New 46 Gallon Bowfront Build

[Miska]

@Guppysnail why are you making me fall in love with so many cories? 

[neitherman]

On 3/29/2023 at 12:35 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Barbs and Corydoras generally don't interact.  They have different spots of the tank they occupy when active.  Some barbs will pick off the mid-level for food, but I don't see a lot of them (or didn't) on the substrate.  When the barbs are sleeping, corydoras are still active, but they don't really bother them too much.  I don't think you'd had any issues with those two species.

Fantastic! That has been my observation so far but this is the first time I've ever tried keeping these species together so I appreciate a more experienced person's viewpoint. Also, sorry about the 2016 SCF (though to be fair it wasn't Nabokov in net then)!

[nabokovfan87]

On 3/29/2023 at 5:46 PM, neitherman said:

Also, sorry about the 2016 SCF (though to be fair it wasn't Nabokov in net then)!

My other team is the Dolphins.  It's been a long time since I've seen either team do amazingly well.  Always have hope!  Gotta cherish the journey.   On youtube, I made a video called "Tua's Journey"  it's got a little sharks clip in there of Marleau talking about why he plays.  Amazing stuff, amazing humans playing the game and it's always awesome to hear the stories and watch them do what they do.  Couldn't be more happy with my NHL Team 🙂 .

....and yeah.  I could not stand any goalie post Nabby.  Especially Toskala.  Always so small.  I'm surprised Jones can reach the top of the net half the time.

[neitherman]

On 3/29/2023 at 8:38 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I'm surprised Jones can reach the top of the net half the time.

As a Pens fan I'm glad he was so short! 😛

 

Water change day! Water change day! Hey everybody it's water change day!

Tank with a hose coming from my RO system in it:

Lookit that big ole SAE sausage down there. that fish has to be at least 5 years old:

The barbs love to cluster near the front of the tank:

It's been running for 2 weeks now!

Edited March 31, 2023 by neitherman
brak attack

[neitherman]

There is some nice pearling going on today:

Look at all that algae makin' oxygen!

[Levi_Aquatics]

I love how you mixed the different color variations of tiger barbs. I think that makes them even more interesting than they already are! All the live plants look abating too 

[neitherman]

On 4/1/2023 at 10:26 AM, Levi_Aquatics said:

I love how you mixed the different color variations of tiger barbs. I think that makes them even more interesting than they already are! All the live plants look abating too 

Thank you! I really like having all three varieties in my shoal. The greens seem to be slightly more boisterous and dominant than the other variations (though there's an albino that's also scrappy!) I think I need to get a swarm of amano shrimp (only have 3 + 7 nerites for cleanup) to help with all that green spot on my anubias though.

[Levi_Aquatics]

On 4/1/2023 at 3:41 PM, neitherman said:

Thank you! I really like having all three varieties in my shoal. The greens seem to be slightly more boisterous and dominant than the other variations (though there's an albino that's also scrappy!) I think I need to get a swarm of amano shrimp (only have 3 + 7 nerites for cleanup) to help with all that green spot on my anubias though.

I kept a group of green tiger barbs with odessa barbs in a 55 gallon, I definitely enjoyed them! I definitely considered doing other types of tiger barbs because I love how that looks!

[neitherman]

I caught these two barbs circling each other. Looks like some sort of jockeying for dominance in the barb-aric hierarchy:

I also tested the water parameters today. As expected my GH is literally off the charts living in the desert and all (it turns a shade of purple not found on the ACO test strips) but I had ZERO PPM of nitrates so I dosed with Seachem Nitrogen today. I have noticed my plants struggling to grow since moving them in so maybe this will give them a nice boost!

 

 

[neitherman]

Photographing this tank gives me such joy. Here's a little photo dump from today:

[neitherman]

Picked up seven more Amano shrimp and another tiger barb today as well as some emersed growth monte carlo. Curious how the plants are going to change and grow.

Amanos settling in:

Tiger barb flashing around the tank:

[neitherman]

This is a journal after all so in that vein I'm going to write some notes about additional stuff I want to alter when doing the water change tomorrow:

• Remove ACO pre-filter sponge in a ziplock and clean
• When removed, add hardscape if it fits and looks okay
• Add light gravel and pebble scatter
• Move background buce into foreground aquasoil
• Try to spread the monte carlo through the soil "better"
• Trim java moss
• Remove floating plant matter
• Clean algae off tank walls
• Refill the CO2 tank
• Nuture and nourish the 4 petals of duckweed that snuck in with the Amanos until it multiplies to cover the surface (duckweed armageddon)

Edited April 6, 2023 by neitherman

[neitherman]

Sad news, after doing a water change yesterday I noticed one of the green tigers acting lethargic and sitting at the bottom of the tank. When I woke up this morning and checked the tank I found it dead in a corner. No other fish are acting this way and my water parameters look like this:

I hope this fish was just a bit weaker than the others because none of these values indicate a water quality problem.

