Wednesday 1 October 2008

My Tropical Fish Aquarium - Part VII

I caught one of my Pandas surfing on a Cryptocoryne leaf!

13 comments:

susan said...

aww!!!!

soulful sepulcher said...

I love all of the plantings Matt, --aww about Tom and Thumb, but I guess they need a big tank!

I think this makes me want to study water plantings, and then have a pond outside.

I just tossed the old aquarium in the dump! Now I see these photos.(which are really good)

Radagast said...

Yes, when they were adult they would have weighed in at a massive 3", and were going to be too big! They weren't a good pick, on my part, but I was losing fish when I bought them, and they turned out to be extremely robust and healthy.

You know what the biggest challenge I've faced is? It's finding stuff that I like the look of, which is small enough to fit the microworld of my 8g tank (plants included), and that I can learn about quickly enough so that I can provide what it needs for it to stay healthy. And I'll tell you what: it's taxed me, at times!

Matt

soulful sepulcher said...

lol Matt, it became one of those fun projects that "took over my life syndrome"!

It really does look good though and shows a lot of attention to detail.

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Radagast said...

fish: no adverts, please, unless you're willing to pay for the space.

Matt

Radagast said...

stephany: yeah, although, being the lazy bastard that I am, I'm trying to have it be as self-contained, as possible. Given the size of the thing, it'll never produce sufficient food. However, the plants will help control nitrates produced by fish shite and any food that the corys don't pick up, apart from looking good and providing hiding places.

I'll still have to do partial water changes, too, but in an 8g tank, that's a half hour job, once a week. The biggest job is definitely getting the tank cycled and the water stabilized - once that's done, it becomes altogether less labour-intensive.

Matt

A said...

Dearest Matt:

how goes it, my over the big pond brillant bloke? I'm still on borrow my internet and computer connection spell, so I will make this short and sweet. Hope everything is going well for you, the family, and the fishes.

Yours Truly,
Stan

Radagast said...

Hey Stan,

Autumn's arrived (which for some reason, you Americans insist on calling "Fall"!). Regrettably, in this rather flat part of the world, this includes strong winds, without anything to break them.

Presumably the snails are on hunger strike, or are dieting, or some shit, because they're not eating the algae fast enough! I bought myself a new toothbrush, today, so that I could use the old one to clean the front of the tank! Meanwhile, I try to keep up with the kids, as best I can!

Hope you settle in quickly, at your new place. Stay well.

Matt

Monica Cassani said...

really cool fish tank Matt....just got caught up on your world...

it's really very beautiful and artfully done...

as in you are truly artistic!!

Radagast said...

gianna: Thanks: it's a fun, little project. One of the things I did was to see how much interest I could shoehorn into that little tank - there's nine (invited), species in there. I think having it look good was almost a bonus; subordinate to choosing stuff that actually interacted! Now, if I can get the fish breeding, that would be an achievement!

Matt

susan said...

Hi Matt,

Regarding fish breeding, I know when we had an aquarium when I was little, we had guppies. They were always having baby guppies. You had to separate the mom from the babies, or the mom and the other fish would eat the babies.

Which of course led to , (can you picture this) two little girls, both under six, crying to their parents, "Mommy, why are the fish eating each other?"

We didn't have the aquarium very long, as you probably surmised.

Radagast said...

susan: Yes, they do tend to do that! There's no great depth of parental feeling, when it comes to fish.

The thing to do is have a breeding tank, and when the mother looks like she's about to "drop," move her into the breeding tank, which will have java moss in the bottom, where the babies can hide. When she's finished giving birth, move the mother back to the main tank, and raise the babies in the breeding tank.

When it comes to egg-layers, like my lot, when a mother and a prospective suitor are in courtship, one moves them both into the breeding tank, and out again, when they're done.

I don't have a breeding tank, so any eggs (and, should they last that long, fry), my fish produce are going to have to take their chances!

Matt