Originally uploaded by Brandy Dopkins
These guys had the WORST DAY EVER on Saturday. But they’re fine today. All 9 present and accounted for. I must say, that’s a pretty tricky photo to get them all in 1 frame.
I added 9 neon tetras to the Donnas today. I had read that if you complete cycle a tank with ammonia you must stock heavily right away or your bacteria will die back. Not that that’s a huge deal, you just add fish slowly then, but I wanted to take advantage of the happy condition my tank was in within the first 48 hours. It would still have been a really under stocked tank, with 15 small schooling fish in 29 gallons.
I went through the drip acclimation, which took a few hours, and then added the neons to the tank. Craziness ensued that included me actually banging the tank glass to get Orson and another of the Donnas to drop the neons from their mouths. What??!!! Now-where does it say in any of my fish books anything about black skirt tetras eating neon tetras. These two fish are listed together in all kinds of happy compatibility charts.
The survivors huddled in the cave while I fished out the Donnas into a bucket and then tore apart the tank looking for all 9 neons. I found 8 who are now living in the nano tank. I would never choose to put 8 fish in that little tank, but well, it’s better than certain death; it’s only possible death. I’ll hafta do a lot of water changes, especially since this tank was nowhere near cycled yet. augh.
PS. Found # 9 this morning, hiding from the school of Donnas. How in the world he hid from me last night I will never know. He’s now safely in the nano tank.
The Donnas came home last night, along with a snail who made a home in a cave. Maybe he’ll come out eventually, but I can see him in there and he’s just fine.
I named the fattest one Orson, since Paul and Hannah like that name so much and I rejected it when they suggested it as a name for Mr. Takeyo.
There is a whole category of aquarium keeping that refers to “nano” and Pico” tanks. Often these are planted tanks and the fauna themselves are secondary. They have a bad reputation because they tend to be impulse buys for children and the fish die from all kinds of mistakes, from overstocking to poor maintenance.
I hear a well done tiny tank can be a lot of work, and that’s right up my alley. I tend to be a tank putzer. I like doing water changes, and staring at the bubbles. It’s taken me a while to learn enough self control not to stress my fishes with constant maintenance.
I’ve begun a fishless cycle on this tiny tank, using 20 drops of ammonia to reach a ppm of .4. I usually prefer no substrate on a smaller tank to keep it clean, but I want as much surface area as possible for nitrifying bacteria. The filter is a tiny biowheel, so that will help.
This tank tends to run warm, (the filter is right in the water and heats it up) so I’ve chosen to forego a heater, it still stays around 73 degrees with the light off, higher with it on, and we’ve not even hit summer yet.
The warmer temps would suggest a couple of male guppies, but I’m also leaning toward 3 white cloud mountain minnows, since it is an unheated tank. I would definitely have to keep the light off and watch the temp in the summertime if I went with minnows, but I would have to consider a heater in the winter for guppies… hmmm…
Snails are another good choice for at tank this size, but the filter requires a pretty high water line, leaving very little room for any snail to hang around above the water line, so I’m thinking not.
The blue foam core board on the side and back serves multiple purposes: backdrop, to block incoming light from the window to the left to cut down on algae, and insulation against large temperature swings from said window.
The bubbler took some putzing to get the airflow right. Not too much, not too little. The bubbler will help keep bacteria growing too.
Just finished another fishless cycle!
6 weeks- This tank is now processing a tablespoon of ammonia every 12 hours. That’s a huge bioload!
I’ll keep feeding it ammonia daily to keep up the bacteria colony until someday when I have enough free time to go get my fish.
I’ve chosen to go with 7 black skirt tetras, collectively named “the Donnas”. I also plan on a school of neon tetras and haven’t decided if I’ll load the whole tank all at once or just get the Donnas first.
Prolly I’ll start with the Donnas, but my cycle will die back with so few fish and I’ll have to stock slowly after that. Bummer.
She hides it well, but she would be seen at a Star Trek convention with me, no doubt about it.
this is normal, not setup for adorable photo-snapping…
Please come do my laundry. You can watch all the netflix on line you like until you fall into a fabric softener sheet induced coma. Spud will keep you company and Frito will paw the ground until you throw her ball over and over and over. I dream of a matched pair of clean socks.
I just posted this on craigs list for 175.00. I’ll sell it to anyone I know personally for less, (say $125.00?), especially if they are gonna use it for a really good use, like a laptop that their children can use - the Solid state drive makes it solid enough for occasional dropping.
