I have a 38 gallon with 12 embers (down from an original 18 purchased a year ago) who mostly hide amongst the plants until food comes. There is an active Siamese algae eater and one lone cory leftover from an original 11 (this is an old cory). There is also 4 glass catfish and they mostly hide under some driftwood ācave areasā, but I have seen them come out and just hang out together mid tank. There is usually not a lot to see, and I wanted to liven things up, so I am going to add 18 kubotai and 12 green neons. I figure the neons and the embers may school together and I may see a little more activity swimming around the tank. The rasboras should be in a good enough number to stay to themselves. I took a ābeforeā pic, while it is still a āboringā tank to watch. Iām sure with the new fish Iāll be spending a lot more time watching this tank. I have 6 aquariums and I spend the least amount of time watching this one. Should be pretty with orange embers, neon green and pale greenish silver kubotai, and the teal shine of the green neons. Iāll be sure to take pics when the new arrivals settle in and color up.
This tank needs something to liven it up
- Thread starter Aqua67
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Plants look like they're doing well. Neon's will love that
Do you want to add kubotai loaches or kubotai rasboras?
If the fish are hiding you need to make sure everything in the tank is good. If the water quality has gone bad or the fish are being stressed by something, adding more fish won't encourage the others out.
Do you gravel clean under the rocks?
How often do you clean the filter and do water changes?
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It doesn't look like there is a picture on the back of the tank. Adding something to the back (on the outside) can help the fish feel more secure. Cleaning out some of the rock work can open the front and middle up so the fish can swim in the open and take off into the plants it they feel threatened.
How often are you in the room near that tank?
If fish are kept in a dark room without anyone going near them, they become shy and often panic if someone comes into the room. Having a small television on (don't need the sound on) can help with this. The flashing light and movement on the screen helps the fish get used to things moving near them. You can also use a fan with some streamers tied the the front cage on the fan. Have the fan on oscillate and the streamers can wave about and help the fish get use to movement. Ideally the best place for any aquarium is somewhere people and animals (if you have pets) are constantly moving around the fish tank. Then the fish see people all day every day and don't care is someone goes near the tank.
If the fish are hiding you need to make sure everything in the tank is good. If the water quality has gone bad or the fish are being stressed by something, adding more fish won't encourage the others out.
Do you gravel clean under the rocks?
How often do you clean the filter and do water changes?
--------------------
It doesn't look like there is a picture on the back of the tank. Adding something to the back (on the outside) can help the fish feel more secure. Cleaning out some of the rock work can open the front and middle up so the fish can swim in the open and take off into the plants it they feel threatened.
How often are you in the room near that tank?
If fish are kept in a dark room without anyone going near them, they become shy and often panic if someone comes into the room. Having a small television on (don't need the sound on) can help with this. The flashing light and movement on the screen helps the fish get used to things moving near them. You can also use a fan with some streamers tied the the front cage on the fan. Have the fan on oscillate and the streamers can wave about and help the fish get use to movement. Ideally the best place for any aquarium is somewhere people and animals (if you have pets) are constantly moving around the fish tank. Then the fish see people all day every day and don't care is someone goes near the tank.
Hi @Colin_T thank you so much for your insightful reply. I am awaiting the arrival of the kubotai rasboras today, along with the green neon tetras, a total of 30 new fish to add to the aquarium.
Most of the plants are ephiphytes growing on driftwood and yes, I usually pull out all of the driftwood to do a thorough gravel vacuum once every month or so. That is the beauty of epiphytes. The only plants in substrate is one sad rosette sword that I often find floating as it doesnāt have many roots, the plant was not a great plant from day one when it arrived in the mail, but it is still alive. There is also some hornwort floating around and some dwarf water lettuce that I keep in a coral above the anubias. There are a lot of plants and I wasnāt planning to remove any of them.
I change water when it needs to be changed and I use my TDS meter and water testing to determine when that is. Usually it is once a month as the tank is lightly stocked at the moment and I feed lightly, skipping a day once a week (sometimes twice). The TDS is around 180 right now and parameters were tested this morning. Yesterday was the most recent water change.
When I first brought the embers home (around Oct 2022, I think), they would swim from end to end of the aquarium. They eventually settled in to just hanging out in the plants. I used to have half the top covered in duckweed but pulled all of that out a couple of weeks ago. The glass cats seemed to come out of hiding more now that the duckweed was removed. Now the hornwort is floating around and the ember also like hanging out under that, and under the anubias leaves.
Yes, you are right, there is no backing on my aquarium. In all of my years keeping aquariums (since the late 1980s) Iāve never had a backing on my aquariums. It makes it easier for me to see them and take pictures without a background, especially in my little dark water shrimp tanks.
