kuhli loaches!

Got a few good pics of my kuhli loaches- usually it's just a glimpse like this as they dart around (Tiger's tail)

The other day they were out poking around more casually after food- so from a dozen photos I had a few better ones. Sassy hanging out in some young java fern: 

They really like the planter basket of amazon sword. This is Sassy again.

And Tiger, on the driftwood. Some of the subwassertang is starting to spread along it, which is nice.

This is the one I call Monty. Look how the newer giant val americana has doubled in height! (Excuse the mess of corkscrew val roots. Foxface has been pulling some up).

tanks update

The good first- crypt moehlmanii I moved a little while ago, has done just fine. I took some photos of it unfurling the leaf a few days in succession,

now it's fully open and sprouting another one!

Not much else to say about this tank, except that there's more white cloud minnow fry! I've counted six or seven, but they're still so small hard to see. Fed the last of the guppy fry in the 10g to my angelfish tank yesterday- I think Foxface ate it. The two adult females that are holding the QT cycled look well, a lot more relaxed, too- I think being in the large tank the only small fish with a big predator made them nervous. 

Front corner of that tank now has a loose clump of moss that came with the new angels- and most of the subwassertang that's gotten inadvertently pulled out with water changes, I've dropped into a windowsill jar with a single tiny snail. Again. Don't even remember noting when I took the last one down.

My two new golden angels look well-settled into the 55- in fact, last night Shirley and Precious were both cleaning leaves on the crypt balansae, and the airlift tube. Precious was particularly energetic about it, this time. And she looks a tad plump, and her breeding tube is more prominent. 

But the tank is having heater issues, which is aggravating. Yesterday I plugged in the new replacement heater, but left the older one that was faltering, and the spare, in place, in case I needed to still use them. Good thing I did.

(Foxface liked resting between them, against the wall)

New heater doesn't seem to be working. Indicator light never came on. Temp in the tank started dropping again. I worried because yesterday two of the fish had white on their lips- it could be the start of a mouth fungus, due to the unstable temperatures. I did a partial water change and they seem better- these photos are from the next day, which I took to compare if it keeps improving or gets worse again. Shirley had a white blob on her upper lip twice this size when I first saw it:

and Foxface had the entire upper lip was white before-

But can also see that the thing on Foxface's chin hasn't gone away, it got bigger again. Sigh.

So I unplugged the new heater, and plugged back in the old one and the spare. Temp went back up to normal- 78° is where I have it set now. Then an hour later, I suddenly heard a noise in the tank, like extra air running. Saw a stream of bubbles, much stronger than from a broken leaf. It was coming from the older, failing heater. I promptly unplugged it and pulled it out. Seam cracked on the bottom of it. So that one's done for. Got out my other spare heater and put that one in the tank. I have no more heaters. These two small ones are okay for emergency use but I really do need a larger one for long-term in here!

Went back and read the instruction leaflet, read some on forums about heater malfunctions. Supposedly this heater brand is known to have problems with the indicator light. Argh. Also it's supposed to be left set to run for a whole twenty-four hours before adjusting the temperature knob. Well, I decided to try that before driving to the store for replacement. Maybe it's not calibrated properly and will kick on at a lower temp and then I just have to adjust it up higher than you'd think, to hold the temp where I want it.

Plugged back in the new heater, unplugged the two spares. Set my house thermostat to let the room get warmer, 74-75°, so at least if the heater fails to kick on, the fish won't die outright from cold. It made sleeping uncomfortable, so I woke up middle of night to check on them! It's only fallen to 76° so far. I'm giving it another few hours then I'll try adjusting then I'll start making some complaints. 

On another note, I bought new frozen food, with the younger angels in mind. Haven't used frozen foods in a long time and I remember why now. It's messy! but the fishes do love it. Also tried feeding dried seaweed (nori with no added salt or preservatives or anything) for more greens. Guppies, minnows, shrimps and kuhlis loved it. In the large tank I was giving it for the festivums, but I think only Rascal actually ate it. The young angels were game to try and spit it out (no surprise). Frozen foods I got were beef heart, brine shrimp and a mysis shrimp mix with greens in it (spirulina, romaine, etc). I really wanted to get daphnia that's supposed to be better than peas for giving fish a source of fiber, but haven't ever seen any for sale.

round and square

Sold my bunches of subwassertang, so now I just have this little square jar next to the gallon and a half vase- It has all the little bits.  

