Fresh2o’s 29g Blackwater Tank

[Fresh2o]

Leeches are easy to spot. At least the larger ones. They are flat and broad. See pic below. They can contract into a ball. Or expand; leading end is pointy.
I got a half portion of blackworms. About half of that went in the tank. Most of those are in the sand. I did see a few embers and CPDs hunting them down and eating them. The rest went into the fridge. These might go into the small pond outside (prefab water feature).
Yes, the emerald eyes are very active and alert surface dwellers. Already accepting flakes. They will fill the upper level of the tank.

 

[Autumnsky]

Ewwww, (I know what you're thinking TMaier) over sized brown Planaria. eek!

 

[TMaier]

So bad they send you home with leeches in your worms.

 

[Fresh2o]

So bad they send you home with leeches in your worms.

While staring at the I noticed what I thought was a pond snail tumbling along the sand. On closer inspection it was a leech (probably got caught up in yesterday’s feeding). Dark worm on a light substrate is easy to pick out. They are quite clumsy and slow. I promptly removed it.
Added a few more sycamore, oak, and maple leaves. Nothing to report about the Corydoras except that they are doing well. There are still quite a few blackworms in the sand but I view them as another detrivore that is also a good source.
The Emerald eyes are active and feeding well. No flashing or scratching observed. Hopefully by next week they will get into the main tank.

 

[Fresh2o]

Well, I got impatient and moved the rasboras to the DT. They stayed in a tight group near the surface for a while. Later I noticed a group of 4 broke away from the main group and explored most of the tank. Though these are from slow moving, heavily tannin stained waters, their body shape and activity makes me think that they would fare well in clear, brisk moving water. They are accepting flake food. Will try frozen daphnia, brine shrimp, or mysis shrimp tonight.

 

[Fresh2o]

Long overdue update. Rasboras are doing well and are a very tight schooling fish even when they are not nervous (fish tend to do that as a response). They are active and tend to stay in the upper half of the tank, although I have seen them cruising through the leaf litter looking for food.
Last month I bought blackworms and the fish are them for a few days. I kept the worms in a dip and pour container in a fridge in the garage and after a few days it looked like they were dying off. So I plopped then into the unoccupied QT. A month later I vacuumed them into a brine shrimp net and placed them in a glass bowl with a thin layer of sand. I wanted to be able to monitor their numbers and eating habits. It seems like there are over 100+ worms in there. And they are voracious eaters. I drop sinking pellets and flake food in the dish and they pounce on it. The semi translucent bodies makes it easy to see what they have eaten. I am trying to establish a colony of these for food. The LFS gets these in every 1-2 weeks so replenishing the colony will not be an issue.
Here are some pics:

 

[Autumnsky]

Great??? Kidding, good job they look pretty healthy and active.

Haha, although fish love them, personally I'm not keen on them. Longest I got mine to stay alive was about 2 weeks but I kept them in a cylindrical vase with a handful of eco-complete and plants floating. They're kinda creepy. A little interesting. We had some reddish black ones in the ditch by our house.

 

[Brookster123]

That's awesome fresh! I feed the Australian freeze dried spinach blackworms. They're a staple with my discus. Maybe feed yours some spinach? It's supposed to be a super food??

 

[Autumnsky]

Just as long as it isn't too much spinach because what I have read is too much oxalic acid can be harmful or fatal in humans wiki says 600 mg per kilo, - lowest published lethal dose. But small amounts seems okay.

Not too sure how that translates from people into shrimp but thought it was worth a mention.

Steaming (cooking) will reduce it from what I read, and throw way the water cause that is where it ends up. Many leafy greens have it, bad for kidneys.

 

[coralbandit]

Spinach is the fastest best absorbed source of iron available for fish.
I first read about it in 'The Naked Discus' by Andrew Soh .
I since also have been feeding freeze dried Australian black worms with spinach mixed into them . I buy it by the kilo $$$ .I also offer whole frozen spinach leaves to my 2 farrowella [who eat 2-4 a week] and my tangs in my reef.

 

[Fresh2o]

So Popeye was right after all!
This evening I will be feeding the fish blackworms since I have a decent amount. I am checking the culture for juvenile worms. I will call the LFS to see when the next shipment is. I am a bit surprised that they are thriving this long. I still find a few in the display tank despite the dwarf corys being in there. Either these are avoiding predation or they are offspring of the original worms.

 

[Fresh2o]

Yesterday I brought in the mosquito fish as a donation to the LFS and they reimbursed me with a 20% discount coupon. I do not buy fish often so I was not sure when I would ever use it.
On my way out I saw a tank with Furcata Forktail Rainbows listed at $3.99 each! I bought some 3 years ago from the same place at $11.99 each so I could not pass it up. Picked up 11. Applied the coupon as well. These are juveniles which is probably better due the the typical lifespan (~3 years). The ones I bought 3 years ago succumbed to a CO2 overdose and I have been kicking myself over that since then.
Furcata Forktail Rainbows during a 3 hour drip session (I had other stuff to do and the drip was super slow):

FTS. Lighting was a little dim at the time

Hopefully I will get better pics soon. These guys are very active. I forgot about the eyes...now both these and the Emerald Eye Rasboras boast jewel like eyes that stand out in the tannin filled water.

 

[Autumnsky]

Sweet buy! Perfect!

 

[fishenthusiast]

I like this tank. Simple and natural!

 

[Fresh2o]

I like this tank. Simple and natural!

Exactly.
I moved the subwassertang down to the substrate. Did not like it up in the branches.
This tank is going through an identity crisis. I removed the pair of small LED clip on spot lights and threw the Finnex Planted+ back on it. It’s only on for 6 hours. The 24/7 is still in 24/7 mode.

Side view to show how the tannins have stained the water

 

[Autumnsky]

it is always interesting to peek in and see what is going on!

 

[Fresh2o]

I removed a good portion of subwassertang from the shrimp tank and added it to the 29g. The pygmy cories, which are incredibly shy in this tank, having been swimming around all of the new cover.

FTS. I might keep the Finnex Planted+ in this tank. Really not sure what kind of look I’m going for here. On one hand, I like the look of plain sand with a covering of leaf litter; minimal to no plants. That was the original intent of this tank. Then again, perhaps the opportunity to add anubias, buce, and Java fern.

Evening pic

 

[TMaier]

Looks peaceful. Happy cories is a good thing.

 

[earhtmother]

Looks peaceful. Happy cories is a good thing.

For some reason every pic except the side view are showing up as broken on my phone - any ideas anyone?

 

[D-Fish]

For some reason every pic except the side view are showing up as broken on my phone - any ideas anyone?

Same for me. Are you using taptalk? I assumed it was just the app.