My freshwater planted nano tank project
Discussion
The guy at the store said he feeds them frozen bloodworms and I've actually seen one pooping out a bloodworm so I'm guesing they must be eating them, I'll try some live ones however. I'm not entirely convinced it was alright when I got it back home that day, it didn't seem quite as lively as the other one although I'm wondering if the cold weather is the problem, my tank is usually at a constant 26c but since the weather turned it's dropping to about 24c overnight and sitting around 25c in the day (regardless of how much I turn up the aquarium heater).
Poisson96 said:
Also it sounds like you don't have enough of them. Speak to your LFS or here for advicebas they are shoalers apparently
They do like company, but need hiding places. They can be aggressive towards each other, but seem to have an "out of sight out of mind" approach to continued aggression, so when one moves behind a plant, the other seems to forget all about it - till next time 
My little guys used to pick small snails out from under my finger nails after I had scraped them off the glass. I guess they used to help themselves when I wasn't about too. They weren't good with feeding, better with hunting / scavenging.
I am amazed you have them in with shrimps. That is puffer food generally - expensive puffer food at that!
Oakey said:
It's mostly Amano shrimp, they're huge compared to the puffer. It's so small I can never find it, then it just pops out from behind a plant somewhere
Ah, sorry in your earlier post you were talking about buying RCS and puffers in the same sentence, I made the wrong leap.Yes Amanos get big but I hear the curiosity of puffers can lead them to ping the odd large shrimp leg or six until it is disabled and then go to town on it. Must emphasise, "what I have heard" as I have never put shrimps with puffers before.
Wrt fish death soon after returning from the shop, it happens. They get stressed on the way to the shop, in the shop, can get sick, and the journey home and potentially different water conditions is the final nail on top of their aquarist experience.
I would treat a death in the first week or two not as something that you have directly caused (given half decent water and acclimatisation etc), more likely a duff fish when purchased. Not eating is a common symptom of sickness.
No no, I did buy a single RCS, it was living in the same tank as the puffers in the shop so I bought that as well as it was quite a big one but the rest of my shrimp are Amano.
I'm thinking of getting a Fluval Edge 23 or 46 for the living room so I might move the puffer to that, I think my current tank and filter is a little too chaotic for it as he just hangs around in the plants most of the time.
I'm thinking of getting a Fluval Edge 23 or 46 for the living room so I might move the puffer to that, I think my current tank and filter is a little too chaotic for it as he just hangs around in the plants most of the time.
I have an Edge 46. Just a quick heads up on the design compromise before you buy it.
It looks really good but boy is it a bugger to gain access to do anything through that top hole. Every time you want to get your hand / arm in, you have to remove water first as the displacement causes overflow. You need to replace your elbow and wrist with universal joints when cleaning the glass. Net usage is hard to impossible, I cut the handle off mine as I regularly had to net fry. Removing floating plant debris is more difficult, you just can't slide it up the glass to the open top edge - it doesn't exist! What I am saying is that any access is a pain via the top hole compared to a regular tank.
But again, it looks good, so worth the additional hassle from my perspective.
It looks really good but boy is it a bugger to gain access to do anything through that top hole. Every time you want to get your hand / arm in, you have to remove water first as the displacement causes overflow. You need to replace your elbow and wrist with universal joints when cleaning the glass. Net usage is hard to impossible, I cut the handle off mine as I regularly had to net fry. Removing floating plant debris is more difficult, you just can't slide it up the glass to the open top edge - it doesn't exist! What I am saying is that any access is a pain via the top hole compared to a regular tank.
But again, it looks good, so worth the additional hassle from my perspective.
I did notice that when reading the reviews although I figured the issue with water overflowing could be avoided if doing these tasks during a partial waterchange. How sturdy is it? I was looking at an empty one on display in Pets at Home the other week and that tiny base looks like it'd be easy to topple it over?
Also, is the LED it comes with really flimsy and prone to water damage? How's the filter?
Also, is the LED it comes with really flimsy and prone to water damage? How's the filter?
Oakey said:
I did notice that when reading the reviews although I figured the issue with water overflowing could be avoided if doing these tasks during a partial waterchange. How sturdy is it? I was looking at an empty one on display in Pets at Home the other week and that tiny base looks like it'd be easy to topple it over?
