Journal: My Southeast Asian Community Tank

Stick your hand in there and pull a chunk out...see how many snails come up with it.... or dose some copper and if the whole tank goes out of whack and you lose half the fish you know you have had an undergravel snail die off
Seriously have a look if there are loads of snails in that end...might be close to a heater, filter inlet, oulet whatever that they prefer that end.
Cheers,
KarelM

 

ok, I'm back....

Not being able to contain my curiosity, I stuck my fingers into the red stuff. It wasn't roots. In fact, my fingers weren't even red. but the red was gone. I therefore think we can conclude snail poo from tetra bits.


Here are some photos of some of the inhabitants.

This is Clarence. I hope to get a mate for him soon.


This is my male Pearl Gourami


This is one of the 4 females.


This is one of two moonlight gouramis. The other one is simply silver. No spots.


This is my weather loach.


The rest of the aquarium still looks the same. No changes. Some java ferns seem to be coming loose on the right hand side, but that's also ok as it adds to the natural look.

cheers!!
8)

 

Hi guys! Just to show that I haven’t broken it down yet and that it’s still running quite well.
Last water change: 16 November 2008 when I needed 50L of seeded water to cycle my Brazil Stream biotope.

Last time I opened the filter: 25 December 2007.
Substrate does not smell.

pH6.5. Temp 26. Nitrites zero.

All crypts growing well.


All the java ferns are making new babies and my balansae is flowering as it usually does this time of the year.


All in all, this tank is still a success. The only problems I have is that somehow I cannot seem to keep moonlight gouramis happy. Every time I put some in, they die.
Also, two of my electric timers have packed up, so I have to rebuild that.

Here’s one of my prized kubotai


Pearl gourami male and female


Betta female


Splash of colour "“ harlequin rasbora. The scissortail and red line rasboras only appear at feeding time.


Camo- snail


This photo was taken last night.


Maybe one day, when all these inhabitants have died (as all fish eventually do), I’ll rescape this aquarium.

 

Hey Richard, Your tank looks awesome. Just read the entire journal from the beginning. Very interesting! I'm never gonna uproot a plant again
Did you plant some of the java fern in the substrate?

 

Richard, what a success story!
The tank look better by the day. It make me think of a well matured steak or better still -a lovely bottle of aged red wine...
Hope you can add another 15 pages to this tread before rescaping, like every tank will eventualy need.
Good luck and cheers ( clinck! ) on a great tank!
Gert.

 

Awesome!! Love your Beta and can only say WOW for that tank of yours!

 

Hey Pikkie! No, one never plants java fern in the substrate. And come to think on it, the roots that go down, never seem to penetrate the substrate either... !

So ja... I leave things the way they are, and just clean the glass once in a while.

Hey Gert... ok. I'll keep posting updates. Not that anything actually happens there... I think I must arrange a celebration/party/whatever if I ever open the filter again!!

Maybe if you come visit again (as you never seem to anymore) I'll do a filter clean.... That will be cause for celebration!


cheers
8)

 

I must come and visit you again mate....been too long, but I'm sure you understand the reasons for the delay

Tank looks gr8 as usual Rich

 

ok. Bring beer and chips - we'll have a filter-clean-and-dale-visit party!! hahaha!!

Then maybe I'll freeze the contents of the filter for whoever wants to use it to seed a new tank with!

@Prof: will the good-stuff in the mulm remain intact if frozen?

8)

 

there won't be lots of squeezing!! It will just oooze out..... mmmmm yummy!!

Mulmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

LOL
8)

 

You got issues Rich

 

Hey Iv done it!

And the only problem I get is that it grows too fast


Oh and Also wanna come for another visit "preferably on the day with chips and beer!"

 

Really Phil. That's cool. Maybe i'll try that sometime, Cause all my java fern gets a lot of bright light and I don't think they like it too much :-\
But I assume the rhizome will still be above the substrate

 

Mine also gets very strong lights all that happens is the tips go a transparent green but that goes away as the plant matures.. oh and yip the rhizome must not be covered or it will rot, the best way to do this is to simply tie the java onto a small rock and let it send its own roots down (I have leaves that are about 30cm long doing this)

good luck..

 

Well, it seems as though Dale has disappeared and I ended up having a beer alone.
I finally had to give this aquarium a decent clean.


I noticed a smell in the water, and there was a green film developing on the water surface.


So I cleaned the filter (the last time was on 25 December 2007) and sommer the pipes too. It was very gunky! (but not smelly at all).


and did 50% water change.


All good.


In fact, the plants started pearling again soon after. (NOTE: I still don't add CO2)



Then I enjoyed a beer.



I think the plants in this aquarium are becoming too dense for its own good. Circulation seems to be hampered by all the plants, resulting in dead spots.
Sticking with my natural method and hands-off approach, I'll have to give it a drastic prune really soon. I'll pretend that it's a serious flood that has naturally occurred!

Then I'll have another beer.....



By the way, no fish losses.

 

Two things Richard:

1. I told you that you do need to clean your filters ever so often, glad to hear that you are finally coming around on that one, even if it is about about two years later.....

2. Are you sure that it was the plants that were pearling and that you did not spill your beer into the tank......

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

Hi Dirk

No, no... I DO clean the filters. Just not every 3 months as most people would want me to. I have now pushed the envelope, and now realise that it must be done annually.

(I'll leave you with a question: Do YOU waste beer on fish? hahaha!!!! )

8)

 

i would think adding beer to the fishtank would give instant pearling before any of the obvious problems showsw up.

 

Ok, time to show that this tank is still around by giving an update.

I did a 25% water change in December.
Plants are growing so quickly that I have had to remove 30% of all java ferns. These I sold to a guy at work who unfortunately did not leak-test his tank before setting it up, so it leaked and well...
I have to do another 30% decrease soon to give the fish some swimming space.

My Botia kubotai are still around. In fact the one is VERY round and hopefully might be pregnant. Will let you know if anything transpires from that.

It seems as though harlequin Rasboras start dying off after 3.5 years. I have lost 3 so far, but at long intervals, which means there is nothing wrong with the ecosystem.

Keep well.
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