Aquascaper 900 - Comeback Lockdown Tank :)

[Ady34]

Tank and inhabitants are all looking great Paulo, love the video, so relaxing.
With regards the drop checkers, have you tried switching their positions, ie put the lighter one to the darker ones position and vice versa. This will offer an indication of if it is simply difference due to circulation? I know they are close together but it could be that critical which is why co2 is so hard to get right.
Cheerio,

 

[LondonDragon]

Tank and inhabitants are all looking great Paulo, love the video, so relaxing.
With regards the drop checkers, have you tried switching their positions, ie put the lighter one to the darker ones position and vice versa. This will offer an indication of if it is simply difference due to circulation? I know they are close together but it could be that critical which is why co2 is so hard to get right.
Cheerio,

Many thanks Ady, I did add 6 Odessa barbs today (3 pairs)! 🙄 couldn't help it! They are like mini torpedoes in comparison to the Checkered! Not sure I can now add 6 Cherry barbs also! Might be 6 barbs too many! Wanted another SAE but none in stock 🙁
I am going to redo the two drop checkers with tomorrows water change and filter cleaning and see how that goes. I have some new bromo!

Did meet a fellow UKAPS member at the store @Alex Papp so that was a nice surprise 🙂

 

[kishan313]

Tank is coming along nicely, and great videos too.


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[LondonDragon]

Tank is coming along nicely, and great videos too.

Many thanks 🙂

 

[LondonDragon]

Quick update, couple of photos:





Photos taken after tank maintenance, still haven't trimmed the Juncus, still trying to think the best way to do it.

So the CO2 issues seemed to have lasted for at least 3 weeks which seems to be under control, I have noticed some algae starting to go away and also the snail population reducing, do barbs eat snails? I see them on the grass and plant leaves picking stuff of it and it seems to have gone down quickly since adding the fish! Most likely coincidence.

This week also have redone my ferts, have gone back to me original recipe with a little more of Nitrogen as someone mentioned maybe yellowish grass and I have seen a couple of the older Anubias leaves going a little yellow too, also increased the dose from 50ml per day to 60ml, now that I am doing less frequent water changes and not adding more nutrients with the tap water could be some deficiencies.

I did also notice that on the right-hand side that gets lots of flow from the filter the grass and the plants on that side were doing less well and growing more algae than the rest of the tank where the flow is lower, I have for just over a week reduce the flow quite a bit and that seems to be helping also.

Also moved my CO2 diffuser back to the left-hand side, when it was on the right it was taken the full force of the flow from the filter which I guess the pressure from the flow seemed to create large CO2 bubbles which just went straight to the surface, now back on the left and that no longer happens and getting more pearling from the plants. So will leave it there for a couple of weeks and see again.

Stems were trimmed a couple of weeks back and seems like a very slow recovery, could have been related to CO2 or fertilizer! So again need to see how they develop over the next couple of weeks. Fun and games being back in the high tech game!! 😳😳

Thanks for looking

 

[G H Nelson]

Hi Paulo
Looking good, see you got the Odessa barbs
When the males get into breeding colours they are stunning😎

 

[LondonDragon]

Hi Paulo
Looking good, see you got the Odessa barbs
When the males get into breeding colours they are stunning😎

Many thanks 🙂 yeah got 6 in the end, they are awesome and blend in very well with the Checkered, not sure I can add any more fish now! 21 barbs might be more than enough now!! 🙂

 

[G H Nelson]

Odessa/Checkered barbs don't grow that big!
Incidentally, male chequered barbs go very dark nearly black when in breeding mode....which is a nice surprise

 

[LondonDragon]

Incidentally, male chequered barbs go very dark nearly black when in breeding mode....which is a nice surprise

Yes I have noticed they look awesome, shame I only have 3 males of the 15, I had 5 originally but on the firts night two jumped out 🙁 no more jumpers since then really weird!

 

[alto]

Yes I have noticed they look awesome, shame I only have 3 males of the 15, I had 5 originally but on the firts night two jumped out 🙁 no more jumpers since then really weird!

It’s always good to drop water level (by several cm’s from rim) when introducing new fish - makes jumping out a more determined effort
Fish often explore their new home with vigour (especially after the nosy folk have gone away)
Leaving on a dim “night light” can also reduce out of the tank jumpers

Rather than more species, I’d increase the Odessa numbers by a few, and pick up a couple more male Checkers 🙂

Though if you really want 3 species (how to resist ) select one for the dense stems 😎https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/eirmotus-octozona/
(though these will need 22C as a minimum & I’d begin with at least 12-14 group, depending on condition and whether shop quarantines etc)

 

[alto]

still haven't trimed the Juncus, still trying to think the best way to do it.

