Fluval Flex 57

[Aiken Drum]

Tank update.

Had a little trouble between the betta and the apple snail. The apple snail got massive and i think was looking for alternative food sources and was taking an interest in the slow moving betta. I didnt react to what was happening in time and one morning no betta. My suspicions where confirmed when the snail poop started to come out a purplish blue colour. I strongly suspect the apple hunted down, killed and ate my betta. So, the apple snail was rehomed and the tank was really reset up.

My original intension for this tank was a planted tank, but as the snail was eating every piece of vegetable matter it ended up being artifical. Now with no snail i could go back to planted. Took some java moss from another tank, added back the anubias previously saved from the snail, and added some cabomba at the back. Hardscape stayed the same. I think it has worked out pretty good now everything is established.



Fishwise, there are CPDs in there still, but they really dont do very well so i wont be keeping any more, unless the current ones do much better now its planted properly. I wanted to see a lot of colour and went for some guppies. Took a shine to a honey gourami and added one. First experience of shrimp, and the red cherry shrimp are doing brilliantly. Breeding like crazy and going about their shrimp lives.

Planning on a few more guppies as the CPDs die off, and i might see if 1 or 2 more male gourami will cohabit.

Really happy with this aquarium now. Looks good from across the room, things of interest from closer up. Now everything is nicely established its not a lot of work to maintain.

And maybe my aquascaping skills are getting better?

 

[Autumnsky]

That is quite a bit of drama for a defoliated planted tank.

Wow. I'm shocked at the dangerous snail.

But on a brighter note the tank looks lovely now. I'm a big fan of a few male Guppies in a group 5-7 usually since they are attractive and just brighten up any tank. Once in awhile there could be a bully Guppy which would cause trouble, but just remove the one and had mostly perfect experiences that way.

One possible issue with a couple male Gourami would be fighting when they mature. No experience with these specific variety but had someone bring me a group of fish and they said their tank was probably too small, and there were 2 male Dwarf Neon Blue Gouramis and that one had died (previously were 3). The 2 males just fought and fought with each other mainly one was the winner so I moved the other one. They were with a male Pearl Gourami and a male Three Spot and those guys didn't bother each other at all. They would just move away like realizing they must have moved into the other's space. Just a bit of caution to be aware of the possibility.

I just still love that tank!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Honey gouramis are smaller than dwarf gouramis, so i think tank size wise 2 or 3 might work, and my research tells me they do good with just males as they arent as aggressive as other gourami. Its just a thought at the moment, and if it doesn't work out i can move the extras into another tank. Or maybe add a couple of ladies instead.