Japes' 2010 Eartheater Work/Photolog
- Thread starter japes
- Start date
Will be doing up a growth log, but not in this thread. Here's a quick peak from a few days ago.
Will be taking shots every fortnight for a year to document their growth and development - gives me a reason to take photos anyway. I'll put up a thread in either 3 or 6 months pending what they're looking like and continue it from there.
Will be taking shots every fortnight for a year to document their growth and development - gives me a reason to take photos anyway. I'll put up a thread in either 3 or 6 months pending what they're looking like and continue it from there.
I've really enjoyed viewing your tanks. What photo set up are you using to photograph your tanks?
Alright, to answer the above from the last couple of pages:
Lighting: Hagen GLO setups with Life-GLO's.
Gear: Canon EOS400D / EF 50mm F/1.8 II EF-S, 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM. Tank lighting only.
I buy all of my driftwood, none of it is 'wild caught'.
Now, it's been a while since I've done an update.. so what's happening.
All has been going fantastically. I still have at least 10 freeswimming Inka 50 fry which the female is still guarding excellently. Have fully stocked my 180 Madeira setup with Tetra, Corydoras, and Eartheaters, without a single loss, with all healthy and high quality locally bred stock. Currently fully stocked and growing out the following:
16x Geophagus cf. argyrostictus "Aripuana" (to keep 6)
25x Inpaichthys kerri (Royal/Blue Emperor/Kerri Tetra)
15x Corydoras caudimaculatus
10x Otocinclus mariae
Coming into winter down here so I've invested in a second 300W Jager heater as backup, and have also insulated all doors and sump panels, including the lids, with styrofoam - also helps with sound, not that I have any issue with that.
.. and an obligatory full shot since the above is a bit of a tease. Tank doesn't look fantastic at the moment as I'm not really bothered about the scape. The Eartheaters and Tetra are so similarly sized at the moment that they tend to mash together and school with one another which isn't exactly great to watch. I'll worry about the scape in a few months when they're behaving more naturally.
Shot of the I. kerri that does them no justice. Unsure why these are such an uncommon Tetra.
The other displays are also doing well. As I said earlier the A. baenschi pair in the Huallaga cube are still guarding fry which are getting a bit of size to them now. I've been fighting Cyanobacteria aka Blue-Green Algae in both of the smaller tanks and there's a little bit creeping into the six foot, but it's all coming under control now that I'm starting to monitor Phosphate levels.
My office - yes that thing on the wall is still crooked.
Just to put everything out, a portrait shot of the cube (at ISO1600
). Here's some shots of the Apistogramma baenschi "Inka 50" fry and parents from almost a fortnight ago.
Dad in all his glory, minus the tip of his third dorsal hard-ray, which he managed to crack off killing the second girl.
Mother with fry. Fortunately that algae is on the way out.
My 3x18 Nanay setup is also doing well. Actually donated my old pair of Apistogramma sp. "Black-Chin/Schwarzkinn" and purchased a a pair that a friend (briztoon/DeadFishFloating/Peter from C-F for those that know him) was selling. This all happened yesterday, and they've already settled in nicely. Here's some shots from today.
Who needs Monster Fish?
So, the to-do list, it's forever changing but here's this entries:
- Reverse Osmosis unit. Went and looked at some the other day, not far off ordering. My tap waters still perfectly excellent for South Americans at pH 7.1, 4dgH, 4dkH, but a 50/50 mix for my Dwarfs will be excellent, especially for preventing this algae from reoccuring.
- Order and setup a couple of 2x1x14" tanks under the 6x2, and a 25 odd litre tank under my 3x18 setup to breed my Nannostomus mortenthaleri (Coral Red Pencilfish). Interestingly enough I want to try and paint the backgrounds white and see how they go!
- Add switches to my Hagen GLO units. Why they designed them without switches for tube control I don't know, but I want to run less permanent lighting to save some dosh on the power bill.
Cheers guys,
japes.
Lighting: Hagen GLO setups with Life-GLO's.
Gear: Canon EOS400D / EF 50mm F/1.8 II EF-S, 17-85mm F/4-5.6 IS USM. Tank lighting only.
I buy all of my driftwood, none of it is 'wild caught'.
