Saturday, May 18, 2013

My Tanks: 18 May Update

The times between my updates keep stretching out because my tanks are going through fewer and fewer changes. Once every couple of months is more than enough to cover everything. That said, I only have a few things to report this week.

My comminuty tank got some new residents in the form of Amano shrimp (Caridina multidentata). The gourami did pick off a few, but the remaining three are hard at work keeping down the algae. I have a bit of staghorn algae in the tank, and they have been very diligent in eating it. Amano shrimp are much larger than cherry shrimp and do just fine with the fish.

My new amano shrimp.

I have also added a new plant: Hygrophilia sp tiger. It is another stem plant, but it is one of the few low-light stem plants. It's in a temporary position right now, but during the summer I'm going to put a canister on the community tank. Then the hygro can be moved to where I want it. Thanks to the sharp eye of a friend, I've also realized I have a fourth species of crypt in my tank. He pointed out that I have a C. pontederiifolia as well as the C. spiralis, C. undulata, and C. wendtii. I'm guessing it came as an extra with my last order of crypts from Aquariumplants.com.

You can see the C. pontederiifolia to the right of the rock in the center.
The hygro is in the back left. And there is a bonus amano.

The shrimp tank underwent the most changes. Because my starting population was so low, I ordered 10 sakura red shrimp from HomelessAquatics.com. They arrive in good condition and acclimated well, but I had a mass die-off like 4 days after they went into the tank. I attribute it to first-time shrimping mistakes which could have been anything from not feeding enough, feeding too much, an immature tank, pH too high. I wasn't really sure, but either way only about 3 of the original 10 are still alive. I was about to give up on shrimps when a female became berried, but she died shortly after that. I put her body in a net over the filter in an attempt to hatch her eggs like I'd read online. And it actually worked! I was able to hatch about five eggs.

As for cosmetic changes in the tank, I have also made some large ones. I added two large pieces of driftwood as well as some X-mas moss and java moss. I removed the bacopa because I just didn't like the look of it. I also added some floating plants such as frogbit and dwarf water lettuce. I currently have one berried female and a few saddled ones.

Current state of the shrimp tank. I also added a feeding dish to the tank.

There aren't nearly as many updates as I would like with the pond because we've had a very cold spring. We even had a frost earlier this week. The plants are just flowering now. I added some water hyacinth to the pond, but it's not in top shape due to the cold weather.

Yellow iris and the koi

Stout blue-eyed grass

Up close on the iris and koi

The other major change in my fish tanks is a new goldfish!!! Mid April I bought a ranchu from DandyOrandas.com, and I'm in love with this little girl! She's slightly larger than my ryukin and oranda, but they are catching up fast. I have named her Ponyo, but my mother calls her Marlyn because she has a black dot on her check. She took to hand feeding extremely well, and fits in with the group perfectly. I am so happy to have her!!

Look at that cute face!!!

Like three peas in a pod.

The last and rather small (right now) change in the goldfish tank was the addition of six apple snails. A friend had too many in his tank and was giving away babies. I plopped them in while distracting the goldfish, but Ponyo was too quick and completely ate one, spitting out the operculum. So the apple snails are in a breeder box getting daily feedings so they grow large enough not to be goldfish food. 

My new snails with a cameo from Burbbles.

There will be something special in the next update! :3

2 comments:

  1. Ahh your pond looks so great! I'm jealous :(

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  2. Your tank and your pond looks like something out of a magazine. I would be satisfied with the Ranchu also if I was you - it is a lovely goldfish with an adorable face! It is so wonderful when they all get along together (harmony in the goldfish tank at last!).

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