• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

Round indoor pond project queries.

If you ever plan a move for them, then put the tubes in a few days before. You know what Clowns are like, they won't be able to resist them ;)
 
Thanks mate. The only time I've had to move them was when the 2 tanks they had been prior to the pond leaked. I hope I don't need to move them any time soon but it may need to happen in a few years if things go to plan. Until then I hope they stay put where they are, and of course I hope they live and I don't kill them via other means.
 
I'm all caught up now. I've enjoyed reading every page of this journal. Fellow Clown lover.
You're very humble but actually very attentive, observant, caring, knowledgeable, methodical and inspiring.
Your pond is great.The emersed growth is huge and making me re-think the plans I have for the filtration on my next Clown Loach home upgrade.
Shame about the Discus. Don't beat yourself up about it though, it was a hell of of a upstream battle and it seemed to be improving. It most likely found you to late .
Can I ask about the Orchid? How's it doing? Are all it's roots submerged constantly in a basket of clay balls in the pond? The four potted ones I have are fed and watered for an hour each week, then drained but aren't flowering again like they have previously.
 
Thanks mate. It's really nice of you to say that.

Yes, shame about the discus.I still think of it.

The orchid was not placed into the clay pebbles, just on top as I noticed it roots would rot if planted. It was surviving and growing some actually but not thriving. It actually had a flowering stalk on a constant basis that never opened. I was about to take it out one of these days and plant it properly in a pot when I found it fallen in the tank and shredded to bits....Guess who the culprits were....:D

The emersed plants are doing their job and I am hooked on them as an addition to a tank. I can't really say enough how well it works for the fish as they appear really healthy and vibrant. It's probably the best thing I ever did for the fish.

The new weather loach has also been doing great in his Arum lily tub.It was almost a stationary fish in the shop the several times I checked before I bought it, to the point of me asking if those fish are normally like that. He hasn't stopped moving since. It's been really active. I even caught him digging inside the clay pebbles basket. :lol:
 
Thanks, I won't try that with our Orchids, I'm struggling to get them flowering again as it is.
I need to go back and look at the emersed plants you've got (memory like a fish) and decide what's going in my plans.
 
So today some sort of bad news for me, at least for one of my Peace Lilies.
It seems like the 34C I maintained in the betta tank for the sick discus didn't come without consequences and the peace lily has been rotting for a while it seems. I don't know for how long but it is really odd how the plant communicated that by dropping all it's leaves flat/horizontal. It was always straight up and growing really well and I've had it in there for many years, lots of the roots are in the actual substrate....Well, I don't know if it will make it. I cut out all the rot, a lot of it around the crown plus entire leaf stalks rotting from the crown. I've had this peace lily for 6 years now.

I took some pictures of the Arum Lily which is suffocating itself for light.........But it's an amazing plant, a real fast grower. I hope it flowers soon. I think it's showing a bit of deficiencies, leaves getting lighter and there was an old leaf that died so perhaps not enough nitrogen. I may drop a bit more fish food as I haven't fed that much. It seems the loach is catching live food, hence his spunky attitude...and slightly rounded belly. The shrimp population does seem to be diminishing and I had tons of black worms in there which I can't see anymore when I stir up. I think someone has been up to overfeeding herself big time...

Weather Loach Arum Lily 3.jpg



Weather Loach Arum Lily 2.jpg



And here is the very active loach who was all around my hands at water change time. She loves that plant pot and the filter, in and out, also digging inside the plant pot getting all the clay pebbles out.... She also loves going into the glass jars I have at the bottom...a very playful fish indeed. She's actually really shiny, golden sort of color. I couldn't capture it on picture yet.

Weather Loach.jpg
 
Well, posting to mention that I definitely killed the several years old lily with the high temperatures of up to 34C a few weeks back I treated the discus with. It did not make it, it slowly melted, only that I noticed a bit too late but it is now gone out of the tank as of last weekend. Thankfully the betta is ok.
The entire crown went mush....

As a replacement, I now have a small Arum lily in a hanging clay pebble pot. The betta is really liking the "high ground" as the surface of it is just an inch below water....

The weather loach is dong really well in there so far. I am not feeding him every day as I think he's still munching on the many live black worms and possibly shrimp and small snails. He seems like a really interesting fish by the way but he still does not like me much :D
 
Hey alto, yes, I totally agree.

The loach will need a bigger home and wasn't the best choice for that tub. Only that the tub stayed fishless for so long and I wanted a cold water loach again but something different than hillstream loaches...at the same time it had to be a loach and it had to be a bottom feeder...lol....So I thought one weather loach for now maybe ok but it is not ok long term for the fish.....as much as I want it to be.

