Show me your aquarium

[Nicks90]

The shark and clown loach love-in continues, even though they now have loads of room for their own spaces.
Literally follow each other wherever one goes, t'other is right behind it.

Plants are starting to fill out as well, so time to expand the fish stock I reckon.
Some cherry barbs are going in first


Edited to add, yes I need to sort the air bubbles in the background picture thingy on the tank

[otolith]

Nicks90 said:

The shark and clown loach love-in continues, even though they now have loads of room for their own spaces.
Literally follow each other wherever one goes, t'other is right behind it.

Clown loach are a shoaling species best kept in groups, so not surprising that it’s paired up with the shark. Good that you rescued it, I think that given how few people have a tank large enough for half a dozen ten inch long fish, they really shouldn’t be sold in the numbers they are.

[Oberheim]

Completely agree. Minimum 6 foot by 2 foot aquarium size for clown loach IMO given the size they can attain and their need to be in a group. In practice this means they're not really a suitable species to sell as an aquarium fish, lovely fish though they are. Same goes for many large catfish and cichlid species one often sees for sale.

[joropug]

A few photos and a video of my tropical set up now it's established.

The plants are doing great, currently working on a montecarlo carpet for the front.

Usual stuff in there. Guppies, Angels, Corydoba, Mollies, Platys, Tetras and Shrimp of various colours. 60 fish currently reside if my count is right.

Recently purchased a Fluval Prism 2.0 spotlight cannot recommend this enough. In conjunction with the WRGB light that came with the tank you can create some incredible colour combos.























The orange Platy females both look heavily pregnant but have done so beyond their gestation period so think they may just be fattys.

On that topic my maternity ward was quite fruitful. Between just 3rd April and 25th April various Guppies gave birth to 197 surviving fry.... Yes I counted as I rescued them into a second maternity ward....

I've bought a second nursery tank for them. I really don't know what to do with them, I think 30 or so will be repatriated to the main tank and I need to sell the rest once they are bigger but will have a short window until they are too big and numerous for the nursery. If anyone in the BH postcode area needs any feel free to DM me can do them very cheap. The main tank will have survival of the fittest mode activated from herein.

The pump is useless and gave way after just a week of use this morning luckily have another from Amazon en route same day.

[J4CKO]

I dont have much luck with breeding, they do it then they just eat the lot.

Had three Convict Cichlids survive and two Kribs recently, no Platties but to be honest they annoy me, they just swim round looking gormless with a massive poo hanging out their back ends, is that why they are called "Platties" as you could plait their poo ?

[Oberheim]

J4CKO said:

I dont have much luck with breeding, they do it then they just eat the lot.

Had three Convict Cichlids survive and two Kribs recently, no Platties but to be honest they annoy me, they just swim round looking gormless with a massive poo hanging out their back ends, is that why they are called "Platties" as you could plait their poo ?

joropug, your community tank looks superb. I love the varied lighting effects coming from the Fluval spotlight and the way the central upright bogwood piece picks up the colour. Very nice.

What will you do with all those ickle guppies when they grow up?

[otolith]

My mbuna always breed, and it always becomes a bit of a problem. Ideally I'd find something to live with them and eat the fry.

I've had the bristlenose catfish in both of my planted tanks breed, the Boseman's rainbowfish in one and leopard danios in the other have both bred, and both produced only one surviving offspring.

[joropug]

Oberheim said:

joropug, your community tank looks superb. I love the varied lighting effects coming from the Fluval spotlight and the way the central upright bogwood piece picks up the colour. Very nice.

What will you do with all those ickle guppies when they grow up?

Thank you! I have stuck with my original vision for the wood placement after finding that cracking wizards hat of a centre piece, but have made some changes the plants mostly as it has matured.

Also took a while to get the algae under control I don't have the light on more than 30% brightness now and have it scheduled for when I'm in the house. Seems to be about right now.

As for the breeding. Guppies are simple as you like. Add 2 females to every male, a few weeks later you'll notice most if not all have larger stomachs.

I eventually had two breeding tanks in there. One was large with 3 sub sections , the other I used as a rescue area so the mothers didn't eat them.

Overall just a case of catching them before they give birth. The fry have no chance with those angel fish about.

I did put the fat orange Platy in about a month ago but it thrashed around a lot so I took it out. Hasnt given birth so as I mentioned, just fat.

The white mollies I really like but having had the 3 females in the maternity ward they got quite stressed and one, my favourite typically, died so I released the other 2.

Catching the mollies and Platys was an ordeal and stressed them a lot also. The nature of my tank having tons of hiding places , that and the net caught the edges of the wood etc and ripped it up didn't help. I've dug small passages under the bogwood and there are some natural paths through the wood too!

As for what to do, I intend on adding about 30 of the guppy Fry into my main tank once they are big enough and I can pick the prettiest ones , then I'll try and sell the rest.





The moss and weight was a requirement as they were getting out of the gap at the bottom !

Edited by joropug on Tuesday 28th April 15:46

[budgie smuggler]

joropug said:

The orange Platy females both look heavily pregnant but have done so beyond their gestation period so think they may just be fattys.

Nice pics. To be honest, most of your fish look quite healthily plump to me! Do you notice the angels nipping/eating the smaller fish?

