Get an aquarium, they said

[Daniel]

1 hour ago, darkG said:

Looks nice! What species is the strands coming in at the top?

It goes by many names, Egeria, Anacharis, and Elodea, just to name a few.

[darkG]

Right! I thought of a leafy liverwort, wrong scale lol.

[darkG]

On 1/17/2021 at 6:47 PM, Kearmstr said:

I love this idea! I’ll have to try this next. I’ve learned that I enjoy keeping most plants “modular” so I can rearrange as I like. This would be great to have it on hand, ready to go!

Yes, though at least in my case I feel I have to tend to it kind of daily, filling or changing water and pampering them. It's more "growing out" than "keeping", I guess. And also I got some mold in the 1-2-grow cup, so it's partly a sickbay as well.

It was serendipity that made me try it. I 3D-printed a shrimp cage that I didn't want and so broke apart into pieces that became the moss-things. So they automatically came in random shapes. Only regret is most are pure white, a duller colour would have been better. And being scraps, no thought went into practical mounting options.

[darkG]

I saw these Anubias "Snow white", a bit expensive but irresistible. Very healthy looking. Also very tiny.

 

[Colu]

Looks like it coming great

[darkG]

Yes, they are fine, but a bit weird. Hard to mount. 

I found Epipremnum potted real cheap. This houseplant will reportedly grow emersed so I bought one. I Tore it apart and made several plants, two of them now dip their toes in my tank 👍

[darkG]

Despite a pinch of leftovers and some fish food, ammonia didn't really rise so I went with actual ammonia and here we go a cycling. Got me some mini ramshorn with one of the plants, yay, saw something that I suppose is hydra, some small worms and a tiny worm and a couple of different swimmers. No need to buy any live stock (lol). Diatoms coming strong, but already green algae are pushing forward, so I guess it's by the book.

Weeping moss is doing great mid-depth, a bit meh at the bottom. It doesn't really weep (droop) though, supposedly have to get a bit longer. It doesn't attach. I knew this, but it's really dissatisfactory. I might go get some java moss. 

When nitrates stays down reliably, I might just -> 

[Kearmstr]

On 1/21/2021 at 2:59 PM, darkG said:

I saw these Anubias "Snow white", a bit expensive but irresistible. Very healthy looking. Also very tiny.

 

How are the Snow White Anubias doing for you? I’m sure it looks great against the dark wood. I’ve had my eye on them online but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. 
And I love my dwarf shrimp! The orange ones you showed are beautiful. I ended up setting up 2 small shrimp only tanks, one for Fire Red and one Blue Dreams. It’s been much easier to keep them happy in their own tanks. 

[darkG]

Well. Some seems to do fine, some are struggling a bit. They are not very fun to work with, I'd say! Like they are not babies but foetuses so to speak. Time will tell!

I really like the nana golden; not so exciting or special but just nice. 

[Levi_Aquatics]

Super cool to see this coming along! Thanks for sharing!

[darkG]

Thanks for hanging around! 

[darkG]

The rightmost blue spike  is ~5 ppm ammonia added directly. Red nitrite comes along at a slower pace, holds a bit then dives. Yellow nitrate is slower still, but is down (to ca 12,5 ppm) 1½ day after. No water changes, not particularly well planted, no deep bed so that's pretty cool I think! No fish or shrimp either (but a few worms and snails and other hitchhikers). 

 

 

[darkG]

I got some cherry shrimps at last!

I also noticed that some of the snail turds weren't, but chironomid tubes. Today, I think them shrimps already eat most of them, ha! I don't know if they also go for the ones who don't make tubes. I would suppose so.

Also had a couple of small catastrophes: while acclimating the shrimps the tube slipped and I got some tank water on the floor. Unhelpful. During water change today there was an unexpected gap where shrimps could enter behind the background, and because wacky filtration solution they got stuck. I think I somehow saw it in time to prevent fatalities-it's impossible to count them properly though 😮 (the backgrounds are not glued so shifting water levels may allow a small jerk so they shift a little. Need to watch that.)

In the transportation bag and in the acclimatizing (?) bucket they hid and were rather passive. As soon as they came to the tank they nevertheless started exploring and don't hide at all, looking for stuff in the sand and on the hard surfaces like yay! 

