Reentry--my 45

[Tacit Blues]

The leak was in the bubble counter lid. Since it all seems to be in happy equilibrium right now I just pulled it out of the system and plugged the source bottles directly in to the tank, and I've got a nice steady stream of bubbles. The bubble counter is now slathered with probably more caulking than was needed, but waste not etc. I'll let it cure nice and good before I put it back into the system and if it still leaks than I'll probably have to get a new lid for it.

 

[Tacit Blues]

So, just a quick update on stock levels since I stopped by the LFS today and grabbed some more neons--

21 Neon tetras (totally awesome)
4 Head and Taillight Tetras (the three that were just horrifically injured are no more)
7 Panda Corys (as far as I can tell, they are always hiding in the driftwood and I can never see them all at once)
5 Otos (as far as I can tell, see "Panda Corys" section)

This stock level puts me at ~90% according to AQAdvisor. I think I'd like to fill the remaining with some sort of contrasting fish to the Neons (I absolutely am loving my swarm of them, by the way). When I started out I was thinking that the H&TL's would be that but then they had to go all thunderdome on me and I don't really want to re-stock them [insert words unsuitable for church or Grandma's house describing H&TL Tetras here]. Maybe Rummynose tetras? Or Hatchetfish, to get more stratification?

 

[Autumnsky]

Personally I don't think there could ever be too many Neons (or Cardinals)

What about a pair or trio of Rainbow fish?

I just added 6 Marble Hatchet fish to my 72G. They are really my daughter's but she ended up not getting a proper lid for her tank yet and they would be too close to the free world and would likely periodically end up on the floor.

 

[Tacit Blues]

Yeah, I have a pretty good lid, but you always hear stories!

 

[Tacit Blues]

Man, it's been a rough week for the otos. Lost three of them, so I think there's only one left. It's been three months and I thought I'd be in the clear for them to pull through, but I guess not Hoping the last one will, at least. I love those little guys.

The 21 neons are doing amazing, though. There's only one who hasn't brightened up like all the others, that I'm a little worried about. It's been a week and a half since that batch, and all the others are great, it's just that one.

And the last 4 H&TL's haven't killed themselves off yet, though one appears to have a small injury on it's nose, *sigh*.

 

[Tacit Blues]

Year and a half later... So, since the last update, I started dating, got engaged, got married, bought a house, and moved both aquariums. Wow! No wonder there hasn't been much activity... in all of that, there hasn't been a great deal of attention paid to the tanks for some reason, but now that they're back in reach I'm feeling like they should get some love, especially the 45 gallon. There's still 7 neons, 5 marble hatchetfish, the lone thunderdome survivor H&T tetra, and one oto who wouldn't be found when the tank was drained to an inch of water and put in the back of a pickup truck, and somehow survived being moved a few miles down the road. And in the Edge there's still 3 shrimp, though I think they're all females. Not sure what caused that dieoff, so I'm considering turning it into a betta tank. Might look for more shrimp though.

So there you go. Luckily, my wife likes the tanks too

 

[Autumnsky]

Welcome back. Any recent pics....of the tanks? lol! Oh yes, and congrats on everything in your entire life changing except your tanks.

 

[Tacit Blues]

Here you go though from a couple days ago. The shrimp tank still looks about the same. I rearranged the wood in the 45 while it was out. The poor anubias still have so much algae on them! Sorry, plants! Been dosing glut every morning, and I'll try to get it back on a more regular fertilization schedule. I bought a sword plant at the [big box pet store] today and planted it back in the left hand corner. The leaves looked the healthiest out of the selection there, but the roots are pretty disappointing so we'll see what happens. Wanted something taller since most of the background plants have gone away to the big compost in the sky.

 

[Tacit Blues]

So, since the last update, I picked up some Amano Shrimp who have decided that the big piece of wood on the right are their castle, and then today I doubled the number of Neons and found some Water Sprite that I'm floating for the hatchets to chill in. I'm really enjoying sitting and watching the tank again, now that it's back where I live!

