PARAGUAY
Member
Nice Buce
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MTV-Kribs
- Thread starter ScareCrow
- Start date
ScareCrow
Member
I do like Yorkshire but I'm definitely south of the border.
I want to make it more available though especially after the hunt to get it, which was made more difficult by my own stupidity but got it in the end.
ScareCrow
Member
Wow, nearly a year since I last posted in this thread!
This tank is probably going to get rescaped soon. I moved house, which it and the inhabitants survived without signs of any disruption. However, the tank became quite overgrown. Fluctuating CO² levels combined with a partially blocked filter outlet resulted in a black beard algae outbreak.
I've ended up with most of my plants in holding tanks and have become a bit despondent with planted tanks.
I don't like the look of manicured plants and so I let things grow but that results in the tank becoming over grown with plants struggling from lack of light. I also fail at limiting my plant collecting tendencies and so I end up with a 'chocolate box' arrangement of plants rather than a pleasing display.
I've been getting back into the fish breeding side of the hobby, which has always interested me more than the plants. So I'm thinking that I'll probably go for a limited quantity of a few species (needle leaf java fern, bucephalandra, moss and crypts) and mostly stick to rounded cobbles and wood for hardscape.
My focus will be corydoras as I've collected several species in recent months. Researching their natural habitats shows that for the most part there aren't dense clumps of aquatic vegetation and watching them in the tank they appear almost frustrated by it. I have found that they seem to appreciate leaf litter though. They use it for cover and seem much more confident when it is present.
A few terrible pictures of some recent additions.
Corydoras eques in one of my plant holding tanks.
Some 'mini lasers' produced by my gold laser group. Approximately 4 months old.
This tank is probably going to get rescaped soon. I moved house, which it and the inhabitants survived without signs of any disruption. However, the tank became quite overgrown. Fluctuating CO² levels combined with a partially blocked filter outlet resulted in a black beard algae outbreak.
I've ended up with most of my plants in holding tanks and have become a bit despondent with planted tanks.
I don't like the look of manicured plants and so I let things grow but that results in the tank becoming over grown with plants struggling from lack of light. I also fail at limiting my plant collecting tendencies and so I end up with a 'chocolate box' arrangement of plants rather than a pleasing display.
I've been getting back into the fish breeding side of the hobby, which has always interested me more than the plants. So I'm thinking that I'll probably go for a limited quantity of a few species (needle leaf java fern, bucephalandra, moss and crypts) and mostly stick to rounded cobbles and wood for hardscape.
My focus will be corydoras as I've collected several species in recent months. Researching their natural habitats shows that for the most part there aren't dense clumps of aquatic vegetation and watching them in the tank they appear almost frustrated by it. I have found that they seem to appreciate leaf litter though. They use it for cover and seem much more confident when it is present.
A few terrible pictures of some recent additions.
Corydoras eques in one of my plant holding tanks.
Some 'mini lasers' produced by my gold laser group. Approximately 4 months old.
Sounds like a nice biotope/habitat style tank is the way forward!
ScareCrow
Member
Very nice, is that one of yours?
Lol no man, I can only wish I could create something like that!
No, it just one of many images in my photo dump searching for a biotope design to base my nest scape on.
Hi all,
I've also had some discussion with <"Ian Fuller">, and <"he uses plants"> (particularly for spawning) for some species, but not for others.
cheers Darrel
Have a look at <"Corydoras breeder with planted tanks">. Mark Allison is your man.
I've also had some discussion with <"Ian Fuller">, and <"he uses plants"> (particularly for spawning) for some species, but not for others.
cheers Darrel
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Another Cory Biotope:
ScareCrow
Member
Thanks Darrel, I'd seen the fish room tour before but some how missed the talk despite going through a lot of 'the fish geeks' videos.
I'll definitely be keeping plants in all my tanks. Just trying to limit myself on quantity. My tanks always end up being an over grown mess with the substrate and hardscape covered.
That is a nice one.
