N. multifasciata species tank

Hi guys,

Thought I'd share some pics of my multi tank. Please excuse the cyanobacteria, been battling this stuff since I set this tank up (and would appreciate any insights in this regard).

Really enjoy these little dudes.. I picked up 4 multies from Jack Stone almost exactly a year ago, the little guys didn't waste time in getting down to business and now I have the beginnings of a colony. Anyone else keeping these little guys? Would be interested to know if anyone else's multies create similar sorts of "berms" in the corners of their tank. Interestingly, mine created the EXACT same design/profile with the sand in their previous 60cm tank, but I've since moved them over to this 200l so they can spread their fins
Comments, crits and suggestions are all encouraged Cheers! JvH

 

I have N. Similis - cute buggers that breeds well......

 

Hey @cft. Yeah similis are also on my list, even prettier than multies but quite similar. Will probably end up with Occies before similis though.. Very tempted!

 

Hi @JvH, Just don't put Similis & Multis in same tank. Occies are super cute fish.
I currently have about 30 Similis fry that I must remove over the weekend.

 

For sure, I wouldn't wana mix shellie species in the same tank, species tanks are the way forward! Would love to see some pics of your similis setup

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Ask your vet (or pharmacist...if you friendly with one that will just write you a prescription) for Erythromycin.


[/FONT]

 

Thanks @Deadpool, my only question would be... Would this nip it in the bud once and for all? Or would I keep applying as needed? Wondering whether I shouldn't be looking at changing up what's in my HOBs as a place to start.. (purigen, biomax, sponges and filter wool at the mo). Maybe try revive the purigen with bleach and see what happens?

 

Reviving Purigen with bleach is dead easy.

Use equal amounts of plain bleach and water.
Soak the Purigen in the solution for 24 hours.
Rinse the Purigen very well under running water.
Soak Purigen in Seachem Prime solution for a further 12 hours.
Store it moist in a plastic ziplock bag until needed.

 

I keep my multis in a 2 foot tank, they breed like guppies Got mine from a local breeder in Centurion

 

Thanks for the posts @LunaTic, @Pezulu. A few close-ups of some 6 month old offspring..

 

And the feisty bugger who has spawned them...

 

Howzit!

Love the Thread, awesome images.
@JvH, we have experienced that the Multis will recreate a similar environment in each tank they are moved to, providing there's enough sand and shell.

 

Thanks for the reply @Jack Stone. That's really interesting, so they seem to have preferences for designing and manipulating their environment? But is it a case of preferences on an individual level, or do all multies use the same general design? Either way, such interesting little fish, well suited to the small tanks most people have these days.. Cheers! JvH

 

Very, very nice @JvH

 

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The antibiotics (Erythromycin) will kill off the cyano...but if you dont address the underlying problem...it will return. [/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]I'm not a fan of continuously dosing medication in a tank...as you only covering up the problem, you not sorting it out.

Personally...I would physically remove as much of the cyano as I can, then start the treatment. Remember, you using antibiotics...so you have to complete the process. Your vet will be able to work out the dosages for you.

Then I would start working on the underlying issue. With cyano...it's usually light and nitrate related...usually. With the abundance of nutrients and in the presence of light...you are going to grow something. [/FONT]Unfortunately you dont have plants in your tank...so the only thing that can grow...is algae.

Usually I would suggest changing the light tubes as they lose their strength over time (9-12 months)...but you dont have any plants, so it wont really be beneficial. So you basically left with nitrates.

Make sure you have enough bio filter media to breakdown all the waste your fish is producing...and stay up to date with your water changes.

 

Thanks for the info @Deadpool, and for the comments @MariaS. I'm running 2 aquaclear 50's at the moment, moving a lot of water but they don't hold the hugest amount of media.. Will look into the nitrate levels and post the findings sometime. Maybe it's time to invest in a canister filter?
In terms of lighting, I'm running an LED Zetlight which is marketed for planted tanks, will post those specs up sometime too, might be a bit of overkill. Cheers guys

 

Just an update re: the cyanobacteria story.. Decided to swap out some of the sponge inserts in the HOBs for half a box of Sera's Siporax. Anyone tried this stuff before? Was looking at the Siporax and Eheim's equivalent, Substraat Pro, for some additional biofiltration. Hoping to see some improvement / decrease in cyano over the next month or two. Final bets in please..

 

Nice looking setup. Would it not be beneficial to invest in a small canister filter in order to build up a decent stock of bacteria ?

With regular water changes and irregular canister filter cleans you should build up enough nunu power to sort that cyano.

i've had it in my startup planted tanks before when the lighting was high over a light substrate, just kept syphoning it out and changing water, it eventually vanished. Personally Ive never dosed any meds and i never would.
just my 2c
Greg

 

Thanks for the post @GregM. Agreed, the only way to get a decent stock of filter nunus going is having good surface area for them to colonize, and LOTS of it. That's where HOBS have their drawback, limited capacity for media. Hopefully the Siporax does it's thing, it's said to have something like 270m2 of surface area per box. So with what I've added, there's over 100m2 of new real estate for them ta do their thang. Anyways, that's what I love about this hobby, being able to change a single factor, note the effects and learn from it. I'm running an Eheim 2215 on a 130 planted tank at the moment. Changed over from a HOB to the Eheim and started REALLY getting into the planted tank.. What a difference. So if I get a canister for this, it will probably be a 2215 or larger. LOVE those cans...

About the cyano.. I must've siphoned out about a kg of sand already. When will the madness stop? :hmmmm2:

 

Hey @JvH - It is said that Shellies will design their environment such that small food particles will regularly flow past the entrance of the shells they select to breed in. In smaller tanks this seems to result in piling sand in the corners of the tank where in larger tanks it seems more "random". They would often build up against rocks used as territory markers by the aquarium owner. It's pretty much a species thing. The Ocellatus shell dwellers are said to prefer a completely buried shell such that even the entrance is barely visible between the algae and sediment on the lake floor.

They are most certainly some of the most interesting LITTLE fish out there and they do great in smaller tanks because even in nature they tend to use very little space. That said, it is wonderful to keep such small species in a larger tank environment as you tend to see a lot more of their natural behavior in the aquarium and you can keep complimentary species with them.


PS. I think Cynobacteria doesn't like highly oxygenated water, and Tanganyikans love highly oxygenated water... do you think you can increase aeration (or dissolved oxygen in the water more accurately) without increasing flow too much?