From 48 To 180 In 3.0 Seconds Flat

[Man of fish]

Looking good!!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Well as you know I've been on the hunt for an albino BN. I contacted someone on aquarist classifieds who had one advertised in my town, they didn't have it any more but had some green laser corys for sale - well...now I have 8. I have to say they aren't in 100% perfect condition. Some are kind of thin and pale, missing barbels, jagged fins...but I'm sure that they will bounce back in no time I ended up with 5 babies (one of which is just the tiniest cutest little guy EVAR!), 1 huge adult female (aka Big Mama), 1 adult male who looks kind of prehistoric (aka Gramps) and another adult that I think is a male but I was told I was getting another female...

Here's some pictures of the new crew members. They aren't looking very green or lasery but hopefully their colours will develop soon!

We'll start with Big Mama because I'm a bit worried there's something up with her eyes, what do you think?

I couldn't really get a decent one of Gramps, he's in the worst shape of everyone, his moustache is non-existant, bless him

This is the "other" adult

Now for some baby pictures!
Ikkle Tiny Tim!

Other kids:

Queuing for the escargot (no snails were harmed in the making of this post):

And Zodders, who is quite frankly, a little put out by all the disturbance!

 

[FishFanatic04]

Oh the poor Mama! They do look a little worse for wear. Her eye does seem cloudy. Poor gramps. I bought a cory with almost no barbels and it has been doing pretty good with finding food. Who is this person you are buying them from? Were they on rough gravel?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

They were on no substrate at all actually, just the glass base. Not very clean though

It's someone who lives in my town, I think their fish population had gotten a bit out of control and they were trying to scale back. they seemed to be mainly focused on breeding discus and angels as they had quite a lot of breeding/fry tanks running!

 

[Biulu]

At first sight they look like a variant of aeneus to me. Lovely fish though; cories are one of my favourites. Many breeders use glass base for easy cleaning, but you do have to clean!

 

[Salam]

Aw, I love them! *wonders if she can move into AlmostAwesome's house*

Hope they bounce back soon, can't help with the medical stuff.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Hi Biulu - I'd love to hear any ideas you have about them! Do share! For example, Gramps looks very long in his body. I'm not sure if this is because he's thin...but I think they were housed with some albino bronze (or juli...) and maybe some other cories as well.

Thanks Salam They are cuties! I had to do the "nudge with a net" test this morning on Gramps...but he was just sleeping - probably gave him a heart attack!

 

[Biulu]

What I would do at this moment is to add some methylene blue against stress and possible wounds that could cause infection. Further to feed them proteins so they can gain weight as soon as possible and be more resistent.

Edit: regarding the species we will have to wait until they are a bit more established, but the blueish/greenish spot in the middle of the body indicates aeneus to me.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks Biulu. I've decided to do a 25% water change every second day as well. I am planning on upping my usual weekly bloodworm feeding to....twice? Three times a week? I don't have any methylene blue and probably won't be able to pick any up tonight but I can on Friday night.

Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it

 

[twingogeekeo]

Looking good and do i see you might be having fighting babys?

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Nope no betta babies for me! He's just a happy boy and so built a nest just for the fun of it lol

It would be so fun to breed him but I'm just not prepared for the work that comes after!!

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

I've got another update for you all today - lots of material to cover so pay attention!

Starting with Purigen! As recommended by by you dudes I ordered myself some and on Wednesday I added it to my tank. It's weird stuff! It's got a texture and feel that you can't really describe, very cool though! I've got a couple of macro shots of it to post below if you're a newbie to it like me It's been in for a few days I can definitely say it has reduced my tannins which I'm quite pleased about! I can't really see a change in the diatoms but I haven't had a chance for a proper clean out to even give it a chance..more on that later...

I didn't expect it to be this mucky after only 2 weeks use! Maybe it's just the carbon that's stained it.

Added to the top tray under the fine floss stuff. It's actually been rearranged now so all of the media in there is more flat which means it's a bit to the side, I hope it'll still be effective there.

So back to adding in the Purigen - after I did so I closed up my loverly new TetraTec EX1200 and lo and behold it's leaking from the handles on BOTH sides! Brilliant. SO after some messing about with the head I get the leak down to just one side, at the back where the pipes are. *cue loads of drama* long story short I got on the phone to Tetra in Germany and within 5 minutes they had agreed to send me out a new head. It hasn't arrived yet BUT I think the leak has dried out on it's own, also, the head is probably not the problem but the hose adapter is. So watch this space.

Moving swiftly on!

Those silly new green corys have spawned all over the joint!! As you saw before Big Mama was looking clinically obese, well no Weight Watchers needed because she and the other male (not Gramps, he needs the little blue pill ya see...) went at it all day yesterday, there are eggs everywhere! Plenty got eaten but now the fish seem to be leaving them alone and there are roughly 100 fertilised eggs still in the tank. Crap. Now I am really torn. I am not interested in specially trying to save these guys but at the same time I'm not going to rob them of the minute chance they have! She has kindly laid them all at the top of the water line all over the tank. This means I cannot do my very much needed water changes. I've had .25 ammonia for two days now (due to increased bioload I'm sure) - I REALLY need to do a water change...I dunno I'm still stewing. I mean they guys are never going to live right? At the same time...is .25 bearable? No it's not when you've got weak fish but I still cannot make the decision!

Someone give me my much needed slap.

Uncle Zod "babysitting"

Here's the eggs today, you can see all the little yolks developing..I think

Here's a video of the bedroom antics...what?

I also finally got some OK pics of Gramps so you guys can see how pitiful he is. I got a good look at his belly last night and he's completely sunken in under/behind his gills. I just hope that it is only malnutrition causing this. Maybe he really is just old..my real fear is there is something much nastier (and contagious!) going on

Last topic for discussion is my espei rasbora. Two of them have turned the most stunning shade of deep red you have ever seen. It is BEAUTIFUL! I'm going to try and get some pictures later on but I'm not going to hold my breath because they are a nightmare to get a picture of. I think it's my two males that scrap all the time, maybe they have just agreed to disagree and both be the dominant male lol.

I also want to get an "after" shot of Big Mama so you all can see her svelte new figure!

 

[minnnt]

congratulations AA. tank looking awesome!

With the filter, if it has sealed on its own then i think it could just need re-greasing.

 

[Salam]

LOL at Marvin Gaye

I dunno what to suggest, but this is so much fun to read and they must be happy in your tank for having a gooood time

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks guys!​

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Yeah that's what I'm hoping minnnt, not going to worry about it now but I'll have to make sure I've got some Vaseline on hand for the next time I crack 'er open!​

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Thanks Salam, yeah I am desperate to get in the tank and have a good clean so I am really suffering here!​

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Also does anyone know the best way to get the diatoms off of these leaves? I tried rubbing them with my finger which was slightly effective on the crypts but not so good on the wisteria because it's kind of spiky and I was just damaging it. Maybe try a toothbrush?​

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Courgette is on the menu for the first time tonight so that should be interesting!​