20G Redux Oct 22/09

I redid my 20G ctenopoma tank. Took out the river rock which I just dont like , put the frogs back with their siblings , and the Khuli Loach so I can start a seperate loach tank.

Potted the plants and using terra cotta pots , barebottom look.



Its a little cloudy still.. one more vacuum and it should be good to go. Hopefully the swords will flourish now with the flora pots.

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UPDATE jan27/10 latest pic of the Ctenopomas

Duckweed Project

So I've been looking for Duckweed for sometime , by fluke I got some stuck onto to a Water Hyancinth I purchased. I read and heard that Duckweed spreads like crazy. So here's my journal of farming duckweed. I want to grow as much as possible not only for decor but food supply for cichlids , turtles and smails.

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day 1. May 31: You can see this was the pond plant I bought , and it came with some little duck weed. Probably 15-20 at the most. I didnt even recognize it as duckweed at first.. I actually thought it was baby water hyancinth caz those spread like crazy too. Afer researching I realized I got duckweed!!




Sept 20: Basically the summer.. one season later. I have one tub completely full with my softshell turtle. I am filling a another tub and I have a little in my Apple snail tank too.





sept: Tub 2. 28" long styrocooler.. I sporadically will add a cup from tub #1. Its slowly filling up.

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UPDATE Oct.20 2009

Full to the max now. I finally got to the point of having too much.




Im actually bailing cups full out every couple weeks now. My Map turtle apparently likes to dine on it as do my african cichlids. I have way too much now.

Java Moss

Name : Java Moss

scientific name: Vesicularia dubyana

care level : Easiest of all. You have to be a moron to screw this up.

pest level: none. It can grow lots and spread but but doesnt leave dead stems nor clog your filters. It doesnt "weed" your tank. Very controllable.

Pricing: Very common so its very affordable. Though its very common it can be hard to find at LFS. Your best bet is to purchase from private sale off Craigslist of classifieds. $5-10 for a fist sized clump. With patience you will have tanks full of it , you can sell it off and make your money back.

5G Redux

Started as a Panther Crab tank , then a Apple Snail tank , Betta tank , and now a Cherry shrimp holding tank.

Here's how it looked in May.



Here's how it looks now. I emptied all the substrate and keeping it simple for the shrimp. Added a calcium stick.



I keep losing cherries in my cherry tank so Im moving them into this 5 , and see how they do in this basic set up. I cant seem to get them to breed and hatch so hopefully I figure this shit out , its pissing me off.

Profile: Leopard Ctenopoma

Leopard Ctenopoma , Leopard Gourami , African Bush Fish , Climbing Perch

Scientific name: Ctenopoma acutirostre

purchase size: 2" (6") price: $14 each

comments:
Distant relatives to the Betta , they too prefer still calm waters. They are ambush hunters. They will eat anything that they can swallow (there is a joke somewhere in this sentence). They can be good community fish as long as the tankmates cant be eaten nor roomed with bullies.

Profile: Electric Blue Jack Dempsey

EBJD

scientific name: Rocio octofasciata

price: $75 purchase size: 2" May/09

Diet: pellets , prawn , blooworms , .. Im not feeding him live foods to try to get him off of hunting my corys.

comments:

EBJD are fragile under 4" , they are prone to parasite infections for some reason. Invest into a U.V.Sterilizer if you can afford it.

I did daily 5G water changes through the crucial stage. Once they hit 4" they are as hardy as any other cichlid.

The breeding process to create EBJD's is more complicated than figuring out the daily word jumbo. It assures one thing , hard to inbreed.

Profile: Red Cherry Shrimp

Red Cherry Shrimp (RCS)

scientific name: Neocaridina denticulata sinensis

price : $2.5 size: 1"

water temp: 70-75F

comments:

I lost my entire first batch over 8 months.. all 13. I added 10 more.. if these guys dont breed and stay stable , I give up on Cherries.

They're suppose to be easy to keep and breed.. and they are but I screwed up. I added mysterious wood that I think leeched some nasty tenins AND I took the advise of a cherry keeper and didnt to water changes , just topped off.

Back to my regular regimen . Weekly water changes and less ornaments.

Profile: Apple Snails

Apple Snails aka Mystery Snails

scientific name: Pila ampullacea

price: $3 size: 1+"

comments:
Ironically Im trying to breed these guys but cant get them to lay eggs! I gaurantee if I didnt want baby snails , I would be infested!

