New Tank Log: VikingMummy

[VikingMummy2015]

The boy and I went shopping today *grin*.
Sadly I wasn’t able to drop £150 on Adolfoi cories (£50 per 4)

How much??

Exactly! I was so excited to see them (was after them or Duplicareus) and then saw they were £18 each . Made my decision quite easy after that! Would have been nice to have cories again but I didn’t want to settle on bronze just because they’re affordable.

[Martinspuddle]

The boy and I went shopping today *grin*.
Sadly I wasn’t able to drop £150 on Adolfoi cories (£50 per 4)

How much??

Exactly! I was so excited to see them (was after them or Duplicareus) and then saw they were £18 each . Made my decision quite easy after that! Would have been nice to have cories again but I didn’t want to settle on bronze just because they’re affordable.

At these prices, it will be cheaper to fly South America and get them yourself.

[VikingMummy2015]

Everyone is settling in nicely and looking incredibly small! I always forget how much my original stock has grown until suddenly the newbies are there (and yes, I know ideally they’d go into QT but I don’t have the energy or funds to run two tanks these days. I have Esha on hand if needed but ).

The bristlenose has been christened Nosy by the boy and has chosen the back corner around the filter pipes as their resting territory (aka the most awkward spot for photographing them). But they’ve coloured up nicely and have been scooting around all the glass this afternoon quite happily.


Teeny cardinal compared to the current stock!


Blurry shot of Nosy


Small Emperor…about the size of my biggest Hengeli!

And in further good news, the store have said they’ll happily take any excess juvenile Sulawesi snails off my hands in the future. Can’t give me anything for them but it’s better than me having to pick them out the tank.

[VikingMummy2015]

Sunday morning water change. Ideally I’d have left it another 48 hours to let the new fish settle in, but at lights on this morning I immediately realised the water was slightly cloudy. A not unexpected bacterial bloom I figured, given the new additions (I forgot to add Stability like I usually do, I realised). Full array of water tests and I couldn’t be 100% on the ammonia if it was 0 or veering towards 0.25. Close inspection of the tank led to the spotting of a Cardinal corpse suctioned onto the filter inlet. Netted it, and it’s one of my original fish, not a newbie and it was incredibly bloated. I did feed the tank last night and noticed the Bug Bites were quite chunky in size compared to normal and I suspect this fish ate too much?


Trying not to feel too superstitious over now having a school of 13 and it’s a one off.

I’ve added more leaf and seed pod litter as the pH is holding steady at 6.6 all week. I do have some coral sand arriving this week to just keep it buffered (I’ll stick a spoonful in a bag in the filter after the next water change and monitor).

Nosy has found a natural hiding spot now…inside one of the seed pods. They are incredibly well camouflaged there for such a brightly coloured fish! I can see their brown mottling on the tail and pectoral fins now they’re more settled which is nice. My boy would have loved a bright red fish like the cherries but he finds Nosy amusing nonetheless .
My Emperor boys have clearly noticed the new baby girls and are squabbling . Lots of fin flaring and circling each other before darting in (and I love that my phone autocorrected darting to farting ). Here are the Nosy Appreciation Society photos.







You can just make out their tail sticking out the seed pod in this one

[black ghost]

Ammonia comes from food. Adding a few more fish won’t cause a spike unless you increase the feeding too quickly. A little ammonia isn’t a problem at pH 6.6 but you’ll need to water change it out before it turns to nitrite. Be careful with feeding.

FYI, 13 used to be a lucky number, before it became an unlucky number.

[VikingMummy2015]

Ammonia comes from food. Adding a few more fish won’t cause a spike unless you increase the feeding too quickly. A little ammonia isn’t a problem at pH 6.6 but you’ll need to water change it out before it turns to nitrite. Be careful with feeding.

FYI, 13 used to be a lucky number, before it became an unlucky number.

I think the start of any spike (if it was one) was the dead fish stuck on the intake. Water change has dealt with it with added Seachem Safe to be on the safe side. Nitrite was a definite zero so all should be good and I’m a very light feeder these days (probably why the cardinal tried to gorge itself).

[plankton]

Sorry you lost one.
I think it looks like an egg-bound female, but could be wrong. The stomach is too uniform for it just to be overeating.

[VikingMummy2015]

Sorry you lost one.
I think it looks like an egg-bound female, but could be wrong. The stomach is too uniform for it just to be overeating.

I did wonder that too, so good to have the opinion supported. I can hopefully feel a little less guilty.

I did also twig yesterday afternoon that the cloudy water was most likely the sweet potato chunks I’d added for Nosy . Took them out and water is clear this morning. pH is getting closer to 6.4 so I’m glad I have the coral sand coming for the filter to keep it all buffered (should arrive Wednesday/Thursday). No further losses, everyone active and all but the Hengeli seem drawn to investigate their new substrate. Still can’t tell if ammonia is tinged or not but I know there’s enough Safe in there to lock any up, and there’s no Nitrite at all.

[Gingerlove05]

Sorry for your loss VM
You do have to be careful with fresh veg etc as it can cause a bacterial bloom. I’ve done it a few times where i forgot to take the veg out of Sarah’s tank and the result is me getting home from work to pea soup with angry BN. It does clear quickly but i get annoyed with myself because I forgot

[VikingMummy2015]

Bit of fun today with the boy for our Home Ed session on Hockney photo collages.


Of course, reflections abound because it was the morning lights on period I was taking photos but it was a fun exercise…probably not TOTM