Turtle's Fairy Tale

[Bayareareefer18]

I have 2 emerald corydoras catfish. They do the best in a school of 6 of their own species. I havent decided if I'm adding more emeralds, as the two I have are up in age, or starting a new school of a different species of cory and letting my two be happy with close cousins. I've looked at a few different types and haven't completely decided, but corys are a must.

For dither fish, I have decided on a school of around 12, maybe more, ember tetras. These guys are a cool red orange color and only get about an inch long, so you can stock quite a few in a tank like mine.

For show piece fish I want around 3 to 4 German ram cichlids. They stay small, look awesome and tough like they just got done bench pressing with Halfthor Bjornson... but are actually very peaceful and great community fish. Plus, they do best in a small group instead of by themselves.



Blackwater tanks generally have very soft water, low available nutrients and minerals, lightly if even planted at all, contain driftwood, leaves, seed pods, and have tannin stained water. Carbon is a no go, as it removes the tannins that are purposefully added.

The driftwood, leaves and seeds help to keep the tannins up, or you can make a tea from boiling dry wood or leaves. You can add that tea to the tank to stain the water as needed and for water changes. I also have a bottle of "instant amazon" I got at the freebie table at a fish show. It's just commercial tannin tea consentrate. Usually RODI water is used to keep the water soft and acidic.

I'm not trying to make an exact replica of a blackwater river... I'll have fertilized soil, as all the sandy silty substrates I've found will just cloud my aquarium. The eco complete will give me the look I want and help the few plants I have grow.

This is sort of the look I'd like to accomplish.

Tanks like that look amazing with wild discus

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Tanks like that look amazing with wild discus

They do, unfortunately 36 gallons is smaller than what I'd like to keep discus in.

 

[Fudsey]

Turtle, Maybe next week would be ok. They are forecasting temps in the 40s next week. I'll let you know :-)

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I appreciate the offer but with temps around here lately, I don't think it would survive. Highs haven't been over 25-30 since early last week.

Sheesh... reminds me of why I live in the south. We had our first really good frost this morning. I'm outside with a t shirt on now.

 

[Scurvy]

I appreciate the offer but with temps around here lately, I don't think it would survive. Highs haven't been over 25-30 since early last week.

You'd be surprised how resilient chaeto is... had some mailed to me last winter that arived in nothing more than a zip lock and a padded envelope that worked out okay. Still had pods crawling around after it floated for a half hour.

 

[Scurvy]

Sheesh... reminds me of why I live in the south. We had our first really good frost this morning. I'm outside with a t shirt on now.

LoL, We had our first frost in September, snow in October. I just had my dog out in shorts :)

 

[Bayareareefer18]

They do, unfortunately 36 gallons is smaller than what I'd like to keep discus in.

Oh yeah no doubt. I had 7 in a 75. Once they were all 6"-7" it was a little tight


Rams definitely a good choice. Apistos are awesome too. Lots of cool dwarf cichlids

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Shame you are so far I have a planted I'm breaking down with lots of stuff. Eco complete is great substrate for plants.

 

[Slack Tide Reef]

Quickrete Pool Filter sand is what you want. It’s silica sand and will rinse quickly and not cloud your water.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

LoL, We had our first frost in September, snow in October. I just had my dog out in shorts :)

What is this snow? Heat Miser, green christmas, remember?

Oh yeah no doubt. I had 7 in a 75. Once they were all 6"-7" it was a little tight


Rams definitely a good choice. Apistos are awesome too. Lots of cool dwarf cichlids

Apistograma cacatuoides ;Drool

Shame you are so far I have a planted I'm breaking down with lots of stuff. Eco complete is great substrate for plants.

I was recommended it by a friend who dabbles more into the planted tanks than the salty ones. So far, seems good. I was expecting something softer like potting soil, but it's closer to Hawaiian sand.

Quickrete Pool Filter sand is what you want. It’s silica sand and will rinse quickly and not cloud your water.

I looked at that but the color was off from what I wanted. WAY too bright. Im happy with how the eco complete looks.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

What is this snow? Heat Miser, green christmas, remember?



Apistograma cacatuoides ;Drool

I was recommended it by a friend who dabbles more into the planted tanks than the salty ones. So far, seems good. I was expecting something softer like potting soil, but it's closer to Hawaiian sand.



I looked at that but the color was off from what I wanted. WAY too bright. Im happy with how the eco complete looks.

Love the eco. Was pricey but works well. Only thing I didn't like about it is that it's tough to plant the plants in. Once they take hold its great. I've got about 120# of the black.

