Llj's 36g Journal

[wei0204]

llj, I tried to find the thread about the breeding of your cherry barb but not abloe to get it, do u have the address?

Here's the thread, with the pictures and some information on them breeding.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...hl=Cherry+barbs

Thank you llj...
They are just too cute...

 

[Themuleous]

Haha and look where its getting me! Love the cherry barbs, really show off the colours of the plants

Sam

 

[fishfishfish]

great tank but just one question...do you know what barbs are the parents?you should think about finding them then putting a clip in one of their fins so that once you get all these crazy inbred barbs,u dont get rid of the pair.

 

[SuperColey1]

Thelumous

Just reading your sintagure and was wonreding what a Lunimaire is??

It is a mad woman?

Rergads
Adny

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

Thelumous
Just reading your sintagure and was wonreding what a Lunimaire is??

It is a mad woman?

llj -- wow --what a fabulous tank you have! I like the color of the gravel - that is what I'm using in my 72G redesign. Also, the star grass is lovely. And those angels -- I love them!

 

[lljdma06]

great tank but just one question...do you know what barbs are the parents?you should think about finding them then putting a clip in one of their fins so that once you get all these crazy inbred barbs,u dont get rid of the pair.

Yes, believe it or not, I can still tell who the parents are. If barbs breed in this tank, the babies will not survive, I have too many other fish species for them to have successful spawns. They are notorious egg eaters and have to really be by themselves (a single pair) and very well fed for them to not eat the eggs and allow fry to be raised with them, and in an extremely densly planted tank with lots of hiding places. My 8g offered the perfect conditions, this tank does not. I setup this tank to accomodate the fry I had, but I really don't want them to breed again. Cherry barbs can have a long lifespan, by the time, I would breed them again, I would probably start with a fresh pair anyway. These aren't guppies, either. Cherry barbs aren't line bred like that for color varieites, so there is quite a bit of genetic diversity still in the species. It would probably be a while before breeding cause any deformaties that result in this or this sama: or this or this or this or this :saddam: or this

llj -- wow --what a fabulous tank you have! I like the color of the gravel - that is what I'm using in my 72G redesign. Also, the star grass is lovely. And those angels -- I love them!

Thanks a bunch, I made a long comment in your thread about the substrate. I'm all about economy, and I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

Like the 20g, this one went through an overhaul as well. The plant growth was mad and I replaced the Zosterfolia with A. reineckii in that little nook in the wood. The Zosterfolia was growing way too fast and was crowding the anubias and moss. A. reineckii grows much slower. I moved the Zosterfolia to the back and sides of the tank where it will provide the Brochis with some cover. Some Bolbitis from the 20g went into this tank now and I added some crypts from my 8g to the foreground. The tank has a lot more color variety now, perhaps too much as they aren't really in any pattern or structure. I want things to grow a little before I change things around again. I'd love to add a few more anubias since they regularly flower in this tank. I'll probably add another school of catfish, as I really like them, but I'm low in funds and a lot of things have priority over catfish.

I'll try and post a few pictures later in the week.

llj

 

[lljdma06]

I told you I'd have pictures.

Cherry barbs in the plants. Still have all 36!

Bolbitis and A. reineckii. Great combo, I think.

Anubia with flower, and some algae, but not much. A little is ok. A lot, not so great.

Colors...

My silver angelfish. I think the big one's going to be called Bubba, but my sister prefers Michael and Gabriel. She's so literal.

Full tank shot. It's a bowfront, so it'll always look a bit odd in photos. Blur in the middle is a Brochis splendens. They just can't sit still.

Thanks for looking. This tank didn't have much CO2 or light (reduced the photo period for my trip) and I came back to a healthy, but overgrown tank. The zosterfolia really took off and I decided it just wasn't going to work in that nook anymore. So it's now in the sides and back, where it can at least grow. A. reineckii grows much slower and will be easier to control in that space. I still haven't totally increased the photo period to where it was before I left for IL. I'm contemplating either reducing or perhaps eliminating CO2 from this tank, as it doesn't seem necessary anymore. The 8g has proven that I can grow H. zosterfolia and A. reineckii without it, so there may be no point to it.

I am becoming a total lazy bones with my tanks.

llj

 

[cheesy feet]

Wow the colours,the design.Your tank is blooming perfecto!Keep it up.

 

[Themuleous]

A person runs out of ways to say 'beautiful tank'

Sam

EDIT - love the layered effect you've got from the plants at varying heights.

 

[Liam]

Always love to see pics of your tanks, just great!

