Courtneybst
Member
Just so you know, those aren't Amano shrimp. They're bamboo shrimp. Very different species.
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First effort - a rod for my back!
- Thread starter Simmo
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Just so you know, those aren't Amano shrimp. They're bamboo shrimp. Very different species.
Courtneybst
Member
No, they're just as peaceful but they won't eat algae. They filter food particulates from the water column.
Thanks, a bit peeved but that's Ebay for you, looking fwd to when we can go back to a shop and say ‘I want that one’!. Still, they are pretty cool and have captured the family's attention more than any fish I’ve had! Cheers
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Hi Paul,
Thanks, sorry I missed this, the tank is 71 wide and 65 tall (including frame).Need long arms - which mine aren't, I need to stand on the sofa above and reach down....
Blimey, been a while since I updated this. It's actually all been really good! The tank seems to me to have settled and reached some kind of ecological balance with algae at an acceptable level and continuing good water quality, healthy livestock and plants that are growing pretty well by my standards (I have killed all plants pretty quickly in the past...). The oak has settled too, aided perhaps by more grazers it seems to stay clean and it's surface is less friable and algae-prone. The leaf litter is great, I just throw in a handful of pre-soaked oak or beech leaves and let them rot in the tank, they look natural and provide cover and feeding surfaces.
Plant wise the only addition is a bulb for a lily, Nymphaea stellata that despite appearances has finally sprouted. I intend to grow the leaves to the surface just to see what it's like and if it'll flower. The other plants are all fine, 5ml of TNC complete daily has made a big difference IMO. I'm really chuffed with the Java moss on the oak (Pic below somewhere), this is the sort of natural look I wanted when I started off and it's remarkable that the moss you see here has grown from a couple of tiny 5mm strands, all that was left after the initial melt back when I set the tank up. Lesson for me is be patient! The Vallis has finally got a chance to grow after I fitted a spraybar. Juwel in their wisdom do not offer one so the Vallis was being battered to a pulp by the powerhead so I bought a Fluval bar and plumbed it in, then drilled the holes out to reduce the flow. The Frogbit is rampant and unfortunately I have lost the battle with duckweed imported with fish. In the hoto I have just scooped out some Frogbit and cut the roots on the rest to get the flow going again, a tricky balance, next time I might just remove ore and leave the roots on the remainder alone.
Livestock is complete as of today. On the Invert front the 5 free bamboo shrimps that I received when I ordered Amanos seem to be thriving, they forage on the bottom and fan in equal measure and I turkey baste some baby shrimp food at them from time to time. I'd rather have two than five but hey. I added a couple of tiny cuttle bones and my GH is about 3, hopefully with dietary calcium all will continue OK, they are moulting OK just now. After complaining to the bamboo vendor I eventually got 6 Amanos for free, and these guys are a hoot - they are really cheeky food thieves and great to watch although I have no idea how many I have now, at least 3, probably more. Oh and I added some really cool red ramshorn snails.
As of today after much deliberation I bought the last fish at my LFS consisting of a pair of Apistos - maybe borelli, maybe not and four honey gourami, that might be 1 male and 3 females. I did want hatchet fish on one level but the jumping put me off and the Gourami are attractive, characterful wee souls with good colour (just from the wrong continent)! Add that to the 16 neons and the 2 geriatric corys on retirement leave and the stocking is done.
Cheers
Dave
Plant wise the only addition is a bulb for a lily, Nymphaea stellata that despite appearances has finally sprouted. I intend to grow the leaves to the surface just to see what it's like and if it'll flower. The other plants are all fine, 5ml of TNC complete daily has made a big difference IMO. I'm really chuffed with the Java moss on the oak (Pic below somewhere), this is the sort of natural look I wanted when I started off and it's remarkable that the moss you see here has grown from a couple of tiny 5mm strands, all that was left after the initial melt back when I set the tank up. Lesson for me is be patient! The Vallis has finally got a chance to grow after I fitted a spraybar. Juwel in their wisdom do not offer one so the Vallis was being battered to a pulp by the powerhead so I bought a Fluval bar and plumbed it in, then drilled the holes out to reduce the flow. The Frogbit is rampant and unfortunately I have lost the battle with duckweed imported with fish. In the hoto I have just scooped out some Frogbit and cut the roots on the rest to get the flow going again, a tricky balance, next time I might just remove ore and leave the roots on the remainder alone.
Livestock is complete as of today. On the Invert front the 5 free bamboo shrimps that I received when I ordered Amanos seem to be thriving, they forage on the bottom and fan in equal measure and I turkey baste some baby shrimp food at them from time to time. I'd rather have two than five but hey. I added a couple of tiny cuttle bones and my GH is about 3, hopefully with dietary calcium all will continue OK, they are moulting OK just now. After complaining to the bamboo vendor I eventually got 6 Amanos for free, and these guys are a hoot - they are really cheeky food thieves and great to watch although I have no idea how many I have now, at least 3, probably more. Oh and I added some really cool red ramshorn snails.
As of today after much deliberation I bought the last fish at my LFS consisting of a pair of Apistos - maybe borelli, maybe not and four honey gourami, that might be 1 male and 3 females. I did want hatchet fish on one level but the jumping put me off and the Gourami are attractive, characterful wee souls with good colour (just from the wrong continent)! Add that to the 16 neons and the 2 geriatric corys on retirement leave and the stocking is done.
