VioletKeepsFish
Member
This is a tank that has been running for quite a while now, but unfortunately most of that was spent in a rather sad state. I started this with the intent of making an aquarium I could be proud of, and as of this week I have finally achieved that. This first post will document the changes it has gone through so far and include photos, and I’ll post any future updates as replies.
[Sometime about a year ago]
Tank gets set up, cycled. As of now it has a piece of mopani wood, two amazon swords, and an anubias. I add 3 golden pristella tetras as a start. However, I then get incredibly busy with school and have zero time to properly think about the tank. Around this time one of the fish dies. A month or two later another one dies and I get another 2. The algae was getting out of control at this point, so I do a blackout. The anubias was fine, but the swords didn’t make it through the blackout.
[Around December of 2020]
After doing the bare minimum maintenance to the tank for a long time, I finally have time to tend to the aquarium. I get 3 more pristella tetras, 1 pearl gourami, and a starlight BN. I also get 2 more swords. A few days later I notice the Gourami is being very skittish and shy, so I go back and get another pearl. I also get some duckweed for cover and nesting, not realizing pearl gouramis eat duckweed.
[About 1 week ago]
I get 4 amano shrimp to deal with the BBA, and I start dosing the tank with excel. I also get some ohko stone to give the tank some more hardscape. I try to bleach dip the anubias but I accidentally leave it out of water and it dies (stupidest mistake I’ve ever made). A couple days later 3/4 of the amano shrimp are missing. I find them in the filter compartment in the back of my tank. I get them back in after 30 minutes of playing shrimp chase and add a prefilter sponge.
Hopefully I can make this tank something to be proud of despite my questionable previous care standards. The Pearls have decimated the duckweed to the point where it’s almost gone, so I’m looking into buying more floaters. I also think my female Pearl might be carrying eggs, so that’s exciting.
Pictures below! Currently there’s a bit more algae than I would like but oh well.
[Sometime about a year ago]
Tank gets set up, cycled. As of now it has a piece of mopani wood, two amazon swords, and an anubias. I add 3 golden pristella tetras as a start. However, I then get incredibly busy with school and have zero time to properly think about the tank. Around this time one of the fish dies. A month or two later another one dies and I get another 2. The algae was getting out of control at this point, so I do a blackout. The anubias was fine, but the swords didn’t make it through the blackout.
[Around December of 2020]
After doing the bare minimum maintenance to the tank for a long time, I finally have time to tend to the aquarium. I get 3 more pristella tetras, 1 pearl gourami, and a starlight BN. I also get 2 more swords. A few days later I notice the Gourami is being very skittish and shy, so I go back and get another pearl. I also get some duckweed for cover and nesting, not realizing pearl gouramis eat duckweed.
[About 1 week ago]
I get 4 amano shrimp to deal with the BBA, and I start dosing the tank with excel. I also get some ohko stone to give the tank some more hardscape. I try to bleach dip the anubias but I accidentally leave it out of water and it dies (stupidest mistake I’ve ever made). A couple days later 3/4 of the amano shrimp are missing. I find them in the filter compartment in the back of my tank. I get them back in after 30 minutes of playing shrimp chase and add a prefilter sponge.
Hopefully I can make this tank something to be proud of despite my questionable previous care standards. The Pearls have decimated the duckweed to the point where it’s almost gone, so I’m looking into buying more floaters. I also think my female Pearl might be carrying eggs, so that’s exciting.
Pictures below! Currently there’s a bit more algae than I would like but oh well.