In other news I finally got some pothos to drape into the tank from the back:

I love the look of it in other tanks and hope it eventually grows the entire length of the tank.

Finally some fish pics because life is fleeting and it's good to have memories:

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/8/2023 at 8:53 AM, neitherman said:

I hope this fish was just a bit weaker than the others because none of these values indicate a water quality problem.

Unfortunately it does happen. When it was feeding time it was always easy to tell who were the bosses  in the crowd and then it became easy to tell who was afraid to come up and get food.  Just keep an eye out on as much as you can. Try to make sure everyone does get some grub.

[neitherman]

@nabokovfan87 do you have any tricks for spot feeding anyone that seems timid? These barbs are so agile and so voracious I don't know how I'll keep them from stealing food off each other.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/8/2023 at 11:39 AM, neitherman said:

@nabokovfan87 do you have any tricks for spot feeding anyone that seems timid? These barbs are so agile and so voracious I don't know how I'll keep them from stealing food off each other.

A video of what you're seeing might help.  I had 3-4 out of the group that could not tolerate the swarm.  Essentially I would wake up, check on the fish and they would be waiting at the tank when I got close.  I would feed the group somewhere in the open (food that drops goes to the corydoras) and then I would find the other barbs hiding in the plants and drop in some food wherever they were.  There were times where they would ignore it.   Feeding the ball of barbs in smaller amounts over a few minutes works too and keeps them occupied while the other ones get some courage.

The other behavior is that they will sit outside of the active group, trailing them so to speak.   In that case you feed in a line of food, slowly again, and just make sure you save a couple pieces to fall where that fish is trailing.  Eventually they will recover, but with barbs, that was just the social behavior my group had.  You can see them here trying to avoid the mass.

There was also the female barbs that were just a bit slower/chunkier and needed a bit of time to get food after the quicker ones had their mouths stuffed.


@Chick-In-Of-TheSea went through the exact same thing with her bolivian ram.  I would check that out too as a resource for spot feeding and it's affects.  (that part is at the beginning of the journal).  The fish will learn where and how you want to feed them and it just takes a bit of practice.

[neitherman]

Thank you for the very in-depth reply! Next time I feed them I will take a video and post it here. I'll also try to be more observant about who does and doesn't get their fair share.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I have good luck with feeding vibra bites. My tetras will get some but some will also make it down to the ram. Also if you do the frozen brine shrimp cubes, those disperse pretty well throughout the tank so everyone gets some.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/8/2023 at 2:47 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I have good luck with feeding vibra bites. My tetras will get some but some will also make it down to the ram. Also if you do the frozen brine shrimp cubes, those disperse pretty well throughout the tank so everyone gets some.

Seeing barbs run around with mini hot cheetos is hilarious.

[neitherman]

On 4/8/2023 at 7:25 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Seeing barbs run around with mini hot cheetos is hilarious.

The best is when they do the Lady and the Tramp with one and lock lips!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 4/4/2023 at 5:30 PM, neitherman said:

I caught these two barbs circling each other. Looks like some sort of jockeying for dominance in the barb-aric hierarchy:

I

Looks like mating to me. My brother and I would say our fish were doing the “yin yang” when we had our cichlid tanks. I notice some barbs have plump bellies. Could barb fry be in your future? 🤔

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/9/2023 at 4:36 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

On 4/4/2023 at 2:30 PM, neitherman said:

I caught these two barbs circling each other. Looks like some sort of jockeying for dominance in the barb-aric hierarchy:

I

Looks like mating to me. My brother and I would say our fish were doing the “yin yang” when we had our cichlid tanks. I notice some barbs have plump bellies. Could barb fry be in your future? 🤔

I'll have to see if I can find a video, but there's some fish (I swear it's these guys) that do angry kissing to fight for dominance.  Was not fun when I could not get them to stop tearing eachother up.  Yeah, the video looks like two males going after who is the boss of the group.
 

 

[neitherman]

On 4/9/2023 at 9:48 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

I'll have to see if I can find a video, but there's some fish (I swear it's these guys) that do angry kissing to fight for dominance.  Was not fun when I could not get them to stop tearing eachother up.  Yeah, the video looks like two males going after who is the boss of the group.
 

 

Thankfully when I see this it's short lived and it seems to be happening between different fish each time so I don't think anyone is getting singled out. I guess that sort of stress could have contributed to the death of that one, however.

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/9/2023 at 10:27 PM, neitherman said:

Thankfully when I see this it's short lived and it seems to be happening between different fish each time so I don't think anyone is getting singled out. I guess that sort of stress could have contributed to the death of that one, however.

Yeah.... barbs can be a feisty bunch.

[neitherman]

Just fed everyone two blocks of frozen Flamin' Hot Cheetos and paid close attention to a more pale albino barb that I am almost certain is a female who seemed to be shying away from the shoal. She definitely got in there and ate her fill of wormies though, right before the SAE barged in and stole the usual 1/2 cube for itself! Also the pothos and anubias coffeefolia sprouted new leaves!