Jack's 20G Long Build Journal

[JackBinimbul]

Unfortunately, none of my LFS have cories that I'm satisfied with atm. Petco only had albinos and I'm wanting more wild-type. Petsmart had 3 wild-type, but they were in with a dead one, and that's where I got the pair where one died. My mom and pop LFS only had pygmies. I'll keep checking.

In the meantime, I've decided to snag a honey gourami soon.

I've done a lot of reading about whether or not they do well alone and will be going with one to start. Some people say they have multiple males or mixed genders with no problems while others say even two females harass each other. It seems that they are highly individual with some being depressed alone and others being aggressive toward other honeys, but being happy in a community tank. It also seems that sometimes people end up with sunset thicklip gouramis on accident, who are certainly aggressive. I've read up on the tell-tale signs of depression and will feel it out as it goes.

I intend to get a single female to start. I know females can be harder to find in LFS, so we'll see. I can always get another one, but I'd hate to accidentally end up with two males who hate each other.

 

[Autumnsky]

To me, although I haven't kept Honey Gourami, all the other types I have had seem to want to be king of the Gourami which means there are usually some wars... I ended up keeping one almost every time.

[Side note was one was from my daughter someone gave it to her because they were moving] I already had my favorite Pearl male.

They definitely did NOT like each other but would kinda turn their backs to ignore the other. Maybe they had a serious talk and got it worked out or something but it was also a 72G tank and there was lots of room.

Males are usually more colorful. My favorite has been the Pearl Gourami. I had a mean and nasty one, and also the most calm sweet one ever. I kept the the sweet one and rehomed the mean one.

Do you have any aquarium society type clubs around you? Very often there are breeder hobbyists cor Cories.

 

[JackBinimbul]

Picked up three new cories today. Intended to only get two more, but they had a total of three and I didn't want to leave one behind alone. Sentimentalism will be the death of me.

They are currently in QT. It's one large female and two small males. This brings me to two confirmed females, which is nice.

They didn't have any decent looking honeys, so the search continues.

Even though I'm not overstocked by these projections, I'm still feeling guilty about having such a small tank in general. I'd love to eventually move up to a 40, but I don't know if I can take the work for it.

I know that the maintenance isn't that drastically different, but it's the water changes that would get me. I know the python system is a god send, but the old faucets in this house refuse to budge. I can't get the caps off of a single one of them. All that hard water has fused the dang things on. So I'm stuck huffing buckets back and forth. Even on a 20, it gets real old, real fast.

 

[Autumnsky]

Hoping you will get 3 healthy ones, this time.

My faucets are just odd and cannot accommodate the connectors even after much attempts. I am about to just buy a new faucet for the sink. If I find a good deal...

 

[JackBinimbul]

The faucets certainly need replacing, but we rent, so no luck, there. I definitely need a better solution, though.

 

[King Fisher]

A channel lock wrench should do the trick. If you're nice about it put a cloth between the wrench and faucet spout.

 

[JackBinimbul]

More pics today, because my life now revolves around my fish tank.

The cories enjoy swimming back and forth together in the tank.

Everyone gets along peacefully!

The new guys, however, are convinced I am the devil and spend their time huddled as far away from me as possible. Odd, since the others weren't as skittish. I theorize that this is due to the obvious vision impairment that the albinos have. More on that in a different post.

The female is willing to be brave for some peas, though.

The shrimp are doing great and they typically come out midday to browse. They are unable to keep up with the algae, though.

It's amazing how their pigments work!

Speaking of the algae, I decided to add a couple of algae busters to help me out between tank cleanings.

Say hello to our two new inhabitants!

I had initially been against the idea of snails, but the more research I did, the more I felt like my tank could benefit from their presence. Two nerites seemed perfectly reasonable for my setup. They have already left paths along the glass through the algae!

 

[Fresh2o]

The cories in QT are quite colorful. They will make nice additions.
Have the nerites made a dent in the algae on the driftwood?

 

[Autumnsky]

Nice additions.

 

[JackBinimbul]

They haven't gotten to the driftwood yet. They're mostly nomming at the glass atm. One of them has found the rocks, which is awesome. I may physically relocate one to the wood, just to see what it does!

 

[Fresh2o]

... I may physically relocate one to the wood, just to see what it does!

I was just about to suggest that. I never pulled the trigger on Nerite snails. The snails eggs (or removal of such) is pretty much the only reason.

 

[JackBinimbul]

I went with nerites specifically because I don't want to end up with more snails. They won't reproduce in fresh water and they don't reproduce asexually, regardless. They will still lay eggs, but I'm willing to bet money that my fish will eat them. If not...eh. What's a few snail eggs among friends?

 

[Delapool]

More pics today, because my life now revolves around my fish tank.

Lol - so true!!

 

[JackBinimbul]

Terrible news. We had a very sudden cold-snap down here in Texas. It's been 75-80 degrees for days and overnight it dropped to 40. The QT tank didn't have a heater because I was pretty sure I'd get everyone moved before the temps dropped.

The QT tank dropped from 76 to 69 over night and the largest female was hit hard. She had gone pale and was laying on her side, barely breathing. I put in a large bottle of warm water and have brought the temps up, but the damage had been done and she didn't make it.

Very sad about this as I was looking forward to having another large female. The two males seem OK so far.

 

[Autumnsky]

It is possibly more than cool temps. Often they are not too bothered by cooler temps. down around 72 is ideal as a low but lower should be manageable unless there are other compounded issues. Which as a newer fish in QT it could be.

Check the water quality. Often food turns bad in smaller spaces, more quickly causing problems in QT.

 

[JackBinimbul]

Thanks for the feedback, Autumn. I do 25-50% WC on the QT tank at least every other day. And I siphon out waste every day. Nitrites were a tad on the high side, but nothing alarming. I'm using an ammonia neutralizer, but the ammonia was still reasonable. I did a WC immediately upon discovering the issue, though. Just in case it was an illness.

I think the sudden drop was just as much to blame as the low temp itself. It dropped more than 5 degrees in just a few hours. I'm keeping the levels around 75 now and the two remaining males seem to be doing OK, but I'll be vigilant about it. I have a backup heater coming in tomorrow.

As an aside; any input on what temp I should be keeping my main tank? I've been keeping it at 77 with cories, endlers, shrimp and nerites.

 

[Autumnsky]

Sounds like you already doing whatever you can. I think Nerites are like a degree less can't remember actually, you can do 76 or 77F.

 

[Delapool]

Goodness that’s cold. I had to look up 40F into C but brrrr.

 

[King Fisher]

Seems that nerites can live in 78-80 degree water temps. Mixed reviews. I got them in two of my tanks. One tank is 77 degrees and the other is 79 degrees. They are doing well. 77 is a good temp for your stock.

We are hitting 18 degrees at night here. [emoji44]

 

[JackBinimbul]

Ouch, Fisher!