Debating aquarium layout...

Figured I would report in just to say how things are going. I'm really pleased with how it's turned out. All fish and plants seem healthy and happy :)

I got 6 penguin tetras last weekend, but they were a bit lairy and I didn't like how the were with my other fish so after about 2 hours trying to catch the buggers I took them back and got two bamboo shrimp instead :)

They are pretty cool! It's weird because when I got them one was orange and one was blue. Now they are both orange.

There were a couple of things that had been bothering me, the grass looked all turd and like it was dying and the gravel which was a nice white had turned all yellow and horrible. In the last week the gravel has gone back to a nice white, the grass is greener and everything is looking clean and tidy.

I took a water sample into my LFS when I bought the shrimp and the guy in the shop said it was the best sample he had seen since he started working there. He is the third person to say similar so I'm obviously doing something right :)

All in all it's going great!

Next things I'm thinking of doing is getting another 6 cardinals and another 6 harlequins. Over the next couple of months.

The other day was quite cool, when I did my water change I forgot to put my powerhead and filter back on for a couple of hours. When I came back down to look at the tank later I noticed because all of my plants were pearling. It looked like it has been snowing in there. It was really cool :)

Anyways I'm just waffling now, but the jist is, it's all good :D
 
Haha sorry I definitely need to work on the filming, it was just easier that way cause I could lean on the sink to hold the camera steady :)

I have a couple of dwarf chain loaches which eat the snails, but only if I crush the shells first lol so a bit pointless as I may aswell just remove the snails if I have to catch them anyways.

Over the last few days I've removed a few hundred snails but there are still a fair few more.

Looks like another shrimp is carrying eggs again now :) Looking forward to seeing the new arrivals emerge from the moss at some point.

I've really enjoying the tank, I thought this project was going to be a mare to clean and being completely new to all this I didn't know if I was biting off more than I could chew, but I've not had to hoover it once yet. I just clean the glass ocasionally where my kids put filthy hand prints on it and do a water change ever week or every other week. Water parameters are always perfect and all the inhabitants seem very settled and happy :)

When I first got the loches I hated them because they chased all my other fish. One of my platys died the day after I got the loaches either from old age or from the stress of being chased or both. I really like the loaches now, they seem to have calmed right down and are now probably the most entertaining/interesting of all the fish I have. Although I really like my endler guppies too :) They are quality, they look awesome and they are totally fearless. Every time I put my hand/arm in to catch snails they come and start trying to nibble on me lol

Everyone keeps saying I should get some bigger fish in there now, but I'm not sure what would be a good choice with what I have in there as all my fish are really quite small.

I like the look of the electric blue rams, but don't know if they could go in a tank like this.
 
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A few developments...

I had 3 endler guppies, but two died, one otto got stuck in the powerhead and died, one bamboo shrimp completely dissapeared. I went from 3 Tiger shrimp up to 15+ through them breeding. The moss got completely covered in green hair algae that I couldn't resolve so I binned it. Now the tree is near enough bare wood, with moss growing on the tips of the 'branches' which again has new green hair algae on it. Since treating with Flourise Excel and losing the battle with the algae I now only have a couple of Tiger Shrimp left :(

I've still got a green hair algae issue. Would more regular waterchanges make the most difference? Cause Flourish Excel is not touching it sadly, plus I don't like the way it makes my Amazon Sword grow. It's MUCH bigger but it's not as vibrant, it's like it been stretched out, the leaves seem to have less bulk to them and whilst they are taller they don't look nearly as healthy.

Also I think the Flourish has killed off the tall plants at the back, the grass has near enough all gone because it was so tangled up with algae that I couldn't remove it without pulling up the grass.

In essence the tank has deteriorated to an extent and I really want to rid it of Algae!

Cheers,

G
 
Got several new fish for my birthday today...

6x Rummy nose tetras
3x Female Guppies
2x Gouramis

To add to what I currently had:
6x Harlequins
6x Cardinals
2x WCMM
1x Hillstream loach
2x Ottos
1x Endler Guppy
1x Platy
2x Dwarf Chain loaches
1x Bamboo Shrimp
2 or 3x Tiger Shrimp
2x snails

Think that's it :)

The Gouramis and the guppies look stunning. :D

Cheers,

G
 
Yeah I really like them, wasn't sure at first (was the Mrs who chose them) but since putting them in it's really nice because they have decided the front of the tank is their area and they constantly patrol it in a nice little school :)

Will do another video at some point, but I want to clean the "tree" a bit because it's looking shabby at the moment.
 
Latest update...

My algae is at bay (for now).
My last remaining Endler Guppy had mated with my three new guppies. One died before giving birth and the other has given birth to 6 hybrids last night.

Really looking to see what they will turn out looking like!

Nitrates are a little high at the moment so I'm working on that.
 
All the babies got munched, but they continue to have more fry, two at last count that seem to have survived a little longer than the others.

I'm going to buy some more plants to put in in the hope if gives them more cover. Also to replace all my plants I ripped out of the tank when the algae took control.

I'm considering adding more fish too. Current stock:


6x Rummy nose tetras
2x Female Guppies
2x Gouramis
6x Harlequins
6x Cardinals
2x WCMM
1x Hillstream loach
2x Ottos
1x Endler Guppy
2x Dwarf Chain loaches
1x Bamboo Shrimp
1x snails

IF I could I would like to add the following:

6 more cardinals
3 more Bamboo Shrimp
3 Tiger shrimp

Maybe a few more down the line, but I'd like to add the above over the next cople of months if my tank would handle it.

Just to clarify, it's a 200L tank.

Any thoughts? I don't want to over stock, but all my fish are very small with the exception of the 2 dwarf gouramis which are a little bigger.
 
Yeah, I don't think you've got that much room to play with there in terms of stock. In your shoes, I'd probably look to reorganizing things a little by increasing the numbers - where possible - of some fish (guppies / ottos), and perhaps reducing or removing something else altogether. Adding more shrimp should be fine, as iirc, the bioload they create is next to nothing.
 
I have added two Cory's which are tiny now but potentially 5cm. I will forget about 6 more cardinals and will leave it at that for now :) The Cory's were new in my LFS since they changed supplier and I really liked them, couldn't resist :) Also added 5 new plants.

The two WCMM are years old now and I doubt they will be around too many more, I won't replace them when they are done.
 
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