My tanks: 22 Oct Update

So while it has been a few months since my last update not much has changed in my tanks except with the goldfish.

I completely redid the aquascape. I removed the gravel once and for all and replaced it with aragonite sand to aid me in hardening the water. I figured out my light is too dim for most plants to grow in the substrate, so I opted for fake plants. I think they look realistic, and I like the cover they give to the fish.

If you can spot him, he's in the bottom right corner!

The fake plants I have are Marineland jumbo bamboo which is floating while the live floating plants--which the goldfish seem to leave alone--fill in, the Marineland A-size multipack that includes red ludwigia, rotala, and moneywort (but I only used to two tallest plants in the center and right), and the  Aqueon Begonia plastic plant 16" on the left. My live plants (most of which are floating and out of view) are hornwort, water sprite, and anarcharis. I also have that one little marimo ball on to bottom, too.

Unfortunately, right after I completed the re-'scape, I lost my two oldest goldfish within a week of each other. They had been with me for six years. I'm not positive on what caused either of their demises, but I am keeping a close eye on my remaining goldfish.

Seaking on left, Goldeen on right. Together in life and together in death.

I also know I owe you guys some up close pictures of my newest (well relatively) goldfish. I'm fairly certain he is male as I've seen some breeding stars on his pectorals, but only time will tell. He's still pretty small. No bigger than 3 inches on body!

Here he is sitting next to his "mirror buddy." Since goldfish enjoy company,
this will be his best friend until I can find another goldfish
and put him through a QT process.

He's still a little shy!

Here is a pretty good image to give you a size comparison.
He's grown a lot since I brought him home.

While it hasn't been getting that cold at night and the leaves haven't changed that much, I went ahead and put the net over my pond. It's been decent weather, and I wanted to make sure it was done right. There have been a few years where I was putting the net out when it was rainy, cold, and almost dark. Plus, I catch more leave if I put the net up before the they all start coming down.

It's still warm enough that the koi are happily swimming around under the net.

And everyone got new lights. I noticed I needed new lights because I began to see an abundance of brown algae growing on the walls as well as some of the lower plants. Bulbs don't last more than a year, and the deeper the tank, the more often they have to be replaced. I probably could have gotten another few months from my betta tank bulbs, but I like doing them all at once. You might not notice a difference, but the plants do! 

My Tanks: 22 July update

So almost a month later, a lot has changed with my tanks. But all of the changes have been for the good.

The amazon sword has done well in the goldfish tank. I'm thinking about adding a root tab to boost it's growth; I would really like two huge swords in that tank. The hornwort has also taken off. It's really helped bring down the nitrate level in the tank. I will certainly need help with that when I add the newest goldfish to the tank.

The biggest change is the betta tanks. I ordered a double-decker stand and stacked them. Basically I can fit two tanks in the space that one would normally take, and run both filters from one air pump. I highly recommend this for anyone who is having trouble finding places for more tanks. I got the stand from Drsfosterandsmith.com for a very reasonable price. They come in sizes up to 55 gallons and are of a rather sturdy make. Industrial strength shelves also work if the tanks aren't going to be on display such as what you would find in someone's fish room.

So the other day I went into Petco looking for something (can't remember what), and I made the mistake of looking at the bettas. I saw this beauty a halfmoon king betta being sold as a plakat halfmoon. Kings usually sell for $25 around here, but I got this beauty for only $14 because he was miss-marked. His name is Lapis, but my mother likes to call him Captain America because of his patriotic colors. He is currently in the 29 gallon.

The changes to my 29 gal community were the most challenging ones. Removing the gravel and then adding the sand was a pain in the rear (and back and head and knees). The sand just didn't want to work with me. I used Estes Ultra Reef, and it looks great (it's also really soft so it won't hurt the kuhlies). I don't care what anyone says, it should be at least rinsed before going into the tank. At the very least it gets rid of a lot of air bubbles (which was my main problem). I've also added pygmy chain sword (Helanthium tenellum), dwarf sagittaria (Sagittaria subulata), and Rotala indica that I bought from Aquariumplants.com (very pleased with their service and quality of the plants and packaging). This is the first step in making this my first fully planted community.

My baby goldfish is still in QT mostly because I want him to grow more before I add him to the main tank. He's gotten bigger, but still not big enough for me to feel comfortable with him in the big goldies.