Northwest_Scapes_

All the Specs and little details for the tank: •Tank: UNS 60 (20 Gallons)•Equipment: Dymax Slim Flo 500, Oase HeatUp 100, Nicrew Gen2+•Hardscape: Bantigue Root, River Stones, Poolfilter Sand, and a Coconut Hut•Plants: Crypt. Wendtii Green, Dwarf Aquarium Lily, Java Fern Windelov, and Anubias Barteri Diamond (for now)•Botanicals: Catappa Leaves, Jackfruit Leaves, Live Oak Leaf Litter, Swietenia Pods, Pyrifolium Pods, and Dregea Pods. (Stores where the items were bought from include Aquarium Co-Op and other well known stores) The 1st Picture is today (11/15/21) and at first there were No Tannins, but over the course of a couple days, the seed pods and leaves have all started to release Tannins. I really hope everyone enjoys what I have so far, and what I have planned for the future! Stay Tuned!

Hello there! A little background info: Blackwater Tanks are always something I've wanted to do, and this year I decided to pull the trigger. Unfortunately the 1st scape of this Tank didn't work out so well, but over the past 2 weeks I overhauled everything, kept the good stuff and got some new things, and let's just say it's 1000x better than before! Recent day: I call this tank "THE ROOTS" since the main piece of wood is a Bantigue Root, which is a dried root structure of a Bantigue Mangrove Tree. This piece took a long while before it was water logged, but now that it's not going to float, I was able to put it the way I wanted to from the very beginning. My stocking plans for this tank aren't 100% finalized, but what I do know is: •10x Pygmy or Marthe Hatchetfish. These 2 are the smallest of the available Hatchetfish species I've seen, and 2 I've yet to keep. I think they'll fit in nicely, I'm just waiting out on them since I feel like I need wayy more surface cover for them to feel comfortable. •10x of a small Tetra or Rasbora species. A couple species I have in mind are: Ruby Tetras, Blue Green Rasboras, Neon Green Rasboras, Cardinal Tetras, Rummynose Tetras, Morse Code Tetras, and some others I have in mind. I'm not 100% yet on which species since there's soooo many to choose from, I'll just see what color would fit the best. •5x Parotocinclus Species: These are definitely going to be the highlight of the tank. I won't say which Parotocinclus species yet, but they'll be one of the 1st fish to go in. The species I'm getting is super special as it hasn't really been available in the hobby for quite a few years, and this years summer seems to have been the 1st large export of these fish from their region, and word on the street is that it'll also be the last for a few years so I'm definitely going to get my hands on some before they sell out and it's too late. I'll talk more about them when i get them Next Week! (Hopefully) TANK SHOTS:

Holy Moly that is a sight! Thank you for the help! If the population does explode, I know some people I could give the extras to, so I think I'll do okay. Hoping they'll be successful outside also since this is my first time keeping them 🤞

Hello! So I ended up coming across a group of 24 Least Killifish (HETERANDRIA FORMOSA) for sale at a really good price, and was wondering if this sounds too much for a 12g Patio Tub? It has no filter, just heavily planted with different floaters and bog plants. If it does, I have my main 37g Tub which I was going and still plan to use for Ricefish but since those are coming in a little later in the Summer, would it be a better idea to throw the least killis in there for now?

That's awesome to hear! People told me that they always see there's only when they're feeding, and they never come out otherwise. I've kept the Marble Hatchets in the past, (until they got wiped out by my Ctenopoma 😬 when i was less experienced) but I feel like this setup would do well for them. But that's awesome to hear about the catfish! How long have you had yours so far for them to start coming out?

Good call! As far to my knowledge, all the fish are wild caught (except the catfish maybe, I'll have to check again) but the gourami's and glass fish are wild so I'm hoping they'll have a smooth transition, I'm in Washington so we do have pretty soft water, but yeah PH does reach the mid - high-ish 7's out of the tap, my plan was to use botanicals to bring it down but that might be a better strategy

