Showing posts with label Sudo Reef Sand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sudo Reef Sand. Show all posts
Friday, 8 May 2015
64 Litre "Hidden Paths" Tank - Week 16 Update
Its been around 16 weeks since the 64 Litre "Hidden Paths" Tank was started... so i guess its due for a much needed update. :)
So far its been running well with very little maintenance required, as per my original plan.
Over time, i've gradually stopped dosing fertilizers and excel as i found that the plants already get sufficient nutrients from the tank's ecosystem and their carbon requirements aren't very high anyways. The fact that all of the plants are rhizome based also helps as they can store lots of resources for future usage, so the plants have their own inbuilt buffers against fluctuating nutrient levels.
Platinum rummy nose tetras were added just after the tank was setup, they form the main group of fishes for the tank now. Their exceptional schooling ability really ties everything together perfectly.
Despite their slower growth rates, the plants sprouted out quite a good amount of new leaves... the various anubias and bucephalandra clumps have developed into denser bunches and slowly filled out the aquascape.
I was initially planning to swap out plants, but after seeing everything settle in nicely, i figured its probably better if i just leave it be and simply let the plants grow out. :)
So far its been running well with very little maintenance required, as per my original plan.
Over time, i've gradually stopped dosing fertilizers and excel as i found that the plants already get sufficient nutrients from the tank's ecosystem and their carbon requirements aren't very high anyways. The fact that all of the plants are rhizome based also helps as they can store lots of resources for future usage, so the plants have their own inbuilt buffers against fluctuating nutrient levels.
Platinum rummy nose tetras were added just after the tank was setup, they form the main group of fishes for the tank now. Their exceptional schooling ability really ties everything together perfectly.
Despite their slower growth rates, the plants sprouted out quite a good amount of new leaves... the various anubias and bucephalandra clumps have developed into denser bunches and slowly filled out the aquascape.
I was initially planning to swap out plants, but after seeing everything settle in nicely, i figured its probably better if i just leave it be and simply let the plants grow out. :)
Friday, 29 March 2013
Greenish Zebra Oto?
Update on the 23 litre "sand cats" tank!
Both the Corydoras Habrosus and Otocinclus Cocama have acclimated well, swimming around actively and looking very healthy so far.
I've added some inert river stones to provide abit more variety in the tank environment and to create additional surfaces for algae to grow. I've also increased the lighting period temporarily to 8 hours in order to encourage the controlled growth of a nice film of algae on the glass tank walls and river stones (it worked!), which will help feed the zebra oto.
Here is a photo of them dining on a slice of blanched zuchinni...
In my attempt to provide enough nutritious natural plant-based food to acclimatize the oto, i have been dropping a fresh slice of blanched zuchinni into the tank everyday for the past week (always removing any uneaten portions after 12 hours) and i see the oto constantly munching on it. Now it looks healthy and is very active.
Interesting thing is... it has also been turning noticeably green! :)
Here is a photo of its underside... notice the nice round tummy.
It has also started to actively scrub the algae on the glass tank walls and river stones too, which is a very good sign that it is adapting to the tank environment.
Not sure if its the diet of zuchinni or the availability of lots of green algae, perhaps all the green colored food that its been eating might have contributed to it turning a tint of green?
Since the zebra oto is already well conditioned, i have now reduced the zuchinni slices to only once every 3-4 days, so i'll see if it gradually reverts back to its original black/white coloration. :)
Both the Corydoras Habrosus and Otocinclus Cocama have acclimated well, swimming around actively and looking very healthy so far.
I've added some inert river stones to provide abit more variety in the tank environment and to create additional surfaces for algae to grow. I've also increased the lighting period temporarily to 8 hours in order to encourage the controlled growth of a nice film of algae on the glass tank walls and river stones (it worked!), which will help feed the zebra oto.
Here is a photo of them dining on a slice of blanched zuchinni...
In my attempt to provide enough nutritious natural plant-based food to acclimatize the oto, i have been dropping a fresh slice of blanched zuchinni into the tank everyday for the past week (always removing any uneaten portions after 12 hours) and i see the oto constantly munching on it. Now it looks healthy and is very active.
Interesting thing is... it has also been turning noticeably green! :)
Here is a photo of its underside... notice the nice round tummy.
It has also started to actively scrub the algae on the glass tank walls and river stones too, which is a very good sign that it is adapting to the tank environment.
Not sure if its the diet of zuchinni or the availability of lots of green algae, perhaps all the green colored food that its been eating might have contributed to it turning a tint of green?