There are much better options than pool filter sand especially for planted

And yes the triple red!! Super nice

These guys usually have an amazing selection of apistos, rams and all sorts of others

http://www.wetspottropicalfish.com

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Ok, this is Reef 2 Reef not that planted tank forum... bedtime FTS ;Snaphappy... it's bluuueeee! (Sing it like Leann Rimes) ( also it hides the little tufts of GHA ;Facepalm;Woot)

Shhh... I won't tell if you don't.

Still a bit cloudy, but that should be gone in the morning. Especially with the sponge filter in there, just for now. After the tank clears I'll remove it to reduce surface agitation. Yep, opposite of a reef tank, we want CO2.

Plants!

Anubias nana? I think that is right. In any case, it's definitely an anubias. Absorbs nutrients thru that thick stem that the leaves and roots grow from. That needs to stay unburried or the plant could die off.

Microsorum pteropus, java fern. It's Asian, I know. But it just looks like it would fit and actually grows very well in black water. Absorbs a crap ton of nitrates thru the leaves, likes low light, and doesn't like it's roots buried. It's actually heavy enough to sink. I think it will grow a few roots into the substrate. It did in the little 10g at least. I've had this plant going for around 8 years, now in its third tank. It's been propagated countless times so I can't tell you what generation it is. It grows little babies on the ends of the leaves, and you can pull them off and just let them float which I find usually ends up clogging the filter,(kinda neutrally buoyant) or lightly root them until they are heavy enough to sink.

Unknown. I asked my FW friend, and she asked a FW plant guru and he didn't know. It's not hard to keep or I would have killed it by now. Serious, I haven't taken care of these plants in 3 years. Dwarf hair grass melted. These just take care of themselves.

Oh, and yes. Those are magnolia leaves and one seed pod, still floating. They will sink eventually.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Love the eco. Was pricey but works well. Only thing I didn't like about it is that it's tough to plant the plants in. Once they take hold its great. I've got about 120# of the black.

There are much better options than pool filter sand especially for planted

And yes the triple red!! Super nice

These guys usually have an amazing selection of apistos, rams and all sorts of others

http://www.wetspottropicalfish.com

Sweet, thanks for the link! I have been looking at live aquaria but they have a very limited selection of apistos right now.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Ok, this is Reef 2 Reef not that planted tank forum... bedtime FTS ;Snaphappy... it's bluuueeee! (Sing it like Leann Rimes) ( also ides the little tufts of GHA ;Facepalm;Woot)

Shhh... I won't tell if you don't.

Still a bit cloudy, but that should be gone in the morning. Especially with the sponge filter in there, just for now. After the tank clears I'll remove it to reduce surface agitation. Yep, opposite of a reef tank, we want CO2.

Plants!

Anubias nana? I think that is right. In any case, it's definitely an anubias. Absorbs nutrients thru that thick stem that the leaves and roots grow from. That needs to stay unburried or the plant could die off.

Microsorum pteropus, java fern. It's Asian, I know. But it just looks like it would fit and actually grows very well in black water. Absorbs a crap ton of nitrates thru the leaves, likes low light, and doesn't like it's roots buried. It's actually heavy enough to sink. I think it will grow a few roots into the substrate. It did in the little 10g at least. I've had this plant going for around 8 years, now in its third tank. It's been propagated countless times so I can't tell you what generation it is. It grows little babies on the ends of the leaves, and you can pull them off and just let them float which I find usually ends up clogging the filter,(kinda neutrally buoyant) or lightly root them until they are heavy enough to sink.

Unknown. I asked my FW friend, and she asked a FW plant guru and he didn't know. It's not hard to keep or I would have killed it by now. Serious, I haven't taken care of these plants in 3 years. Dwarf hair grass melted. These just take care of themselves.

Oh, and yes. Those are magnolia leaves and one seed pod, still floating. They will sink eventually.

Nice. I am a huge anubias fan. My favorite was the coffeefolia becuasr of the texture of the leaves and a little deeper green.

A must for me in any planted tank are oto cats. They are like the lawnmower blenny of the FW world.

Unfortunately in the last planter I couldn't have any because my son was dead set on a bichir.

I happened to stumble across a couple of the zebra variety at the lfs one day but have never seen them again.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Nice. I am a huge anubias fan. My favorite was the coffeefolia becuasr of the texture of the leaves and a little deeper green.

A must for me in any planted tank are oto cats. They are like the lawnmower blenny of the FW world.

Unfortunately in the last planter I couldn't have any because my son was dead set on a bichir.

