Cooper2085's New Tank Journal

[Cooper2085]

Ok so i made my mind up to remove anothe piece of bogwood to create some more space and replace it with some smaller twiggy bits of mopani wood. I dont have the spare cash at the minute though so the stocking and everything is pretty much the same. My Co2 ran out aswell, im giving it a week or 2 to decide wether or not to replace it because i didnt really notice an improvement.

Heres a few updated pics:

 

[minnnt]

I think i would have the big piece more to one side actually now... Seems to draw your eye straight to the middle of the tank.

 

[Cooper2085]

That big piece is actually 2 pieces If you look at the third pic down where the Anubis is growing that's where the split is. Everything right of that will be coming out but it's a 2 man job!

The tall piece will be moving 3-6" left and then a mass tangle of planted wood about 16" tall will go next to it sloping down to 6-8" on the mid right.

I'm also going to hang some wood off the left braver bar and plant that, and although the pics don't show it there is some new java moss stuck in the crags and crevices

 

[minnnt]

Sounds excellent mate.

 

[karawr]

That is a VERY COOL piece of wood.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I know this is going to sound like a realy dumb question, and I apologize ahead of time. It came to mind when I saw all of the 24's as far as your stocking (thought the stocking looks great, and its an absolutely stunning tank.) But I have often heard, mainly from the LFS that schooling fish are better in odd numbers....is there any truth to this? This is why I only have 5 harlequins. I am trying to up that number eventually, but I didn't go for six, because they told me odd numbers are better.....is this a myth?

I am only asking because based on the beauty that you just built with this tank, you must have good experiences with schooling fish. I have built my experiences around livebearers. I would eventually like a large tank with a few large schools of fish, so I am looking to the people with the knowledge to base my tank around

Again, seriously stunning. I really love the wood in your tank, and the way you have laid out the plants make the tank look very natural. Great work.

 

[Tizer]

So to you, 4 is an odd number?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

So to you, 4 is an odd number?

Hit the wrong button, that was supposed to be 5 lol Nice catch haha

 

[balajake]

that tank would look great with just cichlids

 

[Cooper2085]

4 hours of cleaning and pruning later.... Man, cleaning a big tank is time consuming. The wood is now out, the only piece left is planted nicely now. The 3D background is being planted slowly and I have a clear view of what I want now!

Pics will follow when the tank settles

 

[Cooper2085]

My oh my what a hectic few days. 2 major updates coming up -

The tank with wood removed:

New fish (and old):

Fairy Cory

Panda Cory

Copper/Harlequin Rasboras

Guppys

Tank shots

 

[Cooper2085]

And then we hit a mojor problem. I noticed i had missing fish, i checked the water and its perfect..... Where could they be Then i noticed that my newly added guppys were missing..... Can you guess?

There were small holes appearing in the 3D background nothing major just small gaps where it was siliconed in at the sides and down the middle. Somehow the fish and shrimp had managed to get through but couldnt get back out

I had to rip the background out which breaks my heart, but its for the fishes own good.

Tank shots

Guppys

Male BN plec rare rare sighting!

As you can see there is still silicone on the back of the tank which i will remove when i have time. Behind the background were 3 dead mosquito rasboras (starvation), 2 dead ember tetras (starvation), 1 copper rasbora, 5 cherry shrimp, 3 guppys, 1 cardinal tetra and numerous fry. I think the only reason the surviving fish were alive is because they ate the dead fish :' Well you live and learn ^^

 

[minnnt]

That is a far better balance witht he wood. Shame about the background!

Where did you get the fairy cories from? They're beautiful!

 

[Cooper2085]

Thanks I think I have the big wood perfect at the moment

I'm going to add some small twiggy bits next to it planted with moss. The fairy corys came from the local maidenhead, I've never seen them before and they are stunning. There is 9 in my tank at the minute, they are called cory "something" napo.

 

[minnnt]

The one at Dukeries? Shame i'm working this weekend otherwise i would have taken a trip!