36 Bow Front Community

[meadeam]

I recently took down three tanks, and consolidated on just one.  I'm sure I will branch out into multiple tanks again, but I want to do so thoughtfully instead of in a reactionary fashion.   This tank is home to neon tetras, harlequin rasboras, corydoras, mystery snails, red cherry shrimp, and black mollies.  The latter I have complained about in a different thread, but I think they'll be ok.

Part of the shrimp colony (at least 100, maybe twice that) grew in the presence of black mollies, so I think they would be ok.  But I still think I am going to trap the shrimp and move them.  I plan to get a single fish to predate the molly fry to keep from getting out of control, and I don't want that fish feeding on shrimp.

I still have plants to add.  I want as much density as possible down low, while keeping swimming space for the tetras and rasbora in the upper half of the tank.  The CO2 is not currently on; I had that running on a different tank.  I didn't manage the explosive growth very well, and a few plants took over the tank.  I think I will eventually turn it back on, but not until I am sure.  When I run the C02, I alternate with an airstone/sponge filter via wifi outlets.  It worked well in the past (too well, perhaps).  My goal would be to get dense growth, which I know also requires high light.  I'll see how things go.

I am happy to say I didn't lose a single fish or invertebrate during the tear down, transfer, and rebuild.  The cycle stayed up for the most part.  I've been seeing some Nitrites in the .25ppm range which I've been treating with Prime and/or water changes.    I raised my pH from 6.4 to 7 with crush coral, adding some buffer in the process.  I have 0 buffer out of the tap.  Hopefully the mollies like that better, I had lost quite a few of them and would have run out if they didn't reproduce.  

If you look closely in the photo, it appears as though the temp is 79.8.  I don't typically run it that warm. I keep my AC at 78 but I had the windows open. 

[Robstar]

That looks great! Everything looks well thought out.

[Solstice_Lacer]

Looking very nice

[meadeam]

Last night while the lights were out I saw most the mollies hovering at the surface.  They normally stay in the plant canopy, or at the bottom.  This morning they were back down in the plants but they and the cories were all breathing quickly.  I normally run an air stone and small sponge filter along with the main filter, but I hadn't put back it in this tank yet.  I dropped it in this morning.  Hopefully that helps.  Water is all good; 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 5-10 Nitrate, pH 7.0, 78.5F.  I'd been using more Prime than usual as the cycle got a little out of whack during the moves, but it has been stable for 24hrs now since the last water change.

Edited September 20, 2022 by meadeam

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

@ 7:00 Cory is talking about how dechlorinators remove oxygen from the water.  I think you'll be fine now that you've added the airstones back.

 

[meadeam]

On 9/20/2022 at 9:27 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

@ 7:00 Cory is talking about how dechlorinators remove oxygen from the water.  I think you'll be fine now that you've added the airstones back.

 

Thanks!  Yeah, respiration seems to be normal again.  I just ordered another sponge filter and USB air pump to get going for a quarantine tank as well.

[meadeam]

 

I wish I had a maco lense that could focus beyond a few inches.

 

I think I am going to build some more hides and keep the shrimp in this tank in spite of the mollies who may try to eat them.  They add a cool dimension to the tank.  The ones I have more than quadrupled their numbers while dodging cories and a few mollies.   The adults free swim and don't get bothered, so it is just the eggs and shrimplets who need to hide.

 

Please don't knock the moss off of the driftwood... it was a pain to attach.

[meadeam]

Well that didn't take long...

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/20/2022 at 12:19 PM, meadeam said:

Well that didn't take long...