Think I will try again, collecting the subwasser bits that inevitably get sucked into the bucket when I do water changes, grow them out instead of composting. The little jar also has ceramic media rings (in reserve to use for pegging down hornwort stems in the 55 when the rubber bands holding them onto stones finally break)

and baby ramshorn snails (when they get big enough to easily pluck out with tweezers, I drop them into one of the other tanks). Let's see how long I keep the small jar going this time.

Also, news from the 33L! There are still at least two white cloud minnow fry alive after all. I saw them yesterday, and today, very distinctly- one just large enough to start showing the blue streak. Attempting to spot-feed the first bites fry food powder again. Just a tad, sprinkled over where the fry are swimming, three or four times a day. Hard to see and find them among the hornwort, so no pics yet.

teardown

I finally took down this tank, a few days after the last of my black skirt tetras went to new home. It was supposed to be a temorary setup, but then I had it running for just over a year. As a growout tank for guppy fry, quarantine for new white clouds, breeding tank for the minnows, and then a holding tank when I decided could no longer keep the tetras. I was tempted to keep it running so I have a comfortable, stable place to put my angelfish when finally I have a tank moving day- from the 45 into newer 55- but I still don't have a serviceable stand for that, so it will probably be many more months.

I did move items over from the 20H into the 45, dropped into the background: two tiny sponge filters and one extra sponge and a mesh bag with some ceramic media. Idea being that when it's time for tank swap, I can set the angel up in the 20H w/those things from her home tank and the smaller heater on it, so she's got some beneficial bacteria alive at her side undisturbed while I'm arranging the new setup.

I dumped the hornwort in a bucket, if nobody wants it (posted on a local listing) I'll compost it in a few days.

Snails got divvied up between all the other tanks and the gallon+half jar- one nice blue ramshorn went into the tenner. Also put a few snails in each of three windowsill containers with the subwassertang:

Well, the biggest square one (that often temporarily held shrimps or fish) 

is on the table near the window

I know I've done this before, and it's doesn't last- but I'm just keeping the subwasser like this until sell or ROAK it

The smallest jar has the tiniest bits that I tediously picked out of the bottom of the tank with tweezers, as I don't want any of it going out with wastewater onto the garden since there's a stream downhill of me. 

Enough pictures of floating greenery yet? hey a new year needs that.

tenner trims

Cleaned up some dead leaves, pulled out a bunch of subwassertang to thin it out, and trimmed some of the buces. A few tops I replanted in here, others went into the 33L. 

Here's how it looks now- full tank shot

and from slightly above

more tank pics

Details, because I did stuff in the 33L during most recent water change. Regrouped a few of the buces in this corner to be closer together- and planted in their midst some that I trimmed out of the 10g.

Added a buce 'selena' trimming to this group in center:

Moved a small one over to join two next to the dwarf sword (which I'd like to get a few more of...)

I always have to replant a few of the buce 'green wavy' in this line-

Trying to get another of the anubias 'pangolino' to grow on this rock but it keeps floating free. Pinned it down w/a pebble again. Don't want to lift the rock out to tie it on yet, because I know it will kick a lot of mulm up into the water column. 

Vallisneria still here. Not great, but slowly growing a bit taller I think

Behind them- I've trimmed and replanted one top of the temple compacta, and a few of elodea-

When I put a background panel up, can see a bit better the fine tufts of parrot's feather- and mermaid weed next to it is still a single stem

Hornwort still dominates the center. But as summer winds down into fall, it's getting less light, so I'm slowly thinning it out. Just tossing the stems as they come loose of their own accord.

My other favorite spot in this tank is the bolbitis fern clump-

This corner is starting to look a bit nicer too-

and the subwassertang clumps on this side of the tank have a different growing habit which I never saw in my tanks before- not light and fluffy but kind of layered-

Two mature crypt moehlmanii on the other side of the tank- 

and looks like now there will be a third. I almost didn't see it among the anubias- it's coming up under and just in front of the bolbitis driftwood arch- where I don't think there's room!