update on betta system

[windfire]

ok so heres the betta setup i know its a crappy photo but havnt the time to take another one at the moment exams start on monday:push:. the bacopa sp is doing really well and theres a few pieces i may need to trim so i'm contemplating giving up on the fine leaved background and just trimming and planting bacopa everywhere. i'm also going to have to move my snail as he keeps uprooting the plants when he shoves passed them so he may have to go live in the community again until the plants are properly rooted. i'm also thinking that an otto may be the answer to my algae woes which seem to be getting worse. im continually having to scrub the glass, the rocks are now green instead of grey and the wood has gone all fuzzy. i bought my khuli some friends, two brown khulis and he generally ignores them the snob lol. i've built them that cool lil rock pile in the left corner that i can see into from where i sit at my desk and i enjoy watching them. so what do you guys think? im moving all the cambomba or whatever it is, its BL out as it gets way too tall. the problem with this tank is that it is so short, i have about 21cm to work with height wise and theres not alot of plants that grow that short with very fine leaves at least not anything easily available.

[Linga]

high looking good, some greening to the rocks is nice as it looks quite natural. i do agree however on some algae control, oto's are great and are really fun to watch. other then that looks good

[shihr]

Maybe u can feed ur fish less, add more filtration or lessen ur lighting to curb the growth of ur algae? just some easy ways to deal with the algae.. but planting the tank heavily is a great way to starve the algae of nutrients! :) it should even out in no time..

how long has this tank been running for?

[windfire]

thanks linga i quite like the effect greeny look on the mountain but the middle rock with the white stripe is meant to be a focal point and now you miss it cos of the algae. having never kept ottos before i'm quite looking forward to it. the cories are just about big enough to move to the community to be with the other pandas so i'll have room soon.

lol i dont think i could feed less bt thanks for the tip, cos this is a betta setup Ares gets like 4-5 smallish flakes for breakfast and supper and the 2 cories and 3 kulis get 3 bottom feeder pellets to share between them in the evenings. i could probably lessen the light duration as the lights go on when i get up and go off when i go to bed so about 10hrs of light a day. yeah i still got so many plants on my wish list for this tank, especially a few more moss types and some monosolenium tenerum. i got plenty of bacopa in here now though so i think i just got to be patient until everything grows abit and evens out. this tanks about 4 months old so still new and most of the plantings where only added like 2 months ago and a few 3 weeks ago so yeah definately still new. when i first scaped it i used some amazon swords but i found them to big and bulky and so removed them and added the bacopa sp which im happier with.

the hair grass is also starting to come through nicely and i keep trimming it down so it will form a nice carpet. the anubias are growing like crazy in here sending out new leaves very week or so. i trimmed the bacopa aswell today and planted the cuttings in some of the empty spots, im almost reconciled with not having a fine ferny background. maybe a moss wall is the answer, but then id like to use something other than java moss, maybe willow or flame. ah well should really be getting back to labour law, its just so riveting hehe.

[FishRMan]

Very nice tank little tank there! What set up have you got running for the lights? Ah yes and the joys of studying while you are trying to watch your fish sometimes I think I should put my books in the tank and that way Ill actually look at them. Btw what course are you doing I see you are at tuks and obviously a law student. Im first year LLB

[windfire]

FishRManThanks i agree and ares cuming up to the corner to dance for me and work on his nest doesnt help much lol. I have 2 10w bio lux globes on here with space to add a third if i ever needed it whick i doubt. Actualy im a horticulture student but we do labour law as part of our management subject, not a bad thing i supose but its frightfuly dull, id rather be fiddling with my tanks. Im in my 4th year, bad windfire didnt study much last year and did realy bad so im redoing subjects. Whats an LLB? And were u studying?

[FishRMan]

Im studyng at Tuks. An llb is some fancy latin term for bachelor of laws. IE every subject is as boring as labour law!

[windfire]

sooo here are the pics with the HM and HC from shirh:bigsmile:. i removed the crystals cos they were in the way and i kinda didnt like it anymore lol so will be focusing on the plants and grey rocks already in here. next year i want to get a piece of black cardboard and laminate it for the background and i think it'll help camouflage the filter and heater. i moved the hair grass to the back and the HC to the foreground so i will see how it looks in a few weeks. the anubias' are attaching so nicely to the wood i'm so chuffed with them and they send out new leaves every 1-2 weeks so im doing something right lol

i added another 2 khulis so now have a group of 5 and someone recommended i dont feed bottom feeder pellets to encourage them to go for the snails that infest this tank. Honestly it seems to be working:p. The lil buggers keep uprooting the HC and the HM as it hasnt rooted yet so i have my tweezers as i find it easier to plant using it and every 2 days i go through the tank and replant whats been uprooted. i'm also dosing with excel now 1ml a day the way i work it out but i dont think i will see the results before i go away.

i'm thinking of removing the java fern from this tank and using alot of vis's mosses that i got yesterday, im so excited to put them in haha, i'm thinking of using the super glue method to attach them as alot of the spaces i want too put them in are abit awkward to tie cotton around, in particular the rock pile asits so uneven and has so many holes that i dont want cotton strung across cos Ares likes to swim through them. :blink1:

so enjoy, and as always comments and crits welcome

[Slojo]

I love the "other species".
They look very healthy.

[windfire]

lol thanks Slojo i started out with 6 and i now have 32 a sign that my water quality cant be too bad, they the first to go when the water parameters are bad.