Change of Heart ...

The End of an Era

Doomed tank

Despite new bigger filter...

Trying out their new tank...

An original photo

New large 6 foot discus tank...

Larger and natural environment...

Unfortunately my plans have not worked out as I would have expected. Perhaps it was the tank size, or the filter. I'm not really sure, but no matter what I did the tank just wouldn't stay clean. I bought a stronger filter, but the same brand, and couldn't believe that it didn't fix the problem. The filter was constantly blocked and clogged with silt, perhaps it was the substrate? I wondered what happened in the tank during the night too, whether it was constantly stirred up causing the increased silt. Either way, it was not the tank I had planned. As I placed this tank as pride of place in our lounge room, it was disappointing to see it constantly dirty no matter how much effort I put into cleaning and cleaning and cleaning it! Also due to the tanks positioning it was exposed to more natural light than is good for a tank, I wasn't always home in time to shut the curtains and stop the direct sunlight exposure - this caused a large amount of algae build up.

To be honest I was very surprised that my two zebra's even survived all the turmoil of the tank, it definitely shows they are hardier than expected. It got to the point that the amount of work I was putting into the tank was not paying off, so I decided to pull it down and move all the fish into my discus tank. It was a huge effort to clean the tank and move all of the rocks and driftwood into the discus tank, but I feel it was the right decision in the end. In the process of moving I found literally hundreds of shrimp throughout the tank, much more than I had realised. I wonder again if this was the cause of the problems with stirring up of the substrate. I do have shrimp in my other tanks, but there is usually a healthy amount of predators in those tanks, the zebra tank didn't seem to have that. The zebra's took care of most of the snail problems that I had, they definitely feasted on them throughout the night, the tank was always littered with empty shells.

When I first started keeping fish I enjoyed it so much that I got more and more tanks, and chose harder and harder species to care for. Unfortunately with this came more and more work and less and less enjoyment and reward. It's a hard thing to admit you failed, but in this case I did. I hated seeing my prize fish in an unclean environment and knew that I could never part with more money and introduce more into the same bad conditions. It just wasn't the ideal environment to be breeding prize fish. It was also too crowded to really be successful to find zebra fry if I was successful. In the end it was just all too hard. For anyone reading this blog I hope you can take some learning experiences from mine and try not to make the same mistakes. Just as I'm sure there are plenty of know-it-alls that will smirk and say I told you so! There are many successful breeders out there who generally keep to species only tanks and keep the tanks simple and sometimes with no substrate. I couldn't be happy with that as I wanted my tank to look as natural as possible and also appealing to the human eye. I was really happy with my tank for the first few months, but it gradually deteriorated and I can wonder if adding other companion fish added to this or if it was perhaps mainly due to the amount of shrimp in the tank and the original snail infestation.

My life has become a lot busier since originally keeping fish so now I need to be more thoughtful of how I spend my time. Also caring for the fish is very difficult if you go away and rely on others to keep it up to the standards you expect. Unless you have a huge amount of spare time and don't plan on going away for any huge length of time these are probably not the fish for you. It wasn't for me. As I already have my high maintenance discus tank to care for I realised one was going to have to go. Last year I also took down another tank that had a similar problem, which was also in my lounge room and spread the fish amongst my remaining tanks. I have now gone from a total of five tanks (including a very small one in the kitchen containing a beta and some dwarf catfish) to only three. This now makes feeding and caring for the fish much more manageable and even more enjoyable.

I spent a lot of time carefully rearranging the many rocks and caves for my zebra's at one end of the discus tank, segregating them from the rest of tank and changing things around for all the fish. When I put the zebra's in, one of them wandered all the way down the other end of the tank appearing to really enjoy itself. I know that I may barely ever see them again in such a large tank, and of course they are at risk of deteriorating. However, the same would have happened in the original tank. I figure in the bigger discus tank they may actually have a fighting chance as the tank parameters are exactly the same but spread over a 6 foot tank!

It has been nearly a week since the move and I have been pleasantly surprised with how well they have all adjusted. The cory's and other fish from the tank such as the twig catfish and a male angelfish are thoroughly enjoying their new digs. The male angelfish, in particular, has found the female angelfish I already had moved to the discus tank and they are in love! I know there is no chance of babies surviving in that tank and it is large enough to deal with mating angelfish aggression, so at this point I don't mind. I have even spotted both zebra fish on multiple occasions and they are still looking plump and active. They will live out their lives in there now and I hope that is a long time, I actually don't doubt they will be able to eat plenty and thrive, they are much hardier than given credit for.

