Been lurking for a while

[IceForever]

Hey everyone, I’ve used this site for research purposes religiously along this 8-10 month roller coaster ride of fish keeping, but first time posting obviously. (LOL jk apparently I posted once before and forgot about it, and never made an intro post)

I currently have a 46G bowfront that is stocked with:
1 Black Veil-Tail angel
13 cardinal tetras
9 harlequin rasboras
7 sterbai cories
5 zebra danios
1 SAE/Flying Fox
2 zebra nerites
3 nerites
5-8 Amano shrimp
3-5 ghost shrimp

Planted with:
Amazon Swords
Rotala
Spiralus (sp?) Crypts
Assorted Vals

I run a Marineland Penguin 200b and a 40g sponge filter in the corner by my shrimps’ castle��

I have assorted questions/want opinions on things, and wasn’t sure if I should post them in the separate [appropriate] place(s), or if maybe it would be better to knock them out in a general introductory post...can anyone advise?? ��

I’ve included some pics of my tank from the day I got it to now. It’s definitely been an incredible/fascinating journey.

Thanks in advance,
Brett

 

[Delapool]

Welcome

 

[goatnad]

Welcome. I like you are transitioning over to live plants vs. plastic. It looks like they are growing nicely for you. From what I can see of the crypts I would agree it looks like crypt spiralis.

 

[IceForever]

Welcome. I like you are transitioning over to live plants vs. plastic. It looks like they are growing nicely for you. From what I can see of the crypts I would agree it looks like crypt spiralis.

Thank you goat, and thank you Dela.

My transition is actually complete now, with all of the plastic plants being gone except for the little green shrubby/grassy ones that sit beneath my swords. I would prefer to remove them and plant some grassy plant/moss carpet up there, but as the roots to my swords are all over on that platform, I am too nervous to mess with them too much lol.

Everything does seem to be growing really well, especially now that I started dosing ferts, but my poor crypts...when I planted the two new crypts (on the right when you’re looking at the pic, and the bigger ones) I re-buried the roots to my older crypts and literally all of their leaves except for 1 or 2 have melted away...

I read some places that this is somewhat normal crypt behavior as they are temperamental...is this correct? My LFS lady told me she’s never had any issues w crypts. I was also having algae problems on my swords, and showing signs of deficiencies which is why I finally caved and started dosing ferts. Maybe you can see the one with the really browned edge? It used to be way worse, but it seems to be coming back just as the other leaf did right behind it that looked similar..

I am curious, however...I actually still had some of the pre-change, more rounded leaves left on my swords, and since dosing w ferts it seems like they have not been doing as well, despite the fact that I’m getting new leaves like crazy and the new growth all looks healthy to me...is this normal behavior as well, and just the plant finalizing it’s transition to a submerged? Does it normally take so long?

Here are some closer up pics of my plants

 

[Leopardshark20]

I would recommend adding another angelfish. It is never good for a fish to be alone. Adding another angel will increase your current one’s lifetime, help it color up, and give it a personality. Good Luck!

 

[IceForever]

I would recommend adding another angelfish. It is never good for a fish to be alone. Adding another angel will increase your current one’s lifetime, help it color up, and give it a personality. Good Luck!

Thanks for the advice. It’s actually something I have been pondering, and I would love for Raat to have a friend, but I was under the impression that it is best if the two are paired up, and since he (I believe it is a male as he appears to have a ‘bump’ on his head) was raised in there by himself -with the other community fish- I’m unsure how to go about the situation (ie. Do I just dump a few females in there and keep whichever one he pairs up with, or how to go about the Process?) I’ve also read that, if I pair him up, they tend to get much more aggressive and territorial during the breeding process...and I worry that my poor cardinals and rasboras will become food, or even just killed and left for my shrimp to clean up, if I pair him up.

Raat is already a ruthless killer by himself...He picked off the runt out of the group of 13 cardinals (whom I had named 13 since you could actually tell which was him due to his size) during the day of fasting. Been in there for weeks with no issues, but I guess the opportunity presented itself while he was extra hungry and he did what he does. And the poor ghost shrimp when I brought them home at first...he would literally just kill them to kill them...left their bodies scattered around the tank. Maybe it was his way of sharing his spoils of war with the other community fish and the shrimp whom were strong enough to survive, who knows...but I digress...

I also worry (a little) about my filtration capacity. I have added a bag with ceramic rings behind my penguin cartridge, and have the sponge filter in there as well to help out, but do you think I could [safely] add another angel in there given the bioload on the Aquarium?

 

[Leopardshark20]

I think if you keep up on your water changes you should be ok to add one more angle, but that would have to be the max. You can just add one female angel and they will get along just fine. Good Luck!