Semi-budget 40g Breeder Aquascape Journal

[Schuyler]

Today I managed to trade for with someone for some frozen daphnia. She loves live daphnia so maybe she'll eat the frozen version?

Nope.

More food for the other fish I guess. The other female is happy to gobble it up.

(I wish the focus were better on this one. Her mouth was so full it looked like she was smiling)

Guess it's time to cook up another batch of BBS...

The fat guppies are in the breeder box so they can fast for a bit. They pooped so much!

The corys still seem happy. They are lots of fun to watch. Two will spot each other and start swimming around together, then another will see then and join in, a then another, until it's a big group. Then one will get distracted and break away from the group, then another, until they are all scattered again and the process starts all over again.

I've noticed some hair algae creeping in as well as brown algae. I'm thinking maybe the plants are deficient in something. Maybe with all these new cuttings sending out fresh roots they're eating through all the potassium?

I know in the garden that's the rule of thumb. Nitrogen = leaves 

Phosphors = fruit 

Potassium = roots

At least at a high level...

[TheSwissAquarist]

When it comes to hair algae I find the best cure is manually removing it with a toothbrush 😂. For the first couple of months that I got my 65 gal I spent a lot of $$ on ‘algae cures’. None worked, so I just bit the bullet and remove it twice a week.

[Schuyler]

On 11/20/2022 at 9:42 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

When it comes to hair algae I find the best cure is manually removing it with a toothbrush 😂. For the first couple of months that I got my 65 gal I spent a lot of $$ on ‘algae cures’. None worked, so I just bit the bullet and remove it twice a week.

Huh... Maybe this is actually filter floss coming out from the rocks because this stuff is tough. Like I grab a stand and it's literally as strong as a piece of string 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/21/2022 at 3:01 PM, Schuyler said:

Huh... Maybe this is actually filter floss coming out from the rocks because this stuff is tough. Like I grab a stand and it's literally as strong as a piece of string 

Could be, but my hair algae is also quite strong...

[Patrick_G]

On 11/18/2022 at 7:05 PM, Schuyler said:

randomly decided to test the temp with a kitchen thermometer today. Turns out the external digital thermometer I got for free with my Hygger light read about 4° lower than the actual temp. The tank was 78-79 rather than 75-76 which was my target temp. I've turned down the heater slightly and moved a good ol fashion glass thermometer in the tank. Looks like it's holding steady around 76 now.

I’ve had bad luck with those little black plastic digital thermometers too. I haven’t found one that’s not 4-5 Degrees off. 

[Schuyler]

"Females that were full of eggs a short while ago, would get hollow bellies. The irreversible process of vanishing begins."

https://wildnothos.wixsite.com/wildnothos/maintenance

Looking at more stuff online I'm thinking Cindy may be old. One of her fins is breaking down and her belly is sinking. 

I'm holding it hope that she's young, hasn't developed her eggs yet, and is just a picky eater because she was raised on BBS. I'm going to keep trying to feed her to see if she bulks up but I fully expect her to just die of old age.

[Schuyler]

In a less grim note. Apparently I've triggered a flair up of my dad's long dormant MTS. Turns out before I was born he had a big fish room with multiple 55g.

My parents visited and after taking about the tank for a while he told my mom that they need to set up a fish tank again. She didn't seem as enthused.

[Schuyler]

Today the picky eater feasted. I have her probably 10-20 live daphnia after the BBS batch had sub par results. It may have gotten too hot or maybe I need to use the water conditioner again next time. Either way, she's looking less hollow today but still pretty emaciated.

I've been cleaning things up in the tank because we're having family over. So we pulled the spawning cup and checked for eggs. Sure enough there were a few. They are hard to photograph but there is a translucent speck on the top right of that piece of coir.

I'm a little worried about the Cory fry. The most I ever see at one time is six. So I did some scouring with a flashlight. I still only saw six but I did discover some unintentional caves. If you look carefully you can see that it opens up in there and the egg crate is exposed.

My hope is that some hide in there occasionally and that's why I can't find them. My worry is that they'd get stuck in there somewhere. Maybe if the Killifish funny work out I'll get some apistos that will use the cave fur breeding.

I also gave someone a handful of snails to try and reduce competition for food for the fry.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/23/2022 at 3:30 AM, Schuyler said:

Today the picky eater feasted. I have her probably 10-20 live daphnia after the BBS batch had sub par results. It may have gotten too hot or maybe I need to use the water conditioner again next time. Either way, she's looking less hollow today but still pretty emaciated.

I've been cleaning things up in the tank because we're having family over. So we pulled the spawning cup and checked for eggs. Sure enough there were a few. They are hard to photograph but there is a translucent speck on the top right of that piece of coir.