Thank you sir, I really appreciate comments like this. You'll be happy to know that my stocking is -finally- all sorted, and I'm very happy with it! I actually have very little left on my to-do list, which I'll detail below.rrcoolj;4196011; said:
Now, it's been a while since I've done an update.. so what's happening.
All has been going fantastically. I still have at least 10 freeswimming Inka 50 fry which the female is still guarding excellently. Have fully stocked my 180 Madeira setup with Tetra, Corydoras, and Eartheaters, without a single loss, with all healthy and high quality locally bred stock. Currently fully stocked and growing out the following:
16x Geophagus cf. argyrostictus "Aripuana" (to keep 6)
25x Inpaichthys kerri (Royal/Blue Emperor/Kerri Tetra)
15x Corydoras caudimaculatus
10x Otocinclus mariae
Coming into winter down here so I've invested in a second 300W Jager heater as backup, and have also insulated all doors and sump panels, including the lids, with styrofoam - also helps with sound, not that I have any issue with that.
.. and an obligatory full shot since the above is a bit of a tease. Tank doesn't look fantastic at the moment as I'm not really bothered about the scape. The Eartheaters and Tetra are so similarly sized at the moment that they tend to mash together and school with one another which isn't exactly great to watch. I'll worry about the scape in a few months when they're behaving more naturally.
Shot of the I. kerri that does them no justice. Unsure why these are such an uncommon Tetra.
The other displays are also doing well. As I said earlier the A. baenschi pair in the Huallaga cube are still guarding fry which are getting a bit of size to them now. I've been fighting Cyanobacteria aka Blue-Green Algae in both of the smaller tanks and there's a little bit creeping into the six foot, but it's all coming under control now that I'm starting to monitor Phosphate levels.
My office - yes that thing on the wall is still crooked.
Just to put everything out, a portrait shot of the cube (at ISO1600
). Here's some shots of the Apistogramma baenschi "Inka 50" fry and parents from almost a fortnight ago.
Dad in all his glory, minus the tip of his third dorsal hard-ray, which he managed to crack off killing the second girl.
Mother with fry. Fortunately that algae is on the way out.
My 3x18 Nanay setup is also doing well. Actually donated my old pair of Apistogramma sp. "Black-Chin/Schwarzkinn" and purchased a a pair that a friend (briztoon/DeadFishFloating/Peter from C-F for those that know him) was selling. This all happened yesterday, and they've already settled in nicely. Here's some shots from today.
Who needs Monster Fish?
So, the to-do list, it's forever changing but here's this entries:
- Reverse Osmosis unit. Went and looked at some the other day, not far off ordering. My tap waters still perfectly excellent for South Americans at pH 7.1, 4dgH, 4dkH, but a 50/50 mix for my Dwarfs will be excellent, especially for preventing this algae from reoccuring.
- Order and setup a couple of 2x1x14" tanks under the 6x2, and a 25 odd litre tank under my 3x18 setup to breed my Nannostomus mortenthaleri (Coral Red Pencilfish). Interestingly enough I want to try and paint the backgrounds white and see how they go!
- Add switches to my Hagen GLO units. Why they designed them without switches for tube control I don't know, but I want to run less permanent lighting to save some dosh on the power bill.
Cheers guys,
japes.
Nice update Japes, the tanks and stock all look great. I love the appisto's, I have always loved the dwarfs. I am interested in what your plans are for the reverse osmosis. I have a new tank and am doing a 75% RO / 25% tap drip system since I am sick and tired of mixing. Will you be mixing manually or doing a drip system of some sort?
Send me PM if you would like to see pics of my set up for ideas.
Send me PM if you would like to see pics of my set up for ideas.
Thanks JK47, but I won't be doing an auto-change or direct system. I'm currently changing these tanks with the 25L (6G) drums you can see in the first photo of my last post, so I'll just be filling them up the day before, and then preheating them in winter with a couple of old heaters about an hour before I do the changes. I currently only plan to use the RO/mix for my dwarf tanks to keep TDS incredibly low, but it can serve as a backup if (when) my tap water changes to something less awesome.JK47;4239334; said:Nice update Japes, the tanks and stock all look great. I love the appisto's, I have always loved the dwarfs. I am interested in what your plans are for the reverse osmosis. I have a new tank and am doing a 75% RO / 25% tap drip system since I am sick and tired of mixing. Will you be mixing manually or doing a drip system of some sort?
Send me PM if you would like to see pics of my set up for ideas.
