Little kids guppy tank

[Kattis]

My 6yr old has been badgering me to get her “her own aquarium” for ages and when I saw secondhand bargain Fluval Roma 125 with fresh and plant led lights, JBL CristalProfi greenline e901 filter and CO2 system with solanoid and inline diffuser I thought I guppies were a good idea to introduce her to wonders of fishkeeping. Definitely didn’t get it because I’ve wanted high tech tank for years...



She wanted dark substrate so I went with JBL manado dark with layer of JBL AquaBasis plus underneath. For hardscape she was adamant on orangey plastic cave thing, could have been worse with Sponge Bob bubble thing or something, after all she’s only 6 and couple of pieces of bog wood I already had in my old tank.

For plants I’ve picked tons of things to just see how I’ll manage grow them

Alternathera reineckii 'mini'
Alternathera reineckii ‘Pink’
Anubias nana
Cryptocoryne bullosa
Cryptocoryne crispatula
Cryptocoryne petchii
Cyperus helferi
Echinodorus bleheri
Hydrocotyle tripartia “japan”
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Leptodictyum riparium
Limnophila aromatica
Limnophila heterophylla
Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Pogostomon erectus

Livestock
5x red cobra guppies (1x male, 4x female)
6x Bloody Mary shrimp
5x nerite snails

 

[Natasha]

Looking good! Do you have a plan for the guppy population growth you might experience?

 

[Dadofthree]

What a lucky little girl

 

[Kattis]

Looking good! Do you have a plan for the guppy population growth you might experience?

I’m kind of hoping I’ll be able to flog them to local fish shop as they are some specific colour type. There’s certain inevitability about population boom tho. Might have to add some tetras to weed out some of the offspring, none have turned up so far.

 

[Kattis]

My general plan is to test out different type of plants in high tech setting and after few months, when I need to move the tank after some redecoration in the house, to do actual aquascape. Hopefully more mature set up will be more forgiving to scape and I have some idea what type of plants to use

 

[Surya]

Stunning tank and lovely to see a "children's" tank that isn't full of coloured gravel and Spongebob (didn't even notice the orange cave, it blends in well!) I have a 6 year old and he appreciates a nice natural tank too. (He did want a small alien ornament that I bought but it didn't find its way into the actual tank...)

 

[Kattis]

Thanks! She had very strong visions how things need to look from angles of the bog wood to colour theme of the fish and inverts (I want them all orangey red) and insisted that the cave thingy should be covered in vegetation. I’m hoping the moss will cover glue blotches quickly and anubias with the moss wasn’t bad idea. I have a feeling she’ll be better at this than me

 

[Kattis]

Sodding shrimp. I on purpose picked brightest red type, “Bloody Mary”, I could find and still it’s seriously difficult to spot them. Now I’m pondering if I should get more to tackle algae. In theory there’s six but I’ve only ever managed to see four at the same time. The catch is that where I got them doesn’t have any more and I can only find some on eBay. Apparently it’s not a good idea to mix colours. Amanos are obviously alternative but I have some in my other tank, probably, and I’ve seen them twice over two years. Once when I put them in and second time when they were still there to my great surprise when I emptied the tank for moving it.

 

[Kattis]

Little update after adding fair bit of plants.

 

[Kattis]

Sodding shrimp still appears to be there although I never see any. To my surprise I spotted three little shrimplets! My angelfish spawned in my other tank and I managed to keep couple fry alive so the tank has been dedicated to a nursery. The guppies are not breeding and another came down with dropsy. I wonder if the water is too soft for them. No sign of ammonia or nitrites, water changes have been fairly regular 7-10days.

In some point I probably should start thinking of doing a proper aquascape instead of just growing plants.

 

[Keith GH]

Kattis

A very nice small planted Guppy tank. My only concern is all that red plant front LH it is very distracting when looking at the colourful Guppies. I would continue with the same green foreground plant.

Keith

 

[Jayefc1]

I wouldn't add Amanos apparently they love to eat the Alternathera reineckii I couldn't understand why mine looked so poor till Dave at aquarium gardens told me they munch on it like crazy

 

[Kattis]

Kattis

A very nice small planted Guppy tank. My only concern is all that red plant front LH it is very distracting when looking at the colourful Guppies. I would continue with the same green foreground plant.

Keith

Yeah I agree. It also annoyingly grows really well. It probably would work better in somewhere middle. My plan was just to try to grow different plants and see if I could keep them alive for any length of time. Now it’s apparent that yes I can so should start thinking more of the aesthetics

 

[Kattis]

I wouldn't add Amanos apparently they love to eat the Alternathera reineckii I couldn't understand why mine looked so poor till Dave at aquarium gardens told me they munch on it like crazy

Interesting! I thought amanos were the saints of the aquarium world but apparently there are some renegades. I may or may not have both A. reineckii and amanos in my other tank but as I haven’t seen any for about year I don’t know for sure

 

[Jayefc1]

If you do have both you prob dont see the amanos or the Alternathera reineckii because there being eaten and the amanos dont need to come looking for food I have 3 amanos in my 45p hardly ever see them the Alternathera was going my head in looking so shabby I took it out just thinking that couldn't grow it for what ever reason and all of a sudden the amanos appeared went to aquarium gardens told Dave and he said it's the amanos eating it

 

[Kattis]

My other tank is 260l and has so much plants and algae that I doubt amanos, if they still are there, would bother with it. Curiously A.reinickii also grows well there even if it’s deep low energy tank with fairly poor lighting. Could well be that someone has munched the amanos tho. Some plants grow well and some just die in my care without any clear reason why

 

[Keith GH]

Kattis

Yeah I agree. It also annoyingly grows really well. It probably would work better in somewhere middle.

I hate to say it that would divide the tank into two sections. My suggestion would be a small area in front of the Val (back LH corner) Its a beautiful plant but its colour is extremely strong.

Blairgowrie Victoria Aust is not that far from where I live.

Blairgowrie Ocean back beach

Keith

 

[Kattis]

Yeah it’s tricky, I’ll definitely consider it more carefully when I’m redoing this in few months.

Wow, I think I’ve picked my Blairgowrie poorly as there is definite lack of ocean front! Otherwise it’s in beautiful part of the world by the edge of the Highlands.