String of Pearls - 40 Breeder

[drewzero1]

I finally got my hands on a used 40 breeder, so I'm branching out a bit and trying some new fish and plants. My last tank project was a 20 long that started out as a molly colony and ended up a tropical community after a friend gave me his fish. The molly population dwindled and I ended up with just one molly, some bronze corys, and some unidentified danios. They looked like zebra danios that had lost their stripes, or giant danios that hadn't grown in. Eventually I identified them as pearl danios, so that's my first pearl.

After setting up this new 40B and moving the fish from my 20L, I decided the tank could use a centerpiece fish (or possibly a few). I've always wanted to try SA cichlids so my first thoughts were Bolivian rams or acaras, but eventually I decided I needed a pearl gourami. So there's my second pearl.

She was added to the tank yesterday and is still getting used to the big scary human who feeds her. (Or him, it may be too soon to start seeing male coloration and finnage.) I managed to sneak up on the tank this evening and watch for a while before being seen, which confirmed that (s)he's only flashing/surfing/cowering when I'm around. I'd like to get some more of these gouramis once my plants grow in a bit more, and when this one can be reliably sexed.

Current stocking:
1 male molly, about 2 years old
1 female? Pearl gourami, about 2 inches
5 pearl danios
2 bronze corys, at least 2 years old
2 peppered corys (hopefully more soon to make a proper school)
2 male Endler's livebearers
1 Hercules snail
1 Amano shrimp

Plants:
Java moss
Guppy grass
Anubias
Dwarf Pond Lily? Water onion? (From the Petco bulb packs)
Aponogeton (ulvaceous?) (from a betta bulb pack)
 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by drewzero1
forgot anubias

[drewzero1]

Here's the 20 gallon when there were still some baby mollies hanging around (April '21): And in its final form (August '21):

I've decided I love peninsula tanks! It's a lot of fun being able to view an aquarium from three sides, and gives me the opportunity to see what the inhabitants do behind the scenery-- plus I can stick all of the equipment on one end and try to ignore it. After playing around with furniture placement I figured I could keep the peninsula layout at the expense of some floor space.

The tank is supported by an old wooden desk with some extra bracing. Here's the initial fill, after giving the blasting sand an (apparently) inadequate rinse. And after the dust settled a few days, cycle started with used media, and danios moved over (October 31st):

The occupants have really started to settle in now.

And the newest member of the crew, hiding because (s)he saw me coming:

 

So that's the story so far. I'd like to add more pearly things to keep up with the (accidental) theme, but all I can think of is pearlweed. If anybody has ideas, I'd love to hear!

[Odd Duck]

Red Pearl sword (Echinodorus hadi ‘Red Pearl’).

[drewzero1]

On 12/1/2021 at 11:18 PM, Odd Duck said:

Red Pearl sword (Echinodorus hadi ‘Red Pearl’).

Ooh, pretty! I'll keep an eye out for that one. Thanks for the suggestion!

[PineSong]

Celestial Pearl Danios? 

[drewzero1]

On 12/3/2021 at 11:56 AM, PineSong said:

Celestial Pearl Danios? 

They've been on my radar for a while now but white cloud mountain minnows have been occupying my slot for temperate nano schooling fish. I'll do some research and see if they'll fit in! It would be kind of fun to have pearl danios of both the celestial and non-celestial variety.

My son greeted me first thing this morning saying "sish foof" (fish food) so after getting dressed we went down and gave them an algae wafer. The cories and the molly are enjoying this new development in toddler linguistics.

I spent some time watching the tank last night and the gourami is starting to get less shy. After a few minutes she came out from her hiding place behind the filter tube and started swimming around with the other fish. I had read some accounts that the constant activity of danios can make pearl gouramis nervous, but she doesn't seem fazed by their quick movements or the fact that they're as big as she is.

I was glad to confirm that she's mostly just scared of me. I think with time we can work on that. Meanwhile the aponogeton are coming in quickly to provide more cover in the near future.(Photo taken with the tank light in "night mode" and color-corrected to look a bit more normal)

I'll be working from home a bit more next week, which means I'll get to spend more time observing and interacting with the tank inhabitants. I'm looking forward to it!

Edited December 3, 2021 by drewzero1

[drewzero1]

Not much new in the tank but the aponogeton bulbs are taking off! A few leaves around 10 inches (25cm) when I measured yesterday. I switched the two around earlier in the week, because one was getting more leaves and the other one was getting longer leaves.

I happened to catch the tank in the late morning when sunlight was streaming in through the basement window. I opened the curtain and admired the tank in (literally) a new light.

I'm currently looking into a feathery stem plant (to replace the plastic one on the left) and some kind of floater (in addition to the lilypads). Every so often I see a duckweed leaf or two floating around in one of my tanks, but no luck getting it to really start growing back.

[drewzero1]

Caught a sunbeam again today right before the light came on.

