flyingcow

Everyone is settling in nicely!

12 is a better number than 6. Everybody is settling in nicely. I'll try to get some pictures today.

Uh ohhhhhhhh

Don't you dare stop me from getting more fishies! 🤣

Yeah, they are back to hiding after the afternoon of novelty wore off, but if I stay still, they come out to play with the Ember Tetras. The big thing is they are no longer slamming against the glass when I walk by. Now they just duck back behind a plant. Success! I think I need more Pygmys now...

ohhhh yeah. the tank was only $25, and lets face it, the Fluval 107 I had on a 10 gallon was comical, so it's a better fit on this tank. ...but the Plant 3.0... whoops...

Well I decided that the 10 gallon in the corner just wasn't doing it for me... damn you Petco 50% off sale making a 20 long only $25. Moving a planted tank into a new tank is hard you guys! I'm freakin spent! The hope is eventually increasing the Pygmy school size. Although... I had 8 and lost 2. I swear I counted 7 when I got them out of the tank today... I might be wrong.

Cool! Having a male and a female should reduce some risk.

I have a very happy and healthy Bolivian Ram. I had two males, and lost the submissive one very quickly, but Big Buddy is doing great. Having an unsexed pair is a risk with all dwarf Cichlids. Sometimes it's fine, sometimes you get a jerkface like I did.

I'm really not happy with how things are going in this tank. The pygmys just hide and if they are out and I come within site, they panic and run in to things. I found a dead pygmy lodged in the pre-filter sponge. I'm pretty sure it swam into it rather than died and floated in. I think the next step is swap the tank to a 20 long to give them more space. The filter can tale it, and the tank is on sale right now. Any other thoughts on what I can do to make them happier? They seem otherwise healthy, and the ember tetras are happy as larks.

I hate when I go down in the morning and count 5 Pandas... the 6th always turns up in a day or two. I've given up on counting my Pygmys. I don't remember the last time I saw all 7. Probably a month ago.

Operation Fishie Relocation complete! Cleaned quite a lot of mulm out of the tank and checked the (still mostly clean) filter. I did squeeze out the pre-filters for the first time, though. Hopefully the Pygmys will freak out less when I walk into the room now. Need to figure out a better solution than the massive extension cord...

So I did another thing to get the Corys to chill out a bit. I decided it is no longer going to be a species tank and they got some friends! As the Embers were settling in, the Pygmys held an emergency session of the Corydoras Congress and elected a chairfish of the welcoming committee. This brave intrepid minichonk went right over to meet the neighbors and reported back to the other corys that they came in peace. Very shortly thereafter, all 7 corys were out playing with their new friends! I think the main problem with these little guys may be the tank location. It's very near my office door, and I have to walk VERY close to the tank every time I come in the office. Fortunately, the tank is on a wheelie cart, so either this evening or tomorrow, I'm gonna do a good water change and move the whole thing about 3 feet facing a different wall. Incredible, portable fish heads! I'm hoping this helps as well. I'm gonna try to clip out most of the last of the cyano, and half of me wants to leave the hair algae on the driftwood since it looks so cool right now!

It's a bit tough to sex them as juveniles. So I wound up with 2 males. 1 dominated the other and the little one died before I had a rescue tank set up for him. at 4 or 5, I'd be less concerned about ratio, but if possible, 3f2m would be good.

Yeah, Bolivians like mid to high 70's, but in my experience, be careful with only 2 that aren't a breeding pair. Although, my negative experiences were in a 30" tank, not at 48" tank. If I do multiples again, it'll be 4 or 5 in a 48" tank.

they have never been on my radar, but I did just see some Boesemani at my LFS and holy cow!

yeah, that's my concern. It makes travel very difficult. I don't travel too much, but it does happen, and I doubt my wife will be willing to take on a water change if I'm gone!

I currently have 7 Pygmys and 8 Ember Tetras in a 10 gallon (who'da thunk that many fish in a 10 would work?). I swear I see, at most, 2 fish at any given time! They are so tiny and hide so well! How often are your water changes? That's my biggest concern with discus.

I'm pretty sure they can't use sulfites in potable water. I used it for BFW, but we weren't allowed to put it in ingredient water for food process. I might be wrong. I'm gonna second this one. Have you tested your tap water? I'd check chlorine and total ammonia (if they use chloramines, both should show up).

So I'm contemplating adding a 4' tank to the party next year. It'll be a slow build since I need to dial in my water system in the basement to be able to handle water changes in a) a third tank and b) a big 3rd tank. So this winter will see the addition of a basin sink in the basement, and some expansion to my RO system and water storage. But then... what do y'all think? I have 2 places in the living room that could hold a 4' tank. Both are on outside walls and one spans across the joists, so I could probably go as big as a 90 in that spot. The other spot, I might stick to 75 or smaller. A few things I've had on my mind: 1) a 75 gallon Angelfish/Bolivian Ram/Rummynose tank... maybe Tapajos instead of rams? but I feel like they would be better off in a 6' tank. 2) a 90 gallon Discus/GBR/Pleco/Hatchetfish moderately planted tank (but I'm not 100% sure I'm ready for that one yet. This just feels hard.) 3) a 60 breeder of... something? Huge freakin school of something little? I'd do 100 pygmy corys, but then I'd have to explain to visitors that no, it's not just a tank with plants, there really are fish in there. It's a really cool size! What do y'all think? I'd probably keep this tank low tech. Planting levels would depend on stocking decisions.

I hear that! It took me four months to get a stem plant to grow rather than die. I am now FINALLY growing water sprite and a little bit of Ludwiga Repens.

The Spiralis is probably only a month and a half or so.

Ok, here we go! Wendtii that just keeps getting bigger behind a Tiger Lotus that has no right to be growing that fast. Pink Flamingo is coming along nicely That's a Lucens back there hiding... Tropica with Big Buddy and the Snorfle Squad photobombing. Lutea with a Black Phantom Buddy. Spiralis behind the "Dwarf" Sag and you guys get to see how bad my diatom bomb is right now!

What's your GH and KH?

Dang I left out a lot on this tank... So I have been dealing with some Cyano in both my 36 gallon and my 10 gallon. In my 36, the culprit was clear. Phosphates shot to 2ppm. That'll do it! So after a good cleaning and water change, I switched my floating food from NLS flake to NLS floating pellet (the Black Phantoms are not pleased with this decision), and added a Purigen pouch to the filter. I also added Fritz Slime Away. The directions say after 48 hours, do a 25% water change. well... after 48 hours, it looked the same. But after the water change, the dang cyano was GONE within 12 hours. It has not shown its face since. The phosphates are now hanging around .75ppm-ish, and the tank is just back to some diatoms and a bit of green algae on the back wall that makes the snails happy. In this mess, I also increased the intensity of the light a bit (without increasing duration), and I'm finally starting to see some real plant growth! Who'da thunk plants need light? Here's a few (bad) photos. I need to accept that I should be shooting at 12,800 ISO and not at F/4. Taking donations for a Fujifilm 80mm Macro lens. This Tropica has grown by about 60%. A 2 leaf chunk of it fell off and went into the Pygmy Party tank and is now 4 leaves as well! My "Dwarf" Sag has sprouted a runner! My Crypt Spiralis is taking on the role of the Chrysler Building. YOU GUYS!!!! I HAVE STEM PLANTS THAT AREN'T DEAD!!! A really crappy picture of NEW GROWTH ON AN L. REPENS!!!! STEM NOT DEAD!!!! Sword has nearly doubled in size in the past couple of weeks Big Buddy, Protector of Pandas, says hi. Another garbage picture of a Crypt Lutea starting to become happy in its new home.