Sunday, October 30, 2005

 

4footer's scape completed! Yay... :)

The new wood for the scape sank and I can finally complete the new scape of my 4footer... :)

I've also added some plants and animals... The bioload now is:

Flora:
Java moss
Taiwan moss
Pelia
Marimo ball
Fissiden sp. (dying)
Vallisneria sp.
Hemianthus micranthemoides (MM)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala or Cardamine lyrata(pennywort)
Eleocharis vivipara (long hairgrass)
Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass)
Elatine triandra (APP)
Echinodorus tenellus
Echinodorus x barthii (I think or could be Echinodorus 'Red Rubin')
Crytocoryne wendtii var.
Crytocoryne x willisii
Limnobium sp. (frogbits, floating plant, removed for phototaking)
Rotala sp. (Still dunno which species it is...)
Hottonia sp. (Dunno which species it is also...)

I want to add a red Ludwigia sp. eg Ludwigia arcuata for something more red than the Rotala sp. I have now...

Fauna:
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Black skirt tetra (~10x), ~3yrs old - still spawning time to time
Puntius titteya, Cherry barb (~12x), ~1-2yrs old, never seen them spawn
Paracheirodon axelrodi, cardinal tetra (~25x), ~2yrs old
Betta splendens, Siamese fighting fish, 1x female, ~3yrs old, tank police woman... Dun play play ah...
Crossocheilus siamensis, SAE (2x), bigger one often turn yellowish (breeding dress?)Nannostomus sp., pencilfish (at least 2 types, ~10 golden and 1 three-lined), golden pencil spawned several times in old setup, often see 1,2 small pencils...
Aplocheilichthys normani, lampeye (3x), will be adding more...
Melanotaenia praecox, dwarf rainbowfish (1x)
Otocinclus sp. (~4x)
Dario dario (17x)
Corydorus sp. (1x)
Corydoras hastatus (19x)
Boraras bridgitae (~12-15x)
Stiphodon elegans, a algae eating goby (1x)
Trichopsis pumila, sparkling gourami (6x)
Yamato shrimps (~6x)
Red-nose shrimps (~6x), will be adding more...
Snails (horned and zebra) (>10x), found some small ramhorns and pouch snails...

Left side:

Right side:

Now the scape is almost complete liao!... Probably add a little more plants here and there and then do a final touchup... Then can invite some people to take picturs of it professionally... :)

Next time I will post the ex-Endler's tank that is now a shrimp tank... See ya! :)


Wednesday, October 26, 2005

 

Long time no post... Time for some updates...

Yupz... Its been more than a week without new posts and about 2 weeks since the last pic... :p Getting lazy...

Let me see... Ok, the new wood for the new scape for my 4footer had finally sank. *Horray!*... This weekend can finally complete my scape... Unless my hand itchy and decide to buy new plants... Going for a 'valley look' this time... Hope it will be good... The plants are all settling and growing, with the exception of my APP (Ah Pek Plant, Elatine triandra) not growing in some places. Think my Yamato shrimps and the big, fat SAEs are digging up the plants when they dining nearby... *Grrr...* Will post pics of this scape when the look is 'finalised'... :p

The Endler's tank had been converted to a shrimp and snail only tank... The pelia is gone... Frogbits 80% also gone... The ammonia spike must have burnt them bad... Good news is my 3 CRS are fine! *Phew*... Found 2 diamonds too... Hopefully the third one is also fine but just hiding... Thinking of re-scaping the tank now... Friend is offering me a pair of Endler's to start again... I am thinking hard now... Won't want the fish to dine on the baby shrimplets again eh... But no fish also means mosquitoes might breed in the tank if given the chance... *Hmm*...

Thinking of setting up a proper paludarium now for the froggie and the newts... Now they are in a temporary 14" tank... $$$... Also need to think hard on the hardware... And no place for the tank now... Might need a room re-vamp or a new cabinet! *Yikes!*...

Oh, comfirmed my newts are of 2 different species... Found one of the bigger paddletailed ones doing a crocodile turn with one of the smaller Chinese firebellies... So scared that they might be hurt... That's why going to spend money to set up the paludarium for the Chinese firebellies...