 

[Martin]

On 10/22/2020 at 3:45 PM, darkG said:

The kick in the butt was the upcoming holidays and no sensible gift ideas for my daughter of eleven. We've been talking in passing about fish and aquariums. So, I looked into it and decided to go for it. (And who can honestly wait for Christmas!)

Yeeeeeeaaaah.... that's how I got addicted started, You're screwed.  🤣  My daughter did a "Can I please have a fish for my birthday!?  I'LL TAKE CARE OF IT, I PROMISE!!"  You know how that goes.  Next thing you know, my daughter has forgotten all about the 5-gallon tank (which I have completely comandeered for a secondary tank) while pondering what my 10-gallon would look like if I swap out the plastic plants for an aponogeton with a side of susswassertang, all whilst my wife warily observes from 10 feet behind me.  Welcome to the dark side!

Edited February 25, 2021 by Martin

[darkG]

Scary thing, I hadn't even cycled before I caught myself considering another tank... 

Doughter is pretty disinterested, I must say, but I'm into it. Possibly the only reason she considered fishes was that she knew we are unlikely to get a furry pet. She didn't beg, nag and plead I mean. 

 

[darkG]

I lost 2 or probably 3 cherry shrimps to filter 😞 on the flip side I managed to save two. And fixed the issue (hopefully). While poking around in the filter media, checking for corpses or survivors, I saw that it was quite the midge-reactor in there, the tube-building kind. Nifty! 

Seed shrimps love corn.

I finally checked my pH. It was lower from the tap than expected and higher in the tank. Complications!

 

[Jungle Fan]

@darkGI saw that you had wedged the houseplant root into a crevice of your background, how is it coming along? A friend here uses gear ties, which are basically thick wire completely encased in a solid layer of silicone, and are available in multiple colors including some natural looking, to fashion the wire into a spiral type basket and then fashions the ends into hooks that hang over the back of the tank to use to hold either pothos, or varieties of lilies, like peace lily, or even  Lobelia cardinalis to decorate the top of his tank with plants that have their roots inside the tanks. Lobelia cardinalis when grown emersed looks quite different, not light green but dark and it has very nice red flowers. He usually still hides the contraptions behind driftwood, or long stem plants. I told him he should consider applying moss to the wire basket.

[darkG]

Hi Mr Fan, well I haven't really finished figuring out how to do with the houseplants! For now, the two Epipremnum that are not pothos are just put there, not fixed at all, only friction preventing them from falling into water. They were already rooted, separated from a bunch. The pothos shoot sits in a hole in the foam background and a pothos leaf lives in the right hand filter compartment. A (slightly yellowing) Streptocarpus shoot is put in another hole. 

I got a Lobelia by chance, if it thrives I may certainly use a shoot of it emersed. Thanks! 

I am also looking at spider plant. 

I'd like to try a Bacopa monnieri floating/crawling along the back, now instead I aquired a B. cardinalis so maybe I'll go with that. 

Generally, I think I substitute ideas for plans. Ideas come easy...

I will probably try 3d-printed plant supports/baskets/hooks. 

Edited February 27, 2021 by darkG

[darkG]

I actually only lost two shrimps, so that's good. They seem to do well! Some snow-flake food incoming too. 

Several tank decorating decisions are currently pending. 

[darkG]

Cherry n' tomato:

 

Prince and the Pea:

[darkG]

Snapshot:

[darkG]

Picked up som pinkish granite rocks at a construction site, and decided to also consider the Leca material seen here, it looks different and rather cool I think! 

I don't like the smooth pebbles I have now, they just don't fit. But I'd like some kind of pile, for looks and for young shrimps. The weeping moss seem to do well and look good tucked into a pile of rocks, so that works out. 

[darkG]

I haven't seen the flatworm I think may be Catenulida lately but instead a new one, possibly Macrostomum. Ostracods are plentiful. Otherwise animal life is kind of stable. It's hard not to overfeed though!

I tried mixing some vegetables in a gelatine gel, it seems promising. I have an idea... 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by darkG

[OceanTruth]

You picked up some really nice and interesting rocks. I need to do a search for some rocks myself.

[darkG]

At first I was only looking for quite smooth rocks and I didn't find very much of interest. Even in shops, the range offered is surprisingly limited. But keeping eyes open, I eventually saw more options. I move around a bit by foot and bicycle, so that helps. It still being winter I haven't been to a beach though.