Time

Tetra is the word that made me notice this thread. driftwood still looks really awesome.

FishMagnet

Stopped at good ole Petsmart and picked up 3 small amazon swords. Two I'll leave in this tank and move one into the angel tank.

By the way...It will be a tetra only tank. Soon as the angels pair off. Then I'll move them into their breeding tanks and continue with the original plan.

FishMagnet

Smallest angel was showing some flashing. Just a couple times, but even once is concern enough. Will have to keep watch on them.

FishMagnet

Got some driftwood from the creek and will hopefully be adding this to this tank.
Driftwood I pulled from our creek

FishMagnet

Used a power washer to clean up the wood. Did a good job if I do say so myself.
It easily removed all the spongy crud, dirt, and other...

Have it floating in a plastic barrel atm. Was pumping air into it, but realized that might not be a good idea since I really want the wood to sink.
Heater is on though.

FishMagnet

Excited about the driftwood. Soon, soon.

Thinking about CO2. Since I've added a few plants now, and I'm only going to continue...maybe I'll do it.
Not yet, but as my plant load increases.

FishMagnet

I may not leave this as a tetra only tank. My original thoughts when setting this back up as freshwater was an amazon biotope, and of course tetras fit that bill. As do angels and corys. So, I figure I can leave the angels in after removing whichever pair off, and no harm done. Its not like I'm adding/removing guppies or killies which would take me out of the biotope.
Hmm another tank for an African biotope? Ha! Maybe I'll do that too. Still have a number of tanks in storage that would fit the bill. But, no. I'll need what I have for angel grow out tanks.

I'm going to need to set up part of the unfinished side of the basement soon. Need to run some new wiring for outlets, build some kind of shelves...maybe. Do some rearranging.

Don't think I've wrote that my intentions for the angels is to breed them. I used to try long before my saltwater stint. I didn't have the patience back then. Nor the internet. Now I have both and hey, if I can raise seahorses I'm sure I can do angels.

bolivianbaby

Sounds like a great idea! I'm sure you'll be successful

FishMagnet

Haven't noticed any further signs of illness...yet.
But, one of the zebra danios I put in originally is missing. ( After losing nearly all the fish on my first stocking attempt I put in 6 danios as...well...test fish. 2 died within a couple days. As I wrote before though I believe it was due to not diluting the pure RO water)
So, I have a missing danio...looked around a bit but can't see him in any of the plants, stuck to filter intakes, or under any deco. Can't do anything about it tonight so until tomorrow nature will have to take its course.

I do wonder what would have killed it. Perhaps the higher temp of 79 as all the other parameters are within its norm I think. Even 79 should be ok though. Again, so I think.

Disease....

angelfish220

79 could be rough on a danio... the like slightly cooler temps. I don't know if it would be enough to kill it outright, but maybe if it was already slightly weakened from the pH mishap.

FishMagnet

Mister Danio has shown back up. No idea where he was hiding or why. Full of life, hungry, and darting about in that way they have.

I'll be moving all the fish with the exception of the danios to the 29gal QT this weekend, and I will be adding in the driftwood. Whether it has sunk by then or not. If need be I will tie some river rocks to it. I probably will have to.
The danios will be staying, perhaps unfortunatly, as guinea pig-fish. Although I'm not too concerned about what may be in the wood, I wont take chances with the other fish. Although I'm not a proponent of animal testing...I have to be realistic about it. They are 99cent fish...and tough. Hey, I'd offer to test the water myself, but while its unlikely to affect me, it could very well kill the fish. So what good would that do? Besides, they'll get to move too after a few days.
Anyway, the angels and tetras get to move to the qt where I can make a final decision as to wether or not to be proactive and dose them for an unsure of disease while I await the outcome of the driftwood/danio experience.

Picked up and added a java fern, a crypto, and what I think is a kind of anacharis...not sure though.

FishMagnet

Hmmm. Hard to find a way to justify putting in a couple of these plants as they aren't native to South America. Plants are a bit more permanent than 6 danios. I don't know though...its alot easier to catch a plant than a danio.

FishMagnet

Brought home 30lbs of Seachem Flourite to mix into the substrate.
Selling my aqualight Pro through my wifes works' newspaper...thing. Wish it would sell as I can use the money for a CO2 system. May have to resort to craigslist or ebay, but I've never sold anything on either site and am wary of it.
I COULD just continue to use it, I just need to swap out one of the CFs. Its a 50/50 actinic. Only problem is that the fan only runs when the halide is on. I imagine that I could just remove the bulb and I could run it that way. I'm just not sure what the power drain is. The external ballasts are huge for those things, and I don't know if 1)it will run without the bulb 2) the ballast still sucks the same juice without the bulb.

Guess I'll try it and find out. Either way I'd prefer it to sell. I have a Dual Satellite that I'd rather run. The Aqualight is just too much.

FishMagnet

Haven't resolved in my head what to do about the plants. If I truely want to go the biotope route...well, its already screwed. I mean, even adding driftwood is cheating. Its not like it came from the Amazon. Nor the gravel. Nor anything. Even the fish are raised here in the US. I guess the idea is to mimic the conditions as closely as you can. But it seems to somehow cheapen the experience.
I remember having the same problem when building my reef tank. I really wanted my reef to represent a specific locale. In the end I just stocked it with what I felt was visually aesthetic. I think it worked, but in the back of my head I always felt like I was doing the whole thing an injustice. Putting corals, fish, and inverts together that would normally never have seen one another.

Found someone with a similar problem. http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...php?blogid=181