gdachev Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Hey everyone, I've been interested in the hobby for quite some time, but 2 weeks ago I finally pulled the trigger and set up my first tank. Sadly not much space for a bigger aquarium in my apartment so I had to go with a 12-gallon one. The idea is to create an interesting community-like tank with fish appropriate for the size. So far in the tank: 6x Ember Tetra 6x Pygmy Corydoras I will be also looking to add a betta as the center piece of the aquarium in the near future and that should be the absolute maximum stocking. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBOzzie59 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 That's a real good looking tank! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 Nice setup! Another option could be to just expand one of those schools you already have rather than getting another type of fish. Lots of fish tend to act differently when they have larger schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted July 19, 2023 Author Share Posted July 19, 2023 On 7/19/2023 at 2:20 AM, Schuyler said: Nice setup! Another option could be to just expand one of those schools you already have rather than getting another type of fish. Lots of fish tend to act differently when they have larger schools. Yeah, the ember tetras were so shy and skittish when they were alone in the tank. Getting the pygmies changed their behaviour completely. They are now super active. Thanks for the suggestion but I want that center piece fish in that tank. Hopefully there is no problem with aggression. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted July 24, 2023 Author Share Posted July 24, 2023 Got myself the Betta I wanted and well I did not like how he was behaving. He would constantly chase the other fish around and I felt like he is rather aggressive even without seeing him actually nip any of them. Got him in this breeding box until I figure out what to do next. Does anyone have experience with adding a Betta to a community tank. Do they always chase the other fish at first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 My LFS took the betta from me as I did not want to take any chances. He spent just a day in the jail. As I was returning him I saw they were selling clown killifish so I thought they are gonna be the perfect last piece of the community. I got 4 of them, will potentially get 2 females more if they do ok in my tank. So right now we are looking at fish for every level at the tank and I would say I am completely stocked, no room for more. Here are the new killifish that I got. They are still juveniles, but I think it is 2 males and 2 females based on their behaviour. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the morning post-feeding time, with the tetras and cories picking up leftovers. Also anubias plant is blooming and the limnophila is growing too. For the future I will be looking to get some more floating plants in order for the killifish to feel more comfortable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted July 26, 2023 Author Share Posted July 26, 2023 Got 3 cherries 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted August 17, 2023 Author Share Posted August 17, 2023 Update before going on a vacation. Added a new plant (Taiwan lily I think?) and new driftwood piece with some java moss on it. Everything has been looking healthy so far. Plants are growing, fish are happy, water quality is perfect. The killifish are super exciting to watch, they like exploring the tank and are always doing something. First thing on the list for the future is to get a new prettier stand as I am currently using a couch table. After my vacation I am thinking of getting a Honey Gourami if I can find one and possibly adding a sponge filter as well to help with filtration and provide more surface for bacteria. Got some marco booster as well to combine with the Flourish I am currently using and will start dosing it to see what are the results. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted August 28, 2023 Author Share Posted August 28, 2023 Back from vacation and everything is looking even better. A friend fed the fish twice for the span of 8 days and everyone made it healthy. A lot of new growth on the Taiwan lily, which nearly doubled in size and also the limnophila is going strong. Killifish look to be growing bigger and bigger with one of them starting to color up on the tail and I am sure it is a male. I am now on the search for a Honey gourami. Also I am thinking of adding a bit of sand over the gravel at one spot to make some sort of a sand bed mainly for the cories. Still thinking where the best place would be (in front of the big rock maybe?). 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Just making sure... There is a lid that covers the whole tank, right? It's hard to tell in the picture. Clown killis are jumpers (like most killifish). Your tank is looking great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted August 29, 2023 Author Share Posted August 29, 2023 On 8/29/2023 at 7:56 PM, Schuyler said: Just making sure... There is a lid that covers the whole tank, right? It's hard to tell in the picture. Clown killis are jumpers (like most killifish). Your tank is looking great! Yes, the whole top is covered. No one is escaping. Thanks! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrHarrys Posted August 29, 2023 Share Posted August 29, 2023 Your tank is gorgeous! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted August 29, 2023 Author Share Posted August 29, 2023 (edited) Finally got the aquarium a nice stand. It spent almost 2 month on a little table. Had to do a 50% water change in order to be able to lift up the tank and move it and I am hoping this does not crash the cycle. Edited August 29, 2023 by gdachev 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted September 3, 2023 Author Share Posted September 3, 2023 Honey Gouramis are nowhere to be found in my area, so here is Kevin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted September 3, 2023 Share Posted September 3, 2023 On 9/3/2023 at 6:29 PM, gdachev said: Honey Gouramis are nowhere to be found in my area, so here is Kevin what kind of hillstream loach is he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted September 4, 2023 Author Share Posted September 4, 2023 On 9/4/2023 at 1:35 AM, GoofyGarra said: what kind of hillstream loach is he? It is a Tiger Hillstream Loach - Sewellia Lineolata 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 (edited) Long time no update. Sadly since the last update I’ve had some unexpected mortality in the tank. I lost a tetra, the hillstream loach and one cherry shrimp all in the matter of 3-4 days. There were no signs of anything wrong with water parameters so I am still confused about it. However after making sure there is no disease and all other fish seemed and behaved nice I got some new inhabitants! A local seller had a shipment of dwarf gouramis and I picked up a female one as I was still scared of aggression. Luckily it seems like the gourami is nothing like the betta I tried and she (I assume) gets on with all other fish pretty welll. No signs of aggression