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Amazon Blackwater Creek

11K views 69 replies 9 participants last post by  willow 
#1 ·
Currently cycling a 210l (nett) Amazon Blackwater Creek biotope. A few pictures of the setup below. Attempting to make maintenance as easy as possible (let's see how it turns out :lol:)















 
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#32 ·
Oh take the woman's point of view why don't you :wink2:
That's not the WOMAN'S point-of-view, it's the FISHKEEPER'S perspective!!!! :p
Still she hasn't tried to tempt me by offering the guppy tank in exchange for the Amazon one :sarcastic:
She doesn't want to give it up! She's a tanker, too!!! *hugstanks* ^___^
 
#33 ·
:rofl:That made me laugh Chesh

Noticed over the last three or four days that the plants are definitely growing a bit each day which, given the surface cover, is quite remarkable. The Miriophyllum matogrossense melted initially but seems to be making a comeback. I originally started with 10 stems and 4 have completely disappeared ... not bad as I originally only ordered 5 but was sent 10 by mistake :-D. Was sceptical about the Miriophyllum anyway due to its light requirements but it does seem to be a reasonable colour so time will tell. To be honest it is too densely planted for a creek so think I had better start calling it an Amazon Oxbow Lake....think I covered that :???:

I am having to the harvest the surface plants daily. If anybody wants any and I can post them to you, just let me know and I will send you some. It would be a mix of Limnobium spongia, Salvinia natans and Riccia fluitans but you could always separate them out quite easily if you wanted.

Finally, after almost 2 years of planning, numerous changes to those plans, many hold ups beyond our control and one complete change of direction the first fish have taken up residence. Managed to stick to the list so far..... Cardinal Tetras which seem to have settled in well enough and exploring the tank as a shoal. Let's hope they keep it up!

I will get a photo up later.
 
#37 · (Edited)
Thanks Chesh. Must admit they do seem to be quite at home, really pleased with them and their colours look really good in the flesh (sorry my photography just isn't up to it :-D)

Thank you so much for taking the time to snag a video. . .
Don't mention the video, just realised I have uploaded it at the wrong quality :doh!:. Promise to do better next time, honest

yay we have movement !!:-D
i love neons…always an old favourite of mine.

*cough* Cardinals :devil: I was just on the point of going to swap them tomorrow for. Neons so I didn't have to say that :wink2:. Just proves how much I removed the quality on the video

Got to admit it is nice to finally see movement in there, just wish they would slow down ... even a bit.
 
#43 ·
They are. Going to try and leave it for four weeks just to check everything is OK and then stock four more groups, one each fortnight. Got a feeling I could well fold and put the next group in in a couple of weeks but I'm gonna try to be good.

Trying to decide between the Hatchets, Pencilfish and Brochis for the next residents. The LFS I use seems to have all of those in most of the time so (hopefully) that shouldn't be a problem. :hmm:
 
#45 ·
Oh what fun we have had over the last 48hrs. Came down yesterday morning and only half the shoal were there. Exactly one half of them had disappeared, nowhere to be seen. I took the front of the cabinet off, was peering in with a torch. Don't tell me somehow they have managed to get into the corner boxes! Now his was not going to be easy to check. Right iPhone suspended by some string and video running. If either of them it is going to be the left hand side. Drop the camera down the back, move it around a for a couple of minutes .... And nothing. Down the highly unlikely left hand side and there they are bless 'em, in the box that it is just about impossible to get them out of, fantastic.

Ok, scratch head time.
1. How did they get in there
3. How to stop it happening again.
2. How to get them out.

Do 1 first as need to see what we can do about 2 and think about 3 rather than make a snap decision.

A couple of hours searching and thinking and wondering and could it be....nah! And then I saw it. The smallest of gaps between the side glass and background. It was so small but not so small that a juvenile Cardinal couldn't wriggle through it and into the chamber and through into the corner box. Easily fixed by either underwater silicone sealant or just pack it with filter wool. easily fixed but how to rescue the group from isolation, not so easy.

The access into this box is minimal (and I mean minimal) and access isn't easy and a net is completely of of the question and I couldn't get any 'solid' object into it which as far as I can see leaves me

1 cut through the background and acrylic box to create a 'thoroughfare' which can be blocked off again once everybody is out
2 create a foldable trap, lure them in with food and haul them out
3 syphon them out

The first is a bit drastic. It can be done but would take a lot of cutting. Ok it's a last resort. The second is far less drastic. But it could be a long process, got to get them to swim into it and what kind of trap and there is no chance of getting anything solid down there. The third just seems harsh and whilst they should come through relatively unscathed there is a risk.

Right decision made, option 2. First job get my iPad using the phone as a remote camera which works a treat and I can look right down into the box, there you all are. For the trap I have a 10" net, that I bought for some reason, removed it from the handle and made a new frame from 5 cable ties so that they would force the net open but could be squeezed together to get into the tight space. A bit of ribbon to suspend it on either side, and plant lead in the bottom to weigh it down.

Overnight, another two have removed themselves to solitary. I The first is a bit drastic. It can be done but would take a lot of cutting. Ok it's a last resort. The second is far less drastic. But it could be a long process, got to get them to swim into it and what kind of trap and there is no chance of getting anything solid down there. The third just seems harsh and whilst they should come through relatively unscathed there is a risk.