 

[Mako Man111]

Lol, I have also. But I have a solution that I'm going to try that you may want to too. Run a low tech with no co2, and keep the planting heavy. Basically from what I've read, with low tech you can go for months (it actually is better too) without water changes, as the plants remove all the nitrates. It is actually better to do less changes as adding fresh water (depending on your water stats) will gradually increase the water hardness in you tank. Even low tech plants can look great with hardly any maintenance.

 

[lljdma06]

Lol, I have also. But I have a solution that I'm going to try that you may want to too. Run a low tech with no co2, and keep the planting heavy. Basically from what I've read, with low tech you can go for months (it actually is better too) without water changes, as the plants remove all the nitrates. It is actually better to do less changes as adding fresh water (depending on your water stats) will gradually increase the water hardness in you tank. Even low tech plants can look great with hardly any maintenance.

I meant lazy in a good way! I actually have two tanks (my 8g and 2.5g that don't use CO2 injection and I have very good growth.

You're aptly describing Diana Walstad's methods from her book "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium". I'm familiar with it. I have a few things stopping me from completely going that route, though.

1. I don't use soil substrates as she advocates. I'm too cheap, and if the soil has clay in it, I'll swell up like a balloon (I'm allergic to clay and other soil types). I take a lot of Benedryl before I garden outside. I use inert gravel and laterite supplemented with rootabs. The soil she uses provides a source of carbon and nutrients, which is probably why you don't need to inject CO2.
2. My tanks aren't near a natural light source, which she kind of recommends as a supplement.
3. I bloody like fish too much. She recommends light stocking. Can't make me do that. I overstock. Can't help it!

So my tanks aren't really low-tech in that sense. They are not high-tech either. I actually think that they are perhaps "old school" with an economical substrate choice. There, I said it. Jeff Walmsley could be happy now. (lower light, limited plant choices, uncomplicated CO2 injection, lean water column, I don't know, what else?)

That being said, I've kept successful high-tech tanks and have seen brilliant Walsted-style tanks, so I would say that there isn't a one method that I personally think is better. I picked the method that best worked with my financial situation at this time, or more accurately, I didn't actually pick any method, my pocketbook made all my choices for me. A well-trained, tiny little pocketbook.

Sorry for the tangent, but there's been a lot of debate recently (in other forums, I don't think we've discussed it much at TFF, we are super friendly here) between which method is best, and some of it had gotten ugly.

llj

 

[slipperysucker]

I want to say I hate you out of jealousy lol ...I do love this tank , I only wish it were mine! I'm trying to go for a similar look in mine as it's the same shape as yours , a Juwel Vision 180. Well done ....can you post it to me? my address is ....

I finally got around to pruning this monster. I have a lot of Pennywort.

View attachment 39238

View attachment 39239

I moved things around quite a bit and did a serious prune. I like the layout much better now, and the Pennywort and egeria are contained. For now.

That won't last long,

llj

Awesome Tank! You should be proud. Love it!!! Yes Im jelous too... nice layout. Now dont fix wont aint broke.. lol

 

[lljdma06]

Well, it's been about a month since I photographed this tank, so I got off my lazy bum and took a few pictures. Expect updates for the rest of the journals as well. I was busy!

My Brochis splendens have wreaked havoc in this tank. They're quite large, so when they plow through, they plow through. And I have 6, and they school at night, so you can imagine! Most of my plants are pretty tough, but my Zosterfolia really took a beating with a lot of broken leaves and such. It got to the point where it was just not doing well so it was removed. I thought about offering it for swap, but it wasn't pretty. As a result, I did a bit of rescaping. I cleared out a lot of empty swimming space for the Brochis, so this tank is really not as densly planted as it appears. The entire back half is basically plant free. Only A. reineckii remains as a stemplant, the rest are either root feeders, ferns, anubias, or mosses. My anubias are sending up a few flower shoots. I've got three so far.

I also cleared the extra plant growth for another reason. If I play my cards right, I'll be getting a nice shoal of Corydoras sterbai at a good price! These are beautiful fish, but like the Brochis, they enjoy extra space for swimming. These are the last fish to add to my tank. Sometimes you've got to cater to the fish and not the plants. I really have to get those moonlights soon as I think the C. sterbai and the B. splendens will put on a good show after dark. I'm in the process of moving my peppered cories from the 36g to the 20g, but there is a stubborn pepper that refuses to be caught. It's a pity, really, he/she missed the action this morning in the 20g. He fancies himself a Brochis now and schools with them.

Time for pictures!

Full tank shot:

Left side:

Right side:

Angelfish with no name. He/She's getting really big!

Otoclinus taking a well-deserved break. Macro-shot.

My favorite shot. A macro of a male cherry barb in full breeding colors. This was one of the fry from way back when I first setup this tank in Sept. Can't believe he's grown this much. Now, that is red.

Sorry for the image and text overload. Thanks for looking.

llj