This is a paddletailed newt:

These are Chinese Firebelly newts:

This is the reed (supposedly) frog:

Will try to take a good pic of my frog... It is a one-eyed frog that I rescued from the LFS from being fed to LHs or aros... Its 2 companions died, supposedly from refusal to feed...

Ok, more next time... And hopefully it will be sooner too... :)


Tuesday, October 18, 2005

 

Lost my Endler's Livebearers... :(

*Sigh*... Gek Sim... I committed the stupid crime of overfeeding my Endler's Liverbearers... All the 4 adults and 10 babies of the Orange Chest Strain died overnight...

I also lost some expensive shrimps (Crystals and Diamonds) in the process too... $$ flow down the drain liao...

Some of my red ramshorn snails are also dying... *Sigh*... VERY sian liao...

All because I want to prevent the Endler's from eating the shrimplets, which they were hunting... Wanna cry now... *Sigh*...

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

 

Super Productive Week

Helloooo! :)

I went into super productive mode last week... I made some adjustments to the re-scaped 4ft tank; stripped down my snail infested shrimp cum fish holding tank; set up a temporary 14" terrarium for some of my newts, some snails and a frog using the stripped tank; set up a 1ft cube tank for my endlers and shrimps; set up another 1ft cube tank in my office for female bettas and set up a temporary holding tank for a pair of young white female bettas... *Phew*... People will think I dun have a proper job! :D

Ok, some updates...

1) I re-vamped my land hermit tank (Yes, did that about 1 week before the super productive week... :)) The new terrarium is supposed to be dryer but yet is able to maintain humidity...

The new look (Check archives for the old look).

The substrate looks thicker cos of the drainage layers I had added. The hermit crabs still try to dig... esp trying to dig out all the dried moss I had stuffed at the sides... But at least the gravel is not as soggy as before... More healthy for them...

I also added 5 hermits bought from the LFS. Problem is they were not in good condition as they were kept partially in water for some time... 3 died in a week... The other 2 looks ok. The older 7 (yes, it was 5... my friend gave me 2 last month after he decided to concentrate on fish...) from Taiwan are still in good shape.

Did I mention this? One of the hermits molted!... So cute... Now waiting for the others to molt...

2) I am in the process of finding good nice piece(s) of wood for the new scape's left side (and maybe some more wood for the right side)... Need them to complete the scape... But difficult to find nice ones leh... Maybe I am too choosy... Anyway, made some change to the scape:

3) My new tank for Endler's Livebearers and shrimps:

One of the male Endler’s Livebearer

The Endler’s Livebearers look like wild guppies, except that they are smaller, have brighter colours, more rare and thus more expensive…


Specs:1ft x 1ft x 1ft tank, no CO2, hang on filter. Lighting was for a 16" tank but will be using a 9W PL light soon.

Using Seachem Flourish, Seachem Potassium and Tetra Florapride as initial fert.

Flora:
Limnophilia sessiflora
Hemianthus micranthemoides (MM)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala or Cardamine lyrata(pennywort)
Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass)
Elatine triandra (APP)
Echinodorus tenellus
Pelia
Java moss
Marimo ball
Limnobium sp. (Floating plant)

Thinking of adding Bacopa monnieri...

Fauna:
Endler's livebearer (currently 2 pairs and 6 babies of Orange Chest strain)
Red-nose shrimps
Cherry shrimps
Snails (2 x horned and 4 x red ramshorn snails… will be adding more)

There are some baby normal ramshorn and pouch snails that I am trying to get rid of…

4) My new female betta tank:

Specs:1ft x 1ft x 1ft tank, no CO2, hang on filter. Lighting using a 9W PL light soon.

Using Tetra Florapride anf PlantGrow from Flora Care as initial fert.

