Ollie's 120x45x45: Update 04/08/12

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: Fishy Pics

Ollie, being Tanganyikans, do you have to keep the pH up above 8 ? Can we see a FTS please ? I would LOVE to have a setup with just these. Or other Tangs come to that... Altolamprologus Comprecisseps or Calvus for example, or Leleupis or Julidochromis Marlieri. I don't know how plant friendly they are though (although I realise a planted aquarium is not biotopic for them).

With Thames Valley water, chemistry is not an issue (that why I have these rather than apistos ) ph is only 7.5ish but 200+ppm of caco3. These guys are fish Ive breed myself. I unfortunatley lost the parents due to bumping the temp up for whitespot treatment. Alot of tangs would be suitable for planted tanks as long as you scape in suitable homes for them. They ignore plants, the only issue is that some species are bulldozers with fins. All the ones you mentioned would be good. Alot of research is required to keep multiple species sucessfully ie. dont mix larger julies (marlieri) with smaller shellies (brevis,multies) as the female julies will pull the shellies out of their shells to get at the eggs/fry, dont mix birchardi complex with ANYTHING!! and quite alot of other generic rules. Im more than happy to answer any questions.
FTS is on page 2 😉 😀

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: Fishy Pics

Well a few quick pics. Trimmed, moved and made a couple of hardscape adjustments
Before

After

and a couple of new additions

From the bag to snail destruction in under 5 seconds such a neat little fish.

 

[Antipofish]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Ollie they look so cool. How are they with other fish ? And whats the plant in the middle of your tank please ?

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

The plant I bought in holland as dwarf corymbosa, AE sells it http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/hyd...-p-5904.html?zenid=sjlt1i6evj0r6bi48l0dc7vrn3

The puffers are fine so far: ignored the tetras, figured out to stay out of the brevis's way, found my nerites which they showed a bit of interest in but gave up in the end(the nerites are nearly twice their size ) and dont seem to have noticed the amanos .

 

[Ady34]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Lovely looking set up.... i could do with some snail hunters, ive come to the conclusion that its snails eating my hydrocotle and staurogyne... little buggers! Want some loaches really but think they will munch the shrimp.
Anyway as said, nice looking scape, positive adjustments to hardscape imo too, gives a good left/right planting balance now whilst retaining the triangle shape . Unusual fish choices too which is nice to see.
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[Antipofish]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

The plant I bought in holland as dwarf corymbosa, AE sells it http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/hyd...-p-5904.html?zenid=sjlt1i6evj0r6bi48l0dc7vrn3

The puffers are fine so far: ignored the tetras, figured out to stay out of the brevis's way, found my nerites which they showed a bit of interest in but gave up in the end(the nerites are nearly twice their size ) and dont seem to have noticed the amanos .

So , I have ;
1 panda cory (still small)
6 med sized Corydoras Schwartzi
11 Rummy Nose Tetra's
3 dwarf neon rainbowfish
1 male Apistogramma Agasizzi

You reckon dwarf puffers would be OK with that ?

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Lovely looking set up.... i could do with some snail hunters, ive come to the conclusion that its snails eating my hydrocotle and staurogyne... little buggers! Want some loaches really but think they will munch the shrimp.
Anyway as said, nice looking scape, positive adjustments to hardscape imo too, gives a good left/right planting balance now whilst retaining the triangle shape . Unusual fish choices too which is nice to see.
Cheerio,
Ady.

Thanks, the puffers will munch shrimp aswell. You could try throwing a piece of cucmber in overnight and pull it out in the morning covered in snails, this works well for me.

The plant I bought in holland as dwarf corymbosa, AE sells it http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/hyd...-p-5904.html?zenid=sjlt1i6evj0r6bi48l0dc7vrn3

The puffers are fine so far: ignored the tetras, figured out to stay out of the brevis's way, found my nerites which they showed a bit of interest in but gave up in the end(the nerites are nearly twice their size ) and dont seem to have noticed the amanos .

So , I have ;
1 panda cory (still small)
6 med sized Corydoras Schwartzi
11 Rummy Nose Tetra's
3 dwarf neon rainbowfish
1 male Apistogramma Agasizzi

You reckon dwarf puffers would be OK with that ?

Short answer No.
It usally depends on the disposition of the puffer in question but from what I've read corys are one fish they dont tend to get on with(to the detriment of the corys). Also a few other things to consider are: they not strong swimmers so would struggle in a high flow tank, they can be very nippy and agressive but wouldnt stand up to being attacked by the apisto if they annoyed it. They are really best suited to a species only tank and will be going into my 60cm by themselves in a few more days once they have put a big dent in my snail population

 

[Ady34]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

You could try throwing a piece of cucmber in overnight and pull it out in the morning covered in snails, this works well for me.

Good tip, ill give that a go.
Cheers,
Ady.

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Well Update Time.

