Northwest_Scapes_ Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 Hello! It's been a while since I've been on the forums so long time no see. The last thread I have was on My UNS 60U Blackwater Tank, so if you've seen that one, then welcome to my new Blackwater! This is my 20 Gallon Long Blackwater Inspired Tank. I call it an Ecosystem since a lot of the food is actually grown from the Wood and Botanicals. Lots of Branches, only a few species of Plants, and lots of Botanicals. The Biofilm attracts and traps tiny microfauna that feed the tiny fish found within wild Blackwater Ecosystems. Of course I still feed the fish, but its been proven in the past that as long as there's enough Biofilm, small fish can go on for months without being fed by relying on the Biofilm and Botanicals. This also provides a valuable source for fry, giving them a better chance at surviving and thriving in the main display. This Tank has been setup for almost a Month, however the Botanicals just went in about a week ago and I'll probably let it for another 2 to 4 weeks before adding fish so it gives the Botanicals time to grow some biofilm and for the Tannins to set in. I'm very excited with my stocking choices. Living in Washington we have some of the softest water so im really into soft water fish. Stocking so far in mind is: -A Group of Hummingbird Tetras (Trochilocharax ornatus) -A Group of Pencilfish / My Main ones I have in mind are Nannostomus Marilynae, although N. Marginatus and N. Trifasciata are still on the table. -I'm really debating on if I'd like something on the bottom since I'm not sure if something like a Pair of smaller Apisto would get along with the T. Ornatus due to their size. Pygmy Cories / Dwarf Khuli Loaches are on the mind however. I'm really excited for the build and journey. I hope everyone that checks this thread out likes the tank! Tank: 20 Gallon Long | Filter: Dymax Slimflo 200 | Heater: Oase 100W | Light: JCP Full Spec | Hardscape: 24" Manzanita Branch I found at an LFS | Plants: Crypt. Lucens / Crypt. Tropical / Dwarf Aquarium Lily / All from Aquarium Co-op | Botanicals: Catappa Leaves / Jackfruit Leaves / Alder Cones / Fern Fronds / Mahogany Pods / all from a Local Company. 5 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 (edited) O Yes! Yes! Yes! Hummingbird Tetras? Pencilfish? You had me at hello. Please tell me you follow Scott Fellman… Edited September 25, 2022 by Fish Folk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 (edited) On 9/24/2022 at 5:35 PM, Fish Folk said: O Yes! Yes! Yes! Hummingbird Tetras? Pencilfish? You had me at hello. Please tell me you follow Scott Fellman… I do! A majority of my botanicals come from him, along with the local company (I think you might know who, they did a live together recently on Instagram). His Green Neon Tank experiment was what I was also referencing up above, I think the last I checked his Green Neons went on 8 months to a year without him feeding them and they were still fat and breeding because of all the microfauna in the biofilm before he fed them again. I have a trio of Blue Line Licorice Gouramis in the same scenario. I moved them out of my 60U but kept them and just put them in a 10 gallon with the old leaves and wood. It's been about 7 months, going on 8 once October gets here, and they've been fat and happy just on the things from the leaves and wood. I'm in the process of setting up another tank for them, but it's amazing what these fish can do. I've wanted Hummingbird Tetras for a few years now. I thought about doing a biotope with them for a contest but that never happened. Also with their rarity I could never find any. Now an LFS has had them for 3 weeks now, no idea on why they haven't sold out yet, but hopefully they'll be there in another month once I make my way down to Portland again since I don't want to pay shipping so I can snag them up. I love the iridescent blue they get in the sunlight. I was also thinking of Morse Code Tetras since an LFS here in Seattle has a nice Blackwater Display with 20 ish Morse Codes. However this tank is near a window and gets some really nice sunlight towards the afternoon and I think that'll make the Hummingbirds SHINE. Very excited to get a group going in here. Edited September 25, 2022 by Northwest_Scapes_ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 Fellman’s talk at my fish club made me totally rethink everything in my hobby. I’m following this thread! Will have questions. Hope you aim for the moon with this tank… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 On 9/24/2022 at 6:21 PM, Fish Folk said: Fellman’s talk at my fish club made me totally rethink everything in my hobby. I’m following this thread! Will have questions. Hope you aim for the moon with this tank… Thank you! I hope for the same thing. Other than the T. Ornatus, the other fish I have in mind are really cheap (especially the N. Marilynae since they're one of the rarer species of Pencilfish. Although that's probably due to them (I have to see if theres any updated info on this but this is what I read) being mostly by catches with other Nannostomus species, so there's not really any specific demand for them, they just get tangled up with the other pencils and then are brought back. Well, my filter also just broke... No idea why, it just stopped working. I have a sponge filter on hand thankfully with the Ziss Airstone so I should be ok. If I put it in the corner it should be perfectly hidden. