Tank full
Posted by Anja on June 23, 2008 at 19:29 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:31Added 3 ghost shrimp
… and 6 diamond tetras today
… and consider the tank fully stocked now. Water quality remains good, but I’m toying with the idea of getting a larger filter and putting this one on the 10 gallon I’m planning for the WCMM when they have to come out of the pond in the fall. We’ll see.
Tags: chemistry, Moenkhausia pittieri, Palaemonetes, plans | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Tank full | PermalinkBaby?
Posted by Anja on June 20, 2008 at 19:27 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:28I’d seen my peppered cories lay a very few eggs after the last heat wave subsided, but as the tetras are eating them as fast as they come, I didn’t think anything of it. This morning as I was making sure everyone shows up for feeding, I saw a tiny movement at the mouth of the cave out of the corner of my eye, and sure enough, a teensy tiny cory baby is down there munching happily along the rocks. My very first fish baby. I must confess, I’m pretty excited.
Unfortunately it’s way to quick for me to catch it on camera. I’ll keep trying, though.
Tags: breeding, Corydoras paleatus | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Baby? | PermalinkDisappearance
Posted by Anja on June 19, 2008 at 19:26 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:27I’ve been counting only nine neons for the last 2 or three days, even at feeding. Didn’t find any bodies, but it is odd, to say the least.
Tags: Paracheirodon innesi | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Disappearance | PermalinkNeons
Posted by Anja on June 4, 2008 at 19:24 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:26Picked up 2 more peppered cories today, roughly the same size as the four I already have. And I finally got my neons; ten little guys:
I drip acclimated them for two hours and so far they seem ok. I guess the next couple of days will show how they weathered the transition. From what I heard from other aquarists, they can react quite badly to changes in their water parameters, so I’m a bit wary. I guess time will tell.
The cories were adopted into the tribe almost immediately. At first it was easy to tell them apart, because they were so much lighter in color, but they’re adapting to their darker surroundings quite nicely, and pretty soon I won’t know who’s the newbie anymore.
Tags: Corydoras paleatus, Paracheirodon innesi | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Neons | PermalinkStill no neons
Posted by Anja on May 4, 2008 at 19:21 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:24I wanted to divide the large java fern on the side, so took out half of the water to get at it, cut it up and restick it plus some seven or eight new little plantlets. First time I did a 50% water change since set-up. I hope the fish will be ok with this, and all the java fern divisions will survive. Unfortunately, I can’t take any pictures ’cause the camera broke. *sniff*
Even though I treat the new water with Blackwater Extract, the color of the tank water has cleared up dramatically with this. I can actually see that the rocks on the back wall print are gray rather than brown. Not sure I like it that much, but I guess I’ll get used to it, and the water will get a little more yellow again, too.
Tags: chemistry, Microsorum pteropus | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Still no neons | PermalinkStill no neons
Posted by Anja on April 20, 2008 at 19:19 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:20Added 7 more glowlight tetras today, bringing their total number up to 10. It suddenly looks a lot more lively in that tank. I have the feeling the three old ones are a tad territorial, but it’s not easy to tell them apart. Looks like mere bickering, though, I’m not really concerned.
Tags: Hemigrammus erythrozonus | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Still no neons | PermalinkEveryone is peachy
Posted by Anja on April 19, 2008 at 19:18 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:19… and the little pleco doesn’t look like he took any damage. I hope I caught it in time, and that the weeks he spent at the LFS were enough of a quarantine.
I still don’t know why the QT suddenly crashed like that, but I guess that small a system w/out any plants is always vulnerable. I might also change the filter material. I don’t trust those all in one pads that came with it. When you change one (though I hadn’t, so that wasn’t it), all the nitrifying bacteria come out with it. That can’t be good.
The mystery Ranger Pleco btw. seems to be a Pterygoplichthys weberi.
Tags: chemistry, Pterygoplichthys weberi, Rory | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Everyone is peachy | PermalinkQT crash
Posted by Anja on April 16, 2008 at 19:17 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:18Had a heart attack this morning. Went to check the ammonia in the QT as I did every second day, and it was through the roof. Did an immediate 75% water change w/ Prime and Stability, and the pleco, who’d been just hovering on the bottom immediately picked up a bit, but ammo was still not in any comfortable range. I did small 1 quart water changes every fifteen minutes for a few hours, w/out bringing it down any further.
Around 4p.m. I finally gave up on it, netted the pleco, checked him over for any signs of burns, but didn’t see any, and moved him into the main tank.
Lost one of my cories today
Posted by Anja on April 12, 2008 at 19:15 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:16He was the smallest and always a little less boisterous than the others. Yesterday afternoon I missed him at feeding time, and searched in vain all evening. This morning I found him still alive, but sticking to the filter intake. I put him in a QT by himself so he wouldn’t get picked on (not that there was a mark on him), and an hour later he was dead. I have no clue what killed him. All I can think of is that he was fighting something since I got him, and the stress of being moved to the main tank on Wednesday weakened him further. But I have no idea what he could have been fighting. Apart from the fact that he was half the size of the others (and they’re all not fully grown, so I thought he was just a bit younger), he didn’t look any different. He was definitely out and about and feeding with everyone else yesterday morning. Water tested the same as always (amm/trites 0, nitrates under 20).
Needless to say I’m keeping a sharp eye on the others now.
Rory
Posted by Anja on April 10, 2008 at 19:13 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:15They still had the Ranger (mystery) Plecos at my LFS today, and they assured me that they would take him back in case he got too big for my tank. I mean, what’s a girl to do, faced with the tiniest cutest wiggliest most interestingly patterned pleco ever seen? And who can resist a mystery? Right? Right? Right.
So *erm* anyway. He’s in the QT now. Most people I talked to who know plecos, seem to think he’s some kind of peckoltia. Anyway, I named him Rory (‘Rose is Rose’ fans will understand).
Tags: Pterygoplichthys weberi, Rory | Categories: 25G South American | Comments Off on Rory | Permalink