Since the zebra oto is already well conditioned, i have now reduced the zuchinni slices to only once every 3-4 days, so i'll see if it gradually reverts back to its original black/white coloration. :)
Sunday, 24 March 2013
23 Litre "Sand Cats" Tank
Following up from my 23 lite "sand" tank post, i've finally managed to introduce some fauna into the tank... they are all catfish, so this tank will be dubbed the "Sand Cats" tank. :)
Here are the tank stats:
Tank Size: 48cm x 22cm x 22cm (High Clarity / Low Iron Glass)
Substrate: Sudo Reef Sand
Filter System: Eden 501 + 10mm gUSH Lily Pipe Set
Filter Media: Seachem Matrix + Bio Sponges
Temperature: 27-28 °C
Lighting: Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED Z-15 (45cm)
Light Duration: 6 hours
Co2: None
Fertilizer: None
Fan/Chiller: None
Water Change Regimen: 20% Weekly
Water Parameters:
Tested using API Freshwater Master Test Kit
pH = 7.0
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 5-10 ppm
Flora:
Limnobium Laevigatum
Fissidens Splachnobryoide
Bogwood
Fauna:
Corydoras Habrosus
Otocinclus Cocama
Neocaridina Heteropoda
Feed:
Hikari Micro Wafers
Hikari Algae Wafers
Hikari Sinking Wafers
Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets
Hikari Shrimp Cuisine
Blanched Zucchini & Green Peas
--
As this tank has a wide and low design, i choose to stock it with corydoras fishes since they spend most of their time on the substrate scavenging for food, hence the larger "floor area" will be ideal for their natural feeding behavior.
I choose Sudo Reef Sand as its is fine grained, as well as a light beige color which still looks natural, but yet not too glaring.
I narrowed my corydoras species selection down to the smallest "dwarf" variants... namely Corydoras Pygmaeus, Corydoras Hastatus & Corydoras Habrosus.
One of the reasons why i wanted the dwarf variants was so that i could stock more of them in the tank (without creating too high a bio-load) which would encourage them to display their natural shoaling and group interaction behaviors... and the small corys also look cuter too. :)
After reading up and observing the 3 species of dwarf corydoras at aquarium stores, i decided to go for Corydoras Habrosus. This is because out of the 3 species, Corydoras Habrosus seem to be the most out-going and least shy (they never hide and are moving around the tank all day).
In addition, they stay at the bottom of the tank and scavenge around the majority of the time, just like the larger corydoras species.
Here are some of them in the midst of their favorite activity...
Those of you with sharp eyes would have also noticed a much larger catfish in the tank too.
Thats right... its an Otocinclus Cocama (aka Zebra Oto).
I got it from a friend a few weeks ago who recently de-commissioned one of his tanks and needed a new home for this fish, so i offered to adopt it.
Interestingly this particular adult otocinclus has been raised on commercial food and fresh vegetables from young, so it doesn't seem to be interested in algae... i kept it in quarantine for a few weeks in my shrimp-only tank which has lots of green and brown algae to choose from but it only went for the shrimp's food and vegetables.
It also spends most of its time rooting around on the substrate too... this particular oto seems to act more like a cory!
I figure it could have been so accustomed to prepared/commercial food that it doesn't bother with algae anymore. So i decided to shift it to this tank as the sand substrate is more suitable for its feeding habits and it would be more comfortable in the company of corys too.
So far, it seems to fit in nicely and even shoal around with the small corys. Its like a gentle giant amongst the tiny denizens.
Btw, i've read that some otos mimic corys in the wild to avoid predation (as corys have poisonous barbs which predators avoid, the otos adopt similar colors and behaviors to trick them too)... i think this oto is probably doing the same! :)
Here are the tank stats:
Tank Size: 48cm x 22cm x 22cm (High Clarity / Low Iron Glass)
Substrate: Sudo Reef Sand
Filter System: Eden 501 + 10mm gUSH Lily Pipe Set
Filter Media: Seachem Matrix + Bio Sponges
Temperature: 27-28 °C
Lighting: Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED Z-15 (45cm)
Light Duration: 6 hours
Co2: None
Fertilizer: None
Fan/Chiller: None
Water Change Regimen: 20% Weekly
Water Parameters:
Tested using API Freshwater Master Test Kit
pH = 7.0
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 5-10 ppm
Flora:
Limnobium Laevigatum
Fissidens Splachnobryoide
Bogwood
Fauna:
Corydoras Habrosus
Otocinclus Cocama
Neocaridina Heteropoda
Feed:
Hikari Micro Wafers
Hikari Algae Wafers
Hikari Sinking Wafers
Hikari Sinking Carnivore Pellets
Hikari Shrimp Cuisine
Blanched Zucchini & Green Peas
--
As this tank has a wide and low design, i choose to stock it with corydoras fishes since they spend most of their time on the substrate scavenging for food, hence the larger "floor area" will be ideal for their natural feeding behavior.
I choose Sudo Reef Sand as its is fine grained, as well as a light beige color which still looks natural, but yet not too glaring.
