Bowfront 180 Litres

[lljdma06]

This is looking good Biulu. I also have problems with corydoras in my 36g. The rasboras get the lion's share of the food, even though I regularly feed bottom-dweller food. The platies are also agressive feeders, kind of leaving the corydoras short. So, now, I don't keep them in tanks with agressive feeders.

I have to fix up my tank. It looks aweful. Well, I wouldn't say aweful, but it certainly needs maintenance.

 

[Biulu]

This is looking good Biulu. I also have problems with corydoras in my 36g. The rasboras get the lion's share of the food, even though I regularly feed bottom-dweller food. The platies are also agressive feeders, kind of leaving the corydoras short. So, now, I don't keep them in tanks with agressive feeders.

I have to fix up my tank. It looks aweful. Well, I wouldn't say aweful, but it certainly needs maintenance.

It is good you are telling me. But what kind of bottom dwellers could I have then? I saw botias the other day.... Love those too, especially the zebra loach, although the yoyo loach is pretty neat too and easier to get. Here they were talking about a 'false' zebra loach. Any ideas of what this could be?

 

[Nick16]

looks good mate, im still unsure whether you need that amount of lighting....

im loving crypt tanks and the moment, think im going to produce one soon..
you tank is more inspiration..

 

[Biulu]

looks good mate, im still unsure whether you need that amount of lighting....

im loving crypt tanks and the moment, think im going to produce one soon..
you tank is more inspiration..

Thanks Nick. I am currently only running the T8, which is all in all 30 W. Not too much for a 180 litre, I would say. It is less than 1 W/g.

Yes, the crypts are doing nicely, but I would like my stemplants to grow a bit better. That is what I need the T5 for.

 

[Biulu]

Got myself congo tetras! After about a year of asking around, I found a brand new fish market where the actual importers are. A real heaven for fish lovers! Can you imagine; you do not only get the largest variety in the country, but at ridiculously low prices! Let me give you some examples: neon tetras for 20 cents/each, kuhli loaches for 50 cents each, cherry barbs for 20 cents/each! It is amazing!

Everybody was always telling me that the congo tetras were not sold because they were too expensive. Well, now I got myself 6 for about 8 dollars! They still don't have any colours as they are small, but I prefer it that way. They will grow up with the rest of the fish and that will guarantee a long life and low violence in my tank.

 

[lljdma06]

Got myself congo tetras! After about a year of asking around, I found a brand new fish market where the actual importers are. A real heaven for fish lovers! Can you imagine; you do not only get the largest variety in the country, but at ridiculously low prices! Let me give you some examples: neon tetras for 20 cents/each, kuhli loaches for 50 cents each, cherry barbs for 20 cents/each! It is amazing!

Everybody was always telling me that the congo tetras were not sold because they were too expensive. Well, now I got myself 6 for about 8 dollars! They still don't have any colours as they are small, but I prefer it that way. They will grow up with the rest of the fish and that will guarantee a long life and low violence in my tank.

Mexican road trip! Wow! Those prices are great.

Looking forward to pictures of the congos.

As for the botias, stick with B. striata if you can find them, they stay smaller than the yoyo loaches. Another loach for you is the dwarf chain loach. The new scientific name is a bear to pronounce and write. Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki. Used to be and is probably still sold as Botia sidthimunki, because I see no retailer adopting the new name anytime time soon. The three botia species I mentioned like being in groups, at least six. Interesting fish, I've never kept them myself. My 36g is a bit too small. Probably ok for striata, but not for yoyos.

 

[Biulu]

Ok, thank you, I'll try that, although I have only heard they sell'false zebra' loaches. I should try to see these or have you got any idea what this could be?

 

[Biulu]

Unfortunately nobody was able to tell me what these 'false' zebra loaches are. I will ask around in the respective subforum.

