My 30L journey

Great, good luck, hope it works

 

Thank you @MariaS

 

After 15 days in hospital, I've discharged the now, "Average- sized" Bertha. I wanted to start the second Kanaplex treatment today ,but when I checked on her this morning she was doing great. No more raised scales or pop- eyes. She still has a bit of a double chin, but shes breathing and swimming normally. Shes got more energy too. My only concern was not having seen her eat yet, but I'm sure she would not have made it if she was starving.



I drip acclimated her and released her back into the 30L. She hid for a few minutes then started exploring. Now shes shoaling with her old friends and starting to colour up. She also ate a few flakes of food.



I didnt think she was going to pull through and I hope I'm not being too optimistic. Will keep a close eye on her for the next few days and I still have the hospital tank set up, just in case.

 

That's so awesome, well done!

 

A few pics of my newer inhabitants. I added 12 Chili Rasboras recently and finally got good pics after they started colouring up (They are busy and fast). I really like these guys. Bright and beautiful colours and they are feisty for such a small fish. They can be seen patrolling the tank in small schools of 4 or 5 and they're not bothered by the Embers. Some of the males look like they've set up little territories that they guard with gusto. My concern was that the tank might be over stocked but apparently they have the about the same small bioload as shrimp and should not affect the BB adversely. Have been keeping an eye on water parameters and so far, so good. Now to resist the urge to set up another tank for a bigger school of Rasboras... Or even to breed them. But those are pipe dreams for later tho.



My Blue Dream Shrimp also molted recently and started getting darker colours. At first I thought I killed them when they all disappeared for a few days but then I saw empty exoskeletons floating around. Phew!

 

Looking great

 

I havent update this in ages. Here comes a long one and I may rant somewhat...

I moved house in the beginning of May and had to break down my 2 tanks to make the move easier. Everything went smoothly and all the inhabitants made the trip. When I started to set up this tank, I wasnt sure what kind of setup I wanted. For the moment I'm trying my hand at low tech Dutch style aquascape just to keep the plants organized and growing. Inhabitants after the move was 6 Chilli Rasboras and 7 Blue Dream shrimp. I decided to get 15 more Chillis and keep it a species only tank. Maybe get them plump and breeding...

I got the new Chillis a month ago and since I've never had the reason to quarantine fish, I decided to test my patience and do it the right way. After 4 weeks, all 15 was still going strong without any signs of illness. Finally(!), I got to release them in their new home on Saturday. Then, disaster.

I have a small cycled internal filter that I keep in my other tank for when I have an emergency. I installed this to run along side the tank's small sponge filter. Just in case their bioloads affected the water quality. Didnt want to deal with Nitrogen spikes. Yesterday afternoon, I found 6 dead Chillis and one barely alive. All stuck between this filter and the glass. Some must have been there a while since they disintegrated as I cleaned.

A cigarette later I decided to check the water quality. Ammonia was at 1mg/l. Never had a measurement this high. In my efforts to avoid water quality issues, I have created water quality issues. I immediately dosed the tank with Prime, then did a 50% WC. Tested again. Everything back to 0. Phew! The shrimp seem unaffected but that one Chilli didnt make it. Tested the water again this morning. Still 0.

This hobby can be satisfying the one day and frustrating the next. To end on a happier note. They may have spawned in the quarantine tank. I kept it running since I saw movement on the tank bottom. Been adding infusoria every day. Hopefully my eyes wasnt playing tricks on me. Any tips on growing fry this small will be appreciated.

Heres a few snapshots. Enjoy the mid week holiday!

 

Sorry about the bad run of luck, but great news if you've got the chillis spawning? Healthy looking tank.

Great little fish, very prone to jumping though. I'd guess infusoria, daphnia and/or vinegar eels would be a good food source for the fry.
My rams are raised on banana or micro worms/ vinegar eels/ hikari first bites and baby brine shrimp (not live, as I only run one breeding tank at the moment).
A little crushed egg yolk, mixed with water and squirted in with a dropper, helps on the first couple days too.

 

The ammonia spike was more than likely caused by the dead fish in the tank.
So upsetting when you deliberately do something to do it "right" and it lands up causing issues you never had when doing it "wrong" before.

 

A long over due update.

I was given a DIY C02 kit for Christmas and installed it 2 weeks ago.


Bottle A is Citric Acid solution which reacts with a Bicarb solution in Bottle B. This creates and releases CO2. The kit is very well made and comes with everything you need. This includes the adaptor for the cooldrink bottles, Pressure gauge, Needle valve, Solenoid, Diffusor, Tubing and even the tools to attach everything. Only item not included, is a CO2 checker.


This is the 30L when I installed the kit


2 weeks later.


So far I haven't noticed any problems with the system. In the background I have Rotala H'ra and Rotundifolia that I've struggled to get red and pink. They're finally showing their true colours. Same goes for the other red and pink plants. You can almost hear them grow. I did a big trim this week and replanted the cuttings. @Lord Vader was also kind enough to give me cuttings from his tank. Those are also going in this weekend. I'm running out of space for all the plants and need to plan and move plants around. But that's not a bad thing.

The current inhabitants are 8 CPDs and Blue dream shrimp. They all seem happy and not bothered by the CO2.

More updates to follow... Have a great weekend!

 

Awesome stuff bud! Can't wait to see this grow out even more

 

Very nice tanks! Well done!

 

Wow, that's amazing plant growth!

 

Dude great stuff