whatsoever. Also got an otto and he is very fun to watch, always active. I think I am going to let the aquarium with this stocking tor the foreseeable future. Plants seem to be doing good, except for the dwarf lilly which I had to get rid of. Java moss has completely taken over the tank. Recently found out that a seller in the country has been selling Scarlet Badis and now it is up to getting my girlfriend on board for a second tank. Edited November 7, 2023 by gdachev 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 This is how it starts! I think you are starting to catch a case of MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) . I say you skip the 2nd tank, and go ahead and get the 3rd and 4th one......ha ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 (edited) @gdachev, Love the tank! For the betta's aggression, they don't like to look at the brightly coloured fish or fish with big fan tails the embers must have made it jealous, for lack of better terms, and aggressive (They like to stand out and be the only bright coloured one, how greedy!). But anyways this is a very nice tank! It's so aesthetically pleasing! Ever think about otocinclus or ghost shrimp in there? You should try it! OH you did get an otocinclus! Never mind lmao! Edited November 19, 2023 by Kaiju Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted November 19, 2023 Author Share Posted November 19, 2023 On 11/19/2023 at 5:05 PM, Kaiju said: @gdachev, Love the tank! For the betta's aggression, they don't like to look at the brightly coloured fish or fish with big fan tails the embers must have made it jealous, for lack of better terms, and aggressive (They like to stand out and be the only bright coloured one, how greedy!). But anyways this is a very nice tank! It's so aesthetically pleasing! Ever think about otocinclus or shrimp in there? You should try it! There is an otto and 2 red cherry shrimp. 🙂Thanks! On 11/19/2023 at 2:14 PM, Matt B said: This is how it starts! I think you are starting to catch a case of MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) . I say you skip the 2nd tank, and go ahead and get the 3rd and 4th one......ha ha. Well I already have a fish rack planned (schematic drawn and everything) for when we move to a bigger apartment hahah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 19, 2023 Share Posted November 19, 2023 On 11/19/2023 at 9:09 AM, gdachev said: There is an otto and 2 red cherry shrimp. 🙂Thanks! Just a tip; Otos are recomended to be kept in schools. So if you can try to get 1 or 2 more! 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted Sunday at 11:25 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 11:25 PM Big changes over the past weeks. Sadly the Dwarf Gourami passed away. I think it was a case of dwarf gourami disease as there were no clear signs and out of the blue it just started hiding and lost appetite and 2 or 3 days later it was gone. This immediately showed effect on the pygmy corries as I started to see them more and more and I realized all that time they were probably scared of the gourami and that's why they were only hiding in the back. Another thinkg is that the Java moss completely covered the whole tank and there was a lot of string algae all over it. This was stopping all the other plants from growing so I planned for a little bit of re-scapping. I bought some new driftwood piece and a lot of plants and came up with this: The behaviour of the pydgmies with no big fish also made me realize that maybe I am better off withouth one and I opted for 10 small chili rasboras. Honestly this is the most satisfied I have been with the tank so far. It just looks so lively with all the small fish and plants. Fish non-stop scattering around. I also forgot to mention that 3 months ago I received some baby cherry shrimp (~15) from a friend who was just going to throw them out so I made a filterless shrimp jar with some substrate from the tank. It actually worked out pretty well and now all the shrimp that survived are in the aquarium so it has plenty of those too. So far pretty satisfied with the state of the tank right now. The next step would be a DIY CO2 system which is to be seen at the post below. A few more pics of the tank from the first day after re-scapping: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoofyGarra Posted Sunday at 11:27 PM Share Posted Sunday at 11:27 PM (edited) Nice to hear from your tanks again, glad to see the cories are doing good, the plants look very nice. Sorry to hear your gouarmis didnt work out. Be careful with DIY C02, it is one of the best ways to crash pH quickly and kill of the shrimp. Edited Sunday at 11:28 PM by GoofyGarra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted Sunday at 11:28 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 11:28 PM (edited) DIY CO2 system also done. Waiting for pressure to build up right now. The tank is super fun to look at and every habitant seems to be enjoying it. No sings of stress in any. Also did not expect the cherry shrimp to love frozen brine shrimp. Currently in the tank: 10 Chili Rasboras 9-10 Pygmy corries 3 Clown Killifish 2 Ember tetras (I also had some tetras die on me) 1 Otto 10+ Cherry shrimp Kinda stuffed fora 10 gallon, but with the size of all the fish in mind and the maturity of the tank + the plants, I think this will work. Here is also a short video: Edited Sunday at 11:31 PM by gdachev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdachev Posted Sunday at 11:41 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 11:41 PM A few months ago I also had an unsuccessful attempt at keeping Scarlet Badis. They have been one of my favourite fish for a while and I was not able to find them anywhere in Bulgaria so when I saw that some shop was selling them online I immediately took the oppurtunity. It was said by the seller that they ate flake food, however they did not seem to want it in my tank. So I got to hatching baby brine shrimp for the first time and that was a success I guess. However I was given 2 males, even though i specifically ordered a pair and during the first week one of them disappeared. I don't know if it was aggresion or what. The other one made it 2-3 weeks more and then suddenly disappeared as well. My guess is underfeeding the scarlet badis as I was not hatching baby brine shrimp everyday, but every 2/3 days because I did not have the time and fed frozen baby brine the other time but I do not know how well they were taking it. Well lesson learned and in the future I am definitely going to be making a species only tank for these fish. Some pics from when I had them. I wish I did better and was more prepared but I will do better next time. On 5/20/2024 at 2:27 AM, GoofyGarra said: Nice to hear from your tanks again, glad to see the cories are doing good, the plants look very nice. Sorry to hear your gouarmis didnt work out. Be careful with DIY C02, it is one of the best ways to crash pH quickly and kill of the shrimp. I am planning on taking it out of the tank during night so I think that should be alright? Do you have any tips on stabilizing the pH in case this thing happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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