By the way, if you remember my beaufortia hillstreams that I complained didn't grow a good while ago.... They're still not grown much, if that's the species I have at all as they seem to be doing good in that overgrown with crypts planted tank for 3 years now, and I am almost convinced that it is a good environment for hillstreams in general to keep them in a high flow low tech tank,apart from the tank being barely 60 litres. But they're on their own in there with the cherry shrimp.

If I remove laziness from the equation, and I remove my 2 cold water tubs from my small fish room, I'll have room for a 300 litre, perhaps 4 foot tank... which I thought about for a good while... I am only worried about the biological disturbance as that involves my hillstream loaches, and even my californian black worms population in their tank, etc...That's putting me off right now as I have the "blue" tub really stable now and the loaches have established a hierarchy after more than a year, not fighting anymore and the tank seems to be now running stable, the bad algae gone with the same amount of light. And the loaches are healthy and feeding on what I give them.

Having said all that gibberish, I love the weather loach experience so far and she will need more room. I thought of at least getting her a male for company but they've been selling only females lately...However, she seems very entertained in there for some reason. Hyper active fish.

By the way, lights went off but the Arum Lily in the weather loach tank has grown humongous leaves...I'll take a picture when I can.
 
Last edited:
Time flies. Time for a little update...

I came back from a 3 week holiday last weekend, having left the fish to their own devices.
To cut the long story short, I had some evaporation issues with the warmest tanks, particularly the betta tank and the pond.
I also have one very thin SAE, which had always been the runt of the pack, and was picked on when younger so I have kept an eye since. It never grew the same as the rest...and now it is extremely thin. But since the rest of the fish look plump enough, I think it might be worms as well so I dosed Kusuri just in case and I'll see how that goes. I'll feed a bit more now for a while and drop some veg although the competition for food is fierce. I hope he fills out as he's such a friendly and happy looking fish otherwise. As for the clowns, no issues that I saw and they've been yapping at me every morning since I came back, haven't forgotten how to beg with noses out of the surface.

Unfortunately, I am not seeing some hillstream loaches in one of the hillstream loach tanks so some unaccounted for yet in there. I am not sure if they're hiding or they're dead and decomposed. It happened once in my other hillstream tank, when I thought some were dead until a few months later I saw them. I think they lose the habit of coming out for food when they're not fed daily for a while...

The dojo loach on another hand looks like she's been snacking on all the surviving cherry shrimp and black worms, not a bother, looks great and active. The betta's tank had almost half the water only, filter just barely working but he's a trooper and has perked up since. He also doesn't look to have lost much if any weight although not fed for 3 weeks. I hope the starvation period doesn't affect his long term health.
 
I also have one very thin SAE, which had always been the runt of the pack, and was picked on when younger so I have kept an eye since. It never grew the same as the rest...and now it is extremely thin.

Just to update on that. The thin SAE has packed some weight and it seems perfectly fine, although still the smallest of the bunch but that won't change.

The crypt in a pot is constantly throwing flowers, looking happy although a lot of the leaves end up outside the water looking a bit sorry for themselves, hence the green colour instead of purplish. The crypt looks better under water.


CryptFlowerLatest.jpg


Unfortunately, I am not seeing some hillstream loaches in one of the hillstream loach tanks so some unaccounted for yet in there. I am not sure if they're hiding or they're dead and decomposed.

Hillstreams appeared back. It seems that when they're not fed for a prolonged period of time such as a 3 week holiday, they lose the habit of coming for food. This has happened to me in the 2 hillstream tanks over the years. It's something to keep in mind with new hillstream loaches. These fish are a bit stupid :p

And the latest from the clowns for the record. Nothing changes much in there.



PondLatest2.jpg
 
We had an electricity issue over the weekend, there wasn't any for over 12 hours or so. I got worried but there was nothing I could do for the time being. I actually didn't notice any stress at all, although with fish one never knows for sure as the effect is always delayed. I did do quite large water changes after the event just in case so I hope that will be it.

A video focusing mainly on the denison barbs and harlequin rasboras.

 
Wow those Torpedo barbs look primo! Are they dear in the UK? Here in Australia they are about $100 per piece.
 
Are you serious
Yes quite serious. They are almost impossible to find in shops because they are almost the same price as good discus. Low sales probably because most people can't afford em.

Anyways back on topic. :)
 
Back
Top