20G - Apistogramma cacatuoides

[bizfromqc]

One thing that is noticeable is your tank isn't done its cycle process, hence the NO2 present, and low nitrate. Not sure if it's the reason for the fish's behaviour, but something to keep an eye on.

I switched filters a couple of days ago (and added the media from the old filter), that may explain the presence of nitrite, maybe I triggered another mini-cycle.

I will perform a water change tonight (25-30%) and do another test tomorrow to see where I'm at. I hope things settle down soon but the current levels aren't too bad (as far as harming the fish) but I'll definitely keep an eye on it.

[bizfromqc]

I haven't kept apistos, however, my pelvicachromis pulcher (kribensis) behave in the same way.  At times, the male won't let the female down to the bottom of the tank, and has kept her up at the top.  Is hasn't lasted very long, and after a bit, they start to get along again.  He has never done her any harm in the process.  I tend to keep some plants in the upper part of the tank to give her some cover.

Things are looking brighter today. She still hangs around the top tier of the tank but the times where she went down in the tank, the male just strolled along with her until she came back up again. We'll see how this little couple drama unfolds LOL

[bizfromqc]

Made some (yet again) changes to the tank. Mainly some house cleaning. Also made a 33% water change.

1) Removed piece of driftwood from left side of the tank
2) Removed Rotala Green
3) Added Limnophila Aromatica
4) Moved Sword, Vals and Rock with Peacock Moss attached to it
5) Added giant, ugly piece of foam over filter intake in case I get lucky and my apistos try to breed again (cross fingers)

I ended up removing the Rotala Green because I hadn't planted it correctly and ended up free in my tank causing a big mess. I then lost patience trying to piece everything back together and it got the better of me so out it went. I'll have to try it again another time... 

The Limnophilia are all curved down now (the stem is actually like this) since I have been keeping those in a glass pickle jar up until I had time to plant them. The stem actually formed to the curve of the curve. I tried to straighten it out again but I broke one stem trying to do this. So I'll give it a go like this and hope it'll straighten out in the tank trying to reach for the light. If it doesn't work, I may have to try something else.

Things are a bit cleaner now and I wanted the wood for a new 10G tank I was building. See other build thread (link in my sig) if interested.

Full tank shot as of today attached to this post.

[charlie]

this works great.
Tank is coming along nicely
Errol
P.S. cheapest place is Petsmart

[bizfromqc]

this works great.
Tank is coming along nicely
Errol
P.S. cheapest place is Petsmart

That looks so much better than the bright blue I have now LOL

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.

[pm]

this works great.
Tank is coming along nicely
Errol
P.S. cheapest place is Petsmart

Yeah, those are great.  I got a second one recently for $3 at petsmart.  I use mine to prevent shrimplets from being sucked up in the filter.  My only issue with them is that on a more powerful filter they clog up quickly (hence me getting a second to do a weekly swap).

[bizfromqc]

Bought two of them at lunch time.

Paid a little more than I would have at Pet Smart but I saved a long bus/car trip and supported a LFS that's been in the business for more than 35 years.

[bizfromqc]

Tank update.

Made a 33% water change last night so decided to test the parameters today.

Temp: 27c
pH: 6.5-7.0
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0.8ppm
NO3: 5-10ppm

I am really not liking the nitrite levels. Especially since it seems to have risen since last time I took it (0.3). I thought it would have lowered after the 33% WC but the opposite happened.

I am sure this is all related to my filter swap 4-5 days ago. I had kept the old bio-max filter insert into the new filter until yesterday hoping it was enough time to kick start a cycle since everything else stayed the same. I now wonder what will happen next here...

I will check the params again tomorrow night and see... (will also do the same with the new 10G I started with the old filter.)

The danios are now out of the tank and have been moved to the 10G to get things started over there. I will need to keep an eye on that one too...

Thoughts? 

[bizfromqc]

To make things more interesting, it seems my female apisto is in the mood (if you know what I mean...).

She keeps showing her side to the male and just drift towards him (pretty cool thing to observe) while he just stands there looking at her with a clueless look LOL She's also spending most of her time coming in and out of the clay cave.

... and all of this is happening while my tank is possibly in the middle of a re-cycle. 