I've been trying to find actual footage of wild habitats. There are a few videos on YouTube of 'corydoras in the wild' but it's a generalisation and one habitat doesn't fit all unfortunately. I've been trying to get more specific info on each species so maybe there will be some similarities and I can combine a few temporarily, while not trying to breed them.
OllieTY
Member
I recommend these channels for habitat videos of South America!
A lot of species like using plants as a spawning site. My tukanos always lay in moss and duplicareus always on the underside of broadleaf plants. A spawning mop will also do the trick though just not as nice to look at and without the added benefits that plants provide.
ScareCrow
Member
Thanks @OllieTY and @Conort2 those are the channels I've been watching.
My sterbai also lay on the underside of leaves and as I understand it atropersonatus, which I have a group of, like laying on moss.
I'll definitely be keeping some plants just not the dense jungle I've kept to date. The restriction to flow alone certainly doesn't benefit the corys. Since removing a lot of hardscape they seem a lot more comfortable coming to the front of the tank, where the flow from the spray bar is most concentrated. They still have plenty of hiding spots but seem to prefer sitting in the flow than hiding at the back behind the epiphyte covered hardscape, which is what they used to do.
For context before the algae outbreak this is what the tank looked like. While I was very happy with the density of plants, the corys struggled to push through if startled and some of the plants were getting shaded out at the bottom. So I just want to thin it out and restrict myself to a few crypts at the bottom. Moss, needle leaf java fern and bucephalandra on the branches and try to maintain space for flow and light to get through as well as for the corys.
Tukanos are nice, they're one that's on the list for when I have space.
My sterbai also lay on the underside of leaves and as I understand it atropersonatus, which I have a group of, like laying on moss.
I'll definitely be keeping some plants just not the dense jungle I've kept to date. The restriction to flow alone certainly doesn't benefit the corys. Since removing a lot of hardscape they seem a lot more comfortable coming to the front of the tank, where the flow from the spray bar is most concentrated. They still have plenty of hiding spots but seem to prefer sitting in the flow than hiding at the back behind the epiphyte covered hardscape, which is what they used to do.
For context before the algae outbreak this is what the tank looked like. While I was very happy with the density of plants, the corys struggled to push through if startled and some of the plants were getting shaded out at the bottom. So I just want to thin it out and restrict myself to a few crypts at the bottom. Moss, needle leaf java fern and bucephalandra on the branches and try to maintain space for flow and light to get through as well as for the corys.
They’re great, just very fragile when they first come in for some reason. Definitely need to be wormed and kept an eye on at the beginning.
It’s a lovely tank you have there but fully understand why you’d open it up, the bottom is a bit too busy for corydoras to utilise the tank properly.
ScareCrow
Member
I set it up so that the branches angle from top back to bottom middle roughly. So it leaves approximately half of the sand area empty for them to sift, while keeping them completely hidden so that they feel safe. The only problem with that when combined with the density of planting is that flow is also restricted to the front portion of the tank, which as you say is too busy for corys.
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I feel your pain Nick - there are just too many nice plants. I will one day force myself to do a minimalist habitat tank with one or two plant species in, but I'm sure it will feel like going in a sweet shop and coming out with a single boiled sweet instead of a kilo of pic-and-mix!
ScareCrow
Member
I think if I limit myself to just using plants that I already have but knowing I don't need to use all of them I should be ok. The temptation to try some easy stems is great though. Hygrophila polysperma rosanervig is an all time favourite but for whatever reason I struggle to keep it alive despite it being an 'easy' plant. I had it in a tank about 15 years ago and it did really well but since then I've tried 3 times to no avail. I'm also tempted to try and create a sort of Pantanal inspired tank. I think something like hornwort or limnophila sessiliflora and a dwarf lilly would look good together and give that look but must not buy plants!!!
That's where I've gone wrong in the past - I hate throwing plants away, but sometimes they aren't quite pristine enough to offer on here, so I end up stuffing them back in the new scape, and a month later I'm back where I started! I've ended up having to quadruple the size of my tank so I can house the plants and have some space left! 😅😂
The mrs is already having a go at me, the new ‘minimal’ scape doesn’t look so minimal anymore!
ScareCrow
Member
That's a much more sensible solution.
