25G - South America Community Tank

[bizfromqc]

Well here we go again. My female is in brood colors again and has been going in and out of the coco-hut starting last evening.

My wife said the entrance to the coco-hut was entirely covered with sand when she came home from work. A little while after, it was cleared and both the male and female stayed in there for hours!!! Since then, she keeps popping in and out of the coco-hut, flashes to the male and bolts back in. If he doesn't get the message loud and clear, he's a little slow on the uptake  They've done it before and know how it's done so I have faith in them but seriously, where am I going to put them ?!? LOL I was hoping they'd give me enough time to raise the other juvies before they would go at it again...

On another note, the corys seem to be having a good time in the tank and loving the sand, sometimes totally burying their heads in it to find food. I might have gone overboard with feeding them when I originally got them so I'm skipping 2-3 days feeding to let them catch up. The pleco is slowly but surely getting rid of all the fuzz that developed on the piece of wood in the tank.

Some pictures for your enjoyment (and my posting addiction)

[bizfromqc]

Nice pleco!  Where did you get it? 
I'm looking for just the standard BN. 

From my good friends at La Niche.
It was the last albino one but they still had a couple of standard BN left. Give'em a call.

[touchofsky]

Eric,
Big Al's in the west end, has a whole tank of what they call "dwarf sword".  It is exactly what I bought and I am pretty sure it is Echinodorus tenellus.  What they have now must have been grown emersed (above water).  When I bought it there last fall, it looked like what they now have. Once planted in my tank, it turned into the submerged version and sent out lots of runners.  They have it priced at 2 for $6.99.  I only paid 99 cents for mine, but I think they were on sale because they were pretty shabby at the time.  Here is an interesting page about chain swords grown both submerged and emersed.
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Chainswords-NeilFrank.htm 

[daworldisblack]

Love it! You feed my addiction to see pics of others' tanks ! Haha. Looking good Eric!

[bizfromqc]

Eric,
Big Al's in the west end, has a whole tank of what they call "dwarf sword".  It is exactly what I bought and I am pretty sure it is Echinodorus tenellus.  What they have now must have been grown emersed (above water).  When I bought it there last fall, it looked like what they now have. Once planted in my tank, it turned into the submerged version and sent out lots of runners.  They have it priced at 2 for $6.99.  I only paid 99 cents for mine, but I think they were on sale because they were pretty shabby at the time.  Here is an interesting page about chain swords grown both submerged and emersed.
http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/Chainswords-NeilFrank.htm 

Very interesting link, thanks for that Val!

[bizfromqc]

Updated FTS of the tank.

Went to BA's midnight madness and added a couple more fishes/plants to the tank. New additions are neons, more peppered corys and some "dwarf swords". Also trimmed some of the stem plants to keep them in check.

This is what's in there now
- 13 neon tetras
- 9 peppered corys
- 1 Albino BN pleco
- 1 couple A. cacatuoides.

You can see the female A. cacatuoides hanging out in the coco-hut in the picture. I'm pretty sure she's taking care of a bunch of eggs in there.

[brotherluv]

Your tank is looking pretty awesome!  I'm hope the little guys have babies!

[bizfromqc]

Your tank is looking pretty awesome!  I'm hope the little guys have babies!

Thanks for the comments.

Part of me wants them to be successful again but where will I put them?!? LOL I've got about 50 of their offsprings (7 weeks old now) in my other tank 

[touchofsky]

I am glad that you made it to Big Al's and I hope that your 'dwarf swords' behave as mine did, and send out runners for you.  Mine lost the big leaves and sent up thinner more grass like leaves pretty quickly.

Your tank is looking really great.  Congratulations on your success with it.  I can imagine that you have mixed feelings about more babies!

[bizfromqc]

I am glad that you made it to Big Al's and I hope that your 'dwarf swords' behave as mine did, and send out runners for you.  Mine lost the big leaves and sent up thinner more grass like leaves pretty quickly.

Your tank is looking really great.  Congratulations on your success with it.  I can imagine that you have mixed feelings about more babies!

I'm glad I got out there too, all plants were 25% off and I got a killer deal on the corys and neons.

Some of the swords I got already had some beginning of runners forming near the root structure, I hope they continue that way and do good in my tank. I do like the look of the leaves now but would prefer a thinner more grass like leave. Either way, I'll be happy.

As for the babies, I'm going to let nature take its course this time. If some of them make it in the community tank, then they deserve it 

[touchofsky]

I was tempted by the neons, but I really am fully stocked, so have to control myself 

[bizfromqc]

The neons were a huuuuuuuuge hit with my two little girls (5 and 2 yrs old). They couldn't care less about cichlids, corys and plecos, they love the neons 

[bizfromqc]

Tank update, April 20th.

18 Neon Tetras
8 Peppered Corys
2 Apistogramma cacatuoides
3 BN Plecos (1 albino female, 1 female and 1 male)

[embed=425,349]http://youtu.be/7VRjiR2zyII[/embed]

[bizfromqc]

Decided to plan a substrate swap on this puppy.

OUT: White Silica Sand
IN:  Black eco-complete

The white substrate is just NOT working with that much fish in there, especially the plecos and corys who are crazy pooping machines.

It will also give me the chance to give a good scrub to my driftwood and plants. Have a crazy case of BBA and some other nasties right now... I've not been too good with the glut dosing (metricide) and I'm paying for it.

So here's the plan
1) Move water into large bucket with heater and powerhead
2) Move fish into bucket
3) Remove all plants, clean and set aside
4) Remove driftwood, clean and set aside
5) Empty tank
6) Remove substrate
7) Install driftwood
8 Put new substrate
9) Plant plants
10) Put fish back

I also got Andrew's old paintball co2 on the cheap so I'm going to hook it up on there and hope for the best. I'm hoping the nutrient rich substrate and pressurized co2 will help with the nasties.

I may cut down on bioload as well. It will also allow my apistos to maybe have another run at breeding. I know it's happened a couple of times in the past (almost like clockwork, every 3 weeks) but would last for a couple of days before the plecos would ninja their way into the coconut cave and wreak havoc on the eggs.

Keep on the lookout for coryss and bn plecos in the classifieds soon, let me know if any of you are interested...

Eric