Tank Update - with photos

Here are the photos of the tank, 2 days after planting the Riccia, Ozelot Sword and Java Fern. I will change the position of the drift wood with the java fern once its settled in.

Full View of the tank - hair grass is now in the front and the wisteria is pushed to the back

Riccia tied to the plastic cave. Hoping it grows and covers the black threads soon

Ozelot Sword 

Java Fern behind the Blue Ram 

Still a long way to go to get to a stage where it looks nice with dense healthy plants. Now only if I can resist moving the plants around for the next two months so that they can settle in and do what they have to do. I have three plants (Riccia, Java Fern and Anubias) which get their nutrients from the water column. I will start adding fertilizers soon in addition to the tablets for the plants with roots.

New plants and my first fish auction experience

I went to my first EDAS Aquarium Society auction this weekend. I cannot believe the bargains that people get at the auctions. I knew I did not have any place for any new fish in my aquarium. I was just after some plants and I think I got some good deals.

I was surprised that there were so many people at the auction and also at the variety of fish, plants, and aquarium equipment that were up for sale. Most experienced people were there with their Styrofoam boxes waiting for the best deals and some really rare fish. I bet they had their aquariums set and ready for the new fish. I know I will have mine the next time I go for the auction.

I got three new varieties of plants today –

·         Riccia

·         Java Fern

·         Ozelot Sword

I changed the complete layout of the aquarium to make place for the new plants. I had to get rid of about half of the wisteria. It is still the most dominant plant in my aquarium though. I had a tough time tying the java fern down on the drift wood. I had a plastic tunnel which I thought looked totally out of place in a totally planted aquarium earlier. I covered it with the Riccia and I think it now looks better than before. I hope the Ozelot Sword will grow as a center piece of the aquarium.

Once I moved the plants around, there was plenty of open space across the entire length of the tank for the Congo’s to move and they really like it. Earlier they used to stay in one corner as the Wisteria had grown tall and blocked their path. It is so important to understand which fish like which area of the water column (bottom, middle or top) and provide space accordingly.

When I purchased the Riccia I was not sure what I was going to do with it. I didn’t even know it was a floating plant. I saw the green mass in a bag and thought it must be something like java moss which would provide the Platy fry some chance of survival. However it turned out to be a clump of tiny leaflets kind of things which were not connected. With the filter turned on it just separated and spread through the tank. Luckily I tried this with a small pinch so it was not a mess. I checked the internet and found some videos on how to hold it down on rocks, etc. That’s when I thought the plastic tunnel would be a good candidate since the plants gets all its nutrients from the water and do not have any root system at all.

I am excited with the way the tank is evolving and changing. I hope to put up some new photos of the aquarium soon.

Ref – Websites that I have information about the plants that I bought

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myPlants.php?do=view&p=106&n=Crystalwort_Riccia_fluitans

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/details.php?id=99

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/plants/crystalwort.php

http://www.vickisaquaticplace.com/Ozelot.html

http://www.aquariumdomain.com/viewFreshwaterPlantSpecies.php?plant_freshwater_id=31

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myPlants.php?do=view&p=4&n=Java_Fern_Microsorum_pteropus

Tank Update

I wanted to post a quick update and upload some pictures. You can see the water wisteria has grown a lot and also see the runners from the Amazon Sword kind of plant. I still have not managed to figure out its name.

I added a male Congo Tetra. I had 5 earlier and they all turned out to be females. The fishes are doing good and they really enjoyed the live worms that they got. You can see one of the platy has eaten like a pig.

Bristlenose catfish enjoying the algae and the drift wood

Look at the almost round Platy's on the left

I added this last photo to remind me of what I started with a couple of months back. Look at the small green specs of water wisteria that I started with. Also the amazon sword kind of plant that I started with had more rounded and larger leaves. The Lileopsis is almost dead, but the hair grass is spreading slowly and steadily. I have some wisteria now floating as well. The Anubias is actually doing good as well in the shadow of the Wisteria.

Indicators of bad water quality

I will be using this post to capture things that indicate that the water quality is degrading. I hope to keep updating this post as and when I learn and find out new indicators.

In the past few days I have seen lot of tiny suspended particles in the water column. It is similar to the how dust particles light up when a ray of sunlight shines through a dark room. I knew something was not right. Today the stripes of the neon tetra looked really pale. The ble and red stripes had totally lost the glow. I did some searching online and found that pale colour is usually indication of poor water quality.

I did a partial water change (pwc) but that did not help. I then looked at my filter and though I had cleaned it recently, it did not look good. I cleaned it in the water from the pwc straight away.

Within two hours I could see water clearing and the neon tetras had their shine back. I will have to keep my eyes open for any much indicators that the fish give to keep the tank in good condition.