I found out why my potamogeton possibly did not work out for me. Apparently this species needs a lot of current, something which I don't have. A friend of mine says that this species is found in rather fast flowing rivers in the north of Mexico. Apart from this I had the suspicion that my angels liked the plant a little bit too much...

Anyway, this problem is now solved. I always like to know why certain species don't do well in my tank. If I decide one day to do a stream biotope, I will definitively use this species again!

 

[Biulu]

I just came back from a business trip and was prepared for some casualties, but not what I saw now; everything, literally everything is dead...

There are still some carcasses of fish around, but also all the plants have disintegrated! How is this possible! The filter is working, the lights were on a timer, the substrate still has enough nutrients...

The fish died because my automatic feeder run out of food, but I don't understand how this can affect the plants that bad. Even hardy plants like anubia, platophylla and echinodorus are all dead! What a bummer!

I guess I have to clean out the whole tank, replace all the water, and even clean the filter after this disaster...

The good thing is that my congo tetras stayed with a friend. I just brought them home today, and my other tank (of which I put a picture in this journal)is fine. Even the cherry shrimp survived, which makes that I am even more at a loss of why the plants did not survive. So, these fish are now temporary in this tank.

 

[Ryefish]

have you checked your water stats? your plants probably had to deal with an ammonia and nitrite spike with the death of all those fish and their bodies left in the water for so long.. although reading that your shrimp survived and plants didnt is a bit considering shrimp are really sensitive

 

[Biulu]

have you checked your water stats? your plants probably had to deal with an ammonia and nitrite spike with the death of all those fish and their bodies left in the water for so long.. although reading that your shrimp survived and plants didnt is a bit considering shrimp are really sensitive

Well, that explains the algae, but doesn't explain the integral die-off of plants without algae at all.

 

[Biulu]

I am ready to start anew. Yesterday I went to buy plants and fish (fish are in 2 other cycled tanks at the moment). I was able to get E. ozelot, A. reineckii, H. polisperma, hydrocotyle and some echinodorus species. Unfortunately, the last ones don't come in large numbers and are expensive. That is what I regret most that my echinodorus and barteri nana died. But well, no time for regrets but better get on with it.

For the stocking I basically went with the same: cherry barbs (I tried emperor tetras, but they all died within a week, probably a bad imported batch), my congo tetras which are nicely colouring up, for the bottom yoyo and zebra loach (they mixed them, grrr) and angelfish for the top.

 

[Biulu]

Some pictures of the new set-up. I left the hardscape intact and planted around it. I am not very satisfied with it, but for the moment I wanted to have it planted again. I had to do it with the plants available at the moment. I would like to get more cryptocorynes but have to wait until more come available. The guy told me in one or 2 weeks and he would be getting other ones apart from the wendtti. One of my tiger lotus bulbs sprouted again, and you can see the tiny plant in front of the large wood on the left hand side. I hope it will take off soon and hopefully the other bulb will sprout as well.

Currently I have 12 cherry barbs, 3 congos and 2 dwarf gouramis in there. Really dwarfs as they are still young. I have the other fish (among other 5 more congos) in another tank and will be transferring the fish little by little so the bacteria colony has time to adapt itself to the new bioload.

So here are the pics:

full tank shot

lefthand side

right hand side

photo taken from the far left

photo taken from the far right

Thanks for watching and comments are welcome!

 

[lljdma06]

That is some dense planting toward the back of the tank. Make sure that light penetrates to the bottom, or the stems will shed leaves down there. I'm liking the wood. It's great to see this tank develop nicely. You struggled so much with it initially. And it had nothing to do with the planting!

 

[Biulu]

That is some dense planting toward the back of the tank. Make sure that light penetrates to the bottom, or the stems will shed leaves down there. I'm liking the wood. It's great to see this tank develop nicely. You struggled so much with it initially. And it had nothing to do with the planting!

Are you referring to the alternanthera and the cabomba? I was afraid I wouldn't have enough plants, hence bought a lot of what I could get. I will do some thinning then and put the rest in my other tank.