Filipe Oliveira does mention this in some video (though perhaps it was a workshop - AG should have good experience on Filipe’s tank (unless they’ve lost the Juncus))
- you can treat it as a stem plant, wherever you see the node with roots already developing, this will easily transition to a new plant; just take care that they aren’t too heavily shaded in the new site (afterall you’ve just removed them from lots of light)
Meanwhile the trimmed base plant will send out new shoots

 

[LondonDragon]

It’s always good to drop water level

Did leift up the lilly pipe to create more surface agitation for the night for the first few nights until they got used to the CO2 and the tank, wonder if that was counter productive, the idea for the cherry barbs was to add something with a little more colour, and the Checkered males have plenty of females to chase around now lol but I think more barbs will be too much now for the tank, but I always liked lots of fish in the tank so we will see, the filter is more than capable of supporting the load, I will have to think about it 😉

just take care that they aren’t too heavily shaded in the new site

I did notice that under the wood where there is less light they have not grown that much, but where they get plenty of light they are now very tall indeed, but they still growing under the shade, just very slowly.

Took a quick handheld video last night:



When I approach the tank now they just come forward wanting food, not shy any longer!

Thanks for looking 🙂

 

[Melll]

Nice video, 👍

 

[alto]

the Checkered males have plenty of females to chase around now lol

Sometimes more males is good for the females, as the boys get distracted into out-showing each other and less time actually chasing girls that are NOT interested (as not in spawning condition)

For color and different activity, consider
https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trigonostigma-heteromorpha/
With a group of at least 18, they are amazing in their shoaling behaviours (more varied than observed with smaller groups)

 

[Tom Ryan (@aquascaperay)]

Nice scape!

 

[Alex Papp]

Did leift up the lilly pipe to create more surface agitation for the night for the first few nights until they got used to the CO2 and the tank, wonder if that was counter productive, the idea for the cherry barbs was to add something with a little more colour, and the Checkered males have plenty of females to chase around now lol but I think more barbs will be too much now for the tank, but I always liked lots of fish in the tank so we will see, the filter is more than capable of supporting the load, I will have to think about it 😉


I did notice that under the wood where there is less light they have not grown that much, but where they get plenty of light they are now very tall indeed, but they still growing under the shade, just very slowly.

Took a quick handheld video last night:



When I approach the tank now they just come forward wanting food, not shy any longer!

Thanks for looking 🙂

those Odessas coloured up nicely!!

 

[LondonDragon]

those Odessas coloured up nicely!!

Over the last week they have coloured up even better, I have seen some babies this week, not sure if from Odessa or Checkered! Doubt that any will survive, we shall see, but looks like the fish are enjoying their environment.

Some shots of the tank I took yesterday:







Ignore that little filter on the right, put some used media in it and its there ready for the Betta tank I am setting up!

So the lack of Nitrates and difficulties in controlling the CO2 played avoc for 2-3 weeks, and some plants struggled a little and did get some algae, things seem to be recovering now after a new batch of ferts back to my original dosage with recommended ppm's see if it goes away completly or if I need to do some manual cleaning! I have not cleaned the hardscape at all, so thats good.

Carpert is doing OK and now the Lilaeopsis is showing signs of growth too, did get affected by some algae, what is the best long term plan for the carpet? Trim is all close to gravel?? How often??



Loving the Dwarf Bolbitis, this is a very nice plant and seems to grow much faster than the normal Bolbitis on the left side! Might eventually replace it all with the Dwarf when it goes big enought to trim!



My fav Buce still, need to figure out a way to reduce the snail population!



Some other shots, all the photos just taken with my phone!










Did post a video on my Youtube channel sometime ago feeding the fish:




Thanks for looking!

Paulo

 

[Wolf6]

That is so relaxing to watch... could get totally lost in front of that tank 🙂 Great job! Love those barbs too, might just end up getting those as my main fish for my next tank.

 

[Guest]

I have seen some babies this week, not sure if from Odessa or Checkered!

They're obviously loving it in there, and why wouldn't they. It's looking great 👍

 

[Deano3]

Looks great and tank has coloured up nicely regarding the hair grass i would trim close to gravel and rub hand over it to get detritus up when doing water change as mine was lovely colour then started yellowing and loosing colour as suspected build up of organics etc so try keep on top of it mate.

Looking really good though
Dean

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