It's been a while since I last posted, and I figured it's about time I updated everyone (who's interested) in how the set up and initial few months of my tank has been going.
I'm pleased to say that everything seems to be going well! I've faced a number challenges in the last few weeks with the tank, but I guess that's all part and parcel of fish keeping :)
I'll start with the good news:
Firstly, I managed to find a lfs (and a proper lfs, ran by true fish-lovers, not some soulless generic pet shop) locally who a) knew what a Bolivian Ram is, and b) ordered some in for me. After the quarantine period was up, I went to the shop and choose what I thought was a pair, but I believe is actually 2 males and they have adapted well to the tank. They have established territories along the lines of the driftwood I have in the tank, and after the initial sorting out of territories, and the occasional bout of flaring and lip-locking, they seem to be getting on well.
The lfs also ordered Peppered Corydora's for me, and I've got 6 in the tank as well. They seem healthy and active (apart from one, but more on that later) and I love the way that they stay together while moving through the tank.
I've also added 14 false Rummy-nose Tetra's to the tank-I adore the way that they stay together, and It's such a delight to watch the tank from a distance, and see them moving as one through the water column.
The tank I have is a 60 litre tank, and I'm aware that the amount of fish I have in the tank is overstocked, however I perform a approx 17.5% water change every other day, and I haven't seen any problems with water quality, so I think I'm on top of things there. Water parameters are stable at 0 NH3, 0 No2 and 5-10 No3. Thanks to introducing Indian Almond leaves to the tank, pH is stable at 7.2.
Decoration wise I've gone for quite a large piece of bog wood in the tank, as well as a covering of Java moss along the top edge of the bog wood,I've attached a small Anubis to the other side of the bog-wood, and that seems to be growing well, but it's not quite attached to the wood yet. 8 strands of Bacoba Caroliniana as a midground plants on the left of the tank, in front of a large artificial Amazon sword.. I'm still struggling to find any true floating plants, but I have a reasonable amount of Cabomba Caroliniana on the surface, which seems to be doing well. The Bacoba Caroliniana is doing really well, and I'm getting a lot of new growth on all the stems, as well as new shots coming up through the substrate with one of them. I fertilize the tank every 10 days, which seems to be working. I did have some twisted Vallis in the tank, but that didn't do so well-I had a lot of melt on the leaves until it melted away to nothing, which was a shame because it looked really good in the tank.
and now the Bad news:
I lost my oldest fish.
It was a Neon Tetra that I've kept for 3 years. 'Big Daddy' started off as the runt of the tank, but survived a number of events, including my inexperience, and a number of house moves. I came down to the tank 2 weeks ago, and he was in a bad way-swimming vertically head down, listless and pale. His fins were ragged and torn (he shared my smaller tank with Cardinals), and his belly was shrunken. He tried to get away when I came close to the tank by heading head down into a artificial plant, where he stayed there for over a hour. A frantic internet search, and calls to the lfs came up with the tentative diagnosis of Neon Tetra Disease. I had euthanize him. It was a sad day, and both myself and my partner miss him. 
Regarding the Corydora I mentioned earlier, I think he/she has a swim bladder problem. One week after they were introduced into the tank, I came down one morning to feed the fish, and I could only see 5 Corydora's. I searched for the missing one, but couldn't see him anywhere. There are a number of 'Blind spots' in the tank where I can't quite see what's happening. I thought he/she was there. I came back from work that night, and my partner said that she had not seen it either. I came down the next day, and still only 5 Cory's showing. I took off the cover, removed the bog-wood, and there it was, stuck upside down between a plant and the bog-wood. it was upside down for at least 24 hours, and it's had one of the barbels damaged. Ever since then, when it stops swimming, it starts to float head up. I came down this morning, and saw it floating on the top of the tank. I ran over to see if it was dead or not, but it was doing the normal 'winking' and the gills were moving. It was just hanging at the top of the tank. The barbel seems to be healing well however. I'm not too sure what to do (if anything) about it, and I'd welcome any suggestions.
I've also started to see the formation of diatoms in the tank, but I'm not too worried about that as I'm aware that this should clear up by it's self soon (fingers crossed).
I guess that's about it for the update (oh, the fishing line at the top of the tank to stop plants getting caught in the water flow works! Thanks for the suggestion!). Future wise, I'm looking at adding more plants to the tank, and then if I can stop the temptation to fiddle I think that's about it.
I'll try to get photo's up on the site as soon as I can. My camera has gone missing in the last house move, and my phone camera isn't the best in the world, so that might take some time, but I'd like to share the tank as much as I can.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and I'll keep you all updated as and when I can.
All the best,
GFF.
