25G - South America Community Tank

[touchofsky]

You have lots of neat things going on 

[bizfromqc]

Looks great.  I will be curious to see how your Amazon sword grows under the LED's.  I have an Ozelot type sword and it has remained fairly short and compact.  I don't know if it is the particular variety or the light, since the plant wasn't labelled.

It's one of the main reasons I got it, to try it out with the LED (and to go with the SA theme). It would actually be OK with me if it didn't grow what much in there since I only have so much height/space available.

If it goes out of control, i'll remove it and propagate the Cabomba to the back-right of the tank and get more SA Crypts in the mid-ground. I'd be OK with both scenarios.

Thanks for your comments.

[daworldisblack]

Thanks for the comments. I've got some GBR fry/juvies, approximately 1.5 months old in a 10G grow-out tank. Hopefully as they grow and develop I'll be able to sex them and possibly move a pair/trio to this tank OR another pair of apistos. Don't know yet...

Just for kicks, this is where the GBR fry are now. They love to hang out on the sponge or in the moss.

Eric

Nice! They'll be sexable around the 2Month mark usually but depends for others! I have a pair right now and they are just around 3 Months old or so and they are nice!

[bizfromqc]

You have lots of neat things going on 

Keeps me busy and out of trouble... well, most of the time anyways

[touchofsky]

Mine is showing lovely colour and growing well, but has remained about 6-8" tall.  I should actually move it closer to the front.  

I don't know whether most people would think MTS is actually staying out of trouble 

[bizfromqc]

Nice! They'll be sexable around the 2Month mark usually but depends for others! I have a pair right now and they are just around 3 Months old or so and they are nice!

I think I can probably tell which way they'll end up just by the size since half are basically twice the size of the rest but we'll see.

Two months hey? How big are they?

I got mine from another forum member who told me they were about a month old when I got them and I've had them for about 3 weeks now so they're pushing 2 months but still very tiny.

He was feeding them mostly paramecium and I continued that for a couple of days and then switched to 100% BBS twice a day. I think I may have lost a couple in the process but they ones that made it just boomed in size but still very tiny if I compare them to my 1 month old apisto fry (which are about twice the size of the biggest GBR fry).

I was told they take a bit of time to get going but once they do, they grow quickly. This is my first time with GBR fry so I have 0 experience and can't comment on growth except than compare to other fry I have.

[bizfromqc]

Mine is showing lovely colour and growing well, but has remained about 6-8" tall.  I should actually move it closer to the front.  

I don't know whether most people would think MTS is actually staying out of trouble 

The answer to everything would be to get my wife into the hobby but I highly doubt that will happen. That's why I love OVAS, people understand me LOL

[touchofsky]

My husband doesn't actively participate in my aquarium hobby, but he is very supportive and enjoys the tanks a lot, especially since I do all of the work 

He is actually a bit of an enabler, and never discourages me from any of my crazy antics 

[exv152]

My husband doesn't actively participate in my aquarium hobby, but he is very supportive and enjoys the tanks a lot, especially since I do all of the work 

He is actually a bit of an enabler, and never discourages me from any of my crazy antics 

I guess that makes my wife a dis-abler!!! lol

[daworldisblack]

Two months hey? How big are they?

Male is about 1 1/4" in length and female is 1" it looks like.


The Pair


Female

I got mine from another forum member who told me they were about a month old when I got them and I've had them for about 3 weeks now so they're pushing 2 months but still very tiny.

He was feeding them mostly paramecium and I continued that for a couple of days and then switched to 100% BBS twice a day. I think I may have lost a couple in the process but they ones that made it just boomed in size but still very tiny if I compare them to my 1 month old apisto fry (which are about twice the size of the biggest GBR fry).

I was told they take a bit of time to get going but once they do, they grow quickly. This is my first time with GBR fry so I have 0 experience and can't comment on growth except than compare to other fry I have.

I bet you got them from Richard too :p Same here. Very nice colours. I feed mine whiteworms and bloodworms. Recently they've also started eating flakes after seeing all the other neons and dwarf gouramies attack the snowfall of flakes! They really do love white worms so a culture of that should be sweet!




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[touchofsky]

Ha!  I am sure if I had put in a bid on the Starfire and won, my husband would have happily loaded it in the car.  I had to really stop myself!!!  I usually don't have a lot of willpower  

[touchofsky]

daworldisblack,
They are very pretty!

[daworldisblack]

daworldisblack,
They are very pretty!

Thanks Val! They are my main attractions in my aquarium. Little shiny disco balls heh heh

[touchofsky]

Too many nice fish, and not enough tanks!

[bizfromqc]

Male is about 1 1/4" in length and female is 1" it looks like.

...

I bet you got them from Richard too :p Same here. Very nice colours. I feed mine whiteworms and bloodworms. Recently they've also started eating flakes after seeing all the other neons and dwarf gouramies attack the snowfall of flakes! They really do love white worms so a culture of that should be sweet!

Yep, got them from Richard when I got his two 10G 

Mine can't be two months then, they're really a looooooot smaller than the ones in your picture. I got some freeze dried bloodworms at the auction, I'll add that to their diet on top of the BBS.

I'll try to take a snap of them and post the picture but they're pretty shy and very small 

[Stussi613]

I have the exact same sand, same black flecks and no rust. It's been in the tank for over a year with no issues.

[bizfromqc]

I have the exact same sand, same black flecks and no rust. It's been in the tank for over a year with no issues.

Might have been a different batch or something but so far, it only seems like a cosmetic issue and I barely notice it anymore 

But really, there's no way I'm pulling a substrate swap at this point LOL

[bizfromqc]

Daily WC are getting old so I decided to let it ride and switch to weekly until the tank is cycled. I will dose 3-4 times the recommended Prime every two days to keep things non toxic in there for the troopers (Zebra Danios).

One of the leaves of the Echinodorus amazonicus (Amazon Sword) had a pea size brown spot when I got it (from the auction) and decided to remove the leave before the rest of it turned brown and keep things tidy in there (I'm just like that... lol).

Two words... HOLY COW. That plant's been in the tank since Sunday evening and I could barely nudge it, roots have grown like mad (might be the root tab I used, who knows). Anyways, I was just surprised to see how quickly it settled in. Now I'm eager to see if and how it will grow in my tank (LED, sand, Excel, Excel Comp and root tabs).

I was wondering if adding iron (liquid form) to the mix would be a good thing or am I basically covered using the root tabs (API Root tabs + Iron). The root tabs I have mention that it's 3-1-1 (NPK) and 5% Iron. I'm going to guess that since all I have in there now are swords who are mainly root feeders that I would be OK with just the tabs.

I do have a huge bunch of Cabomba caroliniana that may also benefit from Iron supplementation (fast growing stem plant to help balance slow growth of swords) but would like to hear people's thoughts on this.

[touchofsky]

I would say that using the API tabs will provide enough iron, since they are heavy in iron and I have found that swords like them.

The Flourish Comprehensive has iron, too, and should be enough for the stem plants.

[bizfromqc]

I would say that using the API tabs will provide enough iron, since they are heavy in iron and I have found that swords like them.

The Flourish Comprehensive has iron, too, and should be enough for the stem plants.

Good to hear  Thanks!