corydoras CW51 (including the 2 huge chonks with big blotches) in the middle hanging with three CW27s and one CW155. The CW27s were adopted from someone else. I'm actually not very sure if they are CW27s or not and they don't really have the nicest markings but I will be keeping them all the same, although I do regret taking them a little as they don't look very nice in my tank. Interestingly they were very coloured up when I first brought them home although their dorsal fins were rather torn up.

One CW155 in the middle with the big boys and one on the far right with hanging with a Corydoras caudimaculatus.

There is also actually a rather small CW115 hiding behind the Anubias nana 'Jade'. You can sort of see him if you zoom in. I hardly see him but it's always a treat when I do.
 
Fed the Corydoras a cube of frozen bloodworms and the whole lot of them went crazy. So much wriggling going on. They also finished the cube really fast so I gave them a few more pellets after that.

The CW51 in quarantine is eating quite well but the tank isn't lit so it's a little difficult to see if he is putting on weight. I don't know if anything is wrong with him. I moved him to another tank because I noticed that his eyes appeared to be sunken in and in Corydoras I have read that it indicates malnutrition from either poor diet or parasite issues or that the fish is nearing the end of its lifespan. Currently giving him a small amount of food (frozen bloodworms and pellets as I don't have access to live) everyday and lots of clean water. He has been in there for around 2 weeks now and I might keep him here long term until he looks healthy again. I originally wanted to leave his tank bare bottom so that it would be easier to clean but decided to buy some sand in the end so that I can give him some substrate to dig around in. Will also be running my spare BioMaster there which is probably overkill in terms of filtration but I will get better oxygenation and there will be a more water volume overall which I think will be beneficial. Will eventually buy a new light and a few easy plants to go in there too.

For now, just wanted to share a short video of my two big CW51s looking for food. Very happy to see that they are adjusting to the tank well.

 
So there was a rework of the Corydoradinae subfamily recently and the subfamily has been divided into 7 genera. The fish I have are no longer Corydoras, apparently. I am rather lost, but from briefly reading the posts flying around on social media, the 9 Corydoradinae lineages have bene divided into said 7 genera as follows:

Lineage 1 - Corydoras
Lineage 2 - Aspidoras
Lineage 3 -Scleromystax
Lineage 4 and 5 - Gastrodermus (the dwarf and elegans groups)
Lineage 7 - Osteogaster (the aeneus group)
Lineage 8 - Brochis
Lineages 6 and 9 - Hoplisoma

With that out of the way, these are the Corydoradinae that I currently have:

Hoplisoma sterbai
Hoplisoma caudimaculatus
Hoplisoma brevistrosis (might be CW27)
Hoplisoma CW51
Hoplisoma CW115
Brochis CW155
 
Surya said:
Beautiful tank! I particularly love your anubias coffeefolia - how long did it take to grow to that?
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Thank you! Anubias coffeefolia takes a really long time to grow.

I honestly can't remember how long I've had it the particular ones in the tank. I have had Anubias coffeefolia from when I first started this tank in 2019 and that particular one should be that big piece in the center of the tank. I think i've probably divided it once or twice now.

I also recall buying more of this plant before... From my records shopping online I think I bought 3 more plants last year, 2 of which small-ish, one rhizome specimens and one really massive one. But I remember that the massive one and one of the other smaller ones died as their rhizomes started to rot and they stank really badly. I kept cutting the rotting parts back but eventually threw them away when they got too far gone.

I think Anubias coffeefolia seem particularly susceptible to rhizome rot? I recently threw out two cuttings that I made from another biggish plant because their rhizomes started to rot recently. I would really like more but am just afraid that any new plant I add to this tank will rot away so I've decided to be patient and propagate what I have as they get bigger.
 
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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