Minanoras adventures in fishkeeping

[Minanora]

The 75 today after the water change and a little trim.

 

The cats in the Plaza waiting for dinner. Even the otos wait for dinner now. 😂

[Schuyler]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:17 PM, Minanora said:

 

Like gathering for a family photo

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/1/2022 at 9:17 PM, Minanora said:

The cats in the Plaza waiting for dinner. Even the otos wait for dinner now.

Storming (seems like it) here, I'll have to make some midnight repashy and feed some worms or something.  Some spirulina brine tomorrow for breakfast and hopefully some full sides of the tank with eggs for us both!

I can only imagine how they'd be if you had the rest of the herd. 🙂

It makes me want to setup the big tank so badly, because I know how much they crave that nice open space or just having a massive area to use.

I see that DHG there, what are your other plans for the panda plaza up front by the glass?

[Minanora]

On 12/1/2022 at 10:57 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Storming (seems like it) here, I'll have to make some midnight repashy and feed some worms or something.  Some spirulina brine tomorrow for breakfast and hopefully some full sides of the tank with eggs for us both!

I can only imagine how they'd be if you had the rest of the herd. 🙂

It makes me want to setup the big tank so badly, because I know how much they crave that nice open space or just having a massive area to use.

I see that DHG there, what are your other plans for the panda plaza up front by the glass?

Other plans, or planTs? What's there now.... a clump of dwarf sag rosettes, S repens... crypt parva and lucens, towards the inner hairgrass is crypt petchii.

I'm not sure what else I'm going to add yet. Going to get the CO2 running and see what perks up, and what fails to thrive. Eventually I'll be adding another light, but for now I think the plan is to add another small piece of driftwood to the right, one that runs long ways with the front, and is about the same size as the piece in the shrimp sanctuary. Buried so it's like a root exposed in the sand. We'll see. I'm also waiting to see how much that tiger lotus explodes. It's habits will dictate the carpeting plant I use for the foreground. Same with the dwarf lily. I'm thinking I'll try gloss again.... maybe. I want a nice small round texture I think. We'll see!

[nabokovfan87]

First course is served.

Amano shrimp are running from the high spots down to the low. The swords are in there trying to understand what this delicious shrimpy green stuff is that the corydoras are going crazy over. Absolutely no care in the world and thankfully the sick fish is getting some much needed food for her recovery.

Grace the shark is very confused at the midnight party, doing laps, as if we can't see her. 😂 Yeah... Biggest fish ever, totally can't see ya! (Literally she's eyeballing me like a sniper in a guille suit right now from behind some mopani)

 

Edit: LOL the male just got busted by Grace for hoarding his own cube. She had a bite.

He's mad she took such a big one.

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Minanora]

I made a snail trap.... I've caught more shrimp than anything.

Oh, and a guppy. 🤦‍♀️

[The endler guy]

On 11/3/2021 at 12:06 AM, Minanora said:

 

 

 

CHUG! CHUG! CHUG!

[Minanora]

There's now 11 threestripe Cory eggs in the cup. 😁🎉

Though they are hard to see in the photos. Most have little black spots in them. 💚

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:45 PM, Minanora said:

Though they are hard to see in the photos. Most have little black spots in them. 💚

Sweet! Congratulations on the eggs. Are you keeping the eggs in a cup besides the tank or what is your method? I'm curious with all the stuff I went through with the tumbler on everyone's methods now.

Edit, looks like it's clipped to the tank staying warm in the tank water?

Edited December 3, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Minanora]

@nabokovfan87 Thank you. The eggs are in a plastic cup that I have clipped on the inside of the 75 so they're at the same temperature, but not at risk of being eaten. I swirl them around a bit and change a bit of their water every day. I tried running an airstone but it was a pain to deal with so I took it out.

 

I'M SO UPSET RIGHT NOW! T^T I picked up a snail outside so my son didn't smoosh him.... I DROPPED HIM! T.T NOOOOO!

I'm so upset.... it's an endangered species.... our local Morro Shoulderband Snail, Helminthoglypta Walkeriana. Guys.... I feel awful. He slipped right out of my fingers because I was carrying the laundry basket. U.U Rest in piece little guy. I'm going to go feed the leaf pile outside some cabbage as an offering to any others that may be out there. I've only seen two of these guys in the last year.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/2/2022 at 10:26 PM, Minanora said:

I made a snail trap.... I've caught more shrimp than anything.