[joropug]

budgie smuggler said:

Nice pics. To be honest, most of your fish look quite healthily plump to me! Do you notice the angels nipping/eating the smaller fish?

I've had the odd unexplained death that may be the Angels. On the whole they are very slow and placid, competitive for food. They don't nip fins but sometimes give a headbutt !

[Nicks90]

I had angels once and the pair of them were psychopathic nutters and tried to kill everything in the tank.

Ended up giving them away to a friend, who made the mistake of putting them with some Corey's, which were promptly killed as well.

Never again.

But your tank looks gorgeous

[joropug]

Nicks90 said:

I had angels once and the pair of them were psychopathic nutters and tried to kill everything in the tank.

Ended up giving them away to a friend, who made the mistake of putting them with some Corey's, which were promptly killed as well.

Never again.

But your tank looks gorgeous

So far so good.... they do go a bit aggressive sometimes but they are quite slow, bar the headbutts.

Mini pump was replaced last night on the fry but lost 4 sadly, very annoying but the new pump seems a lot better quality.

I woke up this morning though and all of the fish were back at the surface, i did 2 50% water changes when the pump was out of action but an ammonia test suggested it is higher than desired.

Just did another 50% water change and the fish seem a lot happier.

Another issue is the new pump was a bit boisterous for them, so I've taken a sponge from the old filter and cable tied it to the nozzle which is much much better and allows for the air bubbles to rise gently to the surface too. Ideal.

I think the powdery fish fry food rots really quickly and a lot goes to waste so have to be careful.

Interestingly out of all of the fry big enough to see, every single one is a female, not a single male spotted..... interesting read:

https://learnaboutpet.com/guppy-male-to-female-bir...

Edited by joropug on Wednesday 29th April 13:54

[OldPal]

Just got our first aquarium on Monday and looking for advice, added live bacteria in and it’s went cloudy white. Reading up it looks like a bacteria bloom but some of the stuff I’m reading is conflicting, is it best to just let nature take its course for a week or two and see where I am at or do a water change?



Got the tank planted last night (Wednesday) so hoping the plants help kickstart the tank.

Also looking at advice at what to put in, quite set on getting a colourful betta but would like some other species including shrimp
Would some Pygmy corys (4) and a couple of shrimp be too much for the 40 litres and the betta?

[Nicks90]

Yes that's all part of the nitrogen cycle, just leave it a couple of weeks and feed it a tiny pinch of food every few days, and the bacteria will find it's own path and settle out.

Bettas are marvelous fish, but can be difficult to have tank mates, either because they can either be aggressive towards them, or alternatively the tankates might fin nip the betta.
Personally I wouldn't have Cory's as tank mates in such a small tank, just doesn't look big enough for them to stay out of each other's way, which could lead to aggressive behaviour

[AlexC1981]

OP popping in for the hundredth page I sold my aquarium a few years ago, but I like to pop in here and lurk for a bit. Nice to see the thread still going.

[otolith]

I put some sticklebacks and white cloud mountain minnows into the water feature a few years ago, to prevent mosquitoes breeding in it.

Dropped my GoPro in there today to see what was going on.

Violence. Violence is going on.

[JFReturns]

otolith said:

I put some sticklebacks and white cloud mountain minnows into the water feature a few years ago, to prevent mosquitoes breeding in it.

Dropped my GoPro in there today to see what was going on.

Violence. Violence is going on.

That’s really cool! I knew White Cloud Mountain Minnows like colder water but had no idea they could survive in the UK outside. And the sticklebacks have great character.

[otolith]

JFReturns said:

That s really cool! I knew White Cloud Mountain Minnows like colder water but had no idea they could survive in the UK outside. And the sticklebacks have great character.

They are tough little beasts. They've got through three winters now, I think - not sure how many are left of the original six, there's only ever one visible at a time on the video and they typically only live 3-5 years anyway. The water feature is shallow and clear with a lot of hiding places, and they are shy. Might add some more this year.

That male stickleback is an asshole, though! I believe it was spawned in the pond. It doesn't appear to be nest guarding, but it chases the female away whenever it sees it, so maybe.

[Nicks90]

Question for the more learned on here, beard algae..
My water quality is great, all well within parameters and my fish are thriving. But I just can't seem to shake bearded algae.

Last time i fully cleaned down my tank i bleached everything, substrate, filter housing, everything. Then boiled everything else and spent an age rinsing everything before starting the tank again. For a few months it's all been great, but last few weeks I've noticed it starting to grown on the plants and my ornaments again.
Really sick and tired of it.

Any ideas how to get rid of it for good?

[Oberheim]

otolith said:

They are tough little beasts. They've got through three winters now, I think - not sure how many are left of the original six, there's only ever one visible at a time on the video and they typically only live 3-5 years anyway. The water feature is shallow and clear with a lot of hiding places, and they are shy. Might add some more this year.

That male stickleback is an asshole, though! I believe it was spawned in the pond. It doesn't appear to be nest guarding, but it chases the female away whenever it sees it, so maybe.

Interesting, I was aware that white clouds are perfectly happy in an unheated aquarium but had no idea they could survive UK winters! The male stickleback is a feisty fecker for sure, a right pain for the other fish to have to live with.