Santa tank - 59G -

[Peekay]

Thanks Rah!  I can always count on you for the species.   I saw some good coloured crypts at Al's too... may have to make another trip this week.   

[charlie]

Looking good Brenda, Kieth must be a proud young man & deservedly so.
Regards

[Peekay]

We have fry!   

[touchofsky]

Congratulations on the new arrivals!

[exv152]

I assume that's a hagen waterhome rimless tank you have there? Very nice setup, the wider picture of your stand with the bookcase really helps put the tank into perspective. The cabinet and the lights all work well together.

[Peekay]

Frustration and success, both over the last couple weeks.

Success:  Algae in full retreat, plants visibly enjoying the excel and comprehensive dosing.   

Frustration:     Bloodfins have ALL jumped to their deaths.  The last one found on the morning AFTER I put a screen cover on the tank.  It must have squeaked out the back 1.5 inch space that I left along the length of the tank to allow for repositioning/adding filters and heaters, flopped across the lid, to die, laughing at my efforts to keep him in a box, on the floor in front of the tank.   

Also, we still have about 3 guppy fry, growing and giving us great pleasure, but all adults have died.  One body every morning, all 7 in a space of a week.  They were in QT, but I'm still kinda p-o.

Embarrassing to post my fishkeeping failures, but too bummed to keep it to myself.  I keep telling myself that I haven't lost any otos, loaches, shrimp, or neons yet, so it's not all disaster!   

Anyone else have things like this happen?  Determined jumpers, schools of fish dying right from the store?  My misery would love your company. 

[exv152]

...Anyone else have things like this happen?  Determined jumpers, schools of fish dying right from the store?  My misery would love your company. 

Yes, how about fish you meticously raised from fry, only to be eaten by greedy well fed angels? But it's all part and parcel of the hobby.

[fischkopp]

There is no reason to be embarrassed. Loosing fish by jumping happens to all of us. Any fast fish will jump when spooked, switching the lights off is often enough to hear the tetras bouncing on the glass tops. Tetras are notorious jumpers, but even my discus had jumped. I would say any fish that spends a good amount of time in the upper half of the tank will jump to escape on danger, while the other may try to find cover.  The only way to avoid that is  complete cover that doesn't leave the tiniest gap; for some reason fish always manage to find it.

As for deaths of LFS fish, well, it's sad but not too surprising. Many fish come from farms in asia where they are not to reluctant to treat the fish with all kind of meds, hormones and what not to keep them alive while maintaining high stock levels. There is also the problem of week gen pools due to inbreeding and over breeding, which is certainly the case with all those fancy guppy strains. I find it very difficult to find quality fish today; it's almost guaranteed that new fish have ick, and there is a good chance that there is something else as well.

[Lurch1]

I just found 2 dead hatchets if that makes you feel better!

[Peekay]

Thanks guys. 

Eric, that is a whole other level of frustration. 

Lurch.. it doesn't make me feel better, just not so uniquely jinxed!  Poor hatchets.

Robert, thanks.  Going to have to seal the gaps. 

 

[daworldisblack]

Sorry to hear Brenda! Store-bought fishes are hit and miss and its always sad when you lose them Hopefully the fry make it! Young 'uns are more resilient then we think As for flying fishes... i hate them! Killis are notorious for that and I have lost some to death-by-acrobatic-jump.  We can only keep our fingers crossed! I find having floating plants help deter jumping but its just an opinion.

[bizfromqc]

I have to stop reading this thread, because It makes me want to cover all my tanks LOL

All my tanks are open top but I think I may be OK as most of the fish in there hang in the lower/mid part of the tank (except for the neons). But I guess I'm willing to take the risk because I love the open top look, especially with the LED lighting.

I've got a cat that always keep an eye on the tanks and he'd snatch up any jumpers in a second. Makes me wonder if I've lost neons before but just never noticed since I've got the "cleaner" taking care of the evidence 

Sorry about your fish Brenda

[exv152]

From personal experience fish jumping is often the case of the fish being startled (like fischkopf said) by something outside or inside the tank and it usually happens at night. I've never tried it myself but heard that some form of night light, whether it be an ambient back light or an led, that allows the potential jumper to see what's coming at them and not to be startled in the darkness, greatly helps reduce the jumping.

[Peekay]

It's been months, but I finally took a few new pictures!

I love our new angel fish.  They were what we needed in a bigger specimen that provides some upper/mid movement, and of course beautiful fins and colour.  And, they're unique enough to be named by the kids, unlike the horde of tetras.   They named one after the dog.   



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And here's a full tank shot.  Some things are doing well, others, NOT!  I've realized that I am growing beautiful but weirdly short vals, and they're multiplying.  So, retooling to use them as mid-ground, rather than expecting them to fill the back.  I think this will work better.

None of the small stuff has worked for me, as you can see by the poor teeny clumps of blyxa (bad colour!), the lilaeopsis and marsilea are both toast too.  This really doesn't surprise me, as this is not a lowish light, excel only tank.  Was worth the try, thanks to those who shared these plants with me. 

That big white orb in the corner is a breeder net... guppy mom ready to spawn again, and we'd like to see the babies before the angels eat them. 



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Thanks for looking!   

[DrReefer]

Hey PeeKay !! Very nice build , The tank fits just right under that wall mounted storage / bookshelf unit . Can I ask you where you got it ?

[Peekay]

Dr Reefer, the shelving is Ikea.. Hemnes series.  They pretty much always have it in the as is section for substantial savings.  It's even actual wood, unlike most things there. 

There are lots of shelving systems now that have this type of 'bridge' piece to go around a big tv. 

[exv152]

I like your new angels, how many did you get?

[daworldisblack]

Looking nice Brenda! The planats that aren't doing well do require a little more light so they may not propagate well but at best, just remain as is - of course the worse-case scenario there is melting. But despite that, the rest of the tank still looks like its coming along spectacularly! It only took what.. 6 1/2 months? :p Haha.. I also like your new angels, they look pretty awesome and yes, probably much needed in a larger tank such as your's. I hope the battle with the new algae and deficiencies will be a short one!

[Peekay]

Thanks guys.

Eric, we got 5, knowing that in a few years, we may have to rehome a couple.  They're only about 1.5 inches right now.  How fast do they grow?  You've got those beautiful wild caught ones, right?

Rah... 6.5 months?  Geez.  Already?  Time flies.  Exept when it's so slow... still want things more filled in.   

[exv152]

Eric, we got 5, knowing that in a few years, we may have to rehome a couple.  They're only about 1.5 inches right now.  How fast do they grow?  You've got those beautiful wild caught ones, right?..

Yeah, I homed the wild peruvians in a bare bottom tank for the first 6-8 months and got some wicked growth out of them by overfeeding and doing daily partial water changes, similar to what you'd do for discus. As a result of keeping the nitrates low they grew a bit faster, all with the exception of one, the runt of the pack. I got 6 of 'em because I knew one would eventually become the bully victim. I wouldn't recommend keeping nitrates low in a planted tank because you'll end up with a half dozen different algaes to fight. How fast they grow really depends on you and where you keep them, but they have the potential to grow huge and fast.