Something little...

Looks nice. Now it must grow!

 

You're welcome @Henkie - I think there was some moss in the bag as well, that you can attach to your driftwood. A nice surprise getting more than just some vallis When i get my lights, things will grow quickly in my tank; and I can share more plants. Good Luck for your test tonight!

 

So ladies and gentleman.

This week I will be searching for some fish.

So my planned fish list thus far is : 1 x Dwarf Gourami
4 x Cory catfish ( Still need to chose a species )

and the question now is, can I add 4 -5 neon tetra's as well?

 

this seems like a really good choice, the only problem i see is with the neons, as 4-5 is really not an ideally large enough school, i would rather recommend 10+, but you are limited with your stocking, as the dwarf gourami can get to about 8cm (beautiful at that size by the way) and the corys, depending on the size, also tend to get big and fat..

 

I agree with @mydummyname . You need more neons and if you want coryd i think you would have to go with some that stays a bit smaller. Likr panda corrys. There was a thread a while bacj about them. For allot of people they die easily but i never lost one before.

 

@Henkie, just a word of warning. Make sure that the piece of wood is far enough away from the sides of the tank so that no silly little fish can get itself wedged in between the two and die.

I would recommend at least 4 Panda Corys as they only get to about 4cm in size and are just too cute when they are all 'buzzing' around the tank together.

The dwarf Gourami is a good idea but try stay away from the Red Robin Gourami as mine grew to about 10/12cm in my 6ft tank. The Neons would also look good with their bright colours, but I would personally only add them once you are sure that the tank has settled down as I've found them to be a little sensative to changing water conditions. I would maybe recommend getting the Cardinal Tetras instead of the Neons because they seem to be a little hardier than the Neons. Remember to only add a couple of fish in the beginning so that you don't overload the filter too much.

The plant that is on the rock is Java Fern as well. The tank is looking much better with a little greenery, but I would hold off putting the tabs in until you maybe have a few more plants because you will most probably still change the scape a little and the tabs will be wasted. Looking good so far, keep the updates coming...

 

Thanks for the input guys. I am in no rush to add fish.

And besides the lfs does not have the fish I want in stock so I am forced to wait a bit:flute:

@Skye01 I am relatively happy with the scaping and the wood does not touch the glass, so there is pace a round the piece. I have been there with fish getting stuck etc.

 

@Henkie How will you be cycling your tank ?.:smile1:

 

@DewaldC, what do you mean by the question?

This is a pic update ( conveniently 7 days after the previous one )

a pic of my vallis:


a pic of the wood and java fern, can someone please id that snails???


a pic of the rock and java fern

 

The cycle only starts ones you add a source of ammonia.

 

I use natural rain water to fill the tank but I also add a few flakes...

 

@Henkie, I wasn't suggesting a rescape, just a little space. As for the cycling, it's just fine that you are adding the flakes to create the source of ammonia for the filter to build up some bacteria. How often are you adding the flakes? I can't answer on the snails but I will warn you just to keep an eye on them and an exploding population. I had a big problem with them before, but a couple won't hurt.

 

The tank has been full of water for almost 4 weeks now and I try and add some flakes twice a week

 

Sjoe, nice redo in the last few pics, lol. My first reaction was, WOW, that much sand... really?!
The new placement of hardscape and equipment also looks much better, though you could also try to hide that monster filter behind the wood

If I may suggest, get some more java ferns if you want a more dense effect, rather have them all settle in now and latch on than go bit by bit in the loooong run, they do grow sluggishly but some lush java fern can look beautiful. In my experience (which may be limited) java fern latches on to wood or cracked rock much better than to normal "smooth" rock. Maybe tie the rock based ferns with fishline instead as the line may be needed for quite some time.

Looking good so far.

 

To kick start cycles, I used to put koi pellets in cotton wool, messy, but the cycle start was quite visible. Cloudy water then clears up.

 

So after searching through PEs' lfs I finally found one!!!



He has been dripped acclimatized for 2hours and looks happy in his new home...

 

Hi Henkie - it might be the pic - but I can't see your gourami's feelers? It also looks very thin - my dwarfs LOVED their mossie larvae - you might try feeding those to help fatten it up?

oh, and the snails are ramshorns - though some think they're ok - I've just spent 3 years getting rid of/controlling them in my tanks - be warned!

 

Tracyp, he is does look thinner in the pic than he really is. As for the feelers, I think he might have had a fight with the other dwarf and golden gouramis that was in the same tank, but hopefully it will grow back...

And thanks for the warning on the snails, I already started to take them out of the tank as they present themselves

 

@Henkie The feelers should grow back with time. I had a few honey gouramis that also had broken off feelers, took about 2 to 3 months to reach body length.

 

@Henkie - send me your email address; as the PE fishkeepers meet up regularly; and maybe you'd like to join us?