Over the past month or more, a serious case of crypt rot has affected the tank. A variety of tank changes, and possibly lack of care, have resulted in the two largest cryptocoryne plants dying off by about half. Among the changes, the stem plants (I believe hornwort) have grown dramatically of late, the black nerite snails have grown very well and done an excellent job of reducing algae growth on the rocks and tank, and the blind cave fish died. The blind cave fish may have been nibbling the hornwort regularly, keeping it in check and preventing it from choking out the slower-growing crypts. Also, I ran out of Flourish and stopped supplementing the tank for plant food for some time. A few regular tank changes, trimming back the hornwort significantly, and reintroducing Flourish seems to have helped stop most of the crypt rot.

Also new to the tank is some micro Amazon sword plant. So far, it has not died off entirely through this mess, but neither has it grown significantly. With the death of two of the older Amano shrimp, three new Amano algae-eating shrimp were also introduced to the tank.

The aquarium has been relocated to a new residence, with the addition of another bag of substrate and sand (a top layer of sand is much better for the Kuhlii loaches). The cryptocoryne plants have survived well and grown quite a bit. Current residents of the tank are:

• two Kuhlii loaches
• two clown loaches
• three Bosemani rainbowfish
• the old orange male swordtail, who has survived two mates
• the old blind cave fish
• one oto catfish
• three Amano algae-eating shrimp
• two flying foxes

Here are some picture!

The first fish for the tank.

I tried to keep it down to two or three to see how things would work out and if I would have a sudden die off right away. Keeping it to only two or three with the boys just didn’t work, though, and I was excited to get fish, too. The first denizens are:

• Male pineapple swordtail
• Female pineapple swordtail
• Male betta
• Rainbow shark
• Blind cavefish tetra
• Otocinclus catfish
• Four ghost shrimp

The ghost shrimp didn’t survive. Actually, at least one jumped tank, probably on the spider plant I placed in one corner growing out of the tank. The ghost shrimp seemed to have a fascination with the spider plant. I was very disappointed that the ghost shrimp died, but luckily, all of the fish seem healthy.

The plants are two cryptocoryne plants (wendiis), an Amazon sword, and what I assume is water milfoil. The milfoil is growing very well, soaking up nutrients. The crypts have started to develop a few holes in certain leaves, but they also seem to be filling out. The sword has shed most of its original leaves, but has only sprouted a couple of weak new leaves. I’m hoping that trimming off older dying leaves will help the new ones grow and others to form. This issue of swords shedding old leaves is pretty common when adjusting to a new tank.

A quick trip to the best local pet store, Country Pets and Ponds, helped resolve the issue of which substrate to use. My debate had been between Seachem’s Flourite and Eco-Complete from CaribSea. Having used Flourite in the past to rather great success, I had leaned strongly in favor of returning to the familiar solution from Seachem. After consulting online discussion boards and various forums, I couldn’t find any particular, reasoned argument for a preference of one substrate over the other. However, before I purchased the substrate from Amazon online, I figured it was worth the effort to see if the local pet store carried either of the two.

A quick check found that they carried Eco-Complete from CaribSea. In addition, the owner gave it a strong recommendation, indicating he has used the black version (which they had in stock) and topped it with a layer of CaribSea’s Tahitian Moon sand, to great effect and success.

The idea of a layer of sand endeared itself to me because at least one blog post I read recommended a layer of sand to cover either Flourite or Eco-Complete if loaches and cory catfish will be kept. These fish have a habit of nosing into the substrate, the post suggested, and the sharp edges of these gravels could injure them. Previously, I always had a few cory cats in almost any tank, and I do not recall particular health problems for the cories.

Loaches are another story entirely. I loved keeping clown loaches, kuhli loaches, dojo loaches – almost any variety of loach − but I must admit a general lack of success keeping loaches. Clowns were far and away my favorite, and when I had an established, long-running tank, I was able to keep several healthy for quite some time. But they were always the first to die if any shock or illness occurred in the tank. Kuhli loaches, one of my favorites for their strange shapes and curious, frantic behavior, never ever lasted long at all. After a time, I quit trying.

So now, we’ll see if the sand helps this new tank provide a healthy environment for these, some of my favorite freshwater fish. After about a month of having the tank set up and inhabited for about three weeks, things are relatively healthy, and the CaribSea sand provides a lovely backdrop for the plants, fish, rocks, and other assorted decorative pieces (shells, mostly).

Two comments on the sand:

1. I didn’t rinse the sand (or the Eco-Complete substrate), and I certainly regretted it. With both, I slit the bag, placed it at the bottom of the tank, and then slowly emptied the contents out, to provide the least possible disturbance and the least likelihood to throw up tons of sediment. The Eco-Complete (which says it’s ready to go) worked like a charm. The sand, on the other hand, produced an incredible number of sand bubbles that floated to the top and behaved almost like an oily film on the water. I figured sweeping my hand through it would release the air and cause the sand to sink – no such luck. Even straining it out with a fish net was only moderately helpful. After a couple of weeks, and several rounds of trying to cause the sand bubbles to settle, they did disappear. But the black film was certainly not attractive and, well, unsettling.
2. Fish poo shows up loud and clear on top of the stark, black sand. I thought about this briefly, but then dismissed it. It’s not overly dramatic, but it’s a bit noticeable. We’ll see what happens over time.

After a long hiatus, I am in the early stages of setting up a new 30-gallon planted freshwater aquarium.

The very first step was the tank, a used 30 gallon, with stand, for only $40. Just the right pitch to get me back in the game for a nice freshwater aquarium. In the past, I have had another 30-gallon nearly identical to this, a 28-gallon bowfront that never quite got the use it deserved, a 55-gallon Walmart standard that worked out very well for very long, and a couple 10-gallon tanks that served as sick tanks for fish and grow-out tanks for plants. Unfortunately, I never had all of this going at the same time, but they worked well. I still have a nice retrofitted 55-Watt compact flourescent light hood that should fit nicely atop this 30-gallon tank. Thankfully, the tank came with a glass cover that will match perfectly my light.

The next step was rock collection. A goodly collection of background and foreground rocks were acquired over the Easter holidays. Since the rocks had been outside, they were cleaned, scrubbed, and submerged to help diffuse any potential pollutants or unwanted land creatures.

First up: a piece of petrified wood contributed by my father, and the leftovers that haven’t quite made it to the aquarium yet. Plenty of small, thin pieces to serve as accents around plants or to pile to aid the illusion of a wider tank. Also, a healthy number of large shards.

The rest are pretty attractive, with one great find for a perfect background rock. It’s a nice large slab, about an inch and a half thick, with plenty of character. This will work nicely. I’m looking forward to planting some java fern and java moss on it. The foreground rocks were pretty good finds as well, some nice bluish/purplish banded crystallized color in two, and a lovely egg shape for the other two. The piece in the middle cracked shortly after I gathered it, but I think the crack will actually work well. It should act as a nice hiding spot in the foreground for skittish fish, and it’s a great place for a cryptocoryne.

Next steps … a quality substrate for planted aquaria, and a choice of fish. Flourish from Seachem is about the perfect substrate for a planted aquarium, so I am leaning toward that, but a recent search turned up some other interesting competitors.

For fish? Cory cats, flying foxes, clown loaches, rainbowfish of all varieties (especially threadfins), gouramis, and possibly some neons or rasbora tetras. My boys seem to be enthralled with meat eaters, so I think they may be a bit disappointed with my selections.