More tank pics, updated
- Thread starter FINWIN
- Start date
I will be posting a couple of updated pics of the 125. I've pretty much abandoned the idea of keeping live plants in it. There are a few plants left but the fish keep pulling them up then they shed in the flow and clog everything. I wouldn't put Cabomba in any type of flow again, it's worse than Hornwort. Large prefilters should be arriving by Thursday.
The live stuff is doing much better in the 225 and smaller tanks. Depth in the 225 keeps the filters from clogging up. Since the smaller tanks are run by sponge filters there's no problem with shedding and clogging.
The live stuff is doing much better in the 225 and smaller tanks. Depth in the 225 keeps the filters from clogging up. Since the smaller tanks are run by sponge filters there's no problem with shedding and clogging.
Hmmm...okay...maybe you can help me out here...
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachments/20200803_192244-jpg.1523753/
Please start in the upper left corner and proceed clockwise. I know it's not PC, but I'm old-fashioned and prefer gender-appropriate names if possible.
This pic shows a couple square feet of the pond; by the time you finish up with this batch I should have another 15 or so pics showing the rest of the swarm. I really appreciate the assistance; last time I tried to do this alone, there would always be another few hundred fry that hatched out halfway through and messed things up.
FINWIN
, I feel silly making suggestions regarding plants, considering my own abysmal track record with them, but I almost always have the shedding problem with Hornwort when moving some into a new tank. It's a PITA, no question, but I find that if you tough it out for awhile the plant usually comes back strong and attractive and flourishes thereafter...until, of course, the next time you transfer some...I just took a couple big handfuls out of my inground pond and distributed them throughout my stock tanks. I fully expect most of it to look like crap within days...but I'm confident that, like it does every year, it will look terrific in a couple weeks. I will have literal bushels of it going into the compost heap come fall.
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LOL naming all those fish is the type of project I could use! I guess you could call them THE M.O.G. (Mob of Gold). But only after you measure each one!Hmmm...okay...maybe you can help me out here...
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/attachments/20200803_192244-jpg.1523753/
Please start in the upper left corner and proceed clockwise. I know it's not PC, but I'm old-fashioned and prefer gender-appropriate names if possible.
This pic shows a couple square feet of the pond; by the time you finish up with this batch I should have another 15 or so pics showing the rest of the swarm. I really appreciate the assistance; last time I tried to do this alone, there would always be another few hundred fry that hatched out halfway through and messed things up.
I just took a couple big handfuls out of my inground pond and distributed them throughout my stock tanks. I fully expect most of it to look like crap within days...but I'm confident that, like it does every year, it will look terrific in a couple weeks. I will have literal bushels of it going into the compost heap come fall.
What I found out with the Hornwort and Cabomba is that if they float they collect every particle of uneaten food, mulm, etc. If you don't wash them off they're bacteria pits...some of the pieces I thot were good were shot, mostly scraps covered in mulm and algae. And clogging stuff like a mofo. I had the hornwort floating because supposedly if you plant them they die off.
Cabomba is even worse, basically a dust mop. It looks great with minimal or no flow but the minute you have real water movement they get matted and collect everything too. Hornwort will clog filters...Cabomba blocks them completely in a fused glop of green.
The hornwort is doing very well in the smaller tanks and the 225. Elodea is ok in every tank (the fish all love pulling it up). I've got a nice bloom of duckweed going in Lazarus tank which has eliminated all the algae. The growout has a combo of plants.
The parrot tanks also have plants doing well,-water sprite, hornwort, elodea, pothos. The submerged pothos has not survived in the 125 BUT maintains well in the other tanks. In the 225 I've gathered the vines into planted groups at the bottom.
There are only 2 bunches of live plants surviving in the 125, elodea (pulled up) and Cabomba in the far corner. The hrps have stripped and eaten all water sprite, a lot of the hornwort, and all of the red potted plants I had. The Vals all dissolved in every tank.
Cabomba and Elodea (...or Anacharis...or Egeria...dang taxonomists!) grew for me like wildfire the last time I had them...in the 1980's. I haven't seen them for sale in so long that I suspect they are, like half of the aquarium hobby, illegal in Manitoba.
Obviously there are differing opinions on Hornwort; I agree it clogs filters when it first falls apart, but once the new growth comes in...which happens really quickly...I find it to be completely trouble-free. It's gotta float free; as nice as it looks when anchored/rooted/fastened, it never does well that way for me. It's astronomical growth rate makes me think it must be a terrific nitrate-fixer.
I was just kiddin' around about the fish names. My painfully precocious granddaughter came up with a perfect name for my burgeoning colony of Goldfish; she actually phoned me up and informed me that they would be The Golden Horde. One slightly misshapen one has become a special favourite of her and her sister, and has gone to live with them. His name is Fred.
The same granddaughter, shortly after watching a Star Trek TNG marathon with her reprobate grandfather, also christened the Rosy Reds with the perfect moniker: The Borg.
When she comes up with a name...resistance is futile.