[drewzero1]

I planted some Hygrophilia difformis in mid-December and it's starting to, uh, difform!

Before:

After 1 month:

So exciting to see it growing and changing!

The aponogeton has been flowering as well. It sent up two loooong shoots but they both got broken off around new year's, but there's a new flower up and blooming. It's hiding behind the filter pipes so I can't get a good picture. For once though, the Amano shrimp has come out from hiding behind the filter pipes, so I *can* get a good picture!

A few more pictures:

[JettsPapa]

I'm also a big fan of pearl gouramis.  I have 14 in a 40 gallon breeder.

 

[drewzero1]

On 1/13/2022 at 1:04 PM, JettsPapa said:

I'm also a big fan of pearl gouramis.  I have 14 in a 40 gallon breeder.

 

I know! I read and thoroughly enjoyed your tank thread! For such a beautiful fish that's been in the hobby so long, I'm surprised they're as underappreciated as they seem to be. For my part, I ignored gouramis because I thought they would terrorize everything else in the tank. Then I took care of my dad's honey gouramis and fell in love with their distinctive look and behavior.

I was at the LFS today to help my dad pick out some plants and snails and noticed they have at least one male pearl gourami. I'm sorely tempted but at the same time hesitant to introduce more potential aggression. The female I have often chases the molly around the tank and I worry adding more gouramis will increase that behavior.

[JettsPapa]

On 1/13/2022 at 9:25 PM, drewzero1 said:

I know! I read and thoroughly enjoyed your tank thread! For such a beautiful fish that's been in the hobby so long, I'm surprised they're as underappreciated as they seem to be. For my part, I ignored gouramis because I thought they would terrorize everything else in the tank. Then I took care of my dad's honey gouramis and fell in love with their distinctive look and behavior.

I was at the LFS today to help my dad pick out some plants and snails and noticed they have at least one male pearl gourami. I'm sorely tempted but at the same time hesitant to introduce more potential aggression. The female I have often chases the molly around the tank and I worry adding more gouramis will increase that behavior.

I'm also a little surprised they aren't more popular, but that may be a good thing.  I'd hate to see them get to the same place as dwarf gouramis have reached.

I suspect adding more pearls will decrease interaction with other species instead of increase it.  I have serpae tetras, pristella tetras, and Corydoras trillineatus with mine, and the gouramis ignore all of them.

[drewzero1]

On 1/14/2022 at 7:24 AM, JettsPapa said:

I'm also a little surprised they aren't more popular, but that may be a good thing.  I'd hate to see them get to the same place as dwarf gouramis have reached.

I suspect adding more pearls will decrease interaction with other species instead of increase it.  I have serpae tetras, pristella tetras, and Corydoras trillineatus with mine, and the gouramis ignore all of them.

That's my thought process as well, though I was worried it might just be wishful thinking. I've also read that gouramis in general can just tend to pick on livebearers.

I was thinking about adding more mollies but I'm waiting to see if my endler's livebearers ever breed. I've had them since September and no signs of fry, and I'm starting to wonder if they're sterile or if I'm just doing something really wrong! Everything I've read about them says I should have dozens by now. Last month I moved the honey gouramis out of their tank so now it's just an endler trio. I figure I'll give them a month on their own before I give up and put them in the 40.

[drewzero1]

Sad news in the tank this week. My Hercules snail (Brotia herculea) appears to have passed on. I found him stuck between the heater and glass a few days ago and he hasn't moved since I got him out. I had been looking for a mate to try breeding them, but haven't been able to find another one. Poor Herc will be missed.

I'd still like to breed (slowly) livebearing snails but might have to settle for Rabbit/Tylomelania snails which I can sometimes find semi-locally. (Or maybe I'll pivot and consider loaches and other non-snail-safe fish now that I only have bladder snails in this tank.) Suggestions welcome for your favorite snails, or favorite fish that eat snails!

Edited January 18, 2022 by drewzero1
Added picture

[Flynn Naysmith]

I love the use of tea and coffee cups in your aquarium they are great caves and would highly recommend them to any one that has bottom dwellers or really any fish.

[drewzero1]

On 1/18/2022 at 2:02 PM, Flynn Naysmith said:

I love the use of tea and coffee cups in your aquarium they are great caves and would highly recommend them to any one that has bottom dwellers or really any fish.

Thanks! When I got back into fishkeeping I had no budget for decorations, but had a few broken mugs and teacups. For a while I had it set up like somebody dropped their picnic basket out of a rowboat... a few teacups, a broken plate arranged on the substrate, even a toothbrush holder with bubbles coming out of the top. I got rid of any sharp pieces when I got bottom feeders and now it's just a way to sneak some blue willow into an otherwise natural scene.

I've often spotted a cory or two hanging out in a cup. The current seems to bring a bit of food into there for them. My rosy red minnows also seemed to like coffee mugs for caves.