Cheers
Dave
A bit of a rescape. I liked my layout but reading about design I realised there was no clear water front to back and introducing this would add depth. In theory!
in area 1 i removed the swords providing open water, adding a low wooden arch with Microsorum windelov attached. On the exposed substrate i planted two tubs of H tenellum, deciding to not tease them out as this never works for me, but planting whole pots and hoping it’ll spread in time. In Area 2 I cut down the oak by two thirds to open up the corner and planted Myrophyllum mattogrossense and Schismatoglottis prietoi. In Area 3 the upright wood was removed entirel and swords from the middle replanted with more Scismatoglottis and my Stellata bulb. I’m pleased overall, some detail yet to do but the worst of the turbid mess has gone and I’ve achieved the depth I was looking for.
its kind of a reverse to the norm, there is a ridge of crypts and rocks at the front dipping to a ‘lawn’ at tge back! Fish and shrimp seem happy so that's a bonus...
in area 1 i removed the swords providing open water, adding a low wooden arch with Microsorum windelov attached. On the exposed substrate i planted two tubs of H tenellum, deciding to not tease them out as this never works for me, but planting whole pots and hoping it’ll spread in time. In Area 2 I cut down the oak by two thirds to open up the corner and planted Myrophyllum mattogrossense and Schismatoglottis prietoi. In Area 3 the upright wood was removed entirel and swords from the middle replanted with more Scismatoglottis and my Stellata bulb. I’m pleased overall, some detail yet to do but the worst of the turbid mess has gone and I’ve achieved the depth I was looking for.
its kind of a reverse to the norm, there is a ridge of crypts and rocks at the front dipping to a ‘lawn’ at tge back! Fish and shrimp seem happy so that's a bonus...
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James53
New Member
Thanks for your time doing all this. Love your tank, inspirational.
Garuf
Member
I just ordered a pair, I'm hoping mine turn out to be as pretty.
The male is still as lovely, tge female has vanished while I was away and I fear the worst 😪
Some evolution. The oak’d had its day, it was rotting in the substrate and a magnet for my BBA outbreak. I was dreading removing it because it has a chopping board screwed to the base buried in Tropica soil so the mushroom cloud was gonna be big. It went OK, and I found a nice bit of wood in my store to replace it with. Lots of vegetation has gone too either with BBA or to make some space for new ones. So far so OK, the wood is not floating, I like the shape and the inmates have survived. Lots of water changes to keep the particulates down, or at least reduce them a bit.
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Starting to settle, doing bits and bobs each day to rescape the detail, still removing small amounts of BBA, the epiphytes have taken a real hammering, some were too far gone to keep, all my Buce were consumed and much of the Anubis, quite a downer, but on the bright side the newly planted Altanathera has started growing.
Water is still full of particulates, hoping it will clear soon. Someone on here gave me good advice when I was just starting this tank a year ago to keep it simple given I work away half the time; should’ve taken it! 😂
Water is still full of particulates, hoping it will clear soon. Someone on here gave me good advice when I was just starting this tank a year ago to keep it simple given I work away half the time; should’ve taken it! 😂
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Coming up to 2 years since I set this low tech up, had a few setbacks and learnings aplenty but basically it’s still going and I still have (some) plants which is definitely an improvement on past form! Had many of the usual blights, BBA was a notable plant disaster (although I now deliberately keep some on rocks) and a bacterial infection that killed most of my neons and prized Apisto. It could do with a few more plants now I think, the robust ones have survived like Echinodorous and crypts and I remain the biggest fan of Java ferns - fabulous all rounder! Hope you’re all well. Cheers!
The BBA I had about a year ago really trashed the original design as so many plants were wiped out and much of the original wood was beyond saving or had simply become rotten with time. I also lost a lot of neons to NT disease and my Apistos succumbed too.
It’s been a slow road back and for months I was pretty despondent about the tank and considered starting afresh. In the end following some good advice on plants here and the introduction of some new fish I’ve found my aquarium mojo again! Still a way to go but I’m enjoying it again.
I think there’s a lot to be said for trying to salvage and improve a mature set up. A fresh start is tempting because it all looks so new and clean but then the inevitable setbacks of a maturing tank are largely absent from a stable, mature one and there is no doubt it is more akin to nature with its plethora of bugs and algae, which must benefit the fish and shrimp? That’s my theory anyway!
It’s been a slow road back and for months I was pretty despondent about the tank and considered starting afresh. In the end following some good advice on plants here and the introduction of some new fish I’ve found my aquarium mojo again! Still a way to go but I’m enjoying it again.
I think there’s a lot to be said for trying to salvage and improve a mature set up. A fresh start is tempting because it all looks so new and clean but then the inevitable setbacks of a maturing tank are largely absent from a stable, mature one and there is no doubt it is more akin to nature with its plethora of bugs and algae, which must benefit the fish and shrimp? That’s my theory anyway!
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Hi all,
cheers Darrel
I think that, basically <"good things come to those who wait">. Have a look at <"Seasoned Tank Time"> and Stephan Tanner also talks about stability in <"Aquarium biofiltration">.
cheers Darrel
MichaelJ
Member
By that I take it you mean waiting for our tanks to mature... There is a lot wisdom in that. And the more right you get it from the get go, the shorter that wait will take!
Cheers,
Michael
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