Looks like your snail has a fan club.  🙂

[meadeam]

On 9/20/2022 at 12:24 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Looks like your snail has a fan club.  🙂

Those shrimplets are pretty tiny.  I don't recall transferring any that small, but perhaps I wouldn't have been able to see them.  They'd be a week old if they hatched in this tank.  The mollies were definitely born in the tank post-move.  There's at least one more.   All of the current batch of adults are from the same gold dust female and black male.  Those were the only two I had at the time.  All of their offspring have been black, but one of this newest litter is very light colored so far.  I'm not going to get a fry controller after all, but I am going to add a few more females.  I'll rely on them to keep their own numbers under control as I know for sure I'll eventually start another tank.  My biggest concern with the mollies now is that I don't want them to out compete the cories for food.   The mollies eat from all levels.

I have to get a lid on this.  It is so hard to find a glass or acrylic bowfront lid, so I will have to make one.  I hate solid lids, and I don't want to spoil the rimless effect.  Especially with the addition of the airstone, I'm going have a lot of water loss and mineral build up from the bubbles and evaporation.

[meadeam]

My oldest fish, going on 4 years this winter.

[meadeam]

I count 10 molly fry.  Several of them will be gold dust.  It's weird how that trait skipped a generation.  Their parents are all black, but the prior generation the female was a gold dust.

Edited September 21, 2022 by meadeam

[meadeam]

Do I need more Mystery Snails?    I caught this one looking for a place to lay eggs.  Sure enough the next day there was a clutch.  No lid on this tank yet, so I don't know if they'll hatch.  I've been keeping them damp with a syringe a couple times a day while I try to decide how many snails I want.  I am curious to see if there will be any other colors in this batch.  I've had brown, white, and golden.  All of the offspring have been golden, and both parents of this clutch would have to be as well.

[meadeam]

I can't remember what this plant is, but I decided to grow it floating.  I like how the current pushed it around the driftwood branches.  It has a very jungle vibe, which is what I want.  I really like how it is sending roots downward in to the water.   The photo doesn't really show the roots that well, but it definitely has a rainforest feel.   I just noticed a floating stem plant in this photo.  Thanks, snails.

I'm turning on the CO2 today.  I don't need it as the plants are all doing great.  I just can't resist pushing values and seeing what happens.  I've got the CO2 and airstone on programmable wifi outlets with an alternating schedule.  It would be nice if I could turbo-charge the plants enough to consume more nitrates.  After a couple weeks of testing, it seems I'm on a 5-day, 50% water change schedule in this tank now. 

I'm curious to see if the aragonite I added to the filter will indeed buffer pH as the CO2 levels go up.  Without CO2 it stabilized at 7.5.

There are a dozen molly fry in addition to the 10 adults, so some of them will definitely be moving out.  I'm also contemplating removing shrimp again, then adding a centerpiece fish that will keep the mollies in check.  I may also reduce the snails from 8 to 1 or 2.

[meadeam]

So I have decided the mollies have got to move out.  I have to basically overfeed the tank in order for the cories to get anything to eat because the mollies are such gluttons.  I don't want the little piggies to start getting sick from overfeeding, and I need to control the population.  I have some supplies on order and will be setting up a divided 29 gallon with M and F sides.  The tiny fry will go in a spare 10 until they are grown.  I'll setup a molly tank at some point, and in the meantime I may have to rehome some of them.  I have 20-25 right now counting the fry.  

I have no idea how I am going to catch them without tearing the tank apart.  I guess I will have to trap them, which could take awhile.

Edited October 5, 2022 by meadeam

[meadeam]

A better idea has occurred to me.  I've been raising the pH and KH in this tank to make it more hospitable for the mollies and snails.  It's there now, with the addition of crushed coral in the filter, and wondershell in the tank.  Why not let them have the mollies and snails have this  tank, and move out the tetras, rasboras, cories, and the pleco?  I'll have to decide where the shrimp should live since they could go either way.    I've really wanted to do a black water setup.  My water is pretty much in the middle; in can go either softer and more acid, or harder and more alkaline (which I've done in this tank).   I think I will work on making that happen.  Perhaps a 20 Long.  I've already got a filter, light, stand, and lid.  I'm tempted to add another bowfront though.  I like symmetry.  Oh well, that is for a different journal

Got a little green and black algae happing now.  Nothing major, and only in spots.  The critters are feeding on the green algae, so that is fine.  I'm hoping to turbo charge the plants enough to take care of the rest.  My nitrates are already accumulating more slowly than when I first set it up.  