Flora:
Hemianthus micranthemoides (MM)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala or Cardamine lyrata(pennywort)
Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass)
Elatine triandra (APP)
Echinodorus tenellus
Pelia
Java moss
Limnobium sp. (Floating plant)

Fauna:
Female betta (currently 4x, will be adding more)
Red-nose shrimps
Snails (2 x horned and lots of baby pouch snails…)

I had added a khuli loach… But no idea where it is now…

If you had noticed, the 2 tanks looked similar… Probably due to the use of the same type of flora and tank… Also, the set up is done within a couple of days of setting up the first…

5) The temporary 14” terrarium for newts, snails and a frog:

I wanna add a small pump for water circulation, add wood and emersed Java moss to complete the set up… Now finding space in my room for it… Running out of table space liao!! :)

Anyway, now I have a total of 7 tanks (excluding the temporary holding tank mentioned earlier for the 2 female white betas)… It is less than the peak, when I had 11-14 tanks under my care… But then this time, all 7 are mine! 6 are at home (4 in my room) and 1 in office… I MUST be crazy… :p


Friday, October 07, 2005

 

New scape of 4 footer

Some pics and specs of the new scape:


Specifications:

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 4ft x 2ft x 2ft
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts): 220W (4x 55W PL)
Photo period: ~16-18hrs

With CO2 Injection Rate via CO2 : cylinder and a diffusor

Liquid fertilisers used: Seachem Florish and Tetra Florapride, fertilized as and when, usually a couple of capfuls once a month or so

Type of Filter : Ehiem external canister... think model is 2028, not looking forward to washing filter media again...

Water change frequency : ~5-10% almost every other day...

Tank temperature : between 26.5oC - 28oC

Bioload -

Flora:
Java moss
Christmas moss (or is it Taiwan moss??)
Pelia
Marimo ball
Fissiden sp.
Vallisneria sp.
Hemianthus micranthemoides (MM)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala or Cardamine lyrata(pennywort)
Eleocharis vivipara (long hairgrass)
Eleocharis acicularis (hairgrass)
Elatine triandra (APP)
Echinodorus tenellus
Echinodorus x barthii (I think or could be Echinodorus 'Red Rubin')
Crytocoryne wendtii var.
Crytocoryne x willisii
Limnobium sp. (Floating plant looks like giant duckweed)

Hoping to add Ammannia gracilis or Ludwigia arcuata for something reddish with big leaves...

Fauna:
Gymnocorymbus ternetzi, Black skirt tetra (~10x), ~3yrs old - spawning almost every monthly in old setup
Puntius titteya, Cherry barb (~12x), ~1-2yrs old, never seen them spawn
Paracheirodon axelrodi, cardinal tetra (~25x), ~2yrs old
Betta splendens, Siamese fighting fish, 1x female, ~3yrs old, tank police woman
Crossocheilus siamensis, SAE (2x), bigger one often turn yellowish (breeding dress?)
Nannostomus sp., pencilfish (at least 2 types, ~10 golden and 1 three-lined), golden pencil spawned several times in old setup, often see 1,2 small pencils...
Aplocheilichthys normani, Lampeye (3x)
Tanichthys albonubes, White cloud moutanin minnow (3x)
Melanotaenia praecox, dwarf rainbowfish, it killed all other ~7 rainbows
Otocinclus spp. (~4x)
Dario dario (1x)
Corydorus sp. (1x)
Yamato shrimps (~6x)
Snails (horned and zebra) (>10x)

Looking forward to add more lampeyes and either Congo tetras or Scissortail rasboras. As well as Cherry, Red Nose and Crystal Red Shrimps...


Monday, October 03, 2005

 

Finally!...

Yes! Finally managed to complete the re-scaping of my 4ft tank... I spent almost 9 hours yesterday standing on a stool, bent with 1 arm in the tank water and working! Removed lots of plants, caught the loaches and Apistos, arrange the wood, pelia and moss, then painstakingly plant the pennywort, MM, APP and hairgrass...

Never did I realise that the whole thing will take so long to complete! I was completely exhausted by the end of it and my legs are killing me... I will load the pics and the specs of the tank in the next post... Now my back is also killing me... Cannot tahan...

Managed to get my hands on some Endler's about a week ago... 2 pairs, rather nice looking... A couple of days ago, that became about 10 fish! Apparently, one of the females was pregnant when she was passed to me... They are all in a temporary tank and will be transferred to the shrimp tank that will be set up in my new cube pretty soon... Yes, also moved office this week and starting a new job... Will be setting the tank soon... Next thing is to remove the snails on the plants I intend to transplant and after the tank settle down, transfer the fish and the shrimps!... So looking forward to it...

Conclusion: This is a very busy week, new job, new scape and new tank coming up!... Very tired too!... But very eventful! :p Look out for pics soon... :)

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