Oh, and a guppy. 🤦‍♀️

Guppies are one of those very dumb fish who practically throw themselves into the net. 🤷‍♂️

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/2/2022 at 10:30 PM, Minanora said:

@nabokovfan87 Thank you. The eggs are in a plastic cup that I have clipped on the inside of the 75 so they're at the same temperature, but not at risk of being eaten. I swirl them around a bit and change a bit of their water every day. I tried running an airstone but it was a pain to deal with so I took it out.

 

I'M SO UPSET RIGHT NOW! T^T I picked up a snail outside so my son didn't smoosh him.... I DROPPED HIM! T.T NOOOOO!

I'm so upset.... it's an endangered species.... our local Morro Shoulderband Snail, Helminthoglypta Walkeriana. Guys.... I feel awful. He slipped right out of my fingers because I was carrying the laundry basket. U.U Rest in piece little guy. I'm going to go feed the leaf pile outside some cabbage as an offering to any others that may be out there. I've only seen two of these guys in the last year.

Very cool.  I don't know if they even sell them, but the ziss tumbler came with this all plastic "mini" airstone.  Might be what you need if you can find em. 

Very sorry about your little friend.  The good news is you know it's there. So now you have a project to find another!  Good on ya for feeding them out there.  It happens, but yeah, I feel your pain!

[Minanora]

On 12/3/2022 at 12:39 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Very cool.  I don't know if they even sell them, but the ziss tumbler came with this all plastic "mini" airstone.  Might be what you need if you can find em. 

Very sorry about your little friend.  The good news is you know it's there. So now you have a project to find another!  Good on ya for feeding them out there.  It happens, but yeah, I feel your pain!

Hmm, I tried to find that air stone. Not readily available in the u.s.

So, an hour later, now I have an air pump I don't "need" in my Amazon cart and Christmas gifts. 🤣

I'm going to keep my eyes peeled for more snails. I still feel awful. I don't even bait for slugs so I can protect the snails. Even my beer traps are only big enough for earwigs to get into.

[Minanora]

I saw 4 yellow shrimp all at once in the Plaza! Wooo!

Here's two, and then photos of the bulbs that are really starting to perk up. Oh, and two happy otos.

I'm going to put the power head in the plaza today. I'm seeing a few dead spaces in the back right, even with the full length spray bar. Kinda wish I had just bought a 307 or 407 for this tank. Oh well.

Edited December 3, 2022 by Minanora
Typo

[Minanora]

I pulled more Cory eggs from the 75. I'm up to 16 in the cup. 💚

 

So, I was so upset about that snail that I had to go outside tonight to find more of them. I'm soaked to the bone but it was worth it. My son loved looking for them with me. It was a great learning experience for him. I found 4! A baby, one big adult and two in-between.

Crazy lady out in the rain looking for snails with a flashlight. 😂

My boy had me bring the baby snail to show Dad.

Snails!

Behold!!! Helminthoglypta Walkeriana!!

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/4/2022 at 7:21 AM, Minanora said:

I pulled more Cory eggs from the 75. I'm up to 16 in the cup. 💚

 

So, I was so upset about that snail that I had to go outside tonight to find more of them. I'm soaked to the bone but it was worth it. My son loved looking for them with me. It was a great learning experience for him. I found 4! A baby, one big adult and two in-between.

Crazy lady out in the rain looking for snails with a flashlight. 😂

My boy had me bring the baby snail to show Dad.

Snails!

Behold!!! Helminthoglypta Walkeriana!!

 

They actually look quite fun. 😍 Love the shell on them!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Look who I found the one day.

 

[Minanora]

I apologize to everyone who is "following" this thread. I've done a ton of updates recently. I know I've been updating my journal a lot the last few weeks. This time of year is kinda rough for me so I do distract myself with the things that bring me joy. Well, I try to anyway.

 

Regardless, the point of this post is....

I pulled a bunch more Cory eggs! I have 26 total now. I've been watching them all weekend, making babies, putting eggs all over the place. I've noticed that one of the female three stripes prefers to lay her eggs on the chirstmas moss, another prefers the crypts, anubius, and java ferns. Then there's another that lays on the hairgrass and stargrass. There's another that doesn't really care and just lays wherever she feels like, including on the substrate.