 

[meadeam]

It turns out that a standard 30X12 glass lid fits the non-bowed area of the 36 bowfront with the addition of some extra-fat, extra-wide rim clips.

I'll ponder a solution for the bowed area that maintains the look.  Or, I may be able to just leave it open.  I am sure having most of the surface area covered will go a long way in maintaining heat and preventing water loss to evaporation.   

 

I am setting up a 20L for the softer water fish in this tank, so the fish catching will commence soon.

 

[meadeam]

I love a tank that is absolutely teaming with life, and this one is full.  I need to trim some of the stems and find a new home for a lot of them.   I planted a tiger lotus and dwarf lily to0 close to each other, and they're likely too intertwined to separate now or else I'd move the lotus probably.  As for fish, I'm still in the process of separating my hard and soft water fish.  The tetras are joining their cousins in a blackwater tank I started up a few weeks ago.  The rasboras will go into a different tank with the cories, and maybe the pleco.  I haven't seen the pleco in months; she is in a hollow piece of driftwood that is completely consumed by plants and covered in java moss.  

This tank is currently pH 7.2 and GH of 12.  Good for mollies and snails, but could be better.  My soft water tank is pH 6.5 and GH of 2, so better for the tetras.  I'm planning another tank that will be soft-ish water as well.  And I've got to start separating the mollies!  I have 11 adults, at least 12 of their first batch of babies, and probably that many of their second batch.  I am sure there is a third batch I haven't seen yet.  I think the big adults have eaten some, and I don't see as many shrimplets as I used to.  Still a ton of adult shrimps though.  I think I'll move the shrimp and leave the culls with the mollies.  So many things to do out of this one tank!  I am still avoiding catch the fish that I have to move, but sooner or later it has to happen.

Oh, the snails... there are 10 of them in there somewhere.  9 adults, and a blue baby that managed to hatch in spite of the fact I have been removing eggs.  And probably 100 various hitch hiker snails.  I have to feed this tank a ton to make sure enough gets past the mollies.  The upside of that is no added fertilizer necessary, but water changes every 5 days to keep the nitrates at bay.

[Schuyler]

On 9/19/2022 at 5:09 AM, meadeam said:

Part of the shrimp colony (at least 100, maybe twice that) grew in the presence of black mollies, so I think they would be ok.  But I still think I am going to trap the shrimp and move them.  I plan to get a single fish to predate the molly fry to keep from getting out of control, and I don't want that fish feeding on shrimp.

Is there a fish that will eat the fry but not the shrimp?

It's that a UPS under there? If it is, how long do you think it would keep things running if the power went out?

[meadeam]

On 11/10/2022 at 10:41 AM, Schuyler said:

Is there a fish that will eat the fry but not the shrimp?

It's that a UPS under there? If it is, how long do you think it would keep things running if the power went out?

I think anything that will eat small fry will probably eat small shrimp.  Then again, I am often surprised.

I don't have a UPS, just a fancy power strip with some wifi enabled plugs for scheduled remote control of air and CO2.  In addition to the canister, I have a sponge filter  running on a cycle alternating with the CO2.  In a power outage, I drive the sponge filter with a USB pump hooked up to a power brick that will last a few days.  If the power is out for that long, I may lose the bacteria in the canister, but at least the sponge will stay alive.  I have one running in all tanks, regardless of primary filtration.  I need more power bricks though.  As for heat in an outage, I don't have a great solution.  I need a space heater that doesn't run on electricity.  I am currently planning on adding solar and auxiliary battery storage to my house though.  When I do that, I may also add ambient wall heat.  Not just for the fish, but it would handle that use case.