 

[Autumnsky]

Excellent news that you are enjoying it once again. It is nicer to watch fish when they are happy.

If I ever got my giant tank upgrade, I would love to see my 72G (which came stock as a black glass background) full of maybe 75 Neons or Cardinals - they really pop!

 

[Tacit Blues]

Yeah, I'm thinking about switching to a black, or at least, darker, background. Wonder if a black piece of paperboard behind the rice paper stick on would do it...

Funny how tastes change

 

[Autumnsky]

My preference was the graduated blue background which might be perfect behind the rice paper.

Funny you mention that tastes change. Most of my tanks, as they are the Edge tanks don't have any background except the black column in the center. Shrimp don't care but these nano fish don't prefer the openess and must feel vunerable liking to hide, at least some of them do.

You can try different color fabric (clothes or black trash bag) to see which color direction better suits your present tastes and decor. My black background tank has blackish Eco substrate and it is just too dark plus dark walls surrounding it, for my liking. I call my black Angelfish a Ghost because he is nearly invisible with the background and just suddenly appears at places in the tank.

I am nearing putting on rice paper or frosted film on the back of 2-3 tanks - 2 Edge tanks and a rimless 11.4. I have a graduated blue partial roll which might fit the 11.4 and 6.6G Edge which I got on clearance a long while back and not for sure where it is (its a short size not for big tanks).

 

[Tacit Blues]

Hmm, I bet you could do some really interesting things with fabric. My wife used to work at a fabric store that went out of business and so she bought a ton of different things while it was doing all of its closeout sales...

 

[Tacit Blues]

Apparently I have an annual need to update this with a new picture

View attachment 303062

I guess since last time not a whole lot has changed. I have replenished the neons and hatchets, and got 3 bushynose plecos. I'm itching to redo the hardscape now, though. Maybe try out some found deadwood that I've cut off of the aspen trees in the yard--a cursory search tells me that that should be pretty safe. The Anubias in both of the tanks have gotten to the point that I want to split them up a bit and replant them. Only took several years

Well, there you go. Check back in next year I guess!

 

[Autumnsky]

Looks like the rice paper background is holding up!

Howdy! Thinking that Petsmart has Neons for a dollar right now!

Nice of you to check in with an update!

 

[Tacit Blues]

What I'm really dreaming of right now is getting a pack of rummy nose tetras, but I think that might be maxing the tank out. There's already 18 neons, 8 marble hatchets, the plecos, and miraculously still one oto and one amano shrimp. I think aqadvisor puts me at 75 or 80% now, but a good sized school of rummynose gets me over 100%. I know it's conservative, but where's the line...

 

[Autumnsky]

You have options to "UP" the filtration system, or do more frequent pwc, or both. I would go with the Rummy Nose. They are good schoolers. If you don't care for a certain fish group and want to make a change, there are certainly keepers around who would want them.

I just picked up a 90G drilled SW tank today, (used) and am trying to decide what to do a big SW or a big FW (which requires moving a whole tank of fish from the 72G) Lots to do when you have lots of tanks (trying to combine tanks of fish now so there will be less tanks).

You could even use a black trash bag behind the rice paper. No one has to know!!! Easy to replace and dry if wet

 

[Tacit Blues]

There's already two filters so I think I'm probably pretty good in that regard. Hey, me the rummys would tell me to change the water and I may just have to do the trash bag thing. To see

 

[Tacit Blues]

Well, checked both LFSs and nary a rummynose to be seen. Supposedly at the one store they should get in a shipment next week. They did have some Ember Tetras that I got for my sad Edge tank that has nothing but snails in (the male shrimp did not survive the move last year, and then the population slowly dwindled away). I still would like to get more shrimp for it but it's just been way too hot for shipping and they're impossible to find in town, it seems. If I were an enterprising sort I'd set up a 40 breeder and just do a bog standard massive RCS colony and sell them to the shops.

 

[Tacit Blues]

Well, since it seems that recent photo I attached disappeared into the great bin of 0's and 1's in the sky, I wanted to repost it, but then, while I was at it, I figured I'd put in a few other recent photos.