When the sleeper wakes...

Time for some more pics...
First off, the South American-themed tank,


Some of the Golden Pencilfish joining in, with Pygmy Cory unable to miss any party;


I've been waiting a while to be able to show how much the Bristlenose has grown, (munching on a courgette slice).

Then, just a glimpse of my SE Asian tank...

JennySolano said:

I forgot. How many fish in this tank & what size? (Tank, not fish. ). Are you photographing with your phone? Appears ppl getting far better phone pics than I can do on this iPad. ipad good for other subjects though.

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I should leave you to wade through the whole Journal!

South American-themed Tank;
80cm long, 32cm wide, 40cm high.

6 Black Neon Tetra
6 Glowlight Tetra
8 Golden Pencilfish
9 Pygmy Corydoras
1 Bristlenose Plec
1 pair Redline Apistogramma
Nerite snails

Lots and lots of plants.

More filtration than necessary.
Eheim 400 air pump, powering 2 bubblers.

2x25% weekly water change.

Photography using a Nikon P900 Coolpix.

EDIT: Plants and animals in bold.

JennySolano said:

That‘s 31 fish. Do they violate the 1 inch per gallon rule or is the not always applicable?

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It's a guide and there are so many exceptions to it, it is best seen as such. For example, I could have some extremely energetic fish that, by the 'rule' I could have lots of, but they wouldn't have the necessary room to swim. Plus, said 'rule' doesn't take into account the condition of the water, the degree of filtration, planting, aeration and water changes.

JennySolano said:

Need to recharge battery & use my digital SLR Canon. Have some nice lens for it.

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My own digital meets all my needs, although I'm far more used to using it for birds. It has an 83x optical zoom, with a fixed 24-2000mm lens. That said, the macro setting isn't too bad.

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

It's a guide and there are so many exceptions to it, it is best seen as such. For example, I could have some extremely energetic fish that, by the 'rule' I could have lots of, but they wouldn't have the necessary room to swim. Plus, said 'rule' doesn't take into account the condition of the water, the degree of filtration, planting, aeration and water changes.

My own digital meets all my needs, although I'm far more used to using it for birds. It has an 83x optical zoom, with a fixed 24-2000mm lens. That said, the macro setting isn't too bad.

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So you like birds and macro photography. Random photos from New Zealand.

So I weakened and was led astray to the Dark Side...
Not only do I have snails, (Nerites), but I now have Amano Shrimp, Caradina sp. and red Cherry Shrimp, Neocaradina sp. in my SE Asian-themed tank.

More Limnophila sessiflora added around the tank. This came from cuttings and is doing really well...as well as some more Eleocharis, which also seems to be doing well and both Kuhli loach and Cherry Barb seem to appreciate.

EDIT: Plants and animals in bold.

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

o I weakened and was led astray to the Dark Side...
Not only do I have snails, (Nerites), but I now have Amano Shrimp and red Cherry Shrimp in my SE Asian-themed tank.

More Limnophila sessiflora added around the tank. This came from cuttings and is doing really well...as well as some more Eleocharis, which also seems to be doing well and both Kuhli loach and Cherry Barb seem to appreciate.

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Your poor journal seems like a magnet for the off topic

Photos are looking great. Love the Glowlight tetras, I think they are one of the more underrated tetras but they are really very pretty and bright when kept in good condition. Was one of the first tetra species I kept as well so always had a bit of a soft spot for them.

Snails and shrimp are a brilliant addition. In my opinion they have an important place in many tropical tanks and make it feel less like a sterile glass box. I remember often getting comments on the amount of "ugly" ramshorn snails I had in my tanks, they were always just part of the system to me though. In about 6 months time be prepared to see Cherry shrimp literally everywhere in your tank

xxBarneyxx said:

Your poor journal seems like a magnet for the off topic

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I see this as simple interest.

xxBarneyxx said:

Photos are looking great. Love the Glowlight tetras, I think they are one of the more underrated tetras but they are really very pretty and bright when kept in good condition. Was one of the first tetra species I kept as well so always had a bit of a soft spot for them.

