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Puffer tank diary, day 1
So I've been (dragged by Kevin) into the aquarium hobby for oh, about a year now, but never mustered the effort to make any posts about it (mainly because it involves taking photos and blaaaah.) Today, though, I finally managed to set up a tank I've wanted to do for a while, so I want to take this opportunity to do a progress diary.
Tank plans and specs:
Pea puffers x2! I fell in love with these little guys the first time I went into Aqua Forest Aquarium to look for fish for my workplace nano tank. It turns out they're kind of feisty and love to eat shrimp and snails, and I wanted to keep shrimps because not many other clean-up crews are small enough to fit, so I forewent that idea. But now the time is right and when the new tank is set up with everything else a couple of these guys are going in for sure!
Otocinclus x1-2! The best little aquarium janitors. One of the few fishes that can definitely coexist with pea puffers. And the puffers sure need them, because they are messy eaters!
Cherry shrimp x?? The ones in my nano tank are breeding happily, and I'm soon going to have too many, so the overflow is going to go into this tank too. If the puffers eat them, fine, I'll always have more. If they don't, they'll help clean the tank a bit better.
Malaysian trumpet snails x??? These guys multiply like crazy and will overtake a tank. However they are also fairly harmless and aerate the soil by digging in it. They will (hopefully) be replenishable snacks for the puffers.
African dwarf frogs x2-3! Kevin has been saying for a while "We should put a frog someday in our tank." It's hard to find tankmates for puffers who won't get nipped or beaten up, but people have managed with these little aquatic frogs, and they're SO COOL. Eats frozen bloodworms, just like the pea puffers. Because of these guys, I have to get...
...a tank with a full hood. We found one that's perfect for all our wants today - 10 gallons, wider than it is tall, plastic instead of heavy glass, rounded clear corners. The construction is Chinese-shoddy, but should be adequate anyway.
Substrate: sand from our local fish store, which is apparently different from normal sand... somehow. Not as rich in nutrients as the Amazonia substrate from ADA that we've been using, but easier to work with.
Photos, day 1:
Full view. Kevin did the bulk of the design because I don't really have ideas. Rooted around the fish store's boxes, found a nice piece of wood, reminded me of Angkor Wat. So hopefully we'll be able to plant this into a lush southeastern Asia jungle, and divide up the tank enough so that the puffers will each have their own territories and not break out into civil unrest. The little rocks are on that piece of wood to weigh it down until it hopefully soaks up enough water to not want to pop up to the surface.
Close-up of the cave, super-glued with Anubias barteri "coffeefolia" and Anubias nana. Not that you care. Kevin wants them to grow and cover the whole top of the rock.
M-m-m-macro. Obsessively-compulsively cut and planted individual sprigs of Hemianthus callitrichoides, also called "HC" or baby's tears. Hopefully they will gradually fill out into a green carpet like they are supposed to, but I don't trust my thumb to be that green just yet even though I should've done everything right.
Trumpet snail enjoying the bit of algae tab I dropped in. The most exciting thing that's going to happen in this tank for a couple of weeks.
On Monday I'll take the camera to work and get some good pics of the almost-2-gallon nano tank I've got running there :)
Tank plans and specs:
Pea puffers x2! I fell in love with these little guys the first time I went into Aqua Forest Aquarium to look for fish for my workplace nano tank. It turns out they're kind of feisty and love to eat shrimp and snails, and I wanted to keep shrimps because not many other clean-up crews are small enough to fit, so I forewent that idea. But now the time is right and when the new tank is set up with everything else a couple of these guys are going in for sure!
Otocinclus x1-2! The best little aquarium janitors. One of the few fishes that can definitely coexist with pea puffers. And the puffers sure need them, because they are messy eaters!
Cherry shrimp x?? The ones in my nano tank are breeding happily, and I'm soon going to have too many, so the overflow is going to go into this tank too. If the puffers eat them, fine, I'll always have more. If they don't, they'll help clean the tank a bit better.
Malaysian trumpet snails x??? These guys multiply like crazy and will overtake a tank. However they are also fairly harmless and aerate the soil by digging in it. They will (hopefully) be replenishable snacks for the puffers.
African dwarf frogs x2-3! Kevin has been saying for a while "We should put a frog someday in our tank." It's hard to find tankmates for puffers who won't get nipped or beaten up, but people have managed with these little aquatic frogs, and they're SO COOL. Eats frozen bloodworms, just like the pea puffers. Because of these guys, I have to get...
...a tank with a full hood. We found one that's perfect for all our wants today - 10 gallons, wider than it is tall, plastic instead of heavy glass, rounded clear corners. The construction is Chinese-shoddy, but should be adequate anyway.
Substrate: sand from our local fish store, which is apparently different from normal sand... somehow. Not as rich in nutrients as the Amazonia substrate from ADA that we've been using, but easier to work with.
Photos, day 1:
Full view. Kevin did the bulk of the design because I don't really have ideas. Rooted around the fish store's boxes, found a nice piece of wood, reminded me of Angkor Wat. So hopefully we'll be able to plant this into a lush southeastern Asia jungle, and divide up the tank enough so that the puffers will each have their own territories and not break out into civil unrest. The little rocks are on that piece of wood to weigh it down until it hopefully soaks up enough water to not want to pop up to the surface.
Close-up of the cave, super-glued with Anubias barteri "coffeefolia" and Anubias nana. Not that you care. Kevin wants them to grow and cover the whole top of the rock.
M-m-m-macro. Obsessively-compulsively cut and planted individual sprigs of Hemianthus callitrichoides, also called "HC" or baby's tears. Hopefully they will gradually fill out into a green carpet like they are supposed to, but I don't trust my thumb to be that green just yet even though I should've done everything right.
Trumpet snail enjoying the bit of algae tab I dropped in. The most exciting thing that's going to happen in this tank for a couple of weeks.
On Monday I'll take the camera to work and get some good pics of the almost-2-gallon nano tank I've got running there :)
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But hey, it can only get coooler! Wait till you see my work tank/this thing's progress in a month.
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