Unless there are any further changes, this will probably be the last entry in this blog. I may do an update if the zebra's do survive their move and thrive like I expect they will, to show that they can live in a community tank. However, I don't expect any breeding to occur, even though I do believe I have a female and male I don't plan on adding to their numbers as the discus tank is obviously not a good breeding environment for them. I don't believe I have the time or the inclination to follow through with all that is involved with breeding these beautiful creatures and on-selling them. Knowing me I would find it very difficult to deal with selling them and asking for such huge amounts of money that they go for, I am just no salesperson.

Instead, I will simply enjoy the occasional peek I get to have of my two beautiful black and white zebra catfish. After all there is nothing quite like sitting on my bench seat in my entrance hallway enjoying watching my fish, in their large 6 foot tank with natural rocks and black substrate, majestically weaving in and out amongst the driftwood and aquatic plants.

Progress Report....

Update

There have been minimal changes since the last update, however, both Xingu and Rio have grown considerably and matured. No longer do they share the same shelf in the tank, each have separated and gone their own way. It does make for a pretty boring tank most of the time but good to see them maturing.

Unfortunately I have not been able to afford any more zebra's to add to the colony at this stage, however, I am looking forward to being able to achieve this in the future. At least I now know that they are not quite as fragile as I once thought. Despite the tank having its fair share of ups and downs, both zebs have soldiered on without event. I have had never ending trouble with the snails blocking the filters and, at times, causing extremely dirty water, yet the zebs just carry on as usual and seem unaffected.

As they mature and I purchase more zebras I will invest in a stronger filter as I have not been impressed with the flow rate of this one, particularly how easily it is blocked. Luckily I have both a sponge filter and ultra violet light with filter as back ups, if it weren't for these I fear there may have been disaster.

I decided to get three electric blue ram cichlids to add some colour and vibrancy to the tank. The electric blue rams are famous for having a very short life so I doubt they will pose a problem if the zebra do breed in the future, in the meantime I have enjoyed watching their antics. The temperature and conditions of the tank are perfect for the rams, they are very brave and cheeky eating dried black worm right from my hand. The dither fish and other tank mates have proven to be good 'canary like fish' to indicate water quality, with the unfortunate passing of a ram early on. Also, recently one of the electric blue rams began to suffer from fin rot which alerted me to a block in the filter, again. Luckily the ram is recovering well and the tank was once again saved from near disaster - just in time!

In the last few days Xingu - the king of the ledge - has decided to seek out a cave for himself. It has been strange to see him missing from his usual ledge, but nice to see him showing positive signs of maturing and showing a nesting instinct. He has always been much more boisterous than Rio and is quite happy to feed in front of me, except if I get too close! Rio on the other hand has disappeared in the middle of the tank, I am barely able to spy his/her stripes resting 'on top' of a cave partially hidden from view. As beautiful as these fish are it is frustrating not to be able to closely examine them. I am really looking forward to future antics when I add some new tank mates in the future.  Until then I will have to enjoy the few daily glimpses of my two, particularly at feeding time!

 Electric Blue Ram settling in...

 Xingu on his shelf!

 Xingu finding 'his cave'

 Electric blue Ram recovering from 'fin rot'

 Rio 'hiding' as usual

 The remaining rams

Tank maturing well!

Zebra's Settling In...

Two Months In

 

After the first few days of sightings both zebra's did a fantastic job of hiding as expected.  I usually could spy their stripes around the tank, but it was very difficult to get a good look at them.  It was always a treat to sneak up to the tank after lights out and watch them scurrying all about the tank to their heart's content, at least I knew they were still alive!

 

They eventually found a nice little niche in one of the rocks to call their home. Although I couldn't really see them very well, I always knew where to find them and to point them out to visitors.  That was until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to bravely turn their special rock around to face the front!  Then they became easy to spot and were basically always on view, even though they felt safe and hidden.  I then changed around a few of the plants and the other rocks, unfortunately no others had a crevice as deep as their favourite, but I felt that the tank now better suited their needs.

 

I'm not sure quite what happened but I think in the process of moving the rocks Xingu must have scraped himself against a rock and it appeared that part of one of his black stripes was faded and patchy.  I was worried that the injury was at risk of infection and loaded the tank with natural meds to help him heal.  It worked and after about a week or so they suddenly began to feel very comfortable.  It was as though a switch was turned on and they both sprung into action.

 

What were once reclusive and shy creatures suddenly became active and even dared to eat in front of me during daylight!  Prior to this I could only presume they were eating as I normally never saw them leave their protective shelf.  Both fish took turns in darting about the tank bravely and leaping over the spray bar and parachuting down through the bubbles.  It was incredible to watch and if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would never have believed it!  It was probably something they had done regularly at night when no one was watching, but to witness it in broad daylight was an amazing Christmas gift...

