journal Organised Chaos

[GotCrabs]

Aquarium: Mr Aqua 12G Bookshelf (45 litres, 90cm x 21cm x 24cm).

 

Filter: Eheim 2213 Canister with API Bio Chem Zorb & Steel Mesh Guard.

 

Lighting: BeamWorks 90cm LED on Automatic Timer (6 Hours).

 

Heating: Aqua One 50w Glass Heater set to 22c.

 

Substrate: Fluval Shrimp Stratum & Pisces Gold Pearl Natural River Gravel.

 

Flora: Broad Leaf Java Fern, Needle Leaf Java Fern, Trident Java Fern, Bolbitis Heudelotii, Bacopa Monnieri, Hygrophila Corymbosa 'Angustifolia', Hygrophila Coryambosa 'Compact',Cyperus Helferi, Water Wisteria, Corkscrew Vallisneria, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Subwassertang,Green Tiger Lotus, Pink Baby Tears, Cardamine Lyrata.

 

Fauna: Crystal Red Shrimp, Yellow Cherry Shrimp, Red Cherry Shrimp, Chameleon Shrimp, Darwin Algae Shrimp, Short Fin Common Bristlenose.

 

Hardscape: ZigZag Fish Breeding Cave x 2.

 

Foods: Boss Aquaria Shrimp Crack, Boss Aquaria Shrimp Snow, Boss Aquaria Shrimp Booster, Nutrafin Max Bottom Feeder, Hercar Algae Wafer Discs, Serene Aquarium Algae Discs.

 

Extras: Boss Aquaria Mineral Balls, Boss Aquaria Mineral Powder, AquaGreen Dinosaur Spit, AquaGreen Dinosaur Pee, Stainless Steel Mesh Sqaures.

 

Massive thank you to Sam at Serene Aquariums, couldn't ask for better service, considering the circumstances.

 

Thank you to Z Aquatics, again couldn't ask for better service.

 

Thank you to forum member FishMosy for advice and help, very much appreciated also.

 

OK, so as some of you know I wasn't happy with this tank at the time nor it's lay out and felt I needed to do a re-scape which I wasn't overly looking forward too but felt it needed it so decided to go ahead with it anyway once I had gotten everything I thought I needed to start again, so after some headaches, swearing, couple cans of Jack Daniels and Cola and 3 hours later I returned with the following, which I call 'Organised Chaos'.

 

 

So Monday morning, I received a package in the mail from Sam at Serene Aquarium with a load of plants I ordered through them the prior week, due to unforeseen circumstances Sam was unable to send the package off and when did added some goodies to the order which was very much appreciated, couldn't speak highly enough of Sam and the service at Serene Aquarium, so now that I had the plants, now was time to get this tank into action.

 

I started by taking the handful of plants that were in the tank out and putting into a bucket of rainwater, then I had the not so enjoyable task of catching 100 plus shrimp and 3 Short Finned Common Bristlenose and putting them into a bucket of rainwater, I then took the water out of the tank and then the Fluval Shrimp Stratum substrate and got the tank outside for a clean.

 

Once the tank was clean I then got the Fluval Shrimp Stratum and mixed it with two bags of Pisces Gold Pearl Natural River Gravel which much to my surprise I found at the local fish/pet store, if you knew what this store was like, you'd know that finding this there is like winning the lottery... Once the Fluval Stratum and Pisces Gravel was mixed I then decided to wash it all removing dirt and gunk from both substrates and then put back into the tank, this took about 6 good cleanings before I was happy with it all.

 

Substrate was back in the tank and brought back inside for me to start playing around with in regards to plants and lay out.

 

ZigZag Fish Breeding Caves went in first, followed by Cyperus Helferi, Bolbitis Heudelotii, Bacopa Monnieri, small cuttings of Hygrophila Corymbosa 'Angustifolia', Hygrophila Coryambosa 'Compact', Water Wisteria (which I clearly went overboard with), Corkscrew Vallisneria, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Subwassertang tied to 5cm by 5cm stainless steel mesh squares and then Green Tiger Lotus, Pink Baby Tears, Cardamine Lyrata which I received from Serene Aquarium as a gift, Trident, Broad Leaf and Needle Leaf Java Fern from Fishmosy which is tied down to 5cm by 5cm stainless steel mesh squares sitting on the substrate.

 

Tank was then filled with rainwater and topped up with some tap water with tap water conditioner added in, Boss Aquaria Mineral Balls and Mineral Powder was then added to the water for the shrimp as well as a light sprinkle of Boss Aquaria's Shrimp Booster.

 

Eheim 2213 was then hooked back up and heater placed in sitting at 22c, all turned on to let run and clear the cloudy water for awhile, after an hour the tank was clear so water parameters were tested and all came back fine and in my mind was good enough for the Shrimp and Bristlenose to go back in and suss the new home out, light was placed on and set to 6 hours each day on an automatic timer, 12:00pm to 6:00pm.

 

After cleaning up the lounge room where the tank is that looked like a bomb had hit, I then checked out the tank to see how everything was going, much to my disgust I found a dead Yellow Cherry Shrimp, with the Yellow Cherry being pregnant, my only pregnant Yellow Cherry, so was pissed about that, but to my surprised found 3 juvenile Short Finned Common Bristlenose cruising around and the male (Dad) sitting at the entrance to one of the caves fanning so I assume there are more in the cave, I later found another 2 so have 5 cruising around sussing the place out, Dad is still fanning so must be more in there.