I want to harvest them for feeders for my turtles but also keep them as algae eaters. They're pretty good , they cleaned off a wall of deep algae.
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UPDATED: Feb 22/10

This is my third batch , I keep losing them in my breeding tank. They thrived in a planted.. so put in some potted amazons , floating hornwort and 5 apples overall. They seem good.

One of these apples is a Black Apple(see pic below). Same as the others just its black body and dark shell.

Profile: Fiddler Crabs

Fiddler Crabs

scientific name: Uca Ocypodinae

price: $2x2

size: 1.5" sex: females

water temp & parametres: room temp , brackish water (1tsp marine salt for 1G)

comments:
These gals are my garbage disposals. They clean up everything I drop in , they eat ANYTHING.

Profile: Amano Shrimp

Amano Shrimp

scientific name: Caridina Japonica

price : $3 each purchase size: 1"

diet : scavengers

temp: room temp 65-75F

comments:
Amano shrimp , the great algae eaters , named after legendary japanese aquarist Takashi Amano. They are varied sub species of amanos but more of less they the same shit. Unless there's one with glowing light sabre blasting out the ass then its the same shit.

The interesting thing about Amanos is they breed in brackish waters , the young are raised in brackish to marine water. They start out as larvae in salt water then they migrate to freshwaters as mature invertebrae. I never bred them but if you're planning on breeding them.. you'll need brackish set ups.

Do not confuse these with Ghost Shrimp.

Profile: African Dwarf Frogs

African Dwarf Frogs

scientific name: Hymenochirus boettgeri

price: $3x5

date: July 7 09 purchase size: adult 1-2"

water temp: room temp.

diet: bloodworms , frozen brine shrimp. every 2-3 days.


comments:
They breed like mutherf---ers. 1st week I got them , 4 paired up start to knock flippers and laid hundreds and hundreds of eggs. After losing many many tadpoles due to my ignorant ass I currently have 4-5 surviving tadpoles growing slowly.

They dont need basking areas , fully aquatic though they breathe air so not too deep a tank.

Dont confuse these with African Clawed Frog. Best way to ID if they're the same size, ADF have webbed front hands , whereas the ACF have no webbing and more claw factor. The other factor , ADF stay small 2" max.. te ACF get 5" or so.

Profile: Chinese Soft-shell Turtle

Chinese Soft-Shell Turtle or Asian Soft-shell (ASS as I like to type)

scientific name: Pelodiscus sinensis,

price: $25 , May 4/09

purchase size:2.5"diameter (max: 12") sex: ?

diet: pellets , prawn , fish

water temp: 70F .. They should be in 75-80F water.


comments: Not a lot of info suprisingly on the common Chinese Soft Shell Turtle ( Pelodiscus Sinensis ). 1 billion bitches eating these guys and nobody knows shit about them. They are sold as food in asia.

Keeping that in mind that these guys are sold as food that means they are farmed and harvested like chickens. They dont get fancy royal treatment , 100s are raised together in big tubs and they get to edible sizes. The point being is these guys are very hardy and you dont have to baby them for them to grow.

From what I know; They dont need basking areas and dont need UVB light. Just feed them a balanced diet of nutritional pellets. Make sure they have ledges to hang off of to get air. They dont need sand to bury themselves.. these are all optional luxuries. In the wild their enviroment varies , the ones in the colder regions hibernate for months.

Do not handle them , they have a long neck that can reach ... make sure you know what youre doing if you plan on handling your ASS. If you have to move it , use a big net.

In conclusion: Fresh water and a proper diet your turtle will thrive. Dont over think it , there's no need to overkill.

Profile: Map Turtle

False Map Turtle

scientific name: Graptemys pseudogeographica

date: Friday Aug 7.

Price: $70.

size : 1.5" diameter. sex:Male

diet: Pellets

water temp: 75F basking temp: ?

comments: You can tell its a False Map , A) caz its common and B) the yellow marking behind the eye isnt a crescent moon shape like the Mississipi and the stripe does not go through the eye like the Mississipi. Also you can tell its not a Mississipi caz its not buck tooth and married to his sister .. play me out Piano Cat!

I originally had a stone slate for his basking area but he never basked. So a week later I added a log.. now he basks non stop.

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UPDATE jan28/10
I just measured him officially.. he's barely 2". I thought he was a little bigger. He's so puny.

I also started handling him more , he's not as skittish as I thought he would be. I put him into a feeding tub and he ate with no problems. Good to know the feeding tub technique works with him