Kinabalu (60 x 40 x 40)

[Wookii]

So I took my son to the local Pets@Home today to pick some fish for his new low tech (posted above). As it’s walking distance I figured we’d be well within the remit of the current military curfew.

He’s always wanted Guppies - you can imagine - fish in Haribo colours!

I succumbed to a middle ground agreement of Endlers.

I wasn’t quite prepared for exactly how awesome they would look in a planted tank! This is a quick pick of one, the others were so damn fast they’ll have to wait for another day when they’re more inclined to pose for a photo!

 

[Wookii]

The funniest thing on the visit to Pets@Home was when the 20-something member of staff shuffled up and asked disinterestedly which fish we wanted.

I asked for eight males Endlers.

His response: “Oh, I’m not sure we are able to tell the males from the females”

To which my 8 year old son instantly jumped in: “The males are the ones with colours, the females are the ones without” . . . I was tempted to get him a job application form on the way out . . .

 

[SRP3006]

To be fair they in my LFS, which is a Maidenhead Aquatics, they were priced the same the same as the general tetra species.

They don’t tend to shoal up particularly, and hang in a much looser formation than the tetras and Chilli’s. There seem to be a few dominant males in my group, that chase off some of the others, and also chase some of the Embers - presumably trying to establish territory - nothing super aggressive, just a bit of muscle flexing like a youth in a nightclub!

Something I need to look into further then, as they were £7.50 each which definitely isn't standard tetra prices! I think they did 3 for £21 which would mean a divorce and a remortgage to add the 30+ I would like......

 

[Wookii]

Something I need to look into further then, as they were £7.50 each which definitely isn't standard tetra prices! I think they did 3 for £21 which would mean a divorce and a remortgage to add the 30+ I would like......

You definitely shouldn’t be paying that much. Even getting them delivered from Kesgrave would be would only be £4.72 each for 36:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274335468325

 

[Wookii]

So I’m probabaly overdue an update here. If been a mixed run in on this tank. I’ve had some stunted growth on the stems at the top left. I think the cause was having the skimmer there and it’s output hitting the filter inlet and creating a dead area low in CO2 around the stems.

So I basically decided to remove the skimmer, rip them out and replant some new ones from @Roland who grows plants of amazing quality.

To aid in circulation, and get the water flowing around the front of the tank properly I’ve also added an AI Nero 3 - amazing output from such a small form factor, and awesome controllability via the app.




Sadly I’ve lost several fish due to them jumping out the back of the tank. I didnt know it was happening until I went around the back (where I store the dosing containers) and saw their corpses. Quite distressing and something I consider a personal failure, so I have ordered some perspex cut to shape, to mount as a jump screen on the rear. Until then an acme-polystyrene screen will have to suffice. The idea being, if they jump, they’ll bounce off it back into the tank, rather than down the back.



A final shot showing some of the Shrimp jelly food I made, that apparently the Otos (look at their big round bellies!) and snails also love!

 

[Roland]

Amazing tank mate😀

 

[Wookii]

Amazing tank mate😀

Thanks mate - I’ll try not to kill the Orange Juice this time! Also love that Potamogeton gayi you sent me, a really nice delicate stem - I’m going to try and run it all the way along the back, as it looks great as a backdrop fluttering in the flow.

 

[Luciën]

Looks great.. that are a lot of plants for a tank of that size

 

[Jayefc1]

Stunning scape wookie really nice could the hope the stems pick up and you get the effect your after is this the vivid 2 your running on it mate or the wrgb

 

[Wookii]

Looks great.. that are a lot of plants for a tank of that size

Thanks mate - yeah I should probably have less variety for a better aesthetic, but buying different plants gets a bit addictive! 😆

 

[Wookii]

Stunning scape wookie really nice could the hope the stems pick up and you get the effect your after is this the vivid 2 your running on it mate or the wrgb

Thanks mate - yes, I switched to one of my Vivid II’s to give me easier access for maintenance. I managed to hang it using some old aluminium T-slot channel bolted to the top of an adjacent storage unit.



I used a light meter though to try and keep the output the same as the WGB II, so the Vivid is running at 50% on red and blue, and 40% on green.

 

[Jayefc1]

Looks good mate mine are hung from the ceiling on suspension kits

 

[Wookii]

Looks good mate mine are hung from the ceiling on suspension kits

Yeah SWMBO wouldn’t have gone for ceiling adornment, so I had to improvise!

 

[Luciën]

Thanks mate - yeah I should probably have less variety for a better aesthetic, but buying different plants gets a bit addictive!

I have the same thing.. I just love the look of almost all plants.. It's hard to keep it all. I'm planning for a new scape and it's pretty hard to make choices as I'm pretty limited in size and shape.. Here in the Netherlands you can find almost every type of plant available in the trade..

Greetz, Luciën.

 

[Wookii]

My Perspex order turned up this week, so I could finally get rid of the acme- polystyrene anti-jump screen:


Used some of the Perspex cover support clips, and glued them in place:


The final fitted screen is excellent, and almost completely invisible so doesn’t detract from the rimless tank look:



So now hopefully any Kamikaze fish will bounce off it back into the tank.

 

[Wookii]

The stems at the back are finally growing well and are due a trim:




The Tripartita Mini is a really nice little delicate plant, but it’s growing like a weed, and starting to get really invasive:

 

[Kezzab]

So now hopefully any Kamikaze fish will bounce off it back into the tank.

If they really have a death wish will they not just go over the front now?

 

[Wookii]

If they really have a death wish will they not just go over the front now?

I’ve not lost any over the front or sides, only the rear - I assume it’s a startle response to people walking past, or room lights coming on so they jump in the opposite direction in the tanks current placement.

 

[Wookii]

So I’ve hacked back the Tripartita Mini quite hard, and added in a few extra Buce, some more Trident fern and Bolbitis courtesy of @Geoffrey Rea via @howanic.

I’ve also added a new Cryptocoryne Albida ‘Brown’ on the far left to replace the Tonina that was gradually fading away - you can’t see it yet as the Aquasabi plant size was disappointingly small (unusual for them!).

Everything really seems to be shifting into 5th gear now and growing a lot better. I lost a lot of Buce leaves at the start, I suspect due to the high ammonia levels from the Tropica soil, but now they’re all putting out lots of new leaves and shoots.



I added some Coral Moss (Riccardia Chamedryfolia) in place of the removed Tripartita in various places around the tank, and it looks really effective - I’m hoping it might spread over the rocks a little more eventually:

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The view from the end of that is really getting quite nice too:



I should probabaly mention that I’ve had loads of issues with the water on this tank. I set out to use RO, to try and create a soft water environment for the fish, but the rocks appear to be leaching what must amount to a huge amount of CaCO3.

I’m now at the stage of using pure RO water for water changes, 25% daily, and only adding the standard EI dose of MgSO4 (no additional Calcium or Carbonate remineralisation sources). Despite that I can’t get below a GH of 9, and a KH of 6, which is really disappointing.

School boy lesson learned anyway - next time, no Seiryu stone!!

 

[14548]

I absolutely love all the textures and plants in this tank! Well done! And nice diy on that plexi too