GuppyBreeder180604
Fishaholic
in the past in this forum I have mentioned that I had a plan for a Sumatran swamp biotope aquarium, well, I finally started and I decided that I am gonna start a journal so you can all see how my project goes and give me tips and recommendations.
First some backstory:
around June 2020 I convinced my mother to let me have a big aquarium and we settled in a 30-gallon tank so I started planning, but one day while in the local fish store my mom fell in love with the blue gouramies so we bought a pair, they were young and really small so I put them in my then young 10-gallon aquarium until I bought them their 30 gallons, but life just got in the way and by the end of it I had no money (i depend on federal scholarships which suck in Mexico) but the two fish were too big for that 10 gallons so I put them in my 55-gallon pond, this was around march 2021 so it was starting to get warm enough for them and in the pond they could keep growing until they reached adulthood around September, but then winter rolled in and with the temps going as low as 4 degrees at night I knew I couldn't keep them in the pond so I had to make a hard choice which I kinda regret but at the same time I think I had no other option, I took them out of the pond and placed them in a 5 gallon bucket, i couldn't place them in the 10 gallon since it already was stocked to its fullest, this happened in December 23 when winter started.
Well, just yesterday God gave me the perfect opportunity since I found a guy selling a 30-gallon tank of the exact dimensions I wanted for only 24 dollars!! when usually they cost 130 dollars brand new in my area, and in less than 30 minutes of the time he announced it I was already on my way home with the fish tank on the back of my parent's car.
here is the tank right next to my 10-gallon
here I dirted the tank (to lower the Ph and give the plants nutrients)
my dumb self forgot to take photos of adding the sand and other things but here it is how it looked like today:
I added a buddha since my mom liked it.
originally I wanted to use Salvinia nattans, java fern, java moss, hygrophila corymbosa, and cryptocoryne pontenderiifolia as my plants since they all can be found on Sumatra
I was able to get all the Salvinia natans in the aquarium since I already owned and grown it (with some duckweed
)
in here you might spot a java fern which is one of 8 I own and have saved for this project only but you might also see some hygrophila bold in its emersed state, and here comes my first question, can H. bold be found in Sumatra or will I have to remove it?
I have also thought of changing the theme from a Sumatran swamp to just a southeast Asian swamp to make it broader and be able to keep the H. bold in and maybe also add some other plants.
now comes the part I think is the most controversial but I will explain myself and my reasons.
There are already fish in the tank, yes it has no filter, no heater, and doesn't even have the hardscape and all the plants in, and yet I already added the 2 gouramies and a few guppies as dither fish, I did this because the gouramies looked so stressed and sad in the bucket, and the female had some injury as a result of hurting herself from the stress of being in the bucket and the guppies have worked excellent so far as dither fish, most of the sand in the aquarium was already cycled sand I had and all the Salvinia should get hem by with filtration until I buy the equipment, as for temperature I don't worry as much since my house is at a nice 21 degrees in contrast fo the 10 degrees currently on the outside.
male gourami
injury on the female, yes that is exposed bone, yes I feel guilty and like an idiot for letting this happen, and yes I am taking close care of her.
I doubt it was made by the male since they hag out together and have never shown aggression, they like each other a lot.
for a closing note on this first post on the thread, I have already ordered the plants and hardscape and will soon go to buy the filter and heater.
I will keep you all updated
First some backstory:
around June 2020 I convinced my mother to let me have a big aquarium and we settled in a 30-gallon tank so I started planning, but one day while in the local fish store my mom fell in love with the blue gouramies so we bought a pair, they were young and really small so I put them in my then young 10-gallon aquarium until I bought them their 30 gallons, but life just got in the way and by the end of it I had no money (i depend on federal scholarships which suck in Mexico) but the two fish were too big for that 10 gallons so I put them in my 55-gallon pond, this was around march 2021 so it was starting to get warm enough for them and in the pond they could keep growing until they reached adulthood around September, but then winter rolled in and with the temps going as low as 4 degrees at night I knew I couldn't keep them in the pond so I had to make a hard choice which I kinda regret but at the same time I think I had no other option, I took them out of the pond and placed them in a 5 gallon bucket, i couldn't place them in the 10 gallon since it already was stocked to its fullest, this happened in December 23 when winter started.
Well, just yesterday God gave me the perfect opportunity since I found a guy selling a 30-gallon tank of the exact dimensions I wanted for only 24 dollars!! when usually they cost 130 dollars brand new in my area, and in less than 30 minutes of the time he announced it I was already on my way home with the fish tank on the back of my parent's car.
here is the tank right next to my 10-gallon
here I dirted the tank (to lower the Ph and give the plants nutrients)
my dumb self forgot to take photos of adding the sand and other things but here it is how it looked like today:
I added a buddha since my mom liked it.
originally I wanted to use Salvinia nattans, java fern, java moss, hygrophila corymbosa, and cryptocoryne pontenderiifolia as my plants since they all can be found on Sumatra
I was able to get all the Salvinia natans in the aquarium since I already owned and grown it (with some duckweed
)in here you might spot a java fern which is one of 8 I own and have saved for this project only but you might also see some hygrophila bold in its emersed state, and here comes my first question, can H. bold be found in Sumatra or will I have to remove it?
I have also thought of changing the theme from a Sumatran swamp to just a southeast Asian swamp to make it broader and be able to keep the H. bold in and maybe also add some other plants.
now comes the part I think is the most controversial but I will explain myself and my reasons.
There are already fish in the tank, yes it has no filter, no heater, and doesn't even have the hardscape and all the plants in, and yet I already added the 2 gouramies and a few guppies as dither fish, I did this because the gouramies looked so stressed and sad in the bucket, and the female had some injury as a result of hurting herself from the stress of being in the bucket and the guppies have worked excellent so far as dither fish, most of the sand in the aquarium was already cycled sand I had and all the Salvinia should get hem by with filtration until I buy the equipment, as for temperature I don't worry as much since my house is at a nice 21 degrees in contrast fo the 10 degrees currently on the outside.
male gourami
injury on the female, yes that is exposed bone, yes I feel guilty and like an idiot for letting this happen, and yes I am taking close care of her.
I doubt it was made by the male since they hag out together and have never shown aggression, they like each other a lot.
for a closing note on this first post on the thread, I have already ordered the plants and hardscape and will soon go to buy the filter and heater.
I will keep you all updated
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