I haven't seen them for sale in so long that I suspect they are, like half of the aquarium hobby, illegal in Manitoba.Obviously there are differing opinions on Hornwort; I agree it clogs filters when it first falls apart, but once the new growth comes in...which happens really quickly...I find it to be completely trouble-free. It's gotta float free; as nice as it looks when anchored/rooted/fastened, it never does well that way for me. It's astronomical growth rate makes me think it must be a terrific nitrate-fixer.
I was just kiddin' around about the fish names. My painfully precocious granddaughter came up with a perfect name for my burgeoning colony of Goldfish; she actually phoned me up and informed me that they would be The Golden Horde. One slightly misshapen one has become a special favourite of her and her sister, and has gone to live with them. His name is Fred.
The same granddaughter, shortly after watching a Star Trek TNG marathon with her reprobate grandfather, also christened the Rosy Reds with the perfect moniker: The Borg.
When she comes up with a name...resistance is futile.
Phew. I was running out of names lolI was just kiddin' around about the fish names. My painfully precocious granddaughter came up with a perfect name for my burgeoning colony of Goldfish; she actually phoned me up and informed me that they would be The Golden Horde. One slightly misshapen one has become a special favourite of her and her sister, and has gone to live with them. His name is Fred.
The same granddaughter, shortly after watching a Star Trek TNG marathon with her reprobate grandfather, also christened the Rosy Reds with the perfect moniker: The Borg.
Dang! I should have let you work on that list for a bit before admitting it was unnecessary...
Got a surprise.
It appears as if I have snails. They appeared suddenly today while I did a w/c on the parrot tanks. The fresh water had them running to the top! They did a good job of hiding all these weeks (guess my plant qt didn't work last time). So I pulled a couple off the glass in BP Kong's tank and dropped them. She gobbled 2 snails at once. She's back to being piebald again and her nuchal hump is big.
The silk vines have been added to the 125 and have calmed the tank. The big males now have new places to rest and explore on different levels. The tiny pink fry Outlaw Baby is shoaling with two striped siblings.
Here are the jumbo sponge prefilters that arrived today...these suckers are huge, even bigger than the ones I once used in the 225. 4 x 8" approx. I'm rethinking my filtration project. I could put these bad boys on the acl 110's, remove the sponge stack filters in the corners and secure the powerheads up top. Might tinker with that idea.
It appears as if I have snails. They appeared suddenly today while I did a w/c on the parrot tanks. The fresh water had them running to the top! They did a good job of hiding all these weeks (guess my plant qt didn't work last time). So I pulled a couple off the glass in BP Kong's tank and dropped them. She gobbled 2 snails at once. She's back to being piebald again and her nuchal hump is big.
The silk vines have been added to the 125 and have calmed the tank. The big males now have new places to rest and explore on different levels. The tiny pink fry Outlaw Baby is shoaling with two striped siblings.
Here are the jumbo sponge prefilters that arrived today...these suckers are huge, even bigger than the ones I once used in the 225. 4 x 8" approx. I'm rethinking my filtration project. I could put these bad boys on the acl 110's, remove the sponge stack filters in the corners and secure the powerheads up top. Might tinker with that idea.
That's interesting. I am a fan of snails and have had them in most of my tanks for almost 60 years...but I've never seen a snail do anything "suddenly"...
Small news not much today.
Have another layer of vines to add to the 125 this week. Pics when I'm done. There's no hierarchy much anymore with the hrps. Bruce has blossomed into an impressive specimen now. He rarely shows his stripes now (looks shades of gray) and chases his kin aggressively at times. Mongo has his nuchal hump back but can't establish dominance. Slade has been less aggressive since getting stuck in a log the second time. Not confident anymore and kind of skittish at times. One of his adult sons Squiggy is now larger. Slade's son Brutus is still growing and I have no idea how big he'll end up!
Stripey and Scooter are the ony two who won't put up with Bruce and his antics. Stripey walloped him pretty good the other day. Mongo tries to start fights but can't find room or running space to do so (as per plan). Jumbo prefilter sponges are now on the ACL 110s in the 125. They will be installed soon in the 225.
The floating duckweed has now pretty much covered the surface of Lazarus' tank, lol...all that from 3 widdle pieces.
Have another layer of vines to add to the 125 this week. Pics when I'm done. There's no hierarchy much anymore with the hrps. Bruce has blossomed into an impressive specimen now. He rarely shows his stripes now (looks shades of gray) and chases his kin aggressively at times. Mongo has his nuchal hump back but can't establish dominance. Slade has been less aggressive since getting stuck in a log the second time. Not confident anymore and kind of skittish at times. One of his adult sons Squiggy is now larger. Slade's son Brutus is still growing and I have no idea how big he'll end up!
Stripey and Scooter are the ony two who won't put up with Bruce and his antics. Stripey walloped him pretty good the other day. Mongo tries to start fights but can't find room or running space to do so (as per plan). Jumbo prefilter sponges are now on the ACL 110s in the 125. They will be installed soon in the 225.
The floating duckweed has now pretty much covered the surface of Lazarus' tank, lol...all that from 3 widdle pieces.