Heyo! So I'm currently in the process of starting a 20G Blackwater Tank (It's a UNS 60U if this helps with dimensions and things like that) It's 23.6in L x 14.2in W x 14.2in H. Just like the title says, I'm aiming for the PH to be about 5.0-5.5 which is to suit the best needs for the stocking I've got so far on a list and I'm 100% intending on keeping. So I'm looking for a bottom dwelling/scavenger species and maybe a top dwelling if I could fit them in. all suggestions are welcome! Current list so far: -4 Tweediei Licorice Gouramis (parosphromenus tweediei) (going to be a pair after I figure out which ones pair off once they age a bit more) 7-8 Dwarf Glass Fish (GYMNOCHANDA PLOEGI) Ideas I have: -6-7 Marble Hatchet Fish -4 Dwarf Anchor cats or 6 Pygmy Cories of some species I'm undecided on yet Plants: Salvinia Natans, Java Fern Windelov, Water Lettuce (temporary), and a Crypt or 2 of some species.

Oof that sucks, that's probably why I haven't seen any captive bred ones for sale 😞 Probably going to see if the Co-op has some French Blue Star Endler Pairs since those are my #1 choice right now, unless I see a different variety I like, and yes, I will QT them. Thanks for the help!

Awesome, thank you! So I think that narrows my ideas to Vietnamese / Longfin White Clouds, and some sort of Endler Variety,

So here in Western Washington, the Temps during the day are about High 70's-Low 80's and the nights are about High 40's (Specifically 48) - low-mid 50's, and I'm setting up my old 40gal Patio Pond for Ricefish & Neo. Shrimp breeding again. But this year I'm also looking at some other option I could possibly co-hab with them to breed as well, does anyone have any suggestions based on the temps & tub size? More Info: Heavily Planted is the plan, with Azolla, Water Lettuce, Water Hyacinth, Indian Rhubarb in the middle / back. Possible Ideas: Rainbow Shiners, Longfin White Clouds, Vietnamese White Clouds, Endlers, CPDs maybe?, and Gambusia Holbrooki (I heard they can get quite feisty so they'll probably be by themselves).

True, I might have to re-think my stocking choices 😔 If I do go through with it, I'm betting on lots of cover and my ability to keep the eggs safe to be what makes this doable

It's been a while since I've talked haha, but to expand on the question, It's starting to warm up significantly here in western Washington so I'm beginning to setup my patio pond back up (40ish Gallons) and I believe while both the Medaka and Shiners are compatible together, would the shiners possibly go after the eggs? I know the Rainbow Shiners are prolific in eating their own eggs, but what about other fish eggs? I heard Cory say that the shiners didn't seem to go after things like guppy fry and things like that, but i don't hear of anyone mentioning them eating eggs, I do have a separate container for the eggs, so if I see some on a piece of Azolla or Water Lettuce I could just move them, but just in case if I miss some, what's the likely hood of this happening?

So yesterday I went with my parents to run some errands in the Seattle area and I was able to stop by the Co-op (btw you're most likely going to wait to get in so don't wear shorts when it's windy and raining 😅) but I ended up grabbing 5 of these Platnium Medaka Rice Fish! I don't know who bred them, but they did a dang great job. They're more blue with pink / orange mixed in, and I believe they're a "Miyuki" variety meaning they have a shiny back, im keeping them inside right now but plan to move them out when it gets warmer here. Here's a couple pics

Hi everyone! My name is Northwest Fish Keeping and I've been going to / shopping on the site of the Co-op for about almost 5 years now If I remember correctly, I've seen a ton of Cory's videos but never knew there was a forum! Anyways, a little about me: I live in Washington, and I have / kept a lot of interesting and rare Freshwater fish and my goal is to breed them to make them more widely available. I'm also into aquascaping so I have a couple tanks around for that, but out of my freshwater tanks, I would say it's a 2/7 in terms of display tanks - breeding tanks. I also have 2 patio ponds, I got inspired from Aquapros last year, tried out the 35g Home Depot Tub and fell in love so I had to go for 2 this year. Some fish I'm working with right now are: -Rainbow Shiners, Blue and Yellow Melanzona Guppies, Multifasciatus Shell Dwellers, I did have Red Cap and Blue Medaka (Japanese Rice Fish) that did really well for me last year but unfortunately didn't handle the move inside very well. This year I'm working with a breeder in Japan to import about 3 pairs of this variety of Medaka (I'm not sure what the name for this one is, I should ask) but my goal is to get them breeding and maybe even supply the Co-op with some of these. Anyways, I hope this helps everyone get to know me better, I'll be sure to help who I can and answer any questions, Thank You!