My Humble Low Tech Setup

@GavinD: Thanks. It looks good but it can look better, I want to push as much as I can out of this lowtech setup.

 

Woke up at 6 this morning to do my 4th monthly filter cleaning, what a mucky dirty mess. It is the only part of the hobby I dislike, at least now everything has been rinsed out and filter batting has been replaced in both my filters. Also sommer did my water change. Will take a few pictures when everything has settled again.

 

Looking very good!

 

Freshly taken pictures after maintenance:

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Are you serious?.

 

You now have a Betta in with tail nippers?

 

@DewaldC: I am surprised as you are, usually when I do maintenance I manage to knock some loose, this time around it happened I noticed runners and a route system.

 

Yes I have a tank filled with tail nippers, but due to the amount in each school they pretty much leave each other alone. The rummy noses and neons are way to busy fighting for rank to be even bothered by the beta when it cruises past him. Hence I had him in an enclosure for a day so they could get used to him and him to them. The only fish who showed any real interest was my breeding pair of rams, who generally give all the new fish a once over when added to the tank. And oddly enough because they are the biggest fish in my tank the betta follows my rams around and they don't seem to mind much. Have been watching them closely for 2 days now and no signs of nipping yet.

 

Day 3 and everyone seems to still get along fine my "fin nippers" are ignoring the beta and the beta has staked out his own little spot and he is eating.

 

I don't think you care about the wellbeing of your fish to be honest.

 

@FancyShrimp: Yeah you are right I don't care about the well being of my fish or my tank. Like you said my tank is overstocked, my filters are about to crash and my fish are eating each other alive and are sick all the time. And judging by the picture I have shown in this thread all my fish look un-healthy and not very happy. So I guess I should apologies to all of TASA for being such a bad example for fish keepers. I am a fraud and should be terribly ashamed of my self for the way I abuse my fish

 

Judging by the healthy red noses on the rummy tertras you might be a little bit hard on yourself.

I think fancyshrimp is missing some of the details of this tank
1) Two bags of purigen
2) Two filters (Canister and HOB)
3) Ocean Nutrient flakes , Seachem Nourish, tetra bits, Cyclops and Bloodworm
4) Healthy plant growth

Thinking back ... from the oscar tank to this, I think this tank displays huge growth in fish husbandry and plant care.

Later Ferdie

 

@f-fish: I was being a bit sarcastic

Actually 3 bags two in my HOB and 1 in my canister filter, yes overkill but you can never have enough filter media in the tank.

Indeed a HOB that does 1200 lph and a canister that does 300 lph, I had to build a slipway for the HOB so that my fish don't get blown away.

I also have Dapgnia, freeze dried tubifex and sinking wafers amongst others I feed those to them twice a month as a treat.

Well it is low tech plants so not too much work, but I am dosing EI and I am using DIY root tabs with Seachem Excel.

I learned a crap load since those days, going from a bare tank to a planted is a massive step forward and learning curve.

 

@FancyShrimp:

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As you can see my fish and tank are pretty stable and happy. I will take a video next time when they are feeding

 

My microswords are getting along nicely not dying but growing slowly:

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Vallis is also doing nicely and filling out the background:

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So I decided to be extremely brave and attempt a new scape after almost 2 years of the current scape....hope it turns out okay...

 

And overstocking is fine? Fast swimming tetra need more space straight off the bat, this tank now has a betta and a mix of fish from hard and soft water areas + he is dosing ferts. So overfiltering make no difference except to the fact that it will convert nitrates quicker, but nothing removes nitrates except mass amounts of plants. Purigen might play a role, but its no excuse for keep incompatible fish, or even slow swimming fish with fast fish who compete for food.

EI ferts alone warrant 50% water changes + the added strain of the nitrate cycle from fish.

Sorry but this bloke does NOT know how to keep fish and goes to buy the fishy he fancies and then dumps it into his one and only tank. This is NOT a responsible fish keeper

 

@FancyShrimp: I was thinking adding a Arowana to my tank because it is a pretty silver colour and maybe a few of those fancy goldfish with the funny puffy cheeks. Oh Oh! And one of those fresh water eels, and maybe a dozen guppies those are pretty too!

 

Go for it. It's your tank.

 

Then you have no right to complain about it because it is my thread and my tank And for all your doom and gloom preaching the health of my fish and plants speak for themselves. And like they say a picture is worth a thousand words.