42 replies to this topic

[danotaylor]

looks beautiful...what ph is the tank running at now mate? how are the wild T's handling the non-lake tang like conditions? I understood lake tang has ph well over 9 and up to 10 in certain parts...how did you acclimate the WC's?
well done...have kept T's and absolutely love em...my favourite fish kept...would love to seee this set up in person if you ever do showings

Edited by danotaylor, 21 September 2012 - 07:18 AM.

[waruna]

Thanks Craig

Hello danotaylor, Thank you.

PH is at 7.5, i don't add any salts/buffers to the tank, direct tap water. I was/am very confident about my water quality so i didn't acclimatize them. I received them 10 days ago, they came from NSW. An importer by the name Grant imported them from Germany end of Aug. 3 days after receiving them i had my first spawn, but it is hard to say if she is still holding. They are very skinny, need lots of TLC. Some are eating pellets aggressively, the rest still getting used to the texture.

Wilds are definitely a little disructive compared with my F2 colony, they don't eat plants but they pull out narrow Java from the thick bunches. I have a feeling they are hunting snails. Sometimes i see a Ts. pick up something (most likely a snail) and swim really fast to get away from the colony, the rest of the colony usually follow after. When ever i find a snail i crush them with my fingers and feed it to them, who ever catches it first display the same behavior, others fight to get a piece.

During the photo period my PH is maintained between 6.4-.6.5, i don't notice any discomfort from the colony, ie all brown/gasping etc etc. From experience when there's too much Co2 (both Discus and Ts.) lose all their colour, tend to hang around the top and gasp very noticeably. Plants are very healthy so i do not see any point testing these levels further.

I have done a bit of research in to PH fluctuations from Co2, this thread/quote best explains this:

The daily pH cycle that happens as plants respire and photosynthesize, and as you add CO2, perhaps turn it off at night and so on... causes no problems for the fish.
You are not altering the mineral level (GH, KH or TDS) when you add carbon dioxide.
In planted aquariums it is very common for the pH to swing up and down over about 1 full digit. For example, in a soft water tank (GH and KH under 5 degrees, perhaps as low as 2-3 degrees and TDS under 300ppm, perhaps in the 100s) the pH might be as low as 6.0 when the CO2 is on, but the plants have not yet increased their metabolism to match. Then the pH may reach 7.0 in the middle of the afternoon, when the plants are removing every bit of carbon dioxide they can find.

In a hard water tank (GH and KH over 10 degrees, perhaps as high as 20, and TDS might approach 1000ppm) the KH will be a better buffer, and the daily change in pH may not be quite so much.

Either way, the fish are not bothered by the change in pH that happens when CO2 is added to the tank.

The fish may have problems when you add too much of various mineral, acid or salt products that alter pH, but this is more of the TDS issue, not the pH itself.

http://www.aquaticpl...rmful-fish.html

I'll keep you in mind if i decide to have a public showing . Couple of guys from PCS have already seen the Wilds and this set up last week. I am hoping to do a video of this tank in the near future.

[danotaylor]

Thanks for the informative response mate. Be very interested to see if the wc's continue to spawn for ya. All the best with your project Waruna. Take care mate. Danny

[waruna]

You are welcome. If you love Ts. and plants don't think twice about keeping them together . The most important thing is to feed the plants as well as your fish. Most tend to put plants with Ts. and believe they eat them.. most likelyf plants being destroyed by them since plants aren't fed/growing/looked after the way they should be.. Healthy plants, healthy fish!

All the best to you too

[True_Rys]

New to the forum and love your project(s).

My next project fish-wise seems to take your past fish and combine them with your current. I want to go natural with a few Discus as features with schooling tetras. I plan to have more rocks incorporated to the aqua-scape and not as plentiful plant-wise through the middle of the setup.

I'm pretty confident my planned fish will go together well, less so with the plants. Will a Co2 canister be essential?

