Getting back into the hobby

[Lucky1]

Having just attended my first OVAS meeting this week, I thought I would take a moment to post some pics and to describe my tanks in the hope that this would encourage other new (and old) members to do the same.

I am getting back into the hobby after a number of years. When I first started, it was all metal rimmed tanks and white hot light bulbs. My dad built me a wood aquarium where only the front panels were glass! It was a big deal when I got a hang on back filter and a fluorescent light.... A lot has changed.

I set up a couple of tanks in February and March of 2025. My "quarantine" tank is a ten gallon with a betta, two otos, a couple of nerite snails and a few rescued guppy fry from my main tank. It is planted with some Egeria, Water Wisteria and Anubias. Low tech. But good fun! I guess I now have quarantine buckets....

My bigger tank is a 275 litre (72 gallons?) planted tank. It is a Fluval Siena kit. It houses 5 juvenile Apisto Cacatuoides (three seem to be triple red and two seem to be a bright orange variant). So far, it seems that I have three males and two likely females. As well, the tank has six otos, three Nerites, five Amano shrimp, ten harlequins and a number of guppies. I am running C02, dosing ferts and am still trying to dial in all the parameters (getting some filamentous algae - have attached a pic). As for plants, I have some Amazon Sword, Tiger Val, Water Wisteria, some budding buce, various alternanthera variants (I think), helanthium, and staurogyne repens

My hope is to somehow get balance and to get lucky enough to have my Apistos spawn.  Glad to get advice from any Apisto and plant specialists!

cheers. Sean

[charlie]

Welcome back to our wonderful hobby.
Thanks for sharing and checking out our meeting, looking forward to meeting you at future club events.

[Lucky1]

A brief update on the tank.
1) Turns out that all my apistos were males.  
I picked up a couple of juvenile females and now have a reverse harem, with 5 males and 2 younger females. So far, some flirting and a slight elevation in aggression among the males, but everyone seems to have plenty of space so things are not yet getting out of hand. Females have staked out opposite sides of the aquarium, where I have placed two terracotta pots. Will see whether any "relationships" develop and how this affects aggression. May need to re-home some of the males if it escalates, but so far so good. Posted pics of three of the triple reds and one of the orange flash.

2) Filamentous algae seems under control, though I have recently been getting green spot algae now.
CO2 ~21 (based on KH and PH). in-tank monitor is green.
GH 5.6
KH 2.24      
PH 6.6 (after CO2 - 4 pt drop)
NO3 5
Phosphate 0.25
Flighting - Fluval 3.0x2 6.5 hour photoperiod with white lights highest at 65%.
water changes 2x per week (one is 20% - four buckets and the second is 30% - six buckets)

I will try to up the phosphate levels relative to Nitrates and see where that takes me. Dont get any meaningful amount of green spot algae on the glass, though it is on the older leaves of the red plants. I think they are some types of alternanthera, but am not fully sure. Anyhow, grateful for any thoughts or advice.

Cheers,

Sean

[charlie]

Hi Sean , thanks for the update.
You are on the right path in trying a higher phosphate concentration,personally I have gone as high as 2 ppm of phosphate.
The next possible change is upping the CO2 saturation a bit but only do so after trying a higher phosphate concentration.
My advice is based on my own personal experience .
Nice Orange flash!
Regards

[Lucky1]

Thanks! As discussed, I will try and up the dose on the NO3 and moreso the phosphate. Will see where that takes me. Will monitor and try a slight increase in C02 though my Amano dont seem to like it so I will need to be careful...

[Lucky1]

Brief update. Seems my Apistos have spawned. Good thing that I had re-homed my surplus mailes. Will see if the babies make it.... So far mom and dad have been attentive in keeping guppies away....

[Lucky1]

Thought I would provide an update to the tank.

1) The Apistos have had several spawns. Each female has had a brood where a number of juveniles have survived long enough to the point where the parents no longer care for them. There are a number still in my heavily planted tank - maybe three or four. I also managed to catch 5 that are now in a grow-out tank. A couple juveniles are present in the second pic if you look hard enough.

2) My main tank is now fairly seasoned. For the most part, algae is under control, though there is some residual green spot on some of the Anubias. I dont know what to attribute success to specifically, but I actually increased the dosing of my ferts. My phosphates are now close to 1 mg / litre and my NO3 is usually in the 10 mg / litre range. I don't do a full 1 point PH drop with my CO2 because my amano don't like it, but the checker is nice and green and the ph drops around .5 or so a couple of hours after coming on. As for the black beard algae, it is mostly gone. This is likely due to regular use of flourish excel. 5ML daily for a 72 gallon tank. If I go any higher than that, my vallisneria melts.

3) My guppies are way out of control. When I had multiple male adult apistos in the tank, they basically kept the new population growth to zero. However with only one male and two females (who are generally staying near their clay pots), there has been no significant predation. If anyone wants some guppies (I have probably 20-30 in the large tank) or the adult females, please let me know....

In all, am enjoying my return to the hobby. I somehow missed the meeting on Monday, but will try to make the october one!

Cheers.

[new_hobby]

Beautiful aquarium.

[CarlP]

Stunning aquarium with healthy plants!
Good job!

[Lucky1]

Thanks! I have to thin / trim the staurogyne repens and helanthium tenellum in the foreground (a project for this weekend). Am a bit apprehensive, as it is pretty thick and the lower / older leaves are dying off. I know the plants always recover, but I still hate the thought of making a mess of things. As well, the amazon sword is too big and is blocking light (though I need to get a third light because there are some coverage / strength issues as well - the tank is 22.5 inches deep). Anyhow, am posting a couple of pre-trim pics. One includes one of the 8-10 juvenile apistos that I couldnt catch for the grow out tank (another reason for the trim). As well, some juveniles in the grow out tank. Will see how big they are - perhaps will have some for November OVAS event. We shall see...

[Liana]

WOW nice tank. love all the plants. Wish I had your green thumb!

[Lucky1]

Thanks. C02 and proper lighting helps a lot. Frankly CO2 really makes things easier (in terms of plant health and growth). It is then just a question of finding the right balance with those and fertilization. But I have lots to learn, so some patience doesn't hurt. The nice thing about plants is that you can indeed cut them back or experiment.

Appreciate the comments! Always look forward to seeing what projects others have on the go....

[Lucky1]

Another update, after having operated the tank / setup for 13-14 months now. I had to get rid of the Amazon Sword - it completely overgrew the tank and was blocking all the light. The Tiger val is pretty thick and long, so I constantly have to thin it as well. I have let the Staurogyne repens carpet fairly densely - it is great hiding cover for the various juvenile apistos. There are probably 5-6 teenagers still in the tank and probably some younger ones growing out. I have dialled in fertilizer dosing, lighting etc., so don't really have algae issues though I will get green spot on glass on anubias (which actually grows really quickly, so I mostly just trim off any leaves if there is too much green spot). Anyhow, it has been a blast. I am moving overseas this summer so I will have to tear down the setup and put it for sale. See adds elsewhere in forum / kijiji.

Cheers,

Sean

[shrimpbyte]

Hello,i'm new here too. Glad to join this forum. Your aquarium is wonderful!