 

Checked the tank again before lights out and everything is going well, can only see two Cherry deaths so that's good in a way, could have been more and expected more as well, juvenile Bristlenose were still going strong and placed a piece of cucumber in there for the Bristlenose and Shrimp to have a nibble on.

 

Checked the tank Tuesday morning, water was crystal clear, water parameters were still fine, did a slight trim of the Pink Baby Tears and planted them in, cucumber was untouched, no one took an interest in it at all, ungrateful bastards.

 

So far so good but am thinking I need some colour, so will look at getting 1 bunch of mini Alternanthera Reineckii to add to the tank and might move the Corkscrew Val from back to the sides where they can be seen more, the tank is quite busy in the middle which I didn’t realise until everything was in and water put in, oh well, everyone seems to be happy so why not just leave it.

 

So this is the tank as stands at the moment, am quite happy with it but do realise I need a larger tank which I will look into once my operation is done and I’m up and moving around, plants seem to be going well, even though it’s only been a couple days, Shrimp and Bristlenose are going well also which is great.

 

So there you go people, ‘Organised Chaos’.

Edited April 27, 2015 by GotCrabs

[larrymull]

Very much "Organised Chaos" but I like it!

[fishmosy]

Good stuff mate. The java ferns certainly filled the holes in the corners of the tank.

I would increase the number of hours that you have the light on over the tank to at least 8. I use 8 as a minimum then slowly increase the duration towards 10 hours until I start getting algae problems (indicative of too much light). I also split the total amount of time with a siesta (e.g. 5 hours on, 1 hour off, 5 hours on). Apparently algae hate the siesta, whereas plants dont mind it.

Another option is to have the light on only when you are home to enjoy the tank. For example 7am till 9am on, off until 3pm, on from 3pm to 10pm gives you 9 hours total.

[GotCrabs]

Very much "Organised Chaos" but I like it!

 

Very busy isn't it, ha.

[GotCrabs]

Good stuff mate. The java ferns certainly filled the holes in the corners of the tank.

I would increase the number of hours that you have the light on over the tank to at least 8. I use 8 as a minimum then slowly increase the duration towards 10 hours until I start getting algae problems (indicative of too much light). I also split the total amount of time with a siesta (e.g. 5 hours on, 1 hour off, 5 hours on). Apparently algae hate the siesta, whereas plants dont mind it.

Another option is to have the light on only when you are home to enjoy the tank. For example 7am till 9am on, off until 3pm, on from 3pm to 10pm gives you 9 hours total.

 

No worries, I'll look at doing 4 on, 1 off, 4 on for a little bit.

[buck]

so much happening! looks good dude keen to see it grow in and progress :)

[GotCrabs]

so much happening! looks good dude keen to see it grow in and progress :)

 

Yeah, as I said it's pretty busy isn't it, ha, but I'm OK with it, better than what it was anyway.

[GotCrabs]

Have changed the timer to 4 hours on, 2 off, 4 on and moved the Corkscrew Vals as well so they can be seen much more.

 

I just like the jungle, natural look I guess, I know it's crowded but I'm OK with that.

[Squiggle]

Looks very cool dude, definitely a lot going on, but looks good.

[buck]

thats good dude you have to do what you like :)

[GotCrabs]

So what do people mean when it's said theres a lot going on or a lot happening? ha.

[GotCrabs]

Hmmm, well I thought this might have had more comments... ha.

[2OFUS]

Looking good mate

[GotCrabs]

Just had a close look at the tank, have noticed new growth already of the Pink Baby Tears and Bacopa Monnieri, bit surprised.

[GotCrabs]

Put a couple pieces of Needle Leaf Java Fern in, couple Subwassertang tied to mesh squares and changed some of the Val around.

 

[GotCrabs]

 

[GotCrabs]

Had another look this morning, again all seems to be going well, plants are going well, surprised at how much new growth I'm getting at the moment, Shrimp and Bristlenose are going well also, especially the juvi Bristlenose.

 

Have also noticed that most of my Red Cherry Shrimp have turned a very dark rose colour, looks great, real dark, so I guess that are going well then.

 

Have another bunch of Crystal Red Shrimp coming (Thanks 20FUS) which will go into this tank also, so looking forward to having them in there.

[larrymull]

Looking great!!!

[GotCrabs]

Looking great!!!

 

Cheers Larry, just need a larger tank, haha.

[2OFUS]

Your welcome crabby :)

[shrimphive]

Id prefer a natural tank like this over bare glass or just some substrate + filters +moss any day.... love it!

[GotCrabs]

Id prefer a natural tank like this over bare glass or just some substrate + filters +moss any day.... love it!

 

Cheers Hives, yeah it's much more appealing an a bare looking tank, the shrimp seem to be loving it as do the juvi Bristlenose.

[newbreed]

Certainly a massive change! It looks great, can't beat a lush looking tank full of plants! The substrate mix looks really cool too. Great work!!!

So when's the next rescape?? Lol

Edited April 28, 2015 by newbreed

[GotCrabs]

When I get bored with this, haha.

[GotCrabs]

So when's the next rescape?? Lol

 

I am actually trying to figure out what to do with my AquaTopia at the moment, so am going to look into perhaps doing something in that.