My 40L nano

[jammedfool]

Sorry for your loss.
The swords won't like it too shallow, so how shallow is shallow?
The water's hard, isn't it? The corys won't like it hard, but the swords will. Pygmeus certainly have trouble with anything above 8dGH, and can struggle even below that down to 6dGH, they are happiest below that. (I'm having troubles with mine, I appear to have lost 4 out of 8 in the last three or four weeks and my dGH is 7.8)

Thanks, I still can't find the other one so I fear i'm down to 4 :/
Sorry for your losses too!
You did warn me before... but alas I had already been to the store... (its about 12-13 dGH)
When I asked the store, of course they said they would be ok so long as they were acclimatised (so they were fine for 2/3months)
I guess it seems strange that 2 days after new fish I lost some (and that the swords are being a little aggro)

I haven't got exact dimensions yet as I'm trying to work out the best use of the material but around 20-30cm (they are currently in 30cm anyway)
I think you suggested a 30x30x30, so I'm thinking of making the back slightly higher with sloped sides to create a riparium/paludarium.. I was looking for a pump to make a waterfall and came across a turtle cliff off amazon warehouse reduced to about 30% of the usual price due to being repackaged (the box was trashed). So if I sit that on a ledge made of eggcrate to raise the waterline I can have a nice land area and water feature.. wondering whether to stick the guppies in there or make it species only for the pygmy swords or something else... shrimp maybe.. Was thinking about semi-aquatics in future too...

It's a bit of an experiment in planning and i'm not amazing at diy, but I want to give it a go... if it doesnt work I might have to get an exo Terra or something

meanwhile i will think about the cories and what to do :/

[plankton]

Maybe your grumpy swords would get on with my grumpy BN who had (literally) trashed the tank prior to maintenance today..........

[jammedfool]

Over lunch i did a quick 30/40% water change and at the same time set the turtle cliff running in a bucket to start it cycling,

That said, the flow is kinda pathetic and doesnt really give the cascading effect I was hoping. Good thing though, is that I think I'll be able to sell this for more than I bought it and get a little pump for much cheaper instead, spend whats left on hardscape

I've been watching some videos by Serpadesign - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGzXtN ... NWFme1bG0g
He does some awesome scapes and it's given me inspiration!

[jammedfool]

Good news! I found Cory no.5, though he/she had both forks of his/her tail nipped... Something's going on.. anyway they look happier today after a water change, the swords are sticking to hassling eachother

I have removed the thin guppy mentioned in my other post to the now available qtank as she was getting stuck behind the filter, then sitting on her own and every time another fish swam past getting a little knocked and stressed

[jammedfool]

These little dudes are just chilling this eve
4 out of 5 here, the other was still there last night so hopefully elsewhere



Makes me laugh how they have no concept of personal space.. something about this leaf must be attracting them. And they tend to just slide down backwards if one of the others gives them a nudge!

[jammedfool]

Hmmf... I lost another cory fairly sudden but the little one was very pale when I fished it out

Also, our lyretail/split tail guppy isnt looking too great... fairly listless, getting stuck behind the filter in the same way the small female did before.
I've started with esha gdex and will go for the 2000/exit combo next if there's no improvement...

[Lee_k]

Do you parameters fluctuate at all? How fresh is the tank?

I only ask as I have hard water (14 dgh) too but I've got 4 sterbai cory in my tank now all over 12months old, and a albino cory in there that's about 18-20month old and they've always been fine. - Obviously if they last 10 years remains to be seen but given the temps in my tank and the natural effect that will have on metabolism I'm not sure any of my fish will be getting to the top end of their range!

Seriously fish for the sterbai says 1-15 so I'm right top end of that, and temp 24-28 so I'm slightly over top of that too! (tanks always at 28-29)

https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/c ... 1611649806

Hardness similar to pygmy but obviously not temp https://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/c ... -pygmaeus/

Wondered if you have fluctuating parameters rather than a specific problem with one?

Obviously the other thing could just be weak stock (alot of that around with corys) or the new fish have carried something in!

[plankton]

C.Pygmeus don't like hard water.
I have trouble keeping them and the hardness is 7.8dGH, so softer than your 12dGH.
I've managed to keep guppies and panda corys together, and some of the bigger corys like gossei, rabauti, c48, delphax, but I've had troubles with trilineatus, leucomelas and other dwarf corys (habrosus and hastatus).
You only need a small ammonia spike and they're gone.

[jammedfool]

To be honest @Lee_k I had left the tank a couple of weeks this time between water changes and the nitrate levels had hit the dizzy heights of 10ppm.
This gave me a kick to do a change, prune and move some plants. I got rid of the elodia densa because it was just turning brown all the time and looked naff.
My tank is at about 23 so I should be ok on temp. I've not measured any ammonia (other than cycling) the whole time in this tank, even just after this cory's death but I will try to keep up with weekly changes... I sort of let it slip but thought I'd be ok as I'm barely registering nitrates

Other than that, I wonder if I need to vary the feeding slightly - they pretty much get frozen cyclops every day or maybe daphnia, occasionally flake or micro pellets
I added in some garlic to the cyclops on sunday after the change, I noticed some WSP but the guppy seems to be slightly improved - not stuck down the back of the filter at least, just hovering near it.
He can move when he wants and is eating well though, thats why I'm trying the fluke meds (I think gdex also deals with worms?). Then again he could just be old, as he was bought in and was the only lyretail in a tank full of your normal shaped tails, maybe old stock?... I did have another guppy basically thinned herself to death, similar lethargy & WSP

But yes, with the cories it's was a slight gamble, they've been in about 5 months now. Most recent stock was 2x pygmy swordtails, one of them did look a bit crooked but straightened out and is fine but if it was parasitic causes, perhaps it moved on?... will keep an eye on the cories, perhaps just weak stock as you suggest

[jammedfool]

Well... I had nitrite of 0.25ppm yesterday morning, so I added prime as I couldnt do anything at the time. Tested in the evening and all levels were back to 0,

Down to 3 corys this morning, and I'm pretty sure the guppy is gone... can't see him in the tank but I'll bet he's wedged somewhere . I'm wondering if he had some endler in him - I'll post a pic later
No Nitrite or ammonia this morning but maybe something happened overnight?...

Wondering if my guppy population is causing problems with bioload (that said, I have lost 1m & 1f and have 1m & 1f from fry, plus a couple of fry), or if the 2 pygmy sword males are too boisterous for the corys, with no females to chase... or maybe just the time in my moderately hard water has been no good for them, I have only myself to blame - I was warned... though not by the store!

Water change tonight I think to freshen things up some more