20L rescape.

ok so i just had to share the pics of the 20L that now houses kratos and the 3 rosy loaches. think it looks much better than the log only because it's not as massive. Kratos seems happy and the rosy loaches are flitting about quite merrily. i'm hoping the rotala and hemianthus will hide the heater eventually and make abit of a forest and i will allow them to grow out the top. the crypts predictably melted a few days after the change, now to see if that horrible blue green slime makes a reapperance. i actually enjoyed putting this tank together. i had everything literally lying around, the rock cone hiding in the 1.2m, the egg shaped rock was picked up on a walk with the dogs the other day because i liked the shape and the flat one was a remanent from building my mountains. i think once all the plants have filled out this is going to quite something, i have finally learned less is more lol. i also have java fern normal and windelov in the rock crevices to provide abit more hidey space. i just had to show off the rosy loaches i've only had them a day and i already adore them, they are real characters! after thinking about it, the flattish rock would look awesome with some sort of covering over it, moss or riccia, something along those lines, but i think i'll let things lie for now and give it a month or two to grow in. as always comments welcome!

 

I like the rock with the hole in it, and what brand is the filter?

 

thanks @Dewald Coetzer its a Dolphin H-80. the rock was found years ago at our farm and was in my brothers snake tanks for awhile and when he stopped keeping them i nicked the rock. even moved house with it lol and used it as a doorstop before i started keeping fish. i've always liked it though.

 

@windfire, like the scape you have there, nice looking betta there in the corner (pic #3)

 

thanks @wsteene, his names Kratos and he was tiny when i got him last year, stuck in a tank with black moors double his size i just couldnt say no to him lol

 

I like

 

well small update, i've been having minor hysterics all through today as we had yet another power cut, along with the 2 we had last week that lasted most of the day. i was extremely worried that the rosys wouldnt handle the drop in temp but they seem to have weathered it like pro's and are extremely hungry as usual, they are always on the go. after careful scrutiny i've decided i may have 1 female and 2 males since one of them has a more spotted back and the line down the side of the body is slightly jagged on the edges as opposed to the other two with less spotting on the back and very strong clean black lines along the body. i will give them some more time to mature and then decide if i should try get another female if there is still stock. i think it could be abit diccey now since they havent coloured up yet so cant tell definately male from female.

the crypts also seem to be putting forth some new leaves after the melt which im very pleased about and Kratos has decided that there really is no way he'll catch the loaches and so has decided to ignore them instead. all in all very happy so far with the progress.

 

Nice tank Bronwyn. You seem to be enjoying the Nano's at the moment...! Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve with regards to the Expo competition tank... PM me a pic...?

 

Thanks Ashley, i am particularly in love with the nano fish at the moment. between the Galaxies and these small loaches i cant decide which is my favourite lol. at some point it might be fun to do a small biotope type tank for these two species since they apparently share the same microhabitat and were found and introduced round about the same time, something to think about for a future project. before i rescaped this tank was so full of slime algae i couldnt even see into the tank and eventually i just couldnt take it anymore and decided a good scrub down and rescape was in order, then saw Moolis's thread on the new stock and researched the rosy loaches and that was me sold lol. once all the growth comes in i think it'll be a nice densely planted lil tank perfect for their needs.

lol the comp tank is definately different i will say that about it. i'll try posting a link to a pic since im using my new laptop and havnt transfered all my stuff to it.

 

well its back, the horrible green slime. at the moment, im just keeping ahaead of it but im quite disapointed i had thought i'd got rid of it by cleaning everything off and rescaping.

 

Nice tank you have there Any chance of an update ?

 

If i remember correctly it was at the expo .

 

Yeah - it was at the Expo....and now has 4 Rosy Loaches keeping Kratos company.....

 

jup 4 rosies now 2 females and 2 males. i will try get some pics tonight but they'll have to wait to be uploaded until my laptop comes back from being worked on. its looking abit scraggly now since i just couldnt help myself last night and seeing as the tank was already almost empty anyway i went ahaead and added the powdered aquasoil. it looks great! i think the given abit more time and maybe a few more cuttings it should look great. the riccia i got also looks great on the flattish rock. i have some mesh from those sponges and it worked well to keep it in place and im looking forward to seeing it grow through nicely! pis will follow soon, promise.

 

okey dokey here they are some update pics, i increased the ludwigia thicket in the corner and it should grow in nice and thick and added the riccia which is growing really well! who knows maybe a future spawning mop. now i'll post it on the id thread too but i think its the 4th and 5th pics are of one of my 'females' and she is really different. one of the male loaches is next to her in the pic and you can see they are really different. do you think its a different specie? @azurekoi?

 

@cheddar254 there you go, update pics and its grown even more since i posted those. Kratos seems to be very happy he's happily building a bubble nest this morning.

on a side note ive decided to do another shuffle and move Samurai my plakat male betta who is not very friendly to the 1.2m which is very understocked and extremely overgrown and use his 50L for 2 or 3 schools of micro rasboras. having just him in 50L feels like such a waste of space and he eats microrasboras as i know from previous experience. im thinking a school of exclamation points, mosquito and either the naked rasbora as somethin a lil different in colour and size or the phoenix. its a fairly open tank and im aiming at a low light setup since i have some of the lotus in here which should eventually send up surface leaves which is why im keeping the planting low light for the most part with java ferns, normal and windilov, anubias nana and crypt wendetii. the only other fish i have in there are 5 khuli loaches, 2 striped, one brown and 2 silver. what you guys think? i may use riccia aswell in the areas that will stay high light which might encourage spawning. who knows hehe

 

Thank you Your little tank looks great! and that Betta is a wow!