I have decided to run the tank low tec so it has been pretty much ignored for the last month. I'll be doing a trim and adding some stauro to the foreground in the next couple of days. Im still at a loss what to do with the right hand side of the tank so any ideas would be appreciated.
Im now in the process of changing my stocking. The cardinals and breeding brevis pairs are getting moved into my 60cm and over the next few weeks I'll be adding:
6x Congo Tetras
4x Port Hole Catfish
2x Ctenopoma Acutirostre
2x African Brown Knife Fish (I picked these up Friday)

 

[Antipofish]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Ollie thats a great FTS. Would love to see the full size image. Leaves looking crisp and clean and healthy. Hows about a left to right, front to back, tour of the planting to help the newbies (and to help the "learners" like me verify what we think stuff is) hehe. ?

 

[creg]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

6x Congo Tetras
4x Port Hole Catfish
2x Ctenopoma Acutirostre
2x African Brown Knife Fish

really cool selection of fish

 

[awtong]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Congo's are big impressive fish and I love mine. Select them carefully as some colour up better than others. I personally always chose fish that have a strong orange colouration just above the lateral line as these develop better overall colour.

Andy

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Congo's are big impressive fish and I love mine. Select them carefully as some colour up better than others. I personally always chose fish that have a strong orange colouration just above the lateral line as these develop better overall colour.

Andy

Thanks for the tip . The ones my Lfs stock seem to have quite bold coloration so should be good.

Ollie thats a great FTS. Would love to see the full size image. Leaves looking crisp and clean and healthy. Hows about a left to right, front to back, tour of the planting to help the newbies (and to help the "learners" like me verify what we think stuff is) hehe. ?

Thanks,
http://s809.photobucket.com/albums/zz15/OllieNZ/ Here is a link to my photobucket, you should pick up the full pic on there. It was taken with my phone so isn't the biggest pic.
As to your other requests my camera is bust (hence the fts with the phone) so you will have to do your best with the fts and I'll let you know if your right or wrong 😉

6x Congo Tetras
4x Port Hole Catfish
2x Ctenopoma Acutirostre
2x African Brown Knife Fish

really cool selection of fish

Thanks,
I like to deviate from the norm and it's nice to have the tank space to do so, as most odd fish are slightly on the larger side

 

[faizal]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

......be doing a trim and adding some stauro to the foreground in the next couple of days. Im still at a loss what to do with the right hand side of the tank so any ideas would be appreciated.

I'm sorry but,....you could do that? I didn't know you could grow stauros in a non co2 tank Are you planning on adding excel or something? It looks amazing Ollie 😀 . IMHO I think the right side looks nice with an open space as you have it in there.

I like what you've done with the rocks too,...nice little caves here & there. Very cosy spots.

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

I'm sorry but,....you could do that? I didn't know you could grow stauros in a non co2 tank Are you planning on adding excel or something? It looks amazing Ollie 😀 . IMHO I think the right side looks nice with an open space as you have it in there.

I like what you've done with the rocks too,...nice little caves here & there. Very cosy spots.

Thanks,
Not sure the stauro knows it cant grow in a non co2 tank They are some cuttings I got off a friend and were only going in the bin anyway. He was growing it for quite a while without co2 so here goes nothing.

Antipofish,
I've tried getting some close ups but I'm not happy with the quality so no pics sorry. Here is the plant list.
Hygrophila Corymbosa (left and right rear)
Cryptocoryne Diversen? (left in front of the Hygro)
Hygrophila Compacta (dwarf Corymbsa, front to rear on right)
Cryptocoryne Balansae (right rear corner)
Java Moss
Unknown mini Crypt in the gap in the rocks at the front.

 

[Ady34]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Hi Ollie, the tank is looking really nice, and as said, im also unsure you need anything for the right foreground, however some stauro and possibly some more of the brown crypts to seperate the greens would work well with your current look and fill it in there a bit more if thats what your looking for.
As a side, if your ever thinning those unnamed mini crypts nicely filling the gaps between your rocks, id happily purchase a few from you 😉
Cheerio,
Ady.

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Hi Ollie, the tank is looking really nice, and as said, im also unsure you need anything for the right foreground, however some stauro and possibly some more of the brown crypts to seperate the greens would work well with your current look and fill it in there a bit more if thats what your looking for.
As a side, if your ever thinning those unnamed mini crypts nicely filling the gaps between your rocks, id happily purchase a few from you 😉
Cheerio,
Ady.

Thanks Ady,
I've been thinking along similar lines. I may just pull the balansae and move the corymbosa into that back corner. Thin the diversen out and put the spares where the corymbosa is. I added the stauro last night in the front centre and as it grows I'll spread it along to the right.
I dont relish the thought of pulling up that balansae though, that's gonna make a BIG mess.
I'll keep you in mind for the mini crypts but they have been very slow growing so it may be a while.

 

[Little-AL]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Nice tank! Like the rock layout... Look forward to seeing the Knifes in there!

 

[OllieNZ]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

Nice tank! Like the rock layout... Look forward to seeing the Knifes in there!

Thanks,
A few close ups, sorry for the quality, I'm stuck with my phone camera till I buy a new one 🙄

 

[Alastair]

Re: Ollie's 120x45x45: New Pics

looks fantastic ollie,
how often are you doing water changes and how much if so, are you adding ferts etc?