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Have popped in four biggish corys (melanistus) that were in the local fish shop tank with some Amazon puffers and seemed to be ok, and have added a couple more puffers. So now have five puffers, four corys, a few ottos and that's about it. Corys have made a big difference to the substrate - properly clean now as they disturb stuff enough for it to be taken away, but aren't uprooting plants.
Will add a video of feeding time in a bit - so satisfying!
Will add a video of feeding time in a bit - so satisfying!
Nathaniel Whiteside
Member
Nice one Mike, Looking forward to it 
Here's a video. Love 'em. (Watch in 720 resolution for best view).
A nice little snapshot
And since this is a 'warts and all' journal, here's how the tank's currently looking
Hasn't had any love for a long time, so there's still quite a bit of algae. Am going to get an excel drive on to zap it, and then be a bit more careful. Feel confident can manage it now the corys are in there dusting everything up a bit.
Have made much more of a jungle for the puffers since this was shot - big bushes of rotala (harvested from my big tank) at each end of the tank and then a moss mountain in the middle. They're clever little fish and they need more distraction than most.
A nice little snapshot
And since this is a 'warts and all' journal, here's how the tank's currently looking
Hasn't had any love for a long time, so there's still quite a bit of algae. Am going to get an excel drive on to zap it, and then be a bit more careful. Feel confident can manage it now the corys are in there dusting everything up a bit.
Have made much more of a jungle for the puffers since this was shot - big bushes of rotala (harvested from my big tank) at each end of the tank and then a moss mountain in the middle. They're clever little fish and they need more distraction than most.
A
Antipofish
Guest
cant see the video it says its private !
tim
Member
Nice video mike you have some brave corries trying to share food there 
really nice fish mate I keep a small group of Pygmy puffers messy little buggers takes dedication to keep them in a planted tank hats off to you mate 
really nice fish mate I keep a small group of Pygmy puffers messy little buggers takes dedication to keep them in a planted tank hats off to you mate Here's some quick pics post mini-rescape
Front and back, now look quite different, so more interesting. Algae already on the retreat, and hopefully that moss will grow to be a monster in the middle, with the rotala thickening out a lot. Want to go for the full on jungle look. Once the rotala is properly embedded, I'll trim to make it a nice curve and all that jazz...
Nice little cory (melanistus), who'll be keeping my substrate nice and dusted.
And a close up of the bottom right, just seeded roughly with some grass. Might change this for some eleucharis once I get the CO2 sorted. But this stuff has been living happily with minimal attention, so why not stick with what's working ok...
And finally, one of the bigger inhabitants.
This is sort of my experiment tank (as this journal shows). So am now basically testing whether it's possible to have a half-decent planted tank with puffers. CO2 is all over the place, so will be slowly cranking that up over the next few days. Fingers crossed - no way I'm gassing those puffers...
Front and back, now look quite different, so more interesting. Algae already on the retreat, and hopefully that moss will grow to be a monster in the middle, with the rotala thickening out a lot. Want to go for the full on jungle look. Once the rotala is properly embedded, I'll trim to make it a nice curve and all that jazz...
Nice little cory (melanistus), who'll be keeping my substrate nice and dusted.
And a close up of the bottom right, just seeded roughly with some grass. Might change this for some eleucharis once I get the CO2 sorted. But this stuff has been living happily with minimal attention, so why not stick with what's working ok...
And finally, one of the bigger inhabitants.
This is sort of my experiment tank (as this journal shows). So am now basically testing whether it's possible to have a half-decent planted tank with puffers. CO2 is all over the place, so will be slowly cranking that up over the next few days. Fingers crossed - no way I'm gassing those puffers...
Attachments
Looking at this a bit more, am going to get hold of some Eleocharis acicularis for the mid section open areas. Think would help provide contrast and be long enough for the puffers to glide through like the aquatic tigers they are.
Any tips on getting it to thrive?
Any tips on getting it to thrive?
A
Antipofish
Guest
Westyggx
Member
Will grab your Ammania sp. 'Bonsai' instead I think... Really pleased with how this tank is looking now. Algae noticeably sorted even compared to the picture above. The combination of lots of water changes (50% every other day), Easycarbo at 1ml for every 10 litres, getting the hand in there to rough up the leaves, and corys to mess about on the substrate has got rid of it all.
Will do a proper trim of the rotala when it hits the top properly, one end then the other.
Will do a proper trim of the rotala when it hits the top properly, one end then the other.
Lindy
Member
Those puffers are beautiful. Are they noticably happier in a large group? I would like some but think my 54ltr could take a maximum of 2 and I read they like a large group...Jealous....
jack-rythm
Member
how much do you reckon I could get in a 91L tank?
I've got 5 in that tank and it's 70L. They seem happy enough - as long as its heavily planted has good flow and has a bit of shade. Think in the Amazon they live in fast streams and hang about under logs eating crustaceans. So mimic that! They prefer being in groups for sure - bit like corys.
jack-rythm
Member
sweet ill go for 7-8 then 🙂 thanks for the reply buddy, love these fish so much! I dont actually know too much about them so I need to start learning before I invest.. What do you feed yours on? whats your food regime?
Important: they jump! Found one on the kitchen counter and one on the floor yesterday, luckily managed to scoop up and back in without too much damage. So today means rigging up a better cover...
I feed frozen mussels, bit of tropical frozen mix, peas, the odd shrimp from my big tank. Their favourite is snails, but can't seem to get these growing fast enough in my big tank - the dwarf puffers in that just eat them right off.
I feed frozen mussels, bit of tropical frozen mix, peas, the odd shrimp from my big tank. Their favourite is snails, but can't seem to get these growing fast enough in my big tank - the dwarf puffers in that just eat them right off.
jack-rythm
Member
Cool thanks for the advice... I didn't really want a cover but I guess it's not the end of the world cutting some clear acrylic!
Cheers 🙂
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Cheers 🙂
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Quick update. Trimmed stems hard today (have realised haven't been trimming anywhere near low enough, ever - see my other recent thread), replanted rotala cuttings, added Ammania sp. bonsai, and added Eleocharis acicularis, which I've never grown before and was a bargin £3.50 for a 9 cm pot.
Here's the kitchen side this morning
And now
And the living room side this morning
And here it is now
Quick photos as water hadn't cleared, and did a lot of rubbing fingers through moss etc to get crud out. This is just after water change, straight off camera.
Looking forward to that grass growing in, and think the rotala should now get properly bushy. Slight bad point: the puffers really aren't happy that rotala has been chopped so low - they're doing quite a bit of glass pacing - although seems better if I drop the light to just 2 T5s, rather than a Grobeam strip and one T5, which is what it's had for a while. Will run it with lower light and CO2, and see if they prefer it. Might also keep that algae in check.
Here's the kitchen side this morning
And now
And the living room side this morning
And here it is now
Quick photos as water hadn't cleared, and did a lot of rubbing fingers through moss etc to get crud out. This is just after water change, straight off camera.
Looking forward to that grass growing in, and think the rotala should now get properly bushy. Slight bad point: the puffers really aren't happy that rotala has been chopped so low - they're doing quite a bit of glass pacing - although seems better if I drop the light to just 2 T5s, rather than a Grobeam strip and one T5, which is what it's had for a while. Will run it with lower light and CO2, and see if they prefer it. Might also keep that algae in check.
