29 Gallon South American-ish Tank

[PNWaquarist]

This tank has been stocked for about 3 1/2 months now. It is not quite a biotope, but has a strong South American flavor. Stocking includes:

7 Cardinal Tetra
7 Black Neon Tetra
7 Rummynose Tetra
4 Sterbai Cory
2 Assassin Snail (for now)
Will be adding 1-2 dwarf cichlids soon

Plants are a hodgepodge:
Hornwort
Java Fern
Crypt spiralis
Crypt wendtii
Staurogyne repens

Parameters:
Single T8 bulb (on 10 hours per day)
77 degrees F
pH 7.3-7.4
GH: 3 degrees
KH: 2.5 degrees

Setbacks have been relatively minor so far. Lost one Rummy to columnaris (and "melted" several Crypt wendtii during treatment, but they're coming back) and one Cardinal to an apparent gill parasite. No apparent maladies for a month and a half or so.

 

[tiger terror]

Awesome pic of the cori...

Getcha feet wet fish tank people!

 

[PNWaquarist]

Thanks!

Here are my Assassin Snails eating carnivore pellets yesterday...



Will be stocking a couple more fish next month.


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[dalto]

Do you have trouble keeping the assassin snails in soft water? I really can't keep snails anymore due to shell erosion.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Yeah, I can already see the shell erosion on these two. I've been feeding blanched zucchini twice a week to help supplement calcium, but it hasn't helped much. They'll be going back to the LFS soon. I got them to help control the pest snail population in the tank, and they seem to have done a pretty mediocre job of that.


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[PNWaquarist]

I was planning on re-housing my Assassins, but it looks like they might be mating now. Found them stuck together in the driftwood cave while cleaning yesterday and moved them to the back of the tank. They were at the front of the tank in the same position this morning.



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[fastguppy]

That looks fantastic! Where do you get the rocks and driftwood? I'd love to add some natural features to my 29 gal but I am worried about getting rocks from around here.

 

[PNWaquarist]

That looks fantastic! Where do you get the rocks and driftwood? I'd love to add some natural features to my 29 gal but I am worried about getting rocks from around here.

Thank you for the kind words. Driftwood is from the LFS. Rocks are from Petsmart, bagged by either Tetra or Top Fin. I realize that I could simply take some out of the river, but the packaged river rock is like $2 per bag at the store and I don't have to worry about them containing serpentine minerals such as nickel.

 

[PNWaquarist]

My new GBRs that survived a five-day journey in a box. Raised the tank temp to 80 F, and hopefully that's enough.



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[PNWaquarist]

Female GBR lookin' gravid. Looks like an exposed vent...



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[brennae]

Do you want to add calcium to the water? I add some for my snails. I use either cuttlebone made for birds or I use liquid Ca from the marine section at the lfs. I also dose a few drops of Iodine for nice shells.

ANy updates on your fish or the gravid female??
Very nice set up by the way!

 

[PNWaquarist]

Thanks, brenna. My female ram is suddenly thin again this morning, so she apparently spawned overnight. Can't see the eggs, though, so they're either hidden in one of the caves or they've been eaten.

EDIT: The rams have been spending a lot of time inside a cave on the right-hand side of the tank, and the male has spent a good chunk of the morning chasing my clueless Rummys away.

All of my fish like soft water, so I will not be adding calcium. I'm going to re-house the Assassins. The only reason that I got them was to kill off the pest snails in my tank, and my rams seem to have taken care of that.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Seems that either the rams or somebody else ate the eggs. Female is no longer hanging out the in the cave and the male is no longer chasing my Rummy and corys. I'm sure they'll try again in a couple of weeks.

 

[PNWaquarist]

The tank is still doing nicely. I lost a couple of Cardinals a few weeks ago and my female ram (below) came down with an apparent gill parasite, but it appears that PraziPro was able to handle it.

 

[PNWaquarist]

Did some minor re-scaping, replacing the Crypts spiralis and Stayrogyne reopens with Java Fern (I don't feel like doing ferts). Also added a BN Pleco, who had made my tank look fabulously clean.


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[PNWaquarist]

Trying again...






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[brennae]

You really have an eye for aquascaping. Always jealous because I do not.

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[PNWaquarist]

You really have an eye for aquascaping. Always jealous because I do not.

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Thanks, though I am definitely not an aquascaping artist! The clump of Java Fern on the left is literally a giant, overgrown mess that the fish all seem to enjoy. So I leave it there.

My new pleco has made the tank look better than I ever could've.

 

[brennae]

Well I just usually throw my plants in the tank and I'm done. I usually don't plant them in substrate and in most of my tanks I have bare bottoms.

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[coralbandit]

Tank looks good!
Like your stocking also.
Where did you get your rams from?
What is your water parameter? I see soft but ?
The java fern is why I ask.