[bizfromqc]

Tank update.

Temp: 27c
pH: 6.5-7.0
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0.3-0.8ppm
NO3: 10-20ppm

Slight change from yesterday. Nitrite seems to have gone down a little, not quite yet 0.3 but not as dark as the color for 0.8 so I'm guessing somewhere in the middle. Definitely lighter than yesterday.

As far as nitrate, they've gone up a little it seems. Was between 5-10ppm yesterday and seems to be between 10-20ppm today.

I'm going to interpret this as a good sign, nitrites are going down and nitrates are going up.

[charlie]

Tank update.

Temp: 27c
pH: 6.5-7.0
NH3: 0ppm
NO2: 0.3-0.8ppm
NO3: 10-20ppm

Slight change from yesterday. Nitrite seems to have gone down a little, not quite yet 0.3 but not as dark as the color for 0.8 so I'm guessing somewhere in the middle. Definitely lighter than yesterday.

As far as nitrate, they've gone up a little it seems. Was between 5-10ppm yesterday and seems to be between 10-20ppm today.

I'm going to interpret this as a good sign, nitrites are going down and nitrates are going up.

Yep, you are so right

[bizfromqc]

I love pictures so here's more picture for people like me 

The male and female are definitely courting. The female spends her time coming out of the cave, does her thing, tries to impress the male and then goes back in the cave.

I juuuuuuuust missed catching a video of both of them swimming sideways and flapping their fins at each other, maybe next time.

Here's a couple of pictures of the male checking out the cave and the female taking a peek outside. I have a short video that I'll try to upload to YT tonight and maybe embed it in this post (are we allowed?)

One other thing, can anyone confirm what is happening to my sword plant? Some of the bigger leaves seem to be rotting or decomposing. New small bright green leaves are growing but the bigger ones are going.. is this normal or is it showing a deficiency?

[charlie]

Beauty , keep the pics & updates coming - the new wave is on all on board 
Errol

[bizfromqc]

Beauty , keep the pics & updates coming - the new wave is on all on board 
Errol

Any idea what's happening to my sword plant?

[charlie]

Any idea what's happening to my sword plant?

Eric i just went through this thread from the start & almost all the pics of the sword shos early signs of deffiency, so my guess is that it needs nutrients & carbon, BTW the most difficult aspect to provide in non limiting doses in the aquarium even for the greats out there, but that another topic  ., it might be now establishing itself, hopefully you have stuck a root tab under it & i suggest you start providing a source for carbon.
Errol

[bizfromqc]

Thanks for the info Errol.

Yes, I did put root tabs under my crypts and swords about a week ago. I also started using Flourish Excel around that time too.

Might explain why the new growth looks better?

Would dosing NPK + micro nutrients help at all at this point or should I first try to improve the lighting/carbon first?

[charlie]

Thanks for the info Errol.

Yes, I did put root tabs under my crypts and swords about a week ago. I also started using Flourish Excel around that time too.

Might explain why the new growth looks better?

Would dosing NPK + micro nutrients help at all at this point or should I first try to improve the lighting/carbon first?

I`ll tend to lean the light side of water column dosing @ this point perhaps 1x week & focus on lighting & Carbon, reasoning is most of the plants you have are slow growers & root feeders & moss etc.

[touchofsky]

Just to add to Errol's comments    On my tanks with slow growers, no CO2, I dose Flourish Comprehensive once per week.  It seems to do the trick.  If I notice deficiencies, then I will tweak with a bit of NPK.  Only one of my non CO2 tanks seems to need a bit of NPK once in a while.  The other three are doing well with only Flourish Comprehensive, root tabs & Excel. 

[exv152]

It really depends on your fish load and biomass. With some fish and a light plant load you may get away with not dosing NPK at all, which is usual for low tech setups, along with some micro ferts (also once a week). The plants will tell you, and if you see the signs of deficiencies you can dry dose NPK once a week, beginning with very low amount. Do a search online for Tom Barr low tech dosing recommendations.

[bizfromqc]

Thanks for the tips folks. I'll keep an eye on the plants and go from there.

I have some Flourish Comprehensive on order now. I'll start with the Excel, Comprehensive and root tabs and go from there.