Ruud's 25.5G (96 liters) setup

[Ruud]

I am starting to think about the most difficult question and probably the sole reason for MST: what fish to put in your only tank?

Its a 25 gallon, plenty of filtration (185 gallon/hour), substrate and plants which will take some of the bio load as well. But its still a fairly small planted community tank. I am thinking: 

- Pair of Apisto's - I do like the Borelli's for instance and I can most likely find them here. I know a trio is better but not really after spawning and thinking of keeping the load lower by limiting myself to a pair

- about 10 tetra's, I like black tetra's or maybe just go with Neon's

- 6 Cory's - maybe aeneus depending on what I can find

- alternative to the 6 cory's maybe a nice L number. I would love to have again a L260 or 134 but difficult to get here. 

 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

[Alesha]

I don't have any of those fish, but you sound like you are really thinking it through thoroughly. I think what's important is that the fish are visually appealing and interesting to you.  I do think it's wise to avoid fish who are going to multiply a lot, since you are limited in tank space. Looking forward to seeing what you choose!

[Daniel]

Wow! I'd say you can't go wrong with any of those. My first reaction is do the Apistos. Spawning Apistos is so much fun, as is raising the babies. On second thought, spawning Apistos is old hat. Take the road slightly less traveled and do the Corydoras instead. Still a lot of fun and just a tiny bit more of a challenge.

But wait! I have never bred tetras (intentionally). Forget doing the same old same old. Break out of the box and try breeding tetras. If that turns out to be fun, there is a million of them.

And personally I have never even kept any of the L numbers. That isn't the road less traveled, it is the road never traveled for me.

But the Apistos would cool....

[Ruud]

Cheers @Daniel @akconklin I can always count on your input! Actually... I don't really want to breed at this point (I mean I would love to... if I had another 6 tanks at minimum but right now I have not and have no space unfortunately... some day again!).

So either I go South American with dwarf cichlids and a support cast. Or I go perhaps a pair of Swordtails (but they will reproduce) and/or nice Mollies with tetras and ?

Its been years since I had fish and I want to get back with a bit easy fish. How easy are Borelli's to keep?

@Daniel with your experience and space... you should try a tank with a colony of L260's . Bare bottom tank, high flow... amazing!

[Daniel]

13 minutes ago, Ruud said:

@Daniel with your experience and space... you should try a tank with a colony of L260's . Bare bottom tank, high flow... amazing!

I really should do something different. Sometimes I feel like I doing something different, but if I am honest with myself it turns out I am just breeding Cichlids (or pygmy sunfish, which are essentially cichlids, though not technically) again. However, I did try something new recently after someone, @RovingGinger maybe mentioned them on the forum and that was Sparkling Gouramis. They turned out to be perky, inquisitive, smart and fun and even if they breed, you have plenty of room as they are very compact and the adults and fry can coexist mostly (kind of like livebearers and their fry, many are eaten but some survive).

I thought Borellis were easy to keep and you may not even need a heater with them.

Whatever you, do something you haven't done before.

[Ruud]

Its fun to think about stocking and planning. But I know myself, I might go to the fish store when my tank is fully cycled and come hope with something totally else just cause I fell in love. Bright red teacup platies for instance or sailfish mollies, or another Apisto. 

I never really thought about Gourami's as I have always been into South and central America fish somehow. Just took a look and these Sparkling Gourami's do look spectacular. 

Either way, this tank is all about returning to a hobby I gave up a while ago. I will enjoy whatever will be in it.

[Ruud]

So have been doing some stuff to the tank, the wood is now weighed down with a couple of old pleco caves and at least is staying in its place for now. It started to get covered in a fungus slime layer, I am sure this will go away in due time. 

Then I planted the Echinodorus and glued the Java fern to another piece of driftwood I had: 

This was my first time glueing a plant to wood and it shows as you can see the glue blobs

I tested the water after having 40% mineral water/60% tap running for a few days and it shows:

NO3: 250

NO2: 5

GH: 7+

KH: 3

PH: 6.8

So NO3 very high and KH much lower than I thought (22 from tap). I guess its a combination of the soil, wood and adding mineral so will have to play around more with this. Either way I haven't really started cycling yet as my filter is full of cotton at the moment to filter the substrate. Perhaps later today I will pull it and start putting proper bio media etc.

I am a bit puzzled about what to do to lower the NO3 and upping the KH. NO3 from tap is around 20 so I guess adding tap water will solve both?

Best

Ruud

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2020 by Ruud

[Ken Dyer]

Coming along nicely, and looks like the water is really clearing up as well. Looking forward to seeing which fish you end up deciding on 🙂

[Ruud]

Thanks @Ken Burke, havent really decided, most likely depending on what's available here. Today I am tending more to nice Molies or Swordfish, but could end up with Apisto's or something else. 

[Ken Dyer]

I can relate, I tend to go to the fish store with a plan and then come home with what they had which was rarely my plan 😁

[Ruud]

Adding a current overview photo. Still need to plant the Anubias, most likely to the right of the marino moss ball, might need to add a bit of substrate still. 

The pleco caves are there to hold the wood down, a relic from the past when I had L260 and L134's.

 

Edit: i need to start thinking about fertilizer and stuff. Seachem here is readily available, is there anything someone can suggest from the Seachem line? I have a fairly simple light that has a max of 1900 lumen (can adjust in 5 steps).

