My new office journey

[ADMWNDSR83]

Following up on my What Did You Do Today? post from last week, I was able today to get a new aquarium set up in my office at work.  I would like for you all to go on this journey with me, and see what we can make happen.  It's nowhere near as crafty as Daniel's 1930's masterpiece, but I gotta start somewhere!  I am not sure of the brand of the tank, although my guess is Marineland based on the biowheel.  I've never seen a filter quite like this one! There are a couple pictures in case anyone has some insight.  The media well runs the entire length of the tank under the lid, with a biowheel on one end where the return is. I have a tetra HT10 (or 30, I can't remember now and I just threw away the box!).  I put a piece of lava rock and some spiderwood in there, along with my first attempt at a specialized substrate (CaribSea ForalMax), housing some ACO Dwarf Sagitara and two Amazon swords which were replants from my home tank.  I haven't decided yet what will grace my office at work, although I have some ideas.  I continue to be open to suggestions from the peanut gallery!  Tell me what y'all think!

 

 

[Ken Dyer]

Looking great! I love my also recently added office tank. So far it is 2 khuli loaches and a few snails but already it is helping reduce work stress 😁

[Fonske]

7 hours ago, ADMWNDSR83 said:

I've never seen a filter quite like this one!

Similar type of filtration in ready-made aquariums is very popular here in China. One difference is that the filter boxes usually have a spray bar over the entire length of the media and a simple waterfall or nozzle return. Pretty easy to clean and service. 

[ADMWNDSR83]

Three days after starting the tank, Nitrates are at 10-20, Nitrite and chlorine are both at 0, Hardness was about 150, with alkalinity about 80.  pH was approximately 7.  I forgot to bring my ammonia test.  The temp is the thing that has me confused, the thermometer reads 84, so I unplugged the heater to see what happens.  A few hours later, the thermometer still reads 84.  I was thinking that the fluorescent light must just put out that much heat.  However, the water was pretty cool to the touch, so I may get another thermometer to make sure.  I also seeded the tank with some food this afternoon, so we'll keep an eye on the cycle.  If the temp is truly stuck at 84, it may make fish selection limited, but I'm working on figuring that out.

[ADMWNDSR83]

Wanted to share 4 options I'm considering at this point to see if anyone else has an opinion or an idea on a new thought for me to ponder.

1.  I have 3 orange lyretail mollies in my home tank that I could bring up.

2. I have 3 Mickey Mouse Swordtails in my home tank I could bring up.

3.  I could get a nice betta and give him a beautiful castle, or a couple females in a little sorority.

4.  I could get 4 guppies and let them breed, then try to find a buyer.

 

Any thoughts?  These are the four I've been creative enough on, but I'm open to other thoughts.

[Fonske]

I would not let livebearers breed before finding an outlet for the offspring (lesson learned). How about shrimp, alone or with some tetras/rasboras? Shrimp are a lot of fun when you can observe them closely. And maybe some neons or black neons, embers, lambchops, etc. if inverts only is not enough. 

If you decide to go with guppies, one female that has been kept in mixed sex tank will likely already be enough for a lot of fry :)  

[ADMWNDSR83]

I had considered shrimp, especially after a horrible failure in my home tank.  My concern with them now is that the substrate I chose, CaribSea FloraMax, says on the bag it may not be safe for some freshwater shrimp.  Not sure how to make sure the little guys will be safe.

[Fonske]

10 hours ago, ADMWNDSR83 said:

Not sure how to make sure the little guys will be safe

I would let the tank mature a bit, toss a big bush of java fern into it and then get feeders for cheap or collect some in local bodies of water if it is legal/possible for you. I got mine from a pond that is on the same city water as I am, and they are thriving in my tanks. Later I bought cherries to add some color and those are completely invisible while the wild ghosts are out and about all the time. 

[Brandy]

I would not do the bettas unless that tank is larger than it looks...and maybe not even then. Males get so protective over the young they can go after the female after breeding is completed. If your heat is really that high do a pair of german blue rams! Tons of color and personality. Mine are easy keepers, but I have soft acidic tap water--literally the perfect stuff for them. They try to breed about once a month, but in their crowded tank they have not been successful raising young. If they were alone with no snails, I would have a bucket of fry by now I bet.