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anjum Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 Beautiful!! I love blackwater tanks. Do you know what kind of fern fronds? Looks like sword fern maybe? I'm always looking for more options to gather botanicals & hardscape. Wasn't aware ferns could be used! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 On 9/24/2022 at 9:04 PM, Anjum said: Beautiful!! I love blackwater tanks. Do you know what kind of fern fronds? Looks like sword fern maybe? I'm always looking for more options to gather botanicals & hardscape. Wasn't aware ferns could be used! Thank you! On the website it says they're "Pteridium sp." Which from a Google search mentions it most likely being Eagle Fern, although I don't think there's an exact ID. I can message you the shop where I got them! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted September 29, 2022 Author Share Posted September 29, 2022 Hey everyone! Not much to report so far. The Tannins are setting in and the plants are growing pretty well! Except the Crypt.Tropica, that one needs a bit more time but I have seen a new leaf so I think it'll be fine. The Dwarf Lily has exploded in growth and some of the leaves are starting to reach the surface! Hopefully soon I can add the first fish. Most likely the Pencilfish since I want to make sure the tank is ready and mature for the Hummingbird Tetras. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atitagain Posted September 30, 2022 Share Posted September 30, 2022 Amazing looking tank, the lighting is great. Casting shadows, a super dark corner, and the layers of botanicals all look interesting even dramatic in a way. That is absolutely one of the main reasons I enjoy blackwater setups. The more natural “biotope” a tank is the better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted September 30, 2022 Author Share Posted September 30, 2022 On 9/30/2022 at 3:20 AM, Atitagain said: Amazing looking tank, the lighting is great. Casting shadows, a super dark corner, and the layers of botanicals all look interesting even dramatic in a way. That is absolutely one of the main reasons I enjoy blackwater setups. The more natural “biotope” a tank is the better. Thank you! I like the way lighting looks on blackwater tanks as well, I'm hoping with the way the light is setup it'll bring out the best of fish like the Green Line Pencilfish and Hummingbird Tetras who really look the best when the lighting is a certain way 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted October 4, 2022 Author Share Posted October 4, 2022 The tank turns 4 weeks old this week! The tank is doing pretty well. I love the look the lilies give off now that it's reaching the surface, although the Crypts need some love (going to get more root tabs soon). Maybe it's a bit too dark lol Hopefully we can get fish in here this week! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 Just got caught up on this tank it is beautiful! Can’t wait to see the fishes in there! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangerflower Posted October 4, 2022 Share Posted October 4, 2022 This tank is gorgeous! I love the moody lighting so much. I'm about to begin setting up a 20 long blackwater/botanical tank also, and this is definitely inspiring me! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted October 9, 2022 Author Share Posted October 9, 2022 Happy Sunday! Yesterday I went to Portland was able to pick up the first fish! Green Striped Pencilfish (Nannostomus Marilynae)! CD_Scapes on Instagram told me about these a while ago and i didn't see the hype at first, in person these guys are GORGEOUS! The pictures online don't do them justice. They're not as colorful as the Dwarf Pencil (N. Marginatus) or Beckford Pencil (N. Beckfordi) but they have an Iridescence down the side of their body that makes them look Gold, Green, or Turquoise depending on the light. I also saw them in Scott's article he did about them where they got mixed up with another Pencil species but that photo wasn't too great either. I can definitely say they look and behave the best in a Blackwater Tank though. Not only because they come from the Amazon but also the Iridescence between the Store Tank (No Tannins) and my tank (pretty heavy Tannins) and the difference is Day and Night. I picked up 8 of them, however due to their size I think I can probably fit another 2 to 4. I love these guys already. I saw they were picking at the biofilm the minute they went in which was awesome to see. Hopefully today I'll feed them some Live BBS to get them going. Hopefully I'll get an update a week from now. But here are some pics! The first 3 are in a Photography Container, but the rest are in the Tank where they really shine. 