Also, is the LED it comes with really flimsy and prone to water damage? How's the filter?
Mine has been good. It is sturdy on its base with water in providing you locate it properly to start with. I have had it about 18 months or so.Also, is the LED it comes with really flimsy and prone to water damage? How's the filter?
LED lights are fine, good enough for simple plants, but don't put anything red or equally difficult in there, IMO there is not enough light. There is no water damage on my light, it gets a wipe at water changes to keep the lens clean but that is about it. I have it on a timer which means that I don't use the blue dusk setting, which looks pretty cool by the way.
My filter impeller packed up while I was on holiday for 2 weeks, and sadly the auto feeder carried on. Disastrous wipeout, but it may have been me not putting it back together it properly when I cleaned it before leaving. I didn't buy a new one just cleaned and reseated it, and all has been good since. So can't really blame the kit.
I water change about 50% a week but I am heavily stocked. I clean the filter about once a month as the flow slows. Since the impeller failure, I have put in another small nano filter to cover any breakdown, which hides quite well in plants. I don't use an air pump, all the bubbles form against the top glass and look awful. Surprisingly, it gets enough oxygen for the fish through the little square opening.
Yes, you can do most maintenance on a water change, but for example, putting in spinach leaves for Amanos, removing any plant detritus, and general ad hoc maintenance means getting the siphon tubes out. Long tongs don't reach the bottom. So the "oh look at that, I'll fix it" type maintenance gets put off till th next water change. not good if you are as anal as I am about getting rubbish out of the tank. Magnetic cleaners are only so good, and don't get right in to the corners becaus of the top glass, so in goes the arm and green scourer to finish off. Again, UJ style wrists needed.
Maybe the shallower 23 will help with maint as you don't need to get your arm in so far to reach the bottom and tongs will reach. But that is not much water to keep stable for the fish.
Despite the hassle, I would buy another one, they do look cool as a water cube.
Bumping this after a while!
I tore down my tanks for a house move. The cichlids were too large and too few to restock the tank, so I have rehomed them. The planted tank fish are being looked after by a friend for me. It's now three months on, and I am trying to get everything running again. The conditions here are quite different, so there will be a few challenges.
Progress on the cichlid tank has amounted to finding it a home and ordering some chemicals. The water at the old house was rock hard. Here, it's very soft. So I have ordered a rift valley salts mix which should get me the required hardness and pH. I still have all of the old ocean rock and substrate. I'll get this set up and start cycling it. Still need to replace the lighting and / or hood. I think the standard Juwel stuff is pants, so will probably go for some sort of LED solution, although I note that Juwel now offer that for this tank.
The planted tank has been up and running for a while. That also offers some challenges, the largest of which is that the only place I can sensibly install it is in the conservatory. That offers a few issues with temperature and lighting, but nothing that can't be overcome I don't think. I'm currently having some issues with blanketweed (I was away on holiday for a week and when I got back it was everywhere), but actually the algae problem is not as bad as I feared and can probably be dealt with once I have fish and shrimps in there.
I couldn't bring everything from the old house, some of the rocks were too large, and most of the plants got frozen in the cold weather. Only the java moss and some of the java fern survived. But that's OK. My initial idea is to have a large rock and wood structure in the middle and to cover it with epiphytes, with just a carpet everywhere else. I have planted Micranthemum (MonteCarlo) for carpet and that seems to be spreading rather well, particularly in the side that gets most natural light. I have attached the remaining java moss, some java fern, Anubias and Bucephalandra to the rocks and wood, and they seem to be doing OK. Once I have all that growing as I want, I may add some mid-ground plants if it looks a bit sparse.
It's currently going through a fishless cycle, dosing with ammonium chloride solution. It's clearing 2-4ppm ammonia in 24hrs, but the nitrite levels are still building. I suspect that, with the soft tapwater and CO2 injection, the pH is probably getting a bit low for the bacteria and probably wouldn't be so good for the fish when they arrive. So I have some buffer solution ordered which will hopefully improve matters. Another few weeks and I should be able to get my fish back!