[waruna]

Hi True_Rys, thanks you the nice comments

Will a Co2 canister be essential?

My suggestion is for you to research the benefits of having Co2 in a planted tank.. Or you could have an endless discussion on whether to or not to..?! Some plants will need Co2 more than others, so if you decide to not have Co2 it may limit your choice, and i'm not sure if this a concern..?! Also read up on "conventional Discus diets" and water pollution issues, the affect this will have in a planted aquarium..

If you need a chat feel free to PM me

All the best.


Two crappy videos of my planted Ts. tank, sorry about the quality.. I did this on my blackberry.. Not enough lighting, i'll keep practicing.

First one was taken during feeding time, mid day, Co2 at it's peak.. I tried to show off the plants pearling as much as i could.. This was done 10 days ago..



Second video below was done yesterday.. Very shaky because i had to be quick.. Wild Ts. were spawning for the second time!! Every time i go near the breeding pair to record the rest of the mob followed me and disturbed the ritual.. But i managed to capture a little.. I guess this is a first, Wild Ts. breeding in a high tech planted tank during Co2 injection at it's peak.

http://www.youtube.c...eature=youtu.be

[True_Rys]

those videos are fantastic. outstanding setup and the breeding pair is awesome.

I've been reading up on the Discus non stop. Foundation page being at http://aquaticconcep.../PAM_Discus.htm since it breaks everything down step by step from amount / size / types of plants, feeding routines, water change routines, etc.

I've already decided that I will have CO2 and really, my only very weak point information wise would be plants and the availability of various types I may want to consider down here. A few trips into the more revered shops around Perth should help with this when I have time to go in for a visit or 10.

Though I must admit, the more i research more native small fish, the further away I get from stocking this future project of mine with tetras! So many small beautiful fish here and I'm sure when I'm ready, availability will play a huge factor in that regard.

[waruna]

Hi True_Rys, thank you, hope your project is coming along nicely

The gang:



All doing very well. Couldn't have asked for a better set-up.

[waruna]

Successfully bred the wild Ts. in my planted tank, very happy

Katoto mum very territorial holding her fry:



Newly released F1 Tropheus Katoto fry grazing on the plants:



Sorry about the quality of the vids, will aim for better next.

Merry Xmas and a happy New year All!

[ice]

Beautiful tank and fish mate, love it when people go against the norm and do something different. Well done.

[waruna]

Sorry about the late reply Ice, thanks for your comments.

 

After a rescape this is what the tank looks like now.. A lot more Ts. friendly.. Bolbitis needs more growing! It's a lot easier to maintain than the previous setup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ts. are doing great, have about 20 young from the wilds! Haven't lost a single one yet, so far so good:-)

 

 

[ice]

Lookin fantastic mate!

[Brett]

This tank is looking good, particularly now the rocks are covered with algea (looked a bit stark before)

Still prefered the previous scape but that is just the plant man in me

Glad the fish ae doing so well

 

Cheers

Brett

[waruna]

Thanks for the feedback Ice

 

Hello Brett,

 

Thanks for the feed back, I agree, algae on the rocks makes it natural, i couldn't stand the white rocks.

To be honest i like this scape much better, i think it's mainly due to Ts. There's never a dull moment with these guys! It's a riot all day!

 

Two better pics of the gang..

 

 

[Craig]

Spectacular 

[waruna]

Thanks Craig, hope your studies are going well

[kassysimon]

Hey.

 

what are the small plants in the center front?

 

Are they a Crypt?

[Litheon]

Just read all the posts.. And it looks amazing. The last photo is the best out of all your setups in my opinion Looks amazing!

[waruna]

Hi Kassysimon, yes they are Crypts.. There are three types in my tank, Cryptocoryne undulata and Cryptocoryne wendtii tropica (at front and on sides), the taller ones are C. Balansae.  

 

Hi Litheon,  Thank you for the feedback

[waruna]

Three pics of the tank (today) from three different angles..