3 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Very cool nano fish! Will be exciting to see how they do for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted October 10, 2022 Author Share Posted October 10, 2022 On 10/9/2022 at 10:44 PM, nabokovfan87 said: Very cool nano fish! Will be exciting to see how they do for you. Thank you! So far they're doing pretty well, although I think their mouths are too small for normal pieces of Brine Shrimp. They seem to be picking at the little microfauna in the biofilm which is cool to see. I have some Baby Brine hatching out right now which I'm confident they'll eat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanTruth Posted October 10, 2022 Share Posted October 10, 2022 Beautiful looking blackwater setup! I love how the light only filters through certain spots. It’s exactly how I would imagine a tannin rich body of water would look underwater. Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted October 10, 2022 Author Share Posted October 10, 2022 (edited) On 10/10/2022 at 11:32 AM, OceanTruth said: Beautiful looking blackwater setup! I love how the light only filters through certain spots. It’s exactly how I would imagine a tannin rich body of water would look underwater. Well done! Thank you so much! I always liked the look of how light only filters through some areas, I owe a lot of that to the Dwarf Aquarium Lily in here that exploded in growth and covers a lot of the top. I think it makes the Pencils feel a lot safer as well. Speaking of the Pencils, I've noticed compared to other species, these school a lot more. Maybe it's because there's no dither fish or because I only have 8 (they recommend 10+ which is what I'm doing to do soon) but they stick together a lot more. Which makes for good photos where multiple are in the shot Edited October 10, 2022 by Northwest_Scapes_ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted October 13, 2022 Author Share Posted October 13, 2022 (edited) Back with some updated pics! Since the Lilies took over, it looks insanely beautiful. It makes it look really natural and the giant Lily pads at the top block out a majority of the light that give it a really nice vibe. It also provides great cover for the fish, which switching to the Pencils They're doing great still! No jumpers so far, I think the Lilies have to be given credit for that but I would like to add a lid soon just as a safe measure. They do eat really crushed up flake and the Live Baby Brine seems to be their favorite. I'd like to try the Xtreme Nano pellet as well since I've heard that's really good for other Pencils as it floats a bit before sinking slowly. Everything is looking good so far! Edited October 13, 2022 by Northwest_Scapes_ 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted November 1, 2022 Author Share Posted November 1, 2022 Happy Halloween everyone! Not much else to update on. I was super close to getting the Hummingbird Tetras but they sold out 1 week before the start of the 20% off Anniversary Sale 😭 Oh well, time to wait again. They were in stock for like a month right up until they point. Super unlucky lol, oh well time to wait again. Although I am looking at other Tetras potentially like the Morse Codes. The Lilies are still flourishing. There seems to be a cycle where the pads grow really big, melt away, and then it fuels growth for another 2 or 3 Lily Pads that go through the same cycle, super cool! Acting like it's own fertilizer perhaps. I still have all 8 of the Pencils, I think I can add another 6 to make a group of 14 since they're super small, and the Hummingbird Tetras are even smaller combined with the plants, the bioload shouldn't be too much. They go crazy for Live Baby Brine Shrimp, they'll eat crushed up Xtreme Flakes but Live Baby Brine does wonders. I did see what might've been sparring? Although I'm going to assume it was just minor aggression from the feeding response. Any other time I try and photograph or video them, they're super camera shy but once food is in the water, all they care about is eating and it's super easy to get pics of them. Since it'll probably just be them for a little while longer, im going to attempt to see if I can get a breeding response by them by feeding heavy into the Live Baby Brine. They absolutely love the tank, I just haven't been feeding them as prolific up to this point. I'd love to see if I can breed this species, I'm not sure it's done before due to how overlooked and uncommon they are. Time will tell! Here's a new FTS and some new shots of the fish! I hope you all have a great week! 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted November 13, 2022 Author Share Posted November 13, 2022 (edited) Happy Saturday everyone! I hope everyone is having a good weekend so far. Thanksgiving + Black Friday is almost here! There are a few updates with this tank that I'm very excited about. A surprise addition If you followed the previous Blackwater Tank I did called "The Roots", you know I had 4 Galaxy Otos (Parotocinclus Hardoldi) in there I got last year. I thought I had given every fish away after breaking that tank down but turns out I missed 2! They were hiding under a bunch of the leaves that got mixed around. I haven't had time to remove everything out of that tank yet, so it's been sitting on the ground for a while. There's only 2" of water and it's super cold so I'm extremely surprised they're alive. I saw the slightest movement out of the corner of my eye last night and found these 2. I moved them to this tank and I think they're doing well. Just like the other tank, I don't see them much, but they do like the Seed Pods and Biofilm. Parotos weren't something I was expecting to do in this tank, however some more species have been popping up so maybe something like the