 

I have noticed a considerable size difference now between Rio and Xingu, with Rio a lot larger in size.  I wonder if it is part of this size difference or simply because they feel like the tank is now their home, but I have noticed they are spending more time apart and trying to set up their own individual territories within the tank.  I have several caves of different sizes and shapes throughout the tank and had been disappointed that they seemed to be ignored.  However, I have recently begun to notice Xingu trying them all out for size before he scurries back to the safety of his shelf, however, I think Rio has claimed the shelf.  As the bigger out of the two I guess Rio is more dominant now and appears to be kicking Xingu out!

 

The snails are a never ending chore to manually remove from the tank, I have resisted introducing any snail eating loaches due to possible compatibility issues.  However, I did purchase a twig catfish (Farowella) to help with some minor algae issues.  Hopefully in the new year I will be in a position to buy some more tank mates for them, it will be interesting to see how they accept some new zebs into 'their' tank in the future...

 

 Injury to Xingu side... (healed in less than a week!)

 

 Xingu on left, larger Rio on right

 

Farowella Catfish (Twig)



Zebra's Arrive at Last!

Xingu and Rio Fly In

 

I was finally ready to receive my first shipment of two Zebra L46 and was excited to wake up yesterday to a message on my phone letting me know that they were on their way.  I drove down to the airport, once my phone call was received to let me know they had arrived, and collected them.  Both were obviously well packed in their large foam box, very healthy and much larger than I had anticipated, which was very pleasing.

 

These, my first two zebs, were flown over from a breeder in Melbourne, Australia.  He purchased his zebra colonies over 7 years ago.  He has two different colonies, both from overseas and probably wild caught.  Since the Brazilian government banned export of these fish in 2006 it has become impossible to obtain fresh wild specimens.  This breeder was very fortunate to have received what he believes to have been one of the first two lots of them arriving in Australia before the ban.  His initial shipment arrived via Singapore from Germany, the second shipment he received also came from Singapore and it is unknown whether they were wild caught or bred.  However, it has taken both his colonies over 5 years to begin breeding.  He has both colonies in one breeding tank so there is a good mix of bloodlines and strong genes with their fry.  He believes they are, in fact, wild caught as they took so long to begin breeding.  Tank bred L46 have been known to begin breeding from 3-4 years, this clearly depends on the colony and other factors.

 

Therefore, I hope my two zebs I purchased prove to be strong and healthy little guys and in a few years time may breed themselves.  I'm not 100% sure yet but I believe at least one of my zebs is a male, possibly both.  I have named them Xingu and Rio after the river they originate from in Brazil.  My two are 5-6 cm long and classed as sub-adults so I am pretty happy with that, the breeder estimates they are just over 2 years old.

 

So far so good, both fish appear healthy and were very active immediately when unpacked from their foam box.  They were carefully acclimatised to their new tank water and have so far settled in well, I even managed a few photo's before they inevitably went into hiding.  Fingers crossed my two survive their experience of flying interstate and thrive in their new tank. 

 

I'm looking forward to purchasing some more specimens possibly early next year.  I have some on hold with a different breeder in Western Australia who also has two colonies and has been breeding zebs for a few years, his first colony was purchased approximately 8 years ago.  I'm just waiting for the fry to grow out some more so they get fat enough to survive the flight to South Australia.  I want to mix up my gene pool as much as possible in the hopes that in a few years time mine will also begin to breed.

 

 Tank Complete...

 



Rio still in bag...

 First picture of Xingu (suspect male)

 



Xingu showing how hairy he is!

 Xingu again...

 

Xingu showing who is boss of the tank!

Xingu close up... 

Xingu in all his glory!

Xingu and Rio found each other on their first morning

with a Flagtail Panda Cory supervising!

 

 

 



Dither Fish Arrived

Black Neons and Flag Tailed Panda Corys

 



My new dither fish have arrived to help get my tank up to speed.  There have been several red cherry shrimp having a party all on their own in the tank for about a week or so now. The tank now consists of 6 black neon tetras (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi) as they like a healthy water current and swim in the mid to upper regions of the tank. They are larger and faster than the neon tetra, which is actually a different species of tetra, and cope with the higher water temp and enjoy currents.  Fingers crossed they cope as well as I think they will.

After much research I settled upon 2 Corydoras Oiapoquensis (flag tailed panda cory) named for the river they are native to; The Oyapock, in French Guiana. These corys are completely different, except in appearance, than the regular panda corys.  They are more suited to the higher temp of my tank and like the turbulence of high oxygenated waters. They are found in nature in the upstream of the rapids after the Oiapoque River (Oyapock in Brazil), the natural border between French Guiana and Brazil.  Pretty happy with the cute little fellows so far.