The otos in the plaza are breeding! I managed to get one female and three males. They were too small for me to tell when I got them. But now they're big enough. The female went gravid on the last water change and now the biggest of the males is chasing the female and they are playing all over the place.

That tanks parameters have dialed in over the last few weeks. PH 7.6, GH 17 degrees, KH 8 degrees, and nitrate is at 5ppm even with dosing easy green every other day. I stuck root tabs under the sword and crypts two weeks ago. I'm seeing that lovely algae where the light hits the sides of the glass and on the top of the drift wood. All a great sign imo.

I'll have 30 more shrimp coming this week, so they should clean a lot of that up. I'm also going to get 4 more otos for the plaza to try to balance out the pack. At that point the tank will be fully stocked. I'll be splitting the yellow colony into two once the fish room is done. Photos of that project very soon!

 

I spent a bit of time reading over the first page of my journal. In just a year, so much has changed with how I keep my aquariums. All thanks to our community and the co-op "brand". Over 20 years of keeping aquariums and I'd never had live plants until last year. I'd never bred anything but guppies on purpose. I've enjoyed the last year of keeping fish more than I ever have in my life. It's been a whole new experience for me. Much more involved yet somehow less. Just all around joy. ^_^

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/5/2022 at 6:01 AM, Minanora said:

 

I apologize to everyone who is "following" this thread. I've done a ton of updates recently. I know I've been updating my journal a lot the last few weeks. This time of year is kinda rough for me so I do distract myself with the things that bring me joy. Well, I try to anyway.

 

It’s actually quite nice to nerm out while reading your posts. Great to hear that your fish are breeding!

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/4/2022 at 9:01 PM, Minanora said:

The otos in the plaza are breeding! I managed to get one female and three males. They were too small for me to tell when I got them. But now they're big enough. The female went gravid on the last water change and now the biggest of the males is chasing the female and they are playing all over the place.

That's awesome!  Consider me very jealous 🙂 .  Otos is one of those fish I always want to breed.

@Minanora question... about the eggs I found today.  (photos in my journal)  would you pull them and put them in like a specimen container or just leave them considering I'm already holding fry right now?

[Minanora]

On 12/4/2022 at 10:08 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That's awesome!  Consider me very jealous 🙂 .  Otos is one of those fish I always want to breed.

@Minanora question... about the eggs I found today.  (photos in my journal)  would you pull them and put them in like a specimen container or just leave them considering I'm already holding fry right now?

I think that's totally up to you. I am a crazy fish lady and would put them in a container to try to hatch them. 🤣

It's awesome that you have fry! They are adorable.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/5/2022 at 12:01 AM, Minanora said:

In just a year, so much has changed with how I keep my aquariums. All thanks to our community and the co-op "brand". Over 20 years of keeping aquariums and I'd never had live plants until last year.

On 12/5/2022 at 12:01 AM, Minanora said:

I've enjoyed the last year of keeping fish more than I ever have in my life.

Same here!  When I started in the hobby there was no internet; there was just word of mouth or trial & error. I love the ease of research we can perform now to find out the specific needs of plants and creatures before we make our purchases. As well as troubleshooting things such as illnesses.

[Minanora]

One Cory egg has hatched so far. Sadly it passed away before I got home from work. Well, I think it's dead... It wasn't moving at all, even when I did the water change on the cup this evening. I didn't pull it out though thinking it may be alive? I can't see all that well sometimes but the color looked like living tissue still.

Hopefully more hatch in the next few days and we get some babies to raise up.

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/5/2022 at 9:27 PM, Minanora said:

I didn't pull it out though thinking it may be alive? I can't see all that well sometimes but the color looked like living tissue still.

Hopefully more hatch in the next few days and we get some babies to raise up.

Good choice.  I would drop a little bit of food and see what you see. Obviously a very very small amount.  You never know.

Some corydoras have no / very small yolks.

[Minanora]

I now have that, "all my shrimp died" story. My stomach is roiling.... The new shrimp came in yesterday. All but one died.

I'm heartbroken. FedEx...... 😔