blackwater tank cycling?

[anewbie]

The ec more or less dropped linearly with the water change (i guess more or less what one would expect); i changed between 30% and 40% and the ec is now 52. I noticed no real impact on the marble hatchet fishes in there but i can't really see them very well 'cept when they swarm me as i add food.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

Basically my approach. Keep TDS down and you're good.

Same for me. Conductivity is a nice straight forward, linear measurement, If you don't have many ions you have soft water, easy as that.

cheers Darrel

 

[anewbie]

yea - fyi it is normal going forward that i will do 30-40% water change once or twice a week as i get into my normal routine. Right now things are a still be erratic as i'm cleaning up from moving - i have water changes running on all but one aquarium that needs one regularly and i hope to do it next week (the 29 with my D50; but it only has about 8 inches of fish in it as i removed everything but the pangio when i added the D50).

 

[anewbie]

Do i need to be particularly careful with ph drift when i do water changes? I typically do around 30-40% the new water is ro but of course the ph is probably a bit higher.

 

[anewbie]

In addition to the above question about if i need to worry about ph/ph shock - here are a few pictures - and the current ec is 42 (after todays water change); one of the apisto was upfront but didn't like me putting the camera up to it - in order to get any sort of picture i have to lay the camera flat against the glass else the reflection is too strong:

-
Population is approx 15 pencils; 15 hatchet; 10 otto and 7 apisto (3 male 5 female). Every time i tracked the apisto he would dart under a leaf - but maybe another time. Also these pictures show a fraction of the aquarium - sorry about that - if you have suggestions for better pictures pass them along:

 

[MacZ]

I know the reflection problem. Darken the room and try from an angle. That usually does it. Otherwise look for a filter for your phone camera online. Usually the clip-on filters cost less than 5 bucks.

 

[anewbie]

This is what the top looks like. There are three species of floaters - red root, frogbit and water lettuce; despite looking ragged the plants are actually doing fairly well - the red roots are doing something a bit weird they never did in my other aquariums - they are growing more vertical and sending up stalks in the far corner which i find an interesting transition.

And again the scale is 48 inches from side to side and 30 inches front to back - in a few days i'll cover the dirt behind the 'tank' with sand and put some plants in there and start the mister.

 

[MacZ]

Upload seems not to have worked properly.

 

[anewbie]

Upload seems not to have worked properly.

In what fashion? I can see the image fine.

 

[MacZ]

My connection was wonky an hour ago, it wouldn't load. Now I can see it too.

 

[anewbie]

This strange critter found some food next to the glass - shows no real fear of me - was a bit concern that he would scamper off when taking a picture:

 

[anewbie]

A few new pictures:


Couple of observation; i put most of the food in on one side; the hatchet fishes and pencil are worse than cicihld quickly attacking the food as it leaves my hand. The pencil people say will fight but i never see them fight - maybe i'm not paying enough attention. The otto ithought had mostly died off but when i did a water change around 10 of them all pop up near the front surface; i think have 10 out of 13 i put in the aquarium.

The largest male apisto has chosen the front area next to the glass as his area probably because best choice for food; every now another male will dart under him under the leaves but i've not seen the females yet (there should be 3 males and 5 females); with the other species i have the females have never been shy and always eager to eat so not sure what these are doing or if they are ok. Whlie not photo because he wouldn't sit still the largest male has definitely added a lot more colour than the picture above and is looking in decent shape. Right now i'm mostly feeding them bug bite pellets and flakes - one of these days i might start a culture of some sort but not sure what and what it will take.

 

[anewbie]

I did the usual water change this week but something odd is happening; the ph has been steadily dropping the past 36 hours. At the time i did the water change it was around 6.7; and now it is down to 5.90. The drop has been continuous during this period not one sudden drop. I did take some new pictures but when i reviewed them decided non were worth posting. Maybe later.

 

[MacZ]

Not a dramatic change. Keep observing.

 

[anewbie]

Not a dramatic change. Keep observing.

I figured it was pointless to give a rapid update; it continues to drop but very slowly and is now down to around 5.65. I'll probably wait a week or two before another update which means a couple of more water change periods - unless i'm able to snag a decent picture in which case i'll post it. I might add some warvani to the mix; not sure that is a good idea with the a. bitaeniata; I think the aquarium is large enough but not sure how they would react.

 

[anewbie]

Small update; i did the usual water change and the ph poped up from 5.5 to 5.6 and then an hour later settled back at 5.5. I don't think 5.5 is the floor. Was trying to get a picture of the male but he wouldn't sit still but did snag this picture of one of the females:

(oh yea the ec was 47 before water change and 30 after water change)

This is a picture looking down on the aquarium:

This one of my a. p. in another aquarium; she was checking out a bag of cupido i was getting ready to release.

So far the two species seem to get along quite well of course if one decides to breed things might be different but they are in a 4ftx4ft aquarium so lots of room to spread out.

 

[anewbie]

Snagged the male but not great photo:

In theory there are 3 males and 5 females in the aquarium but i rarely see more than 1; occasionally one will dart under this one who has mostly claimed the area by the front side (where all the food is put into the aquarium). I do occasionally confuse them by putting food in on other side The pencil are worse than rummy lining up for snacks; and the rummy are pretty bad (i have 30 in the 450; not this aquarium). Hum....

 

[anewbie]

another aquarium but after months and months my D50 finally made a nest; was going to get a better picture but it made her nervous:

--
This aquarium has several coconut shell but she prefer to make her own'; this is a piece of drift wood from the back; the front side it touches the substrate and is curved towards the front; she just dug a little deeper into the substrate. This also hides her 100% from the male who spends his time on the other side.

 

[anewbie]

Been a couple of weeks - water ec has stablized around 38 before water changes 28 after water changes; ph flux between 5.55 and 5.80. As previously mention whenever i do water changes all the ottos come together near the front - here are four of them (6 more were on the other side - i have between 10 and 13):

I mostly only see two a. Bitaeniata which hang near the front side where i feed the fishes - they were both there this morning but vanished before i took pictures. Definitely 1 male and 1 female. I have no clue if the other 6 are alive or not - i'd have to take the tank apart to remove all the drift wood and leaves to find them. At one point i thought all the otto had died until they started coming out during water changes. The true disadvantage of a larger aquarium. I'll try to get better pictures next time.

One other i took:

 

[anewbie]

I found a couple more of the a. b. on the other side; 2 females - i watched one crawl into a hubby hole between some leaves which made her totally invisible. Probably put too many large leaves in there for apisto viewing