Ragged fins

[seangee]

Final update on the cycle. I now have conclusive proof (unintentionally) that all is well and can sleep easy on holiday.

SF lists the species as chiefly carnivorous but suggests their diet should be supplemented by fruit and veg. Well they don't eat algae wafers! The reason I never spotted this in the community tank is they do play with them so were often first on the scene when I fed these. Last night I spotted a puff of organic matter when one of the loaches went through a gap in the wood and disturbed what was left of the wafer they had rolled under there. So it had been in the tank for over 24 hours. I vacuumed the remains up. Previously in an experiment with an uncycled tank where the filter had been running for 2 days (i.e. what most fish shops recommend you do before adding fish) I dropped a single algae wafer into a 15G and tested for ammonia 12 hours later. The reading was over 4 ppm!!! IMO that's really scary and surprised me.

Today's reading was unchanged from the last 2 days. It seems a lot of the heavy lifting is being done by the plants. Nitrite was 0, nitrate was not 0 but well below 5. Although its only been 4 days the roots of the frogbit have grown quite noticeably. I trimmed these before putting them in so its easy to tell

 

[seangee]

Well its been a month and here they are in their new home

For those that question the power of plants in cycling the fish went into the tank within an hour of getting the tank home. The filter (ordered online) only arrived 5 days later. The substrate was brand new, leftover in my garage from when I set up the nano (that's its reflection behind the heater). The wood was also spare in my garage and the plants were all pillaged from my community tank. I haven't cleaned the tank or filter yet so all I have done is water changes. The nano powerhead in the corner (also pillaged from the community tank) creates a pretty healthy flow in the smaller tank (which suits the sids).

I will be moving it onto a stand over the weekend as I'm not convinced the workbench its on is sturdy enough for the long term and next to my network router and NAS is probably not the best place for water to live .

I plan on adding a group of microdevario kubotai as soon as I can find some stock in the UK. I assume they are a seasonal import as I cannot find any at present, but I'm happy to wait and resist the temptation to add something else instead.

 

[Sylvan]

Where abouts in the UK are you? Pier Aquatics in Wigan thinks they'll have some in stock in 2 or 3 weeks or Abyss Aquatics in Stockport does have some in at the moment, current price is 5 for £13.50. Pier is cheaper at 5 for a tenner.

 

[seangee]

Where abouts in the UK are you? Pier Aquatics in Wigan thinks they'll have some in stock in 2 or 3 weeks or Abyss Aquatics in Stockport does have some in at the moment, current price is 5 for £13.50. Pier is cheaper at 5 for a tenner.

Thanks, I'll check them out if they will ship. I'm in Berks so its a bit of a drive either way
I am thinking around 20 as I won't be putting anything else in the tank, ok then perhaps a few more sids (I have 6 now).

(Hopefully that means everyone else will have them in a few week too).

 

[Sylvan]

Pier definitely ships, it's £24 for shipping though. They're both local to me so been in quite a bit recently looking at the fish and I stalk them on Facebook lol. Berks is definitely a bit of drive but if you make up to the North West there's quite a lot of shops dotted around to go look at.

 

[Essjay]

I've seen them in Maidenhead Aquatics labelled as green tetras.....

 

[seangee]

I've seen them in Maidenhead Aquatics labelled as green tetras.....

Recently?
My local one was closed for a refurb when I went on my hols -I'll give them a call now.

 

[seangee]

I've seen them in Maidenhead Aquatics labelled as green tetras.....

Great catch. They are in the middle of the refurb so I phoned the 2nd nearest branch. Collecting 25 tomorrow. Even better is that their stock was imported in April - so hopefully in good condition and I can expect them all to survive

 

[Sylvan]

Looking forward to pictures of them

 

[Essjay]

I'm glad you managed to find some. I saw them in the MA that was in a garden centre that burned down last year, and of course the fish shop was also totally destroyed. The garden centre was up and running in a temporary building quite quickly, but the MA only re-opened a few months ago and is still restocking, though they haven't got any 'green tetras' back in yet.

 

[seangee]

I saw them in the MA that was in a garden centre that burned down last year

What is it with MA and dodgy garden centres. The one being re-furbed is in a centre where the garden centre went bust. They thought they would have to move but are now extending into part of where the garden centre was. The other one has also moved recently since the garden centre they were in also went bust and the entire centre was pulled down for housing.

 

[seangee]

On a happier note
90% water change done
Filter cleaned
Stand built
Tank relocated
Plants trimmed and thinned

Although not in that order - we're ready to rock.

 

[seangee]

Well they are in. Seems like a good healthy bunch. I'll post pics or a video in a new thread once they are properly settled in and coloured up.

Its not really surprising they have been in the shop a while. Aside from the fact that this shop is primarily marine they really did look insipid in the display tank. So much so that I had to point out to the weekend student sent to catch them that she was not to net the spotty fish in the same tank (i.e. equally insipid looking CPD). I did manage to use the fact that they weren't selling because they look so boring to get the price down a bit - but still not as good as those mentioned by @Sylvan in the NW

I asked to see the store's consignment note which confirmed they had been received in April so I decided not to quarantine.

 

[Sylvan]

Well if you take into account either petrol to drive up or shipping costs then it probably works out to be the better deal and you've got them.