Nice! 
What brand of substrate are you using?
What brand of substrate are you using?
Lake Inle Nano
- Thread starter seangee
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seangee
Fish Connoisseur
Its black Limpopo sand. No idea about the brand, its a UK supplier's own brand - and not the same as the Unipac one.Nice!
What brand of substrate are you using?
I love the look of it, it looks so clean, and yet, so natural!
I will look into that kind of sand.
OP
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seangee
Fish Connoisseur
Been a long while. I have just whipped out and binned the vals that were everywhere but not looking great. I think they weren't getting enough light. The water sprite started burning and dying months ago so that's also gone. My little river of pebbles was more trouble than it was worth. They were a natural trap for waste but vacuuming them was a real challenge because it was a popular hiding space for shrimplets. So I tool that apart and scattered a few of the pebbles which makes the substrate far more manageable. I decided to copy the community tank with a light and dark zone and now have a barrier for the frogbit. I put the dark side on the opposite site to the wood (previously my river bank), so I relocated that as the anubias are good with low light. Moving them was for purely practical reasons, the feeding hole is on the right so now I don't have to clear a pathway when feeding.
The amazon sword in the back has been there a while but the crypts and hygrophilia are brand new this weekend. Hopefully everything will be filled up again in a month or so.
One thing that hasn't changed, there are now over 30 CPD in there - how many can you spot? In fairness this was taken shortly after water change and my hands in the tank but they still love hiding. I did have a higher than usual fry survival rate at the end of summer when I thought I had lost all my shrimp. Not sure what I did wrong but assume some sort of contamination. When I realised they were gone I did an immediate 90% change followed by another the next morning. It was several weeks before I saw any shrimp at all but I am back up to over 50 now (estimated). About 2/3s of the CPD in the tank are juveniles which means they were born in the tank. I don't know if the CPD were affected by the contamination because they appeared unaffected at the time but the adult population did seem to decline in the following few weeks. This is hard to pinpoint for sure because when you have shy fish and lots of plants its not obvious when some go missing, and with MTS in the tank you never find bodies. I have been keeping a close eye for the last few months and all seems well in their world. The CPD populations seems to have stabilised now that I have adult shrimp and there seem to be more shrimp every time I go looking for them.
Just looked at the old pics of the planted water sprite, if the hygrophilia doensn't work out I may give them another go in the empty side of the tank.
The amazon sword in the back has been there a while but the crypts and hygrophilia are brand new this weekend. Hopefully everything will be filled up again in a month or so.
One thing that hasn't changed, there are now over 30 CPD in there - how many can you spot? In fairness this was taken shortly after water change and my hands in the tank but they still love hiding. I did have a higher than usual fry survival rate at the end of summer when I thought I had lost all my shrimp. Not sure what I did wrong but assume some sort of contamination. When I realised they were gone I did an immediate 90% change followed by another the next morning. It was several weeks before I saw any shrimp at all but I am back up to over 50 now (estimated). About 2/3s of the CPD in the tank are juveniles which means they were born in the tank. I don't know if the CPD were affected by the contamination because they appeared unaffected at the time but the adult population did seem to decline in the following few weeks. This is hard to pinpoint for sure because when you have shy fish and lots of plants its not obvious when some go missing, and with MTS in the tank you never find bodies
. I have been keeping a close eye for the last few months and all seems well in their world. The CPD populations seems to have stabilised now that I have adult shrimp and there seem to be more shrimp every time I go looking for them.Just looked at the old pics of the planted water sprite, if the hygrophilia doensn't work out I may give them another go in the empty side of the tank.
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I counted 8, did I win?
The tank looks great my man.
The tank looks great my man.
Hows the crypts going?
OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
So far so good (haven't seen them since Sunday night). A few leaves melting on day 1 and 2 but not enough for me to remove the dead leaves. Have seen new leaves and upward growth as well as what looks like the roots spreading. Was going to post another thread to ask if anyone knew how long it takes them to acclimatise as it almost seems too good to be true. This tank already looks noticeably fuller.
How are yours doing?
Good
all going pretty well, Was worried about the Rotala Indica at first, the bottom leaves looked wilted slighty but getting good growth now above. Hornwort as shot up the last couple of days. One stems already reaching the surface
OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
Back home now and all is well with the crypts. Hygrophilia is spreading too.
Not so much in the community tank where the vals' roots haven't taken fully after being transplanted. The BN and / or cories registered their displeasure at not being fed for a couple of days by uprooting them
Not so much in the community tank where the vals' roots haven't taken fully after being transplanted. The BN and / or cories registered their displeasure at not being fed for a couple of days by uprooting them
Wicked! Your tanks have certainly got your stamp on them.Back home now and all is well with the crypts. Hygrophilia is spreading too.
View attachment 95192
Not so much in the community tank where the vals' roots haven't taken fully after being transplanted. The BN and / or cories registered their displeasure at not being fed for a couple of days by uprooting them
My moneys on your corys. Mine have uprooted a few plants the last couple of weeks
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OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
Capt'n there be shrimp here!
My second generation of post apocolyptic shrimp (see post #34) are finally big enough to venture out on their own when the lights are on. Its not exactly swarming with them but there are always 10s to be seen rather than the odd 1.
Suddenly I am spending much more time in front of this tank again. The CPD, while beautiful, don't actually manage to hold my attention for very long on their own.
My second generation of post apocolyptic shrimp (see post #34) are finally big enough to venture out on their own when the lights are on. Its not exactly swarming with them but there are always 10s to be seen rather than the odd 1.
Suddenly I am spending much more time in front of this tank again. The CPD, while beautiful, don't actually manage to hold my attention for very long on their own.
Can really see the growth as you scroll down. Looking good 
Would you recommend the fluval flex's?
Would you recommend the fluval flex's?
OP
OP
seangee
Fish Connoisseur
I'm happy with mine (54l / 15G). Think they may be a bit overpriced - I bought mine used. Only have a sponge in the back and replaced the pump with an eheim because it was too powerful and too noisy. Pump itself wasn't noisy but I could not stop the vibration from the cable against the lid. 
. Original pump is now in weekly use for water changes in the big tank .
The square footprint does mean you can't really keep anything but nano species in there. Well people do, but really shouldn't.
. Original pump is now in weekly use for water changes in the big tank .The square footprint does mean you can't really keep anything but nano species in there. Well people do, but really shouldn't.
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