[Odd Duck]

@drewzero1 Look into chopstick snails (Stenomelania torulosa, St. plicaria, and St. acutospira are some I’ve seen available online).  They are related to MTS, but are slow livebearers.  I’ve got half a dozen (I got them as assorted so I don’t know the species) in my 100 G and only very occasionally see them.  I know there are babies in there somewhere, too, since I’ve seen just a few.  I’ve also got a few Prambanians (Thiara winteri) in there.  They’re another very slowly reproducing livebearer.  I don’t see them often, either, but new, small ones pop up once in a while.

Japanese trapdoor snails (Sinotaia quadrata) have been slowly reproducing for me also.  I see them more often and I’m seeing a few more babies from them, but nowhere near overwhelming, maybe 8 or so since I added them to the tank around 6 months ago.  I’ve read the the Japanese trapdoors can reproduce much faster than that, but I think they’re spread out enough in this tank that maybe they don’t find each other that often.

Edited January 18, 2022 by Odd Duck
Add more binomials

[drewzero1]

@Odd DuckThanks! That gives me a few ideas to start looking into. MTS and Japanese trapdoor snails are banned in my state, so I'll have to check whether chopstick snails are also included in the ban. (Trapdoors were my first choice but after a few months of not finding them anywhere somebody finally told me 😁)

I really like the spikes on the Prambanians! You've given me a lot to think about.

[drewzero1]

Did a water change last night and pulled the aponogeton flower into view. It's (they're?) very pretty when it's not hiding behind the filter.

I kind of like the half-full look. Maybe I'll try setting up a paludarium someday. It definitely gives a better view of the water lilies! I can hardly see them during normal visiting hours, but the fish seem to appreciate their hiding place potential.

And speaking of hiding places, here's a teacup picture for @Flynn Naysmith :

[drewzero1]

Bad, bad weekend in the tanks. Lost one of my female Endlers in the office tank yesterday (I'd been watching patiently for fry since September but it turns out she was just bloated). Today I lost my pearl gourami and my last molly from summer 2020. The gourami had been in quarantine with Maracyn two for a mouth rot issue, and I was preparing to put her down if necessary, but the molly was a surprise. I put my hand in the water to take him out and it was freezing! The heater had failed since the last feeding and the water was down to 63F.

I'm seriously rethinking my fishkeeping strategy at the moment. I've done a 90% WC on the hospital tank and moving my WCMM into it so I can tear down the 10g they've been in; going down to 2 tanks should help me focus. I'm not sure what's next for the Pearls tank without its two centerpiece fish.

[Minanora]

Keep up the good fight. Things can get rough sometimes. I have had heaters fail before, it can catch you off guard for sure. I'm going to add backup heaters to all of my 10G+ tanks when the co-op heaters go live.

[drewzero1]

Thanks  @Minanora , I appreciate the encouragement.

I had just picked up two smaller heaters to use as spares so I put them both in... hopefully that helps keep it stable. I've been wondering if the temperature difference was too much for the heater in the winter (50°F-60°F vs 80°F) and this seems to point to yes. I'm debating whether to try to insulate my aquarium for next winter, or switch to more cold tolerant stocking.

[Minanora]

Man your house gets cold in the winter. Our outdoor night time temps rarely go below 18. I set up my 75G in the main living space where we have a fireplace. That way it rarely gets below 64 in the room. Looks like you're tanks are in a downstairs space near a window. Kinda looks like there's an H.O. scale train as well. Maybe insulate that window? I really want to see your train layout. I'm getting distracted though. 🤣

[drewzero1]

On 3/13/2022 at 12:56 PM, Minanora said:

...Looks like your tanks are in a downstairs space near a window. Kinda looks like there's an H.O. scale train as well. Maybe insulate that window? I really want to see your train layout. I'm getting distracted though. 🤣

Well spotted! I'll have to clear it off so I can get a good pic of the layout... there really isn't much to see. It's just a 6'x16" modified Inglenook shelf layout, with a 5' dual track runout. (Wrong forum? 😜) I haven't done any permanent scenery yet so it's ended up becoming a flat place to set household projects, but I keep right-of-way clear so the little guy and I can run trains.

It's a finished room in our basement. I chose it for my office when we moved in a few summers ago, not realizing what our basement would be like in the winter. Future plans may include insulating (especially the window) and heating (there's one vent in the whole basement but some previous owner put a wall in front of it). There's only so much you can do with a hundred-year-old house, but I'm hoping to at least keep it in the low 60s.

[Minanora]

Man model trains aren't a dying hobby yet! My grandfather made some of the best plastic models and model kits you can get for the price. I left the family business a long while ago, but I spent many, many hours in front of the plastic injection molding machine. And even more hours under my grandpa's layout. My dad still continues the hobby and business.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Minanora
Added details