Peppermint Oto (parotocinclus eppleyi) or the Orange Oto (Nannoptopoma sp.) could be really cool since they only get 1.1 inches and are a cool "Hide and Seek" esc fish. Or if more Galaxy Otos pop up, I'd love to get another group since I already have 2 and they're just so cool. Ideas for another species to add Before I added the Otos, I was thinking of a potential 3rd species to add (well, 4th now I guess). I already have the Green Striped Pencils that are doing amazing and I'm still set on getting the Hummingbird Tetras. I was thinking of maybe another small schooler that could add more character and a unique look to the tank. The Top 2 on my mind are either a group of Pygmy Cories or a group of Crossband / Cherry Chocolate Gouramis (Sphaerichthys selatanensis). The Pygmy cories would add a lot to the foreground and help with uneaten food, and they're cute. The Cherry Chocolate Gouramis are a rare species that I've only seen for sale for the first time recently and this tank is PERFECT for them! Low light, Really Soft Water, lots of Wood and Biofilm, and lots of shade thanks to the lilies. I'm very torn but I think I'll make up my mind soon. The stocking does sound a bit heavy but I'm pretty confident thanks to the sheer amount and size of the lilies. Nothing so far exceeds 1.2", if I did go with the Cherry Chocolate Gouramis they'd be the biggest at 1.3". Along with the sponge filter and crypts but at this point I'm pretty sure the Dwarf Aquarium Lily does more filtering than all three combined lol. We'll see what I end up choosing. Other than that everything has been doing amazing so far. The crypt lucens is taking off but the crypt tropica is melting as usual. It is time to add more root tabs so I bet it'll perk up. I finally got the best photos of the Pencilfish! You can really see why I'm enjoying them so much. Such a beautiful species. (First 2: Green Striped Pencilfish) (3rd: Parotocinclus Haroldi) (4th: A Macro of some Live Baby Brine I fed just a few minutes ago) Edited November 13, 2022 by Northwest_Scapes_ 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted November 19, 2022 Author Share Posted November 19, 2022 (edited) Nothing new for this week. I did spot at least one of the Parotocinlcus Haroldi hanging out on the Manzanita Branch which confirms there's at least one of the two doing well in here since I haven't seen them since introducing them. Going to be another case of "not seeing them for a few weeks, then just seeing them randomly" type thing again lol I should hopefully be getting some new fish for this next week when I go down to Portland! Unfortunately, no sign of the Hummingbird Tetras being in stock this week. Hopefully next week some come in but I know how rare they are so not very likely. At this point, I'm actually thinking of doing Tucano Tetras instead. Their color is a lot more vibrant and they're more active than the Hummingbird Tetras, but just something about Trochiliocharax is holding me back. We'll see what happens. Interestingly enough, some of the leaves from the Dwarf Aquarium Lily are growing emersed. I didn't know this plant was capable of growing emersed but reading on it, if the water is shallow enough / if the leaves reach the surface, they can grow emersed out of the water line. Edited November 19, 2022 by Northwest_Scapes_ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procrypsis Posted December 1, 2022 Share Posted December 1, 2022 Subscribing. I recently aquired 7 Parotocinclus haroldoi, 6 Nannoptopoma sp Peru and 4 Rhinotocinclus isabelae. All appear to be doing good, hoping to see breeding activity soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwest_Scapes_ Posted December 5, 2022 Author Share Posted December 5, 2022 (edited) Unfortunately, they were out of both species I was looking for which were the T. Ornatus and Tucano. I'm not sure if much is being imported now since Winter is here (It's already snowed 4 times in my part of Washington!) so the hunt is still on. I did a massive trim today on the Dwarf Aquarium Lily. This plant is doing so well, and I haven't even supplemented root tabs for it, the mega bulb really has mega growth! But with that, the leaves were overshadowing each other, and growth wasn't looking very healthy, so I trimmed (not even exaggerating) around 50 leaves! Being a shallow tank, the leaves were growing over each other, which is also why I think I was getting the emersed growth. Hopefully during this time where the tank is getting more light, the crypts will have a growth spurt since the Crypt. Lucens is doing okay, but the Crypt. Tropica isn't doing that well so maybe there will be more growth during this time since a bush of crypts would be the cherry on top. Here are some new photos of the Green Striped Pencils! I thought I lost 1 for a few weeks but I did see all 8 again. I haven't seen these guys for sale recently, they're still rare to find unfortunately, so the next time I see them, I'm definitely grabbing another 4-6 to make a good-sized group. Edited December 5, 2022 by Northwest_Scapes_ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procrypsis Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 A Pic from last night - observed 2 Rhinotocinclus in close proximity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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