Right decision made, option 2. First job get my iPad using the phone as a remote camera which works a treat and I can look right down into the box, there you all are. For the trap I have a 10" net, that I bought for some reason, removed it from the handle and made a new frame from 5 cable ties so that they would force the net open but could be squeezed together to get into the tight space. A bit of ribbon to suspend it on either side, and plant lead in the bottom to weigh it down.

Overnight, another two have removed themselves to solitary. I had left the gap open just in case they made their own way out knowing that I could lose more, it is now filled (at least if anymore disappear I know they are getting through somewhere else.

So that is all in place now and we shall see how we get on. I left the gap open just in case they made their own way out knowing that I could lose more and, yep, another two decided to try and make a break. The hole is now plugged (at least if anymore disappear I know they are getting through somewhere else. Will give it a week and see how it is getting on and if no progress has been made then I think I will try the syphon.
 

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#49 ·
Well I have been pulling out 2 or 3 each day and when I looked this morning. Could only see one left in the box. Checked again later and he was nowhere to be seen. I had a hunch earlier in the week and had checked the filter but nothing to be seen. Anyway I was doing a water change today and thought I might as well clean out the filter on that side to see if the were any remnants. Lifted the prefilter out of the tray and there were the final four, all looking a bit pale but swimming around quite happily. So the whole group has been reunited :redyay: :blueyay: :greenyay:.

Cardinals tend to like low flow so it must have been hell living in an Eheim 2075. Still they don't seem any worse off for their experience, a couple have lost the top of their tails but I will keep an eye on that. Anyway, there have been no more escapees since the second night so it looks like we have sorted where they were getting through. Right, I can now sit back and start to enjoy it.
 
#50 ·
WOW, I love that vid on the cardinals swimming, it was so cute - and it was a good laugh, totally reminded me of sheep! :)
Jeezz, sorry to hear about your adventurous fishies, glad to hear that they all in the display part again! :)
Can't wait to see some more posts, this is one cool tank - wife's tank is nearly as good, but I love my blackwater setup too much!
 
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#51 ·
well haven't you been having fun times !! :lol:
lill boogers get into the most difficult places they possibly can,
clown loaches are famous for that.
thankfully you didn't have a bigger fish in there,as we would have thought
they had been eaten,and you may never have thought to look.
 
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#52 ·
Thanks both, it certainly has been fun. Mind you, better to find that now rather than when there are more fish in there. At first I just could not understand where exactly half of them had gone. Anyway, everybody now seems to be settled (in the display bit of the tank) and I am pretty sure that the four of them are glad to be out of the filter! They have calmed down a bit now, they do still do their mad charges across the tank but we also have more serene times as well.







 
#53 ·
This week started badly. On Monday evening looked in the Killi tank and the male was at death's door. He was flat out on one of the pieces of wood under some Christmas moss, very grey in colour and 'breathing' rapidly. Everybody else looked fine, water params were spot on and couldn't see anything else out of the ordinary. He didn't move the whole evening and I came down the following morning to whip him out. Hunted around for him and finally found him lying on the sand but still with us. Kept an eye on him throughout the day and there was no real change but found him near the top of the tank that evening but not looking good at all. Each morning throughout the week I have come downstairs expecting to have to get him out but somehow he has kept hanging on. Must admit his colour is returning, he is a bit more active and he is occasionally hunting for food. Think he is a long way from out of the woods but he does look brighter. I have never seen a fish even 'hold on' from how he was looking let alone recover, if he comes back from that I think he will have to be renamed Lazarous.

Looking at the plants in the Amazon tank and the E. tenellus doesn't seem to be doing too well but then it is a long way from the light and there is a lot of surface cover. Also, bizarrely, the E. densa is melting. I suspect it may be the 'cooler' variant and I think I might replace it with Stargrass. Other than those two everything seems to be growing steadily, which bearing in mind the surface cover, is quite pleasing.

And, finally, the Cardinals are being joined by a group of Emerald Catfish (Brochis splendens) and, to make up the numbers, some Peru Gold-Stripe Corys (Corydoras sp. cf. aeneus) today. These are just being acclimated as I type, will try and get up some photos later. I also picked up a couple of Assassin snails (Anentome helena) as there are a few 'pest' snails kicking around the tank and whilst there are only a few at the moment just want to make sure it doesn't get to plague proportions and it is not easy to get them out of this setup. The Assassins will go into the Killi tank once they have done their job to keep this a true biotope.
 
#55 ·
My GOODNESS!!! What adventures you've been having over there! O.O
I was on pins and needles reading about the tetra in the filter - so happy you managed to bring them all back into the proper side of the tank, I would have been a disaster were it me!

New additions! They're lovely, and entirely too adorable for words <3
I'm sure they'll thrive for you - this tank is shaping up so beautifully!

Fingers crossed for your little Killi male. He sounds like such a fighter, I hope he pulls through. . . *worries*
 
#56 ·
Thanks Chesh, unfortunately he didn't make it, came down this morning to find the female hovering over him. Must admit quite gutted as I was really taken with him. Not quite the same that he is not there flaring every time somebody approaches the tank. Mrs Biff couldn't bring herself to see him and the female looks a bit lost at the moment. Still on the upside, everybody else seems fine, the water params are all OK and the supplier where we got them from has another pair in ... So it's quite possible that we could have a new male with his own little harem ;-)

The male Gold Stripes in the Amazon tank....


Stunning little fish, think we might add a couple more when we are next at Sweet Knowle.
 
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