I tore down my tanks for a house move. The cichlids were too large and too few to restock the tank, so I have rehomed them. The planted tank fish are being looked after by a friend for me. It's now three months on, and I am trying to get everything running again. The conditions here are quite different, so there will be a few challenges.
Progress on the cichlid tank has amounted to finding it a home and ordering some chemicals. The water at the old house was rock hard. Here, it's very soft. So I have ordered a rift valley salts mix which should get me the required hardness and pH. I still have all of the old ocean rock and substrate. I'll get this set up and start cycling it. Still need to replace the lighting and / or hood. I think the standard Juwel stuff is pants, so will probably go for some sort of LED solution, although I note that Juwel now offer that for this tank.
The planted tank has been up and running for a while. That also offers some challenges, the largest of which is that the only place I can sensibly install it is in the conservatory. That offers a few issues with temperature and lighting, but nothing that can't be overcome I don't think. I'm currently having some issues with blanketweed (I was away on holiday for a week and when I got back it was everywhere), but actually the algae problem is not as bad as I feared and can probably be dealt with once I have fish and shrimps in there.
I couldn't bring everything from the old house, some of the rocks were too large, and most of the plants got frozen in the cold weather. Only the java moss and some of the java fern survived. But that's OK. My initial idea is to have a large rock and wood structure in the middle and to cover it with epiphytes, with just a carpet everywhere else. I have planted Micranthemum (MonteCarlo) for carpet and that seems to be spreading rather well, particularly in the side that gets most natural light. I have attached the remaining java moss, some java fern, Anubias and Bucephalandra to the rocks and wood, and they seem to be doing OK. Once I have all that growing as I want, I may add some mid-ground plants if it looks a bit sparse.
It's currently going through a fishless cycle, dosing with ammonium chloride solution. It's clearing 2-4ppm ammonia in 24hrs, but the nitrite levels are still building. I suspect that, with the soft tapwater and CO2 injection, the pH is probably getting a bit low for the bacteria and probably wouldn't be so good for the fish when they arrive. So I have some buffer solution ordered which will hopefully improve matters. Another few weeks and I should be able to get my fish back!
I’m going to break down my reef tank and convert to a planted tank with discus.
I’ve finally had enough of fighting; dinoflagellates outbreaks, vermatide infestations and aiptasia etc to top of, a single screw inside my return pump rusted causing rapid tissue loss in my SPS colonies that I grew out from frags.
I’ve contemplated restarting, but the costs for livestock is getting quite expensive and I’m not sure I can swallow another mishap.
I’ve worked out selling my lights, livestock and equipment that I won’t be able to use in a FW setup, should be able to cover the costs.
I’m also looking forward to going on holiday and not stressing over coming home to a disaster
I’ve finally had enough of fighting; dinoflagellates outbreaks, vermatide infestations and aiptasia etc to top of, a single screw inside my return pump rusted causing rapid tissue loss in my SPS colonies that I grew out from frags.
I’ve contemplated restarting, but the costs for livestock is getting quite expensive and I’m not sure I can swallow another mishap.
I’ve worked out selling my lights, livestock and equipment that I won’t be able to use in a FW setup, should be able to cover the costs.
I’m also looking forward to going on holiday and not stressing over coming home to a disaster
otolith said:
Reef tanks are beautiful but as you say, a ball-ache. Have you considered rift valley cichlids? I think they’re as close to marine colours as you get in freshwater.
As much as I like the colours of Rift Valley cichlids, the tanks are to busy for me and they can look quite bland. I’ve been looking at some ADA aquarium set ups and they are stunning.
But then I was looking at my tank this morning and was thinking would I miss this?? It’s quite a tough decision to make. But yes reef tanks are a complete ball ache at times
For a substrate I’m thinking about adding a base layer of fine Akadama and then a sand topper. Do you think the sand will eventually sift it’s way to the bottom??
I’ve seen videos on the green machine where they use a product called powetsoil which is a pumice base with various additives added topped with Aquasoil. So I imagine they would suffer the same problem??
I’ve seen videos on the green machine where they use a product called powetsoil which is a pumice base with various additives added topped with Aquasoil. So I imagine they would suffer the same problem??
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