[ADMWNDSR83]

1 minute ago, Brandy said:

I would not do the bettas unless that tank is larger than it looks...and maybe not even then. Males get so protective over the young they can go after the female after breeding is completed. If your heat is really that high do a pair of german blue rams! Tons of color and personality. Mine are easy keepers, but I have soft acidic tap water--literally the perfect stuff for them. They try to breed about once a month, but in their crowded tank they have not been successful raising young. If they were alone with no snails, I would have a bucket of fry by now I bet.

The tank is either 10 or 12.5 gallons.  I wouldn't do betta breeding, if I did a betta it would be one manly looking male with some dither fish to hang around.  If I did a betta it would rule out the shrimp, according to @Cory

[Brandy]

Depends on the betta. Mine just steals their food! 😆

[Mel]

Oh if you're going for a well planted tank I'd be tempted to try some sparkling gourami (they croak! It's so cool!) or scarlet badis. Not sure on group sizes for the gourami, maybe 1 male and 2 females? 🤔

I've had multiple bettas with shrimp but each one is unique so ymmv. The Amanos seem to be big enough to not tempt my king betta.

[Nick Y]

I think chili rasboras would look really cool in that tank

[ADMWNDSR83]

1 hour ago, Nick Y said:

I think chili rasboras would look really cool in that tank

At PetSupplies Plus today, I happened upon a 50% all fish all week sale, and a betta that caught my eye.  I'll put on a picture once he's had a few days in the tank and gets some of his color back, but I think he'll be red and black, so I am thinking chili rasboras or rummynose tetras will eventually be his friends.

[ADMWNDSR83]

"Elpy" was introduced to his new home today.  As can be seen, he is very pale and silvery, but does have some red tint in his body and a pale gray in the fins.  I'm hopeful that he will color up some as he gets used to plenty of space and proper nutrition, but he looks pretty cool as is.

I'll be keeping a close eye on him for the next few days.  He has a weird twitch, so I'm hoping that's nothing.

[Streetwise]

On 11/23/2020 at 12:16 AM, Mel said:

Oh if you're going for a well planted tank I'd be tempted to try some sparkling gourami (they croak! It's so cool!) or scarlet badis.

Scarlet Badis are on my to-do list. Do you know of any videos of Gouramis croaking, or can you take one?

Edited November 24, 2020 by Streetwise

[aduck757]

One thing you might want to consider is an auto feeder. With all these shutdowns this year I set one up and it saved my fish when we shut down for a month. Also, growing pothos out of the tank kept nitrates down enough that missing some water changes wasn't a major problem. Good luck, I love a good office tank!

[ADMWNDSR83]

@aduck757, we are on every essential-to-life list there is, so there's no hope of me getting out of here!  I do like the idea of an auto feeder, though, if I can figure out where to put one!  Worst case scenario, all staff has access to my key and can get into my office to do my dirty work.

[Mel]

This is what made me want to get some. Hopefully will be able to soon. @Streetwise

https://youtu.be/BWDsDkUMRMc

[Streetwise]

@Mel, that is amazing. Those fish are bumped up to the top of my list.

[ADMWNDSR83]

@Mel, now I'm angry I didn't find them first, since I figure one or two of them would likely not be friendly with Elpy.  

As an update, Elpy is looking much better today, still quite pale silvery, but he is moving around the tank much more, and is seemingly more comfortable. 

I got OmegaOne betta pellets for him, that say they are floating, but the sink quite rapidly.  I gave him a few today, and he chases them as the fall, then gives up once the hit the bottom.  I may need to get flakes instead.  I also got him a ZooMed treat pack with freeze dried bloodworms, daphnia, and mysis shrimp so I can give him treats from time to time.  Would it be better to simply always feed him the freeze dried, or does he need the other food?

[Mel]

Well there's always the next tank! 😉

I use the hikari betta bio gold. It floats really well. One of my bettas isn't so good with those. They also get vibra bites and frozen brine shrimp. I like to feed a mix of foods. 

Bloodworms are usually a big hit with bettas. But I'm not sure how nutritionally complete the freeze dried stuff is. It might be good to add in a good quality pellet or flake.

[ADMWNDSR83]

Five ghost shrimp and 3 marimo moss balls were introduced to the tank today!  So far Elpy is playing nice.

[Tami]

@ADMWNDSR83Did you quarantine your ghost shrimp? If so, how long?

I just bought 4 on Sunday, they are so cool and 1 already molted. Tonight they went crazy at feeding time.  I want to put them in my 29g but am trying to be patient so everyone is safe.

Thanx

[ADMWNDSR83]

@Tami, I am a horrible human being and did not quarantine.