I happened to stumble across a couple of the zebra variety at the lfs one day but have never seen them again.

I looked at Otos... maybe. I'm trying to keep the tank Amazon river system exclusive. Yea, the plants I have are from all over. I'll move them out once I get different ones. Oh the Anubias is a barteri. Grows a little taller than nana.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I looked at Otos... maybe. I'm trying to keep the tank Amazon river system exclusive. Yea, the plants I have are from all over. I'll move them out once I get different ones. Oh the Anubias is a barteri. Grows a little taller than nana.

Ah gotcha. Themed tanks are cool. Doing any Amazon swords?

This is the rainbowfish jungle I'm breaking down

 

[Jacked Reefer]

I looked at Otos... maybe. I'm trying to keep the tank Amazon river system exclusive. Yea, the plants I have are from all over. I'll move them out once I get different ones. Oh the Anubias is a barteri. Grows a little taller than nana.

cmon every Amazon tank needs an angelfish (I got fancies like pears scale Golden’s and a wild type) I’m trying to breed these atm and only had one successful batch. And like a loser I sold off the parents. But I’ve got another breeding pair so prospects are up! I really like apistos too. I just wish I could bring myself spend more than 10 bucks on a fw fish. Oh pro broke person tip. You can collect your own driftwood and it will release more tannins and you get free wood

 

[SashimiTurtle]

cmon every Amazon tank needs an angelfish (I got fancies like pears scale Golden’s and a wild type) I’m trying to breed these atm and only had one successful batch. And like a loser I sold off the parents. But I’ve got another breeding pair so prospects are up! I really like apistos too. I just wish I could bring myself spend more than 10 bucks on a fw fish. Oh pro broke person tip. You can collect your own driftwood and it will release more tannins and you get free wood

I used to have a 30g hexagon tank. Horrible for fish swimming room, but GREAT for growing plants. I think each pane of glass was 10" wide, but about 25" tall. Put that in a hexagon shape and you couldn't set a 10g down in it unless it was on its side. I had a marbled angel in there that got ginormous. 6-8" from top fin to bottom fin. Absolutely ruled the tank.

I'm still not 100% on rams or apistos. My reefing friend is setting up a planted tank in a biocube 29. Still trying to find a 6700K compact florescent for it. She's decided on Bolivian rams. So I may do apistos if I can find them locally. I'm pretty sure the big fresh and salt water LFS across town can order them if they don't have any. Harlequin rasboros are some of my favorites as well as rummy nose tetras. Those will likely get added too.

I also used to have a pleco in that 30 hex. Thing was over 12" long. He would hang out on the bottom most of the time, but shocked people when he emerged from the plants to hang on the glass. He was absolutely too big for that tank.

I ended up selling the whole thing short of my cory cats and a few plants to help fund my first saltwater tank. Oh, and because the ex girlfriend was only ok with one large tank in the house. Notice the ex part :cool:.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

O

I used to have a 30g hexagon tank. Horrible for fish swimming room, but GREAT for growing plants. I think each pane of glass was 10" wide, but about 25" tall. Put that in a hexagon shape and you couldn't set a 10g down in it unless it was on its side. I had a marbled angel in there that got ginormous. 6-8" from top fin to bottom fin. Absolutely ruled the tank.

I'm still not 100% on rams or apistos. My reefing friend is setting up a planted tank in a biocube 29. Still trying to find a 6700K compact florescent for it. She's decided on Bolivian rams. So I may do apistos if I can find them locally. I'm pretty sure the big fresh and salt water LFS across town can order them if they don't have any. Harlequin rasboros are some of my favorites as well as rummy nose tetras. Those will likely get added too.

I also used to have a pleco in that 30 hex. Thing was over 12" long. He would hang out on the bottom most of the time, but shocked people when he emerged from the plants to hang on the glass. He was absolutely too big for that tank.

I ended up selling the whole thing short of my cory cats and a few plants to help fund my first saltwater tank. Oh, and because the ex girlfriend was only ok with one large tank in the house. Notice the ex part :cool:.

love hearing overstocked tank stories lol. The only thing my tank is good at growing is hornwort. 4 of my angels are around that massive size but the 5 I kept are about quarter to silver dollar size. I also am trying to breed Bn plecos.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

O

love hearing overstocked tank stories lol. The only thing my tank is good at growing is hornwort. 4 of my angels are around that massive size but the 5 I kept are about quarter to silver dollar size. I also am trying to breed Bn plecos.

BNPs are great for smaller tanks. I love this one