In this blog entry I will show you how my aquarium evolves. Obviously, "days" do not actually correspond to actual consecutive days, but rather, when I can get around to publish it. Records are placed in reverse order (newer first, older last).
20/02/08
It's been some time since I last published photos of the aquarium. Here are some. New plants, new fishies, some fishies missing :-(
28/10/07
The new lid
14/08/07
Ok, so almost 3 months have passed since my last aquarium update. There have been a few changes. The parent Platies died (all three) and one of the original platy babies, too. I discovered I was doing the complete wrong thing with the temperature. It was meant to be 25 degrees C. I was keeping it much higher.
Ok, so we've got some new visitors to the aquarium and two new plants.
This is the aquarium as it stands today:
And the baby platies. Thei are children to the blue, red and tri-color platies, so they're a bit of a mixed race.
And the new visitors, a butterfly Hypostomus Plecostomus, a Colisa Laia, a pair of scalars, a pair of bronze Corydoras and a pair of "sharkies" (don't know their names...)
However, one of the Cory's has a strange lump on its back, so I'm taking it back to the shop this afternoon.
16/05/07
There aren't 5. There are 9!!!
14/05/07
I am pleased to inform that after our two week absence, our fish are all fine. Not only that but plants seem to have gone mad and have taken over the most part of the light. Also, and this is the best part, we have 5 new babies. I think 3 of them are tri-colout Platys and 2 are blue Platys. But there may be more!
After a little reorganization, taking out the dead bits of plant, cleaning the floor and changing 20% of the water, it looks a lot better, now:
22/04/07
Today, may I introduce ZsahZsah (or 'Tigri'), the butterfly plecus (Tigered Butterfly Plecostomus). Sapete did not survive (we believe due to the fact he spent almost 3 hours in the bag... we live and learn...). Also, we have found a troup (almost an army) of snails (we still don't know what kind) which spontaneously appeared, possibly infiltrated in one of the plants. Naturally, the three baby fish, Rambo Chuache and Hulk, are still growing (they are now 3/4 the size of a neon) and a general view of the acuarium with the new plants and the cuttings re-planted.
12/04/07
There is a new adition to the aquarium. The new kid on the block is called Sapete (toadie, in spanish) for obvious reasons. Here he is in the adaptation process. When he was released he skitted behind a rock and has not been since. Poor thing is a little shy. We have also bought a product for eliminating the algae, but I want to wait a few days for Sapete to adapt before putting the product in. Here is Sapete and a better picture od Chuache.
Día 10/04/2007
It's not one! Its TWO!!! Two baby fish and they are alive and kicking. We believe one of them is a red platy and the other is a tri-colour platy, since one is more orange than the other which has a black tail. Since we had already named one Rambo, we've decided the tri-colour should keep the name and the red one (orange) will be called CHUACHE (spanish short for Swarzenegger). Here are some pics I will touch up tomorrow (touched up Rambo's pic).
By the way, this is now day four without deaths. I think whatever was going on is... passed.
Day 9
Not everything is bad news. The first of the blue Platys died last night. Still don't know why. But at least there is hope. The baby fish seems to have survived! So we've decided to rename him. He is no longer called Nemo. He will now be known as RAMBO.
... Sorry about the quality of the pic. It was a flash appearance and rapidly diossapeared again...
Day 8
... and then another three died. Platy this time. However, I solved the mistery (I hope). I tested for nitrites and they were high. So I dismantled the filter, took out the carbon and refilled the space with textile. 24 hours later, the nitrites have dropped to an optimal level. No fish have died today either, so my hopes are up.
Day 7
Another neon died today, but the rest seem happy and lively. I can't decide if the fatty Platy is pregnant or... well... just fat!
Last night, the nitrites were a bit high, but amonia was normal and so was the Ph.
Day 6
Sad news... All the male guppy have died overnight. They didn't survive their first night. The rest are all fine. Two neons also died but I have a feeling they were harrassed by the dying guppy. Dunno. It was sad.
Day 5
Today I bought the first inhabitants:
- 15 tetra inessi neons
- 6 guppy (Poecilia reticulata) 4 male, 2 female
- 3 red Platy
- 3 blue Platy
- 3 tri-colour Platy
Unfortunately, two of the male guppy fought and one of them has passed away. The other is injured (his tail looks poor) but he should live... if he makes it through the night.
On a brighter note, we have a baby fish running around the place. Obviously, one of the fish was pregnant and gave birth due to the stress of the trip. Here's a pic of him/her. We don't even know what species he/she is, but probably a Platy.
Day 4
The aquarium's lid had been "adapted" as a terrarium before we got it. The lid had been cut and the fluo's holder tray had been sliced away by someone with a hack-saw and a bad temper. I made a tray with a .6 transparent vinyl sheet and some screws. However, I made it wrong the first time round and didn't leave myself an access area, so I had to take it out and cut a section out. Now it's fine.
Day 3
This is the aquarium's new lodger. It is a Ceratophyllum demersum. It's an aquatic plant that can live both rooted or unrooted.
Dia 2
Water is now much clearer, temperature us stable at 27,7 Celsius and everything seems to be going fine.
Pics of the plants and the coral reef.
Day 1
The first picture belongs to the aquarium's first actually useful day, with everything installed and working, save for the fish. The water has yet to mature and it's a little muddy since I had just planted the plants. The temperature is stable at 26,5 Celsius, Ph is spot-on on 7 and Chlorine is negligible.
The equipment installed right now is:
- Eheim Classic 2213 filter with bio-balls, foam, active carbon, textile filter and black filter (carbon, also)
- Hand-made support for the fluo tubes (Aquastar, Grolux and Blue Light - black light, actually - by Sylvannia)
- Air compressor with a "curtain" distributor
- Gravel and volcanic rocks
- Plants (gotta look up the names)
- Two small amphora and a coral reef simil :-)