I'm a little worried about the Cory fry. The most I ever see at one time is six. So I did some scouring with a flashlight. I still only saw six but I did discover some unintentional caves. If you look carefully you can see that it opens up in there and the egg crate is exposed.

My hope is that some hide in there occasionally and that's why I can't find them. My worry is that they'd get stuck in there somewhere. Maybe if the Killifish funny work out I'll get some apistos that will use the cave fur breeding.

I also gave someone a handful of snails to try and reduce competition for food for the fry.

Shame that the female won’t eat…I can’t think of anything else🤕.

Nice work with the Killi eggs though!

[Schuyler]

This morning the Corys were out in force. There was a school of 8 of then when I first came out this morning. Then I looked around in the plants and found one more. So I'm pretty sure at least nine of them are still around and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some I missed.

I did a ~25% water change today after cleaning up some algae. I also wanted to replenish some of the minerals that the plants sucked up (total alkalinity in the tank was well below what was coming out the tap). She plants were showing signs of deficiencies. I also dosed with Seachem Flourish.

(Some brine shrimp eggs...)

There is stuff string algae growth that I'll need to do something about. There were multiple times that fish guy tangled in it so I cut it back while sucking out the cuttings. I'm sure it won't take long to regrow. There is some BBA that came in on plants from other tanks. Luckily it hasn't shown any signs of growing but it does make me nervous.

The next things I think I'm going to add to the tank will be a handful of ghost shrimp, some otos, and possibly an amano. I know that alone won't solve my algae issues but it should help. I'm thinking ghost shrimp because I can buy ten of them for the price of one cherry shrimp so if the Killifish decide to munch them it's not as big of loss.

Something else I'm considering is a Florida flag fish. Technically they are a type of killi and I'm toying with the idea of doing a killi community tank. There would be clown killis, a flag fish, Notho Rachovii (one of the few Notho species that likes slightly acidic water), Fundulopanchax gardneri, aphyosemion australe (or some combination of those)

Most of those are in the future when my Eggersi die off. Which may not be that long... Looking online one sign of aging in Notho species is loss of color. We named the male Fin because of his transparent fin which may actually be a sign that he's older. At minimum I'm guessing he's 3-4 months old. Another sign I read was hiding and being a picky eater... But she ate BBS and daphnia today.

Here's a full tank shot with everything pulled out and things cleaned up

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/24/2022 at 7:05 AM, Schuyler said:

This morning the Corys were out in force. There was a school of 8 of then when I first came out this morning. Then I looked around in the plants and found one more. So I'm pretty sure at least nine of them are still around and I wouldn't be surprised if there were some I missed.

I did a ~25% water change today after cleaning up some algae. I also wanted to replenish some of the minerals that the plants sucked up (total alkalinity in the tank was well below what was coming out the tap). She plants were showing signs of deficiencies. I also dosed with Seachem Flourish.

(Some brine shrimp eggs...)

There is stuff string algae growth that I'll need to do something about. There were multiple times that fish guy tangled in it so I cut it back while sucking out the cuttings. I'm sure it won't take long to regrow. There is some BBA that came in on plants from other tanks. Luckily it hasn't shown any signs of growing but it does make me nervous.

The next things I think I'm going to add to the tank will be a handful of ghost shrimp, some otos, and possibly an amano. I know that alone won't solve my algae issues but it should help. I'm thinking ghost shrimp because I can buy ten of them for the price of one cherry shrimp so if the Killifish decide to munch them it's not as big of loss.

Something else I'm considering is a Florida flag fish. Technically they are a type of killi and I'm toying with the idea of doing a killi community tank. There would be clown killis, a flag fish, Notho Rachovii (one of the few Notho species that likes slightly acidic water), Fundulopanchax gardneri, aphyosemion australe (or some combination of those)

Most of those are in the future when my Eggersi die off. Which may not be that long... Looking online one sign of aging in Notho species is loss of color. We named the male Fin because of his transparent fin which may actually be a sign that he's older. At minimum I'm guessing he's 3-4 months old. Another sign I read was hiding and being a picky eater... But she ate BBS and daphnia today.

Here's a full tank shot with everything pulled out and things cleaned up

I’d agree with your presumption to add flag fish…when I was troubleshooting my 65 gal, I searched in 7 stores - no luck!

[Schuyler]

On 11/23/2022 at 10:27 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I’d agree with your presumption to add flag fish…when I was troubleshooting my 65 gal, I searched in 7 stores - no luck!

I wonder if there more common in the US since they are native to here. Then again you're probably just as close to Florida as I am.