Edited November 10, 2020 by Ruud

[Ken Dyer]

I don't have a lot of experience with the SeaChem line as the 1 bottle per nutrient isn't my style, instead I would recommend an "all in one" especially for Java Ferns and Anubias as it takes a lot of the work out of it. I also tend to supplement with a few root tabs under any rooted plants if they start to look unhappy and always under bulb plants like lotus/lilies. I use Easy Green, but on your side of the pond I would look for a similar option (there are quite a few on Amazon but I have never used any of those to recommend any one).

The tank is really coming along nicely and I love that piece of wood you have, so much character! 

[Ruud]

Thanks @Ken Dyer , yes Easygreen is not available here unfortunately (I would love some Aquarium Coop gear but hey..) so might post a topic in the plants section asking for an alternative.

Thanks for the kind words on the tank, I allready enjoy it a lot and it doesn't even have fish in it. I forgot how rewarding it is to have a tank, and trying a bit harder with this one to make it pretty and planted.

Edited November 10, 2020 by Ruud

[kammaroon]

Your tank is coming along fine. Water change will lower your NO3. So will more plants 🙂

I'm using Dennerle Plant Elixir Universal Fertilizer. Plants are growing, so good enough for me.

[Ruud]

Indeed @kammaroon, need to put in some more tap water to help the buffering as well

[Daniel]

@Ruud I was searching for a decent botany book on aquarium plants and I found one and purchased it. It is called Aquarienpflanzen and the language it is published in is Nederlands.

Do you know anyone who can read Nederlands?🙂

[Ruud]

I have a few corrections on your post @Daniel. First of all the language spoken in The Netherlands (Nederland) is called Dutch 🙂 Then the book you show is in German, not in Dutch unfortunately but yes I most likely will understand it if its not too technical!

I hope you enjoy the book my friend!

Meanwhile on the tank: I changed the filter medium in the Eheim canister, removed the cotton as the water has cleared up a lot and put bio filter medium in it (the little ceramic cubes) along with coarse sponges and Polyfil. I glued the Anubius Nana on a small piece of driftwood and placed it in the tank, along with a few rocks I found that go well with the light. 

I tried my luck with an in vitro Baby Tears but doubt that will end up successful (see thread in the plants department) . Oh and I put in fertilizer for the plants. 

 

Pics later once the light switches back on (currently timed at 10hrs a day) 

[Ruud]

Ps @Daniel There are some great German books written on the topic of Discus and L numbers as well!

[Daniel]

36 minutes ago, Ruud said:

I have a few corrections on your post @Daniel. First of all the language spoken in The Netherlands (Nederland) is called Dutch 🙂 Then the book you show is in German, not in Dutch unfortunately but yes I most likely will understand it if its not too technical!

I see that now. When I first read this:

1957 erschien in den Niederlanden das Buch "Aquariumplanten", das 1966 in der zweiten Auflage gedruckt wurde. 1971 brachte der Verlag Eugen Ulmer die erste deutsche Ausgabe unter dem Titel "Aquarienpflanzen" heraus. 1990 wurde die zweite deutsche Auflage publiziert, die auf der 1983 erschienenen vierten niederländischen Auflage basiert. In der deutschen Neuauflage wurde aber der Abschnitt über Wasserkelche komplett aktualisiert und umfasste alle bis dahin bekannten

I read the part in red to mean the book was in Dutch. I now see that the 1990 edition I purchased is in German and based off of the 1983 Dutch edition.

[Ruud]

 

Getting there. Went from 3 to 1 pleco cave to keep the driftwood down. Anubias glued, baby tears 'planted' . Put in fertilizer for the plants, filter setup with the right media etc. 

[Ruud]

3 hours ago, Daniel said:

I see that now. When I first read this:

1957 erschien in den Niederlanden das Buch "Aquariumplanten", das 1966 in der zweiten Auflage gedruckt wurde. 1971 brachte der Verlag Eugen Ulmer die erste deutsche Ausgabe unter dem Titel "Aquarienpflanzen" heraus. 1990 wurde die zweite deutsche Auflage publiziert, die auf der 1983 erschienenen vierten niederländischen Auflage basiert. In der deutschen Neuauflage wurde aber der Abschnitt über Wasserkelche komplett aktualisiert und umfasste alle bis dahin bekannten

I read the part in red to mean the book was in Dutch. I now see that the 1990 edition I purchased is in German and based off of the 1983 Dutch edition.

@DanielSince you like history and old books (like I do), I just got on ebay a first edition (1955) of Roger Tory Peterson's "Wild America" for 8 dollar plus shipping (shipping is 3x as expensive at the book lol). I am bit of a birder yes 🙂

Edited November 14, 2020 by Ruud

[Ruud]

Found a concealed guest that must have taken a ride with the plants I got. What kind of snail is this?

[Ken Dyer]

That looks to me like a pond or bladder snail. Cute little buggers and handy for cleaning up any food that sits in the substrate in my experience. Though mine look a little different so I am sure there is likely several species/variations so yours may be a stone cold killer. Keep an eye on him/her to see if they start fashioning a prison shiv and if so you'll know it is the latter 😉

I like snails in my tanks, but if you do not, they make excellent loach/puffer chow. 

[QuiteContrary]

😄

 

Looks like Physella Acuta, or the bladder snail.

I really like them, they are cute when they swim.

[Ruud]

Well, if he behaves he can stay. If he starts making a million babies and kill my plants, he will have to leave!