I narrowed my corydoras species selection down to the smallest "dwarf" variants... namely Corydoras Pygmaeus, Corydoras Hastatus & Corydoras Habrosus.
One of the reasons why i wanted the dwarf variants was so that i could stock more of them in the tank (without creating too high a bio-load) which would encourage them to display their natural shoaling and group interaction behaviors... and the small corys also look cuter too. :)
After reading up and observing the 3 species of dwarf corydoras at aquarium stores, i decided to go for Corydoras Habrosus. This is because out of the 3 species, Corydoras Habrosus seem to be the most out-going and least shy (they never hide and are moving around the tank all day).
In addition, they stay at the bottom of the tank and scavenge around the majority of the time, just like the larger corydoras species.
Here are some of them in the midst of their favorite activity...
Those of you with sharp eyes would have also noticed a much larger catfish in the tank too.
Thats right... its an Otocinclus Cocama (aka Zebra Oto).
I got it from a friend a few weeks ago who recently de-commissioned one of his tanks and needed a new home for this fish, so i offered to adopt it.
Interestingly this particular adult otocinclus has been raised on commercial food and fresh vegetables from young, so it doesn't seem to be interested in algae... i kept it in quarantine for a few weeks in my shrimp-only tank which has lots of green and brown algae to choose from but it only went for the shrimp's food and vegetables.
It also spends most of its time rooting around on the substrate too... this particular oto seems to act more like a cory!
I figure it could have been so accustomed to prepared/commercial food that it doesn't bother with algae anymore. So i decided to shift it to this tank as the sand substrate is more suitable for its feeding habits and it would be more comfortable in the company of corys too.
So far, it seems to fit in nicely and even shoal around with the small corys. Its like a gentle giant amongst the tiny denizens.
Btw, i've read that some otos mimic corys in the wild to avoid predation (as corys have poisonous barbs which predators avoid, the otos adopt similar colors and behaviors to trick them too)... i think this oto is probably doing the same! :)
Sunday, 17 March 2013
23 Litre "Sand" Tank
I managed to get around to setting up the 48cm wide / 23 litre tank on the middle shelf of my stainless steel aquarium rack.
As i'm keen to try keeping bottom dwelling corydoras fish species (the smaller sized types) in this tank, i decided to use fine sand as the substrate of choice.
I picked the light colored Sudo Reef Sand and it turned out rather nice! :)
Btw, i've already tested this sand to be inert and doesn't affect the water parameters (despite its "reef" label), my comparison tests are detailed here.
Quite a refreshing change from the dark brown ADA Aqua Soil substrate that i have been looking at over the past few months.
As you can see, i transferred the bogwood with fissidens from my 13 litre nano tank (which has since been decommissioned) over to this new tank... it'll be the current hard scape for the moment while i'm thinking about how to scape it further.
I also directly transferred over the Eden 501 canister filter too, so it now sits just below the tank on the bottom shelf of the rack.
Even though the canister filter holds well established bio media and most of the previous tank's items were carried over, the tank is currently being run initially with just a small group of cherry shrimps for a few more days to ensure and confirm that all the water parameters are stable, before i add in more fauna.
The lights i am using for this tank is the Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED Z-15 / 45cm version.
It is still able to fit this 48cm width tank as the plastic holders on the sides can be adjusted abit wider to accommodate the tank's extra 3cm width.
This is the first time i'm using sand based substrate and i'm really starting to like the look of it!
Will update as the tank progresses. :)
As i'm keen to try keeping bottom dwelling corydoras fish species (the smaller sized types) in this tank, i decided to use fine sand as the substrate of choice.
I picked the light colored Sudo Reef Sand and it turned out rather nice! :)
Btw, i've already tested this sand to be inert and doesn't affect the water parameters (despite its "reef" label), my comparison tests are detailed here.
Quite a refreshing change from the dark brown ADA Aqua Soil substrate that i have been looking at over the past few months.
As you can see, i transferred the bogwood with fissidens from my 13 litre nano tank (which has since been decommissioned) over to this new tank... it'll be the current hard scape for the moment while i'm thinking about how to scape it further.
I also directly transferred over the Eden 501 canister filter too, so it now sits just below the tank on the bottom shelf of the rack.
Even though the canister filter holds well established bio media and most of the previous tank's items were carried over, the tank is currently being run initially with just a small group of cherry shrimps for a few more days to ensure and confirm that all the water parameters are stable, before i add in more fauna.
The lights i am using for this tank is the Up Aqua Z-Series Pro LED Z-15 / 45cm version.
It is still able to fit this 48cm width tank as the plastic holders on the sides can be adjusted abit wider to accommodate the tank's extra 3cm width.
This is the first time i'm using sand based substrate and i'm really starting to like the look of it!
Will update as the tank progresses. :)
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