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Surprisingly, the fish that's touted as one of the more sturdy fish in my tank have had a problem staying alive. I've now lost 3 male Rosy Barbs, although two were explained easily. One had physical damage, and the other one that was a replacement, was stressed immediately after joining the tank and never recovered. The tally now stands at 9 Rosy Barbs, and they're all doing great.
The official stock list:
- 4 Silver Dollars
- 6 Pearl Gouramis
- 10 Praecox (neon) Rainbows
- 10 Sterbae Corydoras
- 9 Rosy Barbs
- 2 Bushynose Plecos
- 1 Rainbow Shark
In other news, one of the female Gouramis developed a mouth fungus that was not getting better on its' own, so Teresa at Terre Quatics recommended treating it with Melafix. Of course treating in a 125 gallon tank really isn't practical, so she set me up with a used 10 gallon setup. Tank, cover, heater, filter, and medication, all for under $30. And it'll be handy to have around for future use. This tank will be torn down when the Gourami is healed, and we'll keep it in storage for fish emergencies.
I have been eyeing up a 25 gallon tank that would make a great companion to the main tank, but we'll wait a while before setting up another aquarium.
The rest of the clan is also doing well, and all the water problems I had have gone away. The last remaining fish to get are the centerpiece Silver Dollars, I'll probably wait another month or so before getting them. Stay tuned!
On the actual aquarium side, my bacterial bloom has completely dissipated. The cloudiness went away last week, and even a water change this morning didn't bring about any new cloudiness. I think the tank is finally settling in. The BN Plecos are doing a good job on all the algae, and the brown stuff is getting sucked into the filter. I'm glad I added the second canister, it was definitely needed.
The sun hits the tank just right for about 20 minutes a day, and I took the opportunity this morning to snap a couple shots of the new rainbow shark who's been growing like a weed, and the shoal of Rainbow Praecox, who continue to amaze me with brilliant neon blues and reds. Click on the pictures for larger images and enjoy!
VIDEO of Rosy Barbs
chasing around tank:
The second issue is the brown "algae" or diatoms that commonly appear in new tanks. I have reduced feeding significantly just in case that was the problem, and will monitor the situation.
More exciting are the two new Bushynose Plecos (L144) that are now calling the tank home. They're kind of hard to see during the light hours, as they like to hide under the driftwood. Hopefully they'll help with the diatom outbreak.
I am also adding some moonlight LEDs so we can watch the fish after "lights out". Finally, I'm adding a second canister filter, the Marineland Magnum 350 for water polishing duties. I've also added some ceramic rings to the Rena canister filter to aid in growing some more bacteria to prevent future bacterial blooms.
Dec 17th, 2007: A sad day today. Our first tank casualty. The Rainbow Shark is no longer with us. I hadn't seen him today, so tonight I looked under all the stuff, and found the carcass under the root where he hung out. He'll be missed.
Dec 9th, 2007: The Gouramis like having plants and subdued lighting and the "old" tank setup provided neither, so we made a return trip back to the fish store yesterday to pick up some more fake plants. (Some of our future fish plans include fish that are not very plant friendly). The biggest addition is the floating plant. We played with 4 other places in the tank for this guy, and it just didn't look right, so it wound up in front of the intake, which I think looks pretty nice. The Gouramis like it there and 4 of the 6 spent the night sleeping in it. We added a couple other smaller plants to round things out. I bought one more piece of driftwood for the tank. It's getting shipped here from Texas. Stay tuned for that one, because it will "make a statement".
Dec 8th, 2007: Another milestone for our aquarium. After checking the water and seeing that both the ammonia and nitrites are 0, we decided to get some new fish. Greta and I went to the fish store, I had in mind which fish to choose from, and Greta ultimately chose. We came home with six Pearl Gouramis and a Rainbow Shark. So far the Gouramis are hanging out in a tight group, slowly exploring the tank. The Red Rainbow Shark has attached himself to the bottom of one of the root pieces, and is exploring all the good hidey holes in the tank. The Rosy Barbs checked everyone out, and seem to be OK with their new tank co-inhabitants. They're schooling a bit more now than when they had the run of the place, which makes them more interesting to watch. It is fun to see how differently the Barbs and Gouramis move around the tank.
Nov 24th, 2007: Just a quick update. The nitrogen cycle is starting to establish. The ammonia level is staying right around 2 mg/L (PPM) where it has been since I added the Rosy Barbs. The nitrite level is just starting to show up and is right around 0.3 ml/L. Hopefully in the next few days the ammonia level will start to drop as the bacteria that convert to nitrites colonize. We've also been doing a little fish shopping. The Silver Dollars are still high on the list, and we'll probably add some Gouramis and a Rainbow Shark. I found a neat site with lots of tank ideas at Elmer's Aquarium.
Nov 17th, 2007: Upon the recommendation of Teresa, the gal at the fish store, we put some Rosy Barbs in the tank as our starter fish. Known as hardy fish, they will help start the bacteria that will cycle the tank. They are very lively, and friendly in a community tank. After the tank cycles, we will be adding a Clown Pleco to do cleanup work, and some Silver Dollars as our next schooling fish. Who knows where we'll go from there! Keep an eye on this page for further developments.
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