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Agreed...when I eventually set up my large South American 'community, a larger shoal of Glowlight will likely be in there.

xxBarneyxx said:

Snails and shrimp are a brilliant addition. In my opinion they have an important place in many tropical tanks and make it feel less like a sterile glass box. I remember often getting comments on the amount of "ugly" ramshorn snails I had in my tanks, they were always just part of the system to me though. In about 6 months time be prepared to see Cherry shrimp literally everywhere in your tank

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The shrimp in my new tank have already munched down on the algae in the tank, supplementing any previous work done by the nerites.
I've already developed the habit of studiously studying the water I've changed, before dumping it on the plants outside, for baby shrimp.

This morning's readings;
Ammonia at 0mg/l
GH 60mg/l
KH 40mg/l
pH 7.0
NO2 Nitrite 0mg/l
NO3 Nitrate 2.5mg/l
Temperature 26°C

All fish doing well and I can easily see the appeal of shrimp.
Amanos (Cardinia sp.) and Cherry's (Neocardinia sp.) have remained relatively visible, with them coming out into the open especially after 1700.
Pets at Home had a couple of Wood Shrimp (Atyopsis moluccensis), so these have now been added to the menagerie.
With regards the shrimp, I've now learned to pay special attention to the 'old' water in my bucket, when water-changing. Seems I have shrimplets.*

The Cherry Barbs are now clearly male and female and these are, as always, great to watch. As I remembered, they're also at all levels of the tank, so good to keep an eye on.
The Copper Harlequin are great schoolers, as are the Chili Rasbora.

I dropped a Tetra 'Pleco Spirulina algae wafer in, just to see if it garnered any interest...It drew out the shrimp, the kuhli loach and the Cherry Barbs are also very keen.

All is good in this tank and my other.

*I know, I know...I can get an ointment for it.

EDIT: Plants and animals in bold.

JennySolano said:

Sounds great! I am cycling a 20 G tank for an axotle to be purchased soon. None locally. Found breeder in state & will have it FedEx’d over night when appropriate. This is not the one I want, but close.View attachment 143816

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Rather than take up a huge amount of space in my Journal, with posts that bear no relevance whatsoever, why not post in your own, or create another one for your Axolotl quest and subsequent tank?

Went to collect my trio of Dwarf Gourami, only to find a Numpty had sold my two females!
So now I have a rather splendid and single Dwarf Gourami, Trichogaster Ialius male.
He's not shy, by a long chalk...casually exploring the tank and very interested in the floating plant roof...actually blowing bubbles.


Not the sharpest of pictures, through a reflection, but it'll do for now.

EDIT: Bold text added.

Bruce Leyland-Jones said:

Went to collect my trio of Dwarf Gourami, only to find a Numpty had sold my two females!
So now I have a rather splendid and single Dwarf Gourami male.
He's not shy, by a long chalk...casually exploring the tank and very interested in the floating plant roof...actually blowing bubbles.

View attachment 143820
Not the sharpest of pictures, through a reflection, but it'll do for now.

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Nice! What is that particular dwarf called? Around me they are called Red Flame, but sometimes it seems shops take quite a bit of liberty with the dwarf gourami names.

Do you still plan to add females?

noobfish said:

Nice! What is that particular dwarf called? Around me they are called Red Flame, but sometimes it seems shops take quite a bit of liberty with the dwarf gourami names.

Do you still plan to add females?

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It was requested and sold to me as a standard Dwarf Gourami, exactly the same as I had decades ago.

I'm in two minds about adding females and have opened a separate thread to discuss this.

I've never been the biggest fan of gouramis for some reason.

However that is one beautiful fish!

Time to wrap this one up, methinks.

Those of you following the journal might've noted the high stocking levels.
Whilst I've been establishing my tanks, a couple of buds have been revamping theirs and today I'll be transporting some fish to build up their shoals.
Some Golden Pencilfish and Pygmy Cory will be moving on from Tank 1. My pair of Redline Apistos will also go, but these will be swapsies.

From Tank No.2, I'm donating some Chili Rasbora, and a couple of Copper Harlequin.

When I return, I'll be down to weekly water changes, rather than once every two days.

For the sake of a proper completion, in a day or three, I'll wait until after dark and take some pics of both tanks.

EDIT: Bold text added.