150 Gallon Bichir Tank (Upgrade from 75)

Sanguinefox

Hehe, it's hard to not love loaches. They have such wonderful personalities and are so cute to watch!

Well it's like day 5..6? and the red streaks on the bichir's tails are receding. Color is also returning to the male's body. So it's good news all around for that. That said I'm hoping the same, it's nerve wrecking.

Also took an update video on the 20 gallon, the plants are really taking off:
Riccia continues to grow very well...nicely. The Water Sprite is doing very well and the floating frond has put roots down (three of them). The sprigs of cuban ludwegia that I rescued from the big tank are really thriving with new growth. The Cambomba is a really nice green now too. I'm not sure I will keep the water Wisteria long term. It's tendacy to become covered in algae is really bugging me. I will soon invest in lots of black cardboard to try to prevent any ambient lighting coming from the window and see if that solves it.

Sanguinefox

So I've finally done a bit of tweaking to the layout of the 150 gallon, and I've removed some plants/put new ones in.



Yeah the tank looks a bit empty but when the swords start to fill in that feeling will go away. The biggest change is seeing those pathetic looking Water Wisteria gone. In their place has gone one of the two Amazonian Swords. A smaller change is the smooth rocks, all but the black ones were removed.

Another big change (well big for the fish) is that the big 2 foot long pipe got rolled back (finally got a few rocks that were in the way out). The wood, and slate, and green-blue rock all got tweaked a bit with the way they lay around or on the big pipe. The Java Fern has also been slightly re-positioned.

Another minor change is the placement of the Cuban Ludwig. There were some smaller stems that I stupidly put behind the bigger ones, and that's since been reversed.

Enjoy a video of the tank: Close up pics:



Not much new is going on with the small tank although I have some lovely pictures of the plant growth:

Sanguinefox

Another update of sorts, my Harlequin Rasbora started spawning today:


Took me by surprise D:

thekoimaiden

The 150 gal does look a bit bare, but I'm sure it will look better when the plants grow in. How does Queen seem to like the new arrangement. Also, how did you reach the bottom? Snorkel?

Also congrats on the spawning! You must be doing something right to get that reaction!!

Sanguinefox

I kind of like the minimal look right now. That says well, apparently she just spent 30 mins swimming around, getting air and watching my parents watch TV. So she seems happy enough with it.

Thanks :3

I don't think anything will come of this spawning since I don't have a place to relocate them. Extra protein I guess for the betta.

thekoimaiden

If the harlequins keep spawning when the tank becomes densely planted, you might have some babies make it past Blue-Gill!

It sounds like Queen approves! And it's a really funny image to think of a fish watching people watch TV.

Chesherca

Everything is looking great! Wonderful news about the Rasa, wherever Bluegill is, love is in the air!!! I wouldn't be surprised with that riccia in there if you DO get a few babies. . . at least for a few days, lol! Time will tell! The big tank looks nice, too. It will be gorgeous once those swords grow out and flourish. Glad to hear Queen approves. Silly Queen! I love her. . .

Sanguinefox

Queen is really amazing me right now. Last night on my way downstairs I turned the corner kind of suddenly and I saw her...right there. She looked at me and then just slowly turned away and continued swimming and breached for air. For the last few days she's really started coming out, swimming around, breaching, and seems to tolerate movement/people near the tank a lot better too. I can get right up to the tank with her noticing me...and she doesn't run. Eventually she goes back to her pipe but this is a big improvement in behavior. I'm happy! The grays are not though, one of them took to hiding earlier in the Gourami Nest while the Queen was out. I hope to start on a re-scape soon enough so that the grays have a much more comfortable and natural place to dart too.

I don't know about the fry in the tank. Even densely planted Bluegill is a predator. He and the other fish are likely to eat any fry that makes it but you never know. I thought Little Brave was sure to get eaten but he lived well for several months.

Thanks...yep it's pretty much the Looove Tank :3


Low quality video but there is Queen actually moving about. She didn't mind at all when I pulled my phone out to take some video.

Chesherca

Queen is so pretty . . . she's getting really LONG, too! It seems like she's grown a LOT since the move. Hard to really tell from videos and pics, though. Either way she's stunning :)

Sanguinefox

It is kind of hard to tell unless you see the older vids. I might go through what I have saved up and do a transition video if I still have some of the older stuff saved to my comp.

Also I think the coming out more often may be partially driven by the fact her external gills seem to have completely receded. This means she has to go to the surface and breach for air now.