A River runs through it

lol @Whipme... Nah,the dream loach tank is still far in the future...and it wll be an 8 footer(no more pussyfooting around with small stuff..he,he) - next project is the BIG paludarium...shhh!
This tank still has far to go with where I want the planting to go...Can you believe that I have only spent R5(on the 1st 2 pieces of Vallis) of my own money on plants for this tank? Thanx to all my TASA buddies for the clippings,gifts and bits of plants...See,I did take care of them well..lol

 

oops, wrong place

 

@shihr....once,i can understand...but twice?....lol - Shihr's gone down the river...

 

haha.. i thought i was in the progression thread

 

@azurekoi... UPDATE PLEASE!!! I'm very curious to see the progress from the last 2 months...

 

me times twice! and update us on those little dudes!

 

I'm with BugMan and Vez... Update! Yay!

 

How have I missed this thread?!?!? What an awesome tank, with some stunning inmates!! Great stuff dude! I agree though, need an update now!

 

O.K,O.K.....lol here it is!

Well,unfortunately the Sumo loach has made short work of the little Squirrel loach babies(Saw him sucking up one like a bloodworm shortly after tI noticed the babies - soon after,all gone) :cry:....but Happy to anounce that there are 3(I think - maybe more - it's a fricken jungle in there...lol) almost 1cm long baby Sewelia lineolata cruising around that has escaped his evil intentions... As for breeding the Squirels again - wont be possible until I replace the male that the Sumo has killed as well...If he wasnt so gorgeous,he would be long gone....Grrr

18 to 20 hour light cycles per day has taught me a new meaning to the word patience with the algae growth - yes,Im getting yummy green Dust algae for the Sewellia's,Stiphodon and now a Garra to eat,but the Staghorn and Hair algae is driving me nuts! Thank goodness for Crystal algae Clear - keeps things just manageable. Out of necesity my water is hard and rich in calcium and magnesium,so I guess its something I must just live with... I've busted one myth already that you CAN have a fully planted river tank with not just Anubias and Java Fern....

Soon introducing a trio of Honey Gouramis if I can find some + 7 Harlequin Rasboras - getting tired of my non fishy mates coming to my house and asking me where the fish are in the tank...lol

And for the pic hounds - a few snaps I just took - sorry for the worse than normal pics,but it's daylight and I did the best I could....




Couple of FTS's,some pics of the Sumo Loach chillin with the Stiphodon Goby and finally a pic of 2 of the baby Sewelias - cuteness personified!!!

@BugMan,@Vez and @GG13 - Happy now?....lol

 

Oooh I forgot - My Gaastromyzons are also down to just one - the Sewelias is just so much bigger and bossier than them - warning for any of you that want a tank along these lines in the future.... they dont mix...

@Sean J - thanx mate - means a lot coming from you!

 

Dude thanks for the pics! and sorry about those little "bloodworms"!!!! sounds like the Sumo is a wild one!

 

@azurekoi: AMAZING!!!

The tank is looking very good...

Just 1 q: What little fish is stuck to the glass in the 4th picture? I know you had some at Pet Stop a while back but i cant remember their name at all... :embarrest:

 

Borneo suckers (spelling)

 

Yup - that he is... I don't often name fish,but he has earned is nickname of the Ninja Assassin...lol

 

@BugMan - its one of the Sewelia lineolatas - he's the biggest male I have and he is almost always to be found on the front glass,munching away...

 

Thank you @Vez & @azurekoi... Now i know

 

@azurekoi

how good are they at keeping the tank clean? as i have been thinking of getting some for my tank, those BN's are getting lazy!

 

Their common name is Tiger Hillstream loaches - "Borneo Suckers" are usualy a smaller species belonging to the Gastromyzon family....pity I could not get a pic of my big male Sawelia sp. Spotted - hes almost 8cm long with a disk size of like 4,5cm - real bueat,but SO shy!!!

 

@Vez - they are not "Cleanup crew" fish at all - need a specialised diet of LOTS of dust algae that grows in the high flow areas of my tank... Their high oxygen demand also precludes them from most tanks,but give them a try if you got some flow going in your big tank - also dont like temps of above 24 degrees

 

thanks for the info dude, i think i will give them a skip then! but they are still on my "cool Wall"!