Tanks update

Current state of the aquarium in the kitchen. Since the previous post, changes include the addition of a Barclaya longifolia on the right back of the tank and insertion of bits of Cryptocoryne affinis in available space midground. A pair of Rasbora sumatrana acquired late last year have nearly doubled in size, and are now almost as big as the R. einthovenii. I also discovered recently a good population of small shrimp (the one on the left is shown eating and pooping at the same time) which are evidently managing to reproduce amidst the vegetation despite the presence of hungry tankmates. On the left side of the tank, a rather large Cryptocoryne wendtii  (and its daughter plants) is threatening to overwhelm the foreground. The photograph fails to reveal the presence of unsightly bits of wirey algae on the mosses.

This is the 30x20x20 cm tank on the living room desk. Now nearly three years in the making, I am surprised not more aquarists attempt similar setups, preferring to create downscaled versions of larger tanks replete with unwieldy gadgets that take up more volume than the tank itself. The substrate is a thin (>1 cm) layer of plain gravel, now topped by a powdery shroud of mulm. Light comes from a 13W compact flourescent (6500K) tube which is automatically switched on for 10 hours daily. There is no filter, gas injection or aeration. As it receives no direct sunlight and sits in the fairly cool living room, the tank is on the coolish side (I reckon at most 26-28 degrees Celsius based on the ancient method of dipping my duck into the water to determine the temperature).

The plants are: Colysis (=Microsorum) pteropus on small pieces of driftwood, Anubias barteri var. nana, Anubias barteri var. petite, Cryptocoryne wendtii, Cryptocoryne parva, Monoselenium tenerum, Lemna minor (for floating cover), Vesicularia dubyana, Leptodictyon riparium and Taxiphyllum barbieri. The fishes are: Boraras urolphthalmoides (seven), Boraras maculatus (seven), Pangio kuhli (two) and a small unidentified loach. Other fauna are generations of cherry and other unidentified small shrimp (Neocaridinia sp.) and small ramshorn snails.

When the tank was first setup, I started it with a few guppies and shrimp. Initially, I did partial (20-30%) water changes weekly, which became fortnightly as I grew lazier. No fertilisers are added, save an occasional sprinkling of Seachem Equilibrium and periodic topping up using water from the other tank (a slight overfeeding doesn't hurt either). Eventually, as the plants settled in and started to grow, water changes were reduced to monthly or more. Nowadays, my lazy duck simply replaces evaporated water without bothering to change the water. Every other month or so, I thin out the mosses, remove excess duckweed from the surface and use an old credit card to rub off green spot algae on the glass. Maybe I should try tasting the water too, since Angel likes to climb up for a regular lick!

Also, here's proof that cats are dangerous animals that should not be allowed near civilised apes. I don't approve of declawing though.

Comments

[tscd]

Oh I see, I see, you go fishing to catch fish for your tanks! I didn't know you could do that.

[budak]

only the boraras la, from the roadside in Malaysia, where they are plentiful. You can bring in something like one bag of fish (or a certain volume) through the checkpoint.

[tscd]

I thought you caught a few different types of little fish on your last trip out. Aren't you allowed to keep those too?

[budak]

oh, i didn't keep them. One of my companions then is a curator at a Malaysian zoo who is assembling some setups to showcase lesser known local freshwater fishes (as opposed to the usual big and popular species like arowanas and giant gouramis), so most of the specimens are for this upcoming exhibit.