Another I've considered is a peacock gudgeon but that doesn't fit the theme as nicely

(Never mind, I dramatically underestimated the size of the Atlantic)

Edited November 24, 2022 by Schuyler
Bad at geography

[Schuyler]

Yesterday after posting that I went and unnamed big box store to see about picking up some ghost shrimp. They had just received a shipping of them that morning but they all died when they put them in the tank... I'll just stick with my LFS.

Not much to report on today. Cut out she pieces of plants that had BBA and scrubbed the Anubias leaves to get she dark patches of algae off.

Mostly it was showing off the tank to family.

[itsfoxtail]

On 11/24/2022 at 12:05 AM, Schuyler said:

There is stuff string algae growth that I'll need to do something about. There were multiple times that fish guy tangled in it so I cut it back while sucking out the cuttings. I'm sure it won't take long to regrow. There is some BBA that came in on plants from other tanks. Luckily it hasn't shown any signs of growing but it does make me nervous.

 

Your hair algae (if it is really tough and can sort of hold its own like string) looks like some sparse staghorn to me. My only luck with it has been manual removal and SAE until the tank balances out. 

It's so good to see the female with a full tummy! I hope she continues to eat. If she does hopefully she'll transition onto frozen foods for ease if nothing else. Congrats on the eggs as well! Are you planning on storing the eggs for the "dry" season?

[Schuyler]

On 11/25/2022 at 9:49 PM, itsfoxtail said:

It's so good to see the female with a full tummy! I hope she continues to eat. If she does hopefully she'll transition onto frozen foods for ease if nothing else. Congrats on the eggs as well! Are you planning on storing the eggs for the "dry" season?

Yep, right now it's in a ziplock baggie next to the canister filter. I figured that way it's safe and warmth from the heated aquarium will hopefully keep us a consistently warm temp.

[Schuyler]

LFS said they don't carry ghost shrimp because most of the time they'll get a bag and half will be dead already. They also never have Flagfish, he said it's really difficult to find them.

Now I'm debating between getting a couple amanos or a batch of ghost shrimp. Or maybe one amano and a handful of ghosts.

[Patrick_G]

On 11/24/2022 at 9:04 PM, Schuyler said:

Not much to report on today. Cut out she pieces of plants that had BBA and scrubbed the Anubias leaves to get she dark patches of algae off.

The reverse respiration method works well to remove algae from Anubias and other plants with tough leaves.

 

[itsfoxtail]

On 11/26/2022 at 8:14 AM, Schuyler said:

Yep, right now it's in a ziplock baggie next to the canister filter. I figured that way it's safe and warmth from the heated aquarium will hopefully keep us a consistently warm temp.

How long are you planning on keeping them in the baggie? How do you know when to take them out? I know next to nothing about killis and this is so exciting!

On 11/26/2022 at 3:14 PM, Schuyler said:

LFS said they don't carry ghost shrimp because most of the time they'll get a bag and half will be dead already. They also never have Flagfish, he said it's really difficult to find them.

Now I'm debating between getting a couple amanos or a batch of ghost shrimp. Or maybe one amano and a handful of ghosts.

In my experience ghost shrimp aren't great at eating algae; they just snatch extra food. They also are sometimes weirdly mean? They bully the shy fish away from the food, anyway. I'd side with Amanos as they're pretty cool and calm in general, algae-eating or not. 

[redfish]

I’ve managed to keep 6-8 ghost shrimp alive in a 5 gal quarantine tank.  I grabbed them from the unnamed big box store.  Bought them in 2 batches of 6 shrimp about a week apart.  $.59 a piece.  I’m surprised they have survived this long but seem to be doing okay.  One even had babies.  Had little shrimplets but I think some surprise guppy fry ate them.  I find the females are larger and survive better.  I think all the males died.  They do get aggressive with each other for food.

[Schuyler]

On 11/26/2022 at 2:52 PM, Patrick_G said:

The reverse respiration method works well to remove algae from Anubias and other plants with tough leaves.

 

I actually used that on some of the Java Fern on the tank. It seems to have killed of most of the BBA but it was a pretty bad case so I think that still introduced some into the tank.

I'm also nervous about taking anything out of the tank at this point. Last time I messed with stuff the wood floated up and I still haven't had a chance to fix it yet.

On 11/26/2022 at 5:37 PM, itsfoxtail said:

How long are you planning on keeping them in the baggie? How do you know when to take them out? I know next to nothing about killis and this is so exciting!. 

Oh I thought I was doing something wrong. I always assume that people on here know way more about everything than I do lol 

Basically with nothobranchius you try to replicate the rainy/dry season cycle they have in nature. You let them dry out then leave them somewhere warm to incubate for a set number of weeks depending on the species, temp, and humidity (Eggersi is like 12-18 weeks I think). After that there are a three methods for seeing if they are ready 1) Wait a little the longer time to give them more of a chance to develop and then just put them in a tank 2) Take a portion of the soil with a few eggs and use them as a test batch to see if they hatch 3) Look at the eggs under a microscope or magnifying glass to see if they have eyes and a spine.

