Nano Tank Journal - 20 long

[nabokovfan87]

On 9/6/2023 at 7:00 AM, Sherry said:

I have six Otocinclus and they are starting to work on the anubias leaves.

Something like the mini nerites might do great too for you.

They don't breed in freshwater but you will see little egg casings on hardscape.

[Sherry]

Look what I found this morning!!

[Landon]

Congratulations! Are you going to let them hatch on the glass or are you going to incubate them?

[Sherry]

Sorry I didn’t see your comment before this - I incubated them in a plastic container. Then I put them in my 10 gallon quarantine tank. I see about 10 that survived, which is a good number for me.

I have another clutch incubating now.

[Sherry]

I would like to add a “centerpiece “ fish or two. I have thought about guppies, platys or a honey gourami.

There are negatives on live bearers because I will need to limit offspring, but I enjoy the baby fish, too. I’ve also read that they may stress my other fish (green neon tetras, Otocinclus, and Pygmy Corydoras).

I worry about the gourami because they are somewhat like bettas and my granddaughter’s betta nipped their snails antennae and it died. Will the gourami do that too?

[TheSwissAquarist]

Honey gouramis are a good idea, as they tend to be pretty gentle. Maybe try Apistogramma ? 

[Sherry]

Hello friends,

I want to use your experience… the behavior of the Pygmy Corydoras in this video is new to me. Are they just goofing around or is there something significant going on, like mating?

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/26/2023 at 12:17 PM, Sherry said:

I want to use your experience… the behavior of the Pygmy Corydoras in this video is new to me. Are they just goofing around or is there something significant going on, like mating?

Maybe @TeeJay or @Guppysnail knows.

[Guppysnail]

Entirely normal. It means they feel safe enough to have fun and be happy. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/26/2023 at 12:25 PM, Guppysnail said:

Entirely normal. It means they feel safe enough to have fun and be happy. 

ORD I need some pygmy cories.  I don't think any cories are in the cards for me. I have really hard water.  😭

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/26/2023 at 9:17 AM, Sherry said:

Are they just goofing around or is there something significant going on, like mating?

Yep. Just playing in the flow. They may have smelled something and one went to look. It's basically just shoaling behavior.

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/26/2023 at 9:29 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I have really hard water.  😭

They love hard water!?!? Just not crazy 8.0 PH.

[Sherry]

On 10/26/2023 at 3:11 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

 It's basically just shoaling behavior.

I haven’t seen them do this before. I have five and have been thinking about adding some. How many do you suggest I add for them to feel comfortable like this all the time.

I currently have the five Pygmy Corydoras, seven Green Neon Tetras, six Otocinclus and two Mystery snails (the baby snails are in a separate tank).

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/27/2023 at 11:32 AM, Sherry said:

I haven’t seen them do this before. I have five and have been thinking about adding some. How many do you suggest I add for them to feel comfortable like this all the time.

usually 12 in a group is a really good size for behaviors.  I would say 12-15 is about perfect..  You should have breeding though.  Just meaning, 8-10 is usually where I recommend people start out and let them breed / grow as a colony.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/26/2023 at 4:17 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

They love hard water!?!? Just not crazy 8.0 PH.

?  Care instructions I’ve seen always say cories like water on the softer side.

Edited October 28, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/28/2023 at 2:09 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

?  Care instructions I’ve seen always say cories like water on the softer side.

Tank raised ones are pretty solid. My Salt’n’Pepper Cories and Aeneus Cories do fine in my 7.3 pH. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/28/2023 at 5:09 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

?  Care instructions I’ve seen always say cories like water on the softer side.

My pandas were born and raised in Florida water. Ridiculously high GH. 12-20 range. Only the past year we had GH drop by half down to 6-8.  Basically, PH/KH can't get too high, but GH being high, they do fine with.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I’m at 80 and 180 for gH and kH @nabokovfan87

Edited October 28, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 10/28/2023 at 3:52 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I’m at 80 and 180 for gH and kH @nabokovfan87

We can try to sort it out in a DM or something!  Sorry for taking up the journal topic! 

I'll try to dig up some research!

I would try to get GH > KH though.

[Sherry]

Thank you to all of you. I enjoyed the info on Corydoras and hard water. My water is hard to begin with and I use Wondershell to add calcium for my snails, but all seem to be healthy.

However I don’t expect my green neon to lay eggs because I understand they need soft water to breed.

On 10/28/2023 at 9:34 PM, nabokovfan87 said:
I'll try to dig up some research!

I would try to get GH > KH though.

Please tag me when you post on this elsewhere so I can find it.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/29/2023 at 5:42 AM, Sherry said:

However I don’t expect my green neon to lay eggs because I understand they need soft water to breed.

I’ve managed to spawn glowlight tetras by adding peat to my rock hard mountain water if you’re feeling like giving it a go…? 

[Sherry]

On 10/29/2023 at 10:08 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I’ve managed to spawn glowlight tetras by adding peat to my rock hard mountain water if you’re feeling like giving it a go…? 

Wow! That is exciting! The peat lowers the pH, right?

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/29/2023 at 8:09 PM, Sherry said:

Wow! That is exciting! The peat lowers the pH, right?

Lowers pH and softens the water 

[Sherry]

Hello everyone- I would like some advice about my plants.

I bought a 24” ACO lamp for my 20L tank. I have been trying to adjust time and intensity. I let Cyanobacteria get a good foothold in my tanks because I didn’t realize what a problem it would become. I got it pretty much under control now, but I turned the lights to the lowest setting and restricted the time to about 6 hours.

Are my plants supposed to pearl? Do you think six hours is enough time? My plants are the ones that like low light, but even they are looking leggy.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/20/2023 at 6:45 PM, Sherry said:

Are my plants supposed to pearl? Do you think six hours is enough time? My plants are the ones that like low light, but even they are looking leggy.

Pearling is a good sign, but a lot of people won't ever see it.  6 hours is plenty of light for a lot of plants and I think the majority of plants would be ok, but if you have certain species they may need the lights adjusted higher over time.  It doesn't have to be sudden, it can be done over several weeks-months.

What plants are you keeping?  If you would like to please feel free to share photos of what you're seeing.