I have been trying to figure out the root cause and I think that in my case the plant matter is contributing to the bad water quality. The plants in the aquarium are yet to settle in and I see a lot of leaves shed by the plants. Even after siphoning the leaves there are still many lying around. In my opinion the decaying leaves and plant matter is creating the haziness.

Update (26/10/12) - After feeding the fish live worms for two days in a row, I also see that the water is not as cloudy as when I feed them flakes and granules. Maybe another factor to consider for bad water quality is the quantity of the food and type of food. 

Have you observed this fish behaviour?

I find it very interesting to learn new behavior of different fish. Here are some of the things I observed in my tank. I hope to update this post regularly to capture the different behavior I observe in my fish.

Neon Tetra's - Pecking order

I have seen neon tetra's (male) will fight and peck at each other. Initially I was worried, but it is all harmless and its part of deciding who is at the top of the pecking order. This is what I found out after reading a lot of forums where many people have experienced this behavior. I have only 5 neon tetras and that could be part of the problem.

Congo Tetra's - Timid

I have five Congo Tetra's in all and they are one the fastest and most active fish in my tank. However I find that they are very timid and any movement or noise will spook them. There is a sudden rush to hide in the dense vegetation whenever I move close tot he tank or there is any loud noise. Again maybe the problem is the small number of fish kept together. Maybe once I upgrade to a bigger tank I can increase the number of tetras so that there are atleast 10 of each type. I like these fish and though they have not yet developed their colours and fins they keep the tank lively. They have also adopted the two Australian Rainbows that like to swim and shoal with them.

Here are some of the references that I found about others experiencing similar behavior.

http://www.fishlore.com/fishforum/neon-tetra/121598-normal-pecking-order-behavior-unusually-aggressive-behavior.html
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/interesting-neon-tetra-behavior-183850.html

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=127277
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/characins/CongoTetra.php
http://www.fishlore.com/aquariummagazine/june08/congo-tetra.htm
http://bettatrading.com.au/Congo-Tetra-Fact-Sheet.php
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Minnows,%20Congo%20Tetra.htm


A little off topic but I decided to add it here anyway. I added two Mystery/Apple snails today to my tank. I hope that they help control the algae and also take care of the decaying plant matter. The Albino Corys seem to like the snails and do their best to topple them over. They cant however get to the soft part of the snail as it shuts itself in its shell. Here are a few links which give good information about the snails.

http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=mysterysnails

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquarium/snails.php

http://www.applesnail.net/

My first aquarium setup

Blue Planet 100 Litre

Model: EG520 (Rectangle Aquarium)
Aquarium Dimensions: 66 x 38 x 49 cm (LxDxH)
Water Capacity: 100 Litres
Pump Capacity: 550 L/hr
Wattage: 26 watts
Lamp: 2 x 13 watt T-5 Tubes (inclusive)

Blue Planet aquariums come complete with a fully pressurized, 3-stage filter and water pump, on-top of the aquarium unit. Adjustable flow regulator to suit various fish types or as required. Tanks are suitable for either Fresh & Saltwater fish.

Filter box includes; wool, sponge, charcoal and bio-balls.
Hood design is 100% rimless, and eliminates water and salt stains around the edge of the aquarium hood.



Ref - http://www.masterpet.com/Products/Fish/Fish-Tanks/Fish-Tanks3/Blue-Planet-Kingdom-100/?tab=dflt


I added 7 KGs of medium grain sized gravel. It is dark coloured and I find that the fish look better against it.I started adding fish and plants over the 1 month as the tank cycled and settled.

Plants -

Lilaeopsis (Brazilian micro sword) Foreground plan

Hair Grass (trimmed and planted in bunches)

Anubis (moved where light is less)

Water Wisteria

Curly Ivy

2 more plants that currently cannot be identified. Bought it without understanding anything about them. They looked good.

Fish -

2 Blue Rams

6 Rosy Barbs

4 Albino Corydoras

2 Rainbow fish

2 Neon Tetra

2 Platy

As you can see there are obvious mistakes I made in the excitement of starting a new tank. I got plants just because they looked good without understanding their requirements. I also found out later that the Curly Ivy is not aquatic and it started to die after a month or so. 


When I choose the fish I added too many and did not think if the fish would go well together. I did not think about the fish and the plants compatibility either. I was lucky the LFS was ready to take the Rosy barbs back since they kept uprooting the Lilaeopsis and few other plants. 

It was not all bad though and there were a few things that I did right -

• I waited for the tank to cycle before adding any fish.
• The high number of plants kept algae outbreaks under control.
• Completed 25% water changes every week

 In my opinion it is very important to find a good LFS with staff who are helpful and have good knowledge about aquariums. I still don't have a water testing kit, but the LFS is kind enough to test a sample for me. 

I hope to keep a log of all the changes I make to correct the mistakes and also list all the resources on the internet that I am referring to to learn about planted freshwater aquariums. If any one can identify the plants on the left of the tank, please leave a comment.