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Oriole

Some updates from the last week. The tank is getting more tinty by the day!

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I was planning to visit this local, very old fish shop as they randomly had female taeniatus in stock, but a few days ago heard that it sadly closed down. So the hunt continues, or maybe it's a sign to keep things as they are...

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The male is colouring up nicely and is clearly very appreciative of the additional leaf litter. I've also taken the cling film cover off as the floating plants have grown in further and the Pencilfish seem more at ease.

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Other than that, not much to report. Still enjoying it.

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New Location​

I recently moved to a new apartment (hopefully no more moves!!) and so the tank has been sitting on a temporary stand until I can find one. They're hard to find in the UK, but even harder to find in Canada.

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As a result, it's been receiving some neglect. The beauty of a low tech setup like this though is that despite not having had a water change for 2 months, the plants and fish seem completely unphased. There's no visible algae in sight, the glass is clean and the fish are happy and doing their spawning activities.

I also added a pair of 'Kali Tawa' Rainbowfish after hearing about them on the same podcast I mentioned earlier. They're just as beautiful and perfect for tank life as described, and I'm not even feeding live food. Although since adding them I've noticed a steep decline in my shrimp population... I'm unsure if they ran out of food or are being preyed on by the rainbows.

I'll try and get some photos of the rainbows, it's tricky!
 
This is gorgeous, Courtney!! Could I share some photos on the ukaps ig? 🙂
 
Courtneybst said:
pair of 'Kali Tawa' Rainbowfish
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love these, they’ve got great colour already for juveniles. Rainbows normally take a long time to colour up so these should look amazing once they’re full grown. I was tempted to get some but went for their bigger cousins Melonataenia Mairasi. Rainbowfish are very underrated, it’s a shame that most don’t look great in the shops as once they mature they’re stunning.
 
Conort2 said:
love these, they’ve got great colour already for juveniles. Rainbows normally take a long time to colour up so these should look amazing once they’re full grown. I was tempted to get some but went for their bigger cousins Melonataenia Mairasi. Rainbowfish are very underrated, it’s a shame that most don’t look great in the shops as once they mature they’re stunning.
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That's good to know! I would be feeding them live food to encourage even better colour but it's hard to come by here and I don't really want a culture of anything. I also did think they were showing colours quite early.

I used to have a Rainbowfish collection tank years ago and you're right, in the store they look pretty meh and it doesn't help that they're somewhat expensive. But given time, they really pop. The forehead flashing thing is also one of the coolest things to see in fishkeeping IMO.
 
Courtneybst said:
That's good to know! I would be feeding them live food to encourage even better colour but it's hard to come by here and I don't really want a culture of anything. I also did think they were showing colours quite early.

I used to have a Rainbowfish collection tank years ago and you're right, in the store they look pretty meh and it doesn't help that they're somewhat expensive. But given time, they really pop. The forehead flashing thing is also one of the coolest things to see in fishkeeping IMO.
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As someone who has never kept Rainbowfish, what is forehead flashing? :bored:
 
Winter Break​

My ultra low tech aquarium was put to the test over Christmas as I went back home for a month. It was at the mercy of cling film and the occasional frozen food feeding to sustain it whilst I was gone. On my return I was a little bit surprised to see the only difference was the roots of the floating plants. They had grown extra long and were reaching the sand. They never did this when I was there so the only thing I can attribute it to is extra nutrients in the water from the frozen food. It must've been phosphate though because the red root floaters were extra red, indicating the nitrates were low. Overall just an interesting observation.

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I gave it a little thinning out, some extra tannins and it was back to its old self. It's always amazing when I thin out the floating plants, just how crystal clear the water is. Tannin stained, but crystal clear like a fine whisky. I don't really know why... It never gets water changes and the filter is barely doing anything.

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After giving it a clean, I was due a visit to Planted Aquaria to pick up an aquarium. I had bought the UNS 45L (again), because I just love the dimensions and wanted to set up a mini reef tank. I ended up going with another tank and so used the purchase for store credit instead. I really didn't need anything so I spent a good half hour in the fish room and ended up using half of the credit on fish.

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I picked up 3 Dwarf Hatchetfish (unfortunately there were only 3). In hindsight I shouldn't have bothered but I've always wanted to keep hatchets and I had the perfect tank to make them feel comfortable. I think they could still do with some company...

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I also picked up 6 kuhli loaches. Another fish I've always wanted to keep and just never really had the right kind of setup for them. I thought 6 might be too few but they've proved me otherwise! They've not all turned out to be the reclusive super noodles I've heard so much about and they seem largely not bothered by my presence. They are out all the time, no matter the time of day, schnuffling around in leaf litter and perching on branches and even the roots of the floating plants. They really are impossibly cute and stunning fish, and their activity has brought a vibrance to the seemingly dead sand bed.

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After 6 months of keeping the 'Kali Tawa' rainbowfish I finally managed to get a money shot!

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