Plantkeeping for a Beginner Questions

[Crazygar]

So, I should put it outside? It's um... frozen.. and snowy.

Ok smarty pants, in the spring. I assume that most people are from warmer climates than myself. I keep forgetting that a good part of the Northen US (and Florida ehehe) are feeling Winter's icy fingers this year.

Gary

[cpardy]

Hello all! I'm climbing out of my winter cocoon. My good news is that my planted tank is doing excellent! Everything is growing, almost too well. How do you control duckweed? I finally got a chance to stock it with 15 Cardinals about a month ago. They've been doing great too... um.. until, yesterday I noticed it looked a bit empty from across the room. Forgot all about it until tonight when my boyfriend sat down and played his lil hide n go seek game with the YoYo Loach. Then he says, you know... there are only 7 lil ones (cardinals). I gotta say I'm about a week late on cleaning it, was going to do it tomorrow but said what the heck, and did a water change after he left. All done... let the fishies get settled and sat there for a half hour counting over and over and over. There are only 7 in there... the other day there was a bunch, my mom counted 15 about four days ago. There are no bodies of the missing victims, and no fat bellies on the 3 ottos, and the Loach. The upside down cat's always been on the pudgy side but he's way small.

So needless to say I've got a mystery on my hands... I'm pretty upset since I saved up for 2 months and went to EVERY fish store in the eastern part of MA to find a nice school of 15 without custom ordering. And in 3 days a lil more than half the school is gone. POOF!

Do you think I have a serial murderer fish on the loose? I'm even wondering if they could have been stolen. Ya I know it sounds odd... but my father came to me thursday and asked how much I paid for them... odd question, especially after having them for over a monthish, then he said he wanted to get some. Odd timing... but I'm hoping for there to be a better explanation.

Thanks all for listening... I'll have new pics soon. The african tank is doing really well, my fishies are stubbornly greedy but happy.

[freshfish]

I'd suspect the Synod cat- they're great at nabbing fish in the dark, and Cardinals tend to sleep on the bottom of the tank. Even small catfish can fit amazingly big fish inside their mouths.

[cpardy]

Really? you think so? We keep commenting on the size of his belly, it's only about an inch and a quarter long. It does make sense. I guess I'll try to remove him to my cichlid tank with my other synod cat. Guess I gotta save for another school of cardinals. What would you suggest for a utility fish to do some bottom cleaning?

[Crazygar]

Welcome back to Cpardy! I would recommend Corydoras. They are non-offensive and won't view your fish as Cardinal Canapes. Can we have some updated pics of your tank?

Gary

[cpardy]

Corydora's huh? Ok, I will give them a try. Should I try one, or a few. Which way would they be happier and make them a good addition to the tank. Honestly I find the Ottos (not sure of the whole name) really lame. All three sit in the same spot, and that's it. Are there any really intereresting Corydoras out there? They are kinda homely, but then again so is the YoYo loach now ( I think it looks like a horse mixed with an eel mixed with the personality of a hungry cat ) It does play backwards hide n seek though. Once you stop looking at the tank, he comes out. :)

So I'm gonna swap the Synod to the cichlid tank today, and hope it'll not get mutilated. Which will probably stir up the tank again. So once it settles I'll get some new shots. I did a bit of pruning yesterday too. Yup new shots to come.

And thank you for the welcome back. Its just been really busy, even with still being unemployed. I'm trying to open up my own miniatures shop, and finishing projects. :) Having an open house at a friend's business location in 2 weeks :)

[gtriever]

At least 6 Cories, and the more the merrier! And what's this about cories being homely?

[Crazygar]

A bit pricey, but if you can, Sterbai Corydoras. These IMO are the best looking Corydoras of all. Gtriever is correct, you need at least 5-7 to make a happy shoal. They are happier and more secure in numbers. Same goes with your Otocinclus, increase the number to 5 and watch a change.

Some interesting Corydoras are the smaller variety such as C.hasbrosus and C.pygemeus. For uniqueness, C.panda, C.Sterbai, C.amibiacus and C.metae.

Gary

[freshfish]

Homely? Cories? wow- check out some of the pics of just a few of the species available at Corys-r-Us and then see if you feel the same way! LOL

[cpardy]

Hey everyone I'm back. I know it's been a few years. So my planted tank... it did really great for a while but eventually got neglected. The loach ate all of my cardinals and I sorta gave up on it from there. A few plants are still surviving. My mom got sick and passed away last March, and believe it or not the loach died a few weeks later. Well back in November I did a major tank swap. I decided to put my one remaining cichlid downstairs in my mother's 20 gallon tank that previously was the planted tank, and I made my 36gl Bowfront my planted tank. I found my cichlid too much of a negative personality to be in my new TV room where I now go to relax (my old bedroom, I moved into my mom's bedroom). So I did the big swap, took about a week since not just the fish were swapped but everything within the tank. I let the tank cycle for about a month before I bought any new plants and fish for it. The existing plants went in right away. Here is a picture of the tank after I stocked it with Plants & Fish.


I really LOVE the substrate on the bottom. It's sand and stone from the Swift river up in New Hampshire mixed with flourite. I love the natural look it has with the speckled granite and the little flecks of mica. I actually think I found 2 tiny grains of gold (which can be found in the river) when I was washing the substrate. I think I need more but I'm waiting for spring to take a trip of there for more, too Icy right now.
I got about 24 Fancy Guppies for free from a friend... NOT my favorite fish... but it was something, and free. I enjoy watching all of the babies, but the males are NOT a relaxing fish to watch. In the spring, these bunnies of the fish world are going to live in my 3 outdoor water gardens, and what every happens to them happens.

I did get a nice school of 15 neons, they were on sale and I couldn't resist. They schooled nicely for the first three weeks, now that they're comfortable they have spread throughout the tank. DOH! So much for having a nice school. If I go close to the tank they pull back together.
I also have grown fond of Corys (yep I said it) I actually think they are quite cute now. I added 3 a month ago, but 2 have just died off in the past week. No Idea why. One day swimmy swimmy, next there's a carcass on the bottom of the tank, usually nothing left by the time I found them.

So that tank in the photo looks good huh. Well now, all of my Arrow plants have dead leaves on the outside. First they turn yellow and then just disintegrate. This has also happened to most of the other plants in the tank too. My anubias started first, lost a few leaves but the plants seem to be doing good now, but they are the only ones looking good. I already lost that plant with the crinkly leaves by the wood, and some of those small plants that look like grass. (Sorry, I forgot a LOT of the plant names, my memory hasn't been doing too well at all lately from medical reasons). And I am also finding a dark reddish/brownish/purplish algae on the wood and on the anubias. This same algae has completely covered all of the rock in my cichlid tank downstairs.



Photo of the plants



Photo of the algae

For lighting I have a 24" 20w Powerglo in the hood that came with the tank, 2 10w Ikea kinda puck lights (under the hood for ambiance, it gives it a natural underwater ripply glow) and Morning sun from a window
I add Flourish to the water on each water change according to the directions of the bottle
The temp is around 80 degrees
I am running 1 aquaclear 50 filter with charcoal, media and foam, 1 Aqueon (came with the tank) with just foam, a 20gl powerhead, and an airstone.

I am really hoping you can help me with this issue.
Thanks!
Christina

[ScottFish]

I just wanted to say welcome back and sorry to hear about your mom.

[Crazygar]

Welcome back and wow, look at that Algae!

Gary