So far the black neons and flag tailed panda corys are very active and love playing in the water current. I have another 6 tetra and 2 more corys arriving next week. The tank has cycled very quickly due to the seeding of biomedia I took from my discus tank. However, I'm still being cautious and only adding a few fish at a time.

 

 

Tank Progress One Week Later...

New Gadgets!

 

Lots of new gadgets have arrived over the week and I've enjoyed setting them all up in the new tank.  I've bought 4 pieces of really interesting looking dark grey yingshi rock, I decided to move one I already had in my discus tank with all the lovely added bacteria to make 5 in total.  I now have 3 pieces of gold vine driftwood soaking and a variety of plants.  The majority of plants I have put in there were new: 1 x Echinodorus Latifolius, 2 x Corkscrew Vallisneria, 1 x Narrow Amazon Sword, 1 x Crypt Balansae.  I also bought two pieces of malaysian driftwood with plants already attached: 1 x Anubias Nana and 1 x Anubias Coffeefolia.  I transferred a couple of existing plants from the discus tank, 2 x Red Tiger Lotus and 1 x Crypt Balansae and even 1 x Hygrophila that will help establish the bacteria equilibrium in the tank.

 

I have 3 beautifully handmade brown triangle shaped ceramic caves, 2 x small slate triangle caves (which turned out to be a lot smaller than I would have liked) and 2 x rounded clay log caves which look very natural.  These I have arranged amongst the yinshi rock and driftwood to try for a more natural look.  I also have a hand made slate cave, sectioned into two, currently making its way here from England.

 

I decided on a Hailea 5504, 4.2L per minute, super quiet air pump with two outlets.  One for the small Aqua Nova sponge filter and one for the large 15cm dark grey dome shaped air stone.  Up and running now is my Jager Eheim 150 watt heater which is performing beyond expectation.  After much deliberation for filtration I decided on an Aqua One Nautilus 600 canister filter.  So far I am very impressed with its quiet and efficient performance, it has a flow rate of 600lph and is designed for a tank up to 150L.  I already have the larger Aqua One Nautilus 2700 for my discus tank and have been impressed with its performance.  I love the Aqua One quick release system which disconnects the taps for maintenance, plus the simple primer button which makes life so much easier.  I was very happy with the filter media that came with the filter, but also added plenty of bacteria soaked biological media from my discus tank to help with seeding.  In addition, I purchased the impressive Seachem Matrix porous rock filter media to add in, I love this stuff as it provides both external and internal macroporous surface areas for the bacteria to multiply on. 

I completed the look with a rocky background poster and a cute Heto, adjustable leg, 2 foot T8 reflector light with a 20 Watt daylight tube.  I also got a black 6 way individual switch powerboard with surge protector, I found a black extension cord to keep with the black theme.  I am still waiting on my new HPM 7 day 24 hour digital programmable timer to help with the light automaticity.  I have even managed to source some black suction cups for the black air hose tubing, thanks eBay!  I am going to trial some Fluval pre-filter foam sponges on the filter intake in this tank, I'm sick of finding shrimp in my filters in my other tanks.  If it works I will try to place them in the other tanks too.  Just awaiting on arrival by mail on these products.

I am also awaiting a Blue Planet UView 9 Watt Purifier, I have been very happy with my UV steriliser sponge filter combination in the discus tank, and thought this would be worthwhile in this tank.  Fingers crossed it was a good purchase.

Setting Up The Tank

Tank Set Up

 

Well the journey has officially started.  I have two 4-5cm zebra pleco juevenilles on hold until the tank is ready to go.  I have another four on hold from two different breeding colonies, currently only 2cm and growing out, which I will be keeping a close eye on over the next few months. 

 

I have always loved the process of setting up a brand new tank, deciding which tank to buy, the different filter and all the decisions to make regarding heating, choice of substrate and decorations etc.  It never quite turns out exactly as you envision, however, often it turns out better!

 

Right now I'm in the process of setting up the tank and waiting for all my online purchases to arrive.  I decided upon a 137 litre tank (36 gallon), 30 inches long, 14 inches deep and 20 inches high.  It is a glass aquarium with no frills.  It has a custom made pine stand that my husband is painting black right now.

 

So far I have ordered all the accessories, I already had some black aquarium soil substrate that I had left over so have filled it with that.  Once the painting is finished I can start soaking the one piece of gold vine driftwood that I have so far.  So much to do....