This tank is in my basement and my husband works 12 hour shifts directly across the from that aquarium, three days a week. Other than that, we might pass by doing laundry or if I go down there to sit and watch my aquarium. I have 6 aquariums and that is the only one in the basement, and since there is never a whole lot going on down there, it is my least watched aquarium. There are motion detector lights down there and they come on as we walk downstairs. I donāt use electric lights too often, a habit I got into over the past 25 years keeping parrots. When the sun goes down we leave things dim/dark so the parrots stay quiet and go to sleep. So I will sit downstairs in the dark (better for taking pictures too) and watch them. There is one corner of the tank that receives natural light in the afternoon from a daylight window in the basement though.
I donāt think the fish are hiding on me. Maybe theyāre also bored? There are scuds in that tank to hunt. The Siamese algae eater probably bothers the lone cory more than any of the embers. The SAE also chases a glass cat out of hiding now and then too. I would like to keep the SAE though and I donāt plan to rehome it. I donāt have an algae issue, but Iāve grown fond of it and right now it is the most excitement in the tank as that fish is active and swims around most of the time.
I really appreciate the tips and youāve made me think of things in a way I hadnāt in the past. Thank you so much.
Most of the plants are ephiphytes growing on driftwood and yes, I usually pull out all of the driftwood to do a thorough gravel vacuum once every month or so. That is the beauty of epiphytes. The only plants in substrate is one sad rosette sword that I often find floating as it doesnāt have many roots, the plant was not a great plant from day one when it arrived in the mail, but it is still alive. There is also some hornwort floating around and some dwarf water lettuce that I keep in a coral above the anubias. There are a lot of plants and I wasnāt planning to remove any of them.
I change water when it needs to be changed and I use my TDS meter and water testing to determine when that is. Usually it is once a month as the tank is lightly stocked at the moment and I feed lightly, skipping a day once a week (sometimes twice). The TDS is around 180 right now and parameters were tested this morning. Yesterday was the most recent water change.
When I first brought the embers home (around Oct 2022, I think), they would swim from end to end of the aquarium. They eventually settled in to just hanging out in the plants. I used to have half the top covered in duckweed but pulled all of that out a couple of weeks ago. The glass cats seemed to come out of hiding more now that the duckweed was removed. Now the hornwort is floating around and the ember also like hanging out under that, and under the anubias leaves.
Yes, you are right, there is no backing on my aquarium. In all of my years keeping aquariums (since the late 1980s) Iāve never had a backing on my aquariums. It makes it easier for me to see them and take pictures without a background, especially in my little dark water shrimp tanks.
This tank is in my basement and my husband works 12 hour shifts directly across the from that aquarium, three days a week. Other than that, we might pass by doing laundry or if I go down there to sit and watch my aquarium. I have 6 aquariums and that is the only one in the basement, and since there is never a whole lot going on down there, it is my least watched aquarium. There are motion detector lights down there and they come on as we walk downstairs. I donāt use electric lights too often, a habit I got into over the past 25 years keeping parrots. When the sun goes down we leave things dim/dark so the parrots stay quiet and go to sleep. So I will sit downstairs in the dark (better for taking pictures too) and watch them. There is one corner of the tank that receives natural light in the afternoon from a daylight window in the basement though.
I donāt think the fish are hiding on me. Maybe theyāre also bored? There are scuds in that tank to hunt. The Siamese algae eater probably bothers the lone cory more than any of the embers. The SAE also chases a glass cat out of hiding now and then too. I would like to keep the SAE though and I donāt plan to rehome it. I donāt have an algae issue, but Iāve grown fond of it and right now it is the most excitement in the tank as that fish is active and swims around most of the time.
I really appreciate the tips and youāve made me think of things in a way I hadnāt in the past. Thank you so much.
I just went downstairs and sat with them for a little bit. They werenāt hiding, they were spread into all 4 corners of the tank doing their own thing. The cory and the SAE were swimming around. I had already fed them today, about 5 hours ago, so they were relaxed and just swimming around. Still with only 12 in the tank there wasnāt much to look at. I do hope the green neons and the kubotai rasboras liven things up. I made a little video to remember the tank how it was.
Video Link: Ember Tetra before adding more fish
Video Link: Ember Tetra before adding more fish
The new fish arrived and 2 kubotai were lost over the past week. They were small and it may have been the stress of shipping. I heard they are more sensitive than the neons. The tank is definitely more active and much more interesting to watch. That was exactly what I was hoping for and I posted a very short video below.
Video of my New Community
Video of my New Community
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