This is my first pair of them so if never actually gotten to the hatching part yet but @Fish Folk has a good thread over here

 

 

 

[Schuyler]

On 11/26/2022 at 6:21 PM, redfish said:

I’ve managed to keep 6-8 ghost shrimp alive in a 5 gal quarantine tank.  I grabbed them from the unnamed big box store.  Bought them in 2 batches of 6 shrimp about a week apart.  $.59 a piece.  I’m surprised they have survived this long but seem to be doing okay.  One even had babies.  Had little shrimplets but I think some surprise guppy fry ate them.  I find the females are larger and survive better.  I think all the males died.  They do get aggressive with each other for food.

Huh, sounds like they tend to just die randomly and they can be a bit mean? Based on what you said and what I've seen/heard

Maybe I will just go with at least one amano

[redfish]

Since they are sold as feeder shrimp, I don’t think they are meant to be very hardy.  The price was cheap enough for me to try them out and see if they would survive.  I only see any aggressive behavior when they are foraging for the food.  They get excited and grab what they find, sometimes chasing each other for the food.

I planned to move them into our community tank if they survived quarantine.  Now I’m debating keeping them in the 5 gal.  We are setting up a 10 gal for some Neo shrimp so this was kinda a trial run for shrimp also.

[Schuyler]

On 11/26/2022 at 7:12 PM, redfish said:

I planned to move them into our community tank if they survived quarantine.  Now I’m debating keeping them in the 5 gal.  We are setting up a 10 gal for some Neo shrimp so this was kinda a trial run for shrimp also.

Oh yeah, I forgot that's the other reason I was thinking of getting them. They would be a trial run to see if I can move my cherry shrimp into the main tank

[itsfoxtail]

On 11/26/2022 at 8:35 PM, Schuyler said:

Oh I thought I was doing something wrong. I always assume that people on here know way more about everything than I do lol 

Basically with nothobranchius you try to replicate the rainy/dry season cycle they have in nature. You let them dry out then leave them somewhere warm to incubate for a set number of weeks depending on the species, temp, and humidity (Eggersi is like 12-18 weeks I think). After that there are a three methods for seeing if they are ready 1) Wait a little the longer time to give them more of a chance to develop and then just put them in a tank 2) Take a portion of the soil with a few eggs and use them as a test batch to see if they hatch 3) Look at the eggs under a microscope or magnifying glass to see if they have eyes and a spine.

 

 

That's so cool! I know it's pretty far in the future but are you leaning towards a certain method for checking them? It's amazing the eggs can survive being dried out that long (or at least I think so anyway). Do they require light or could someone just bury them? I'd assume they'd still have quite a bit of sunlight in the dry season in the wild.

On 11/26/2022 at 9:12 PM, redfish said:

Since they are sold as feeder shrimp, I don’t think they are meant to be very hardy.  The price was cheap enough for me to try them out and see if they would survive.  I only see any aggressive behavior when they are foraging for the food.  They get excited and grab what they find, sometimes chasing each other for the food.

I planned to move them into our community tank if they survived quarantine.  Now I’m debating keeping them in the 5 gal.  We are setting up a 10 gal for some Neo shrimp so this was kinda a trial run for shrimp also.

I feel like the ghost shrimp of now are SO much less hardy than the ghost shrimp of even about a year ago. I had a whole tank of ghost shrimp about two years ago just for the heck of it and they were tanks. Could probably survive the apocalypse. Now the ghost shrimp I get will only last longer than a couple days in my brackish tank (that is if they avoid my puffer for that long).

I ironically got them as a test run for neos as well but found temperament/diet/size/everything is in my opinion not very comparable. I've watched a ghost shrimp literally chase around a pea puffer until it had it cornered in fear. Those little clear dudes scare me a bit. I'd say to both of you to give the neos a go! As long as parameters don't fluctuate drastically and you get them at least sort of locally bred I'd say you can't go wrong!

[Schuyler]

Added the spawning area and they seem to be happy about that. They went in there a lot.

 

I pulled out more hair/string algae and once I had it out and together it looked much greener. My wife told me not to buy any aquarium stuff until after Christmas. So I'm going to try just adjusting things with what I already have. The algae doesn't seem to be growing too out of control just yet. The plan is to

1) Shorten the photo period to 10 hours (from 12)

2) Dose 2ml of Seachem Florish twice a week (rather than the haphazard schedule I've been doing)

3) Increase water changes to ~30% a week (10g up from 5g)

4) Add an air stone to at least run at night. I don't know if that will have any impact on algae but it seems like a good idea.