Channa Stewarti Cf Barca Blog

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
ocellatus said:
Just have 3 at the moment, a 180 g, a 75 g, and a 29 g, all sitting empty waiting for the basement finish. Hope to stock pulchra in the 180 and bleheri in the 75. Both subtropical and heavily planted.

I built the fish room with a laundry sink and a dedicated circuit breaker. It's small, but should have room for these 3 and a rack of breeders / a rescue tank for aggression issues. First time I haven't had to negotiate wall space with my wife!

I've been keeping fish for 30 years but am new to snakeheads, so have been reading all I can on these forums. I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions once the tanks are up and running.

As for plants, I've kept many of the easy low light varieties over the years but may branch out bit this time around, hence my interest in what others are using for substrate, lighting etc. Looking into budget solutions though , as the cost of specialized substrate alone for the 180 is several hundred dollars. I'll be getting dry ferts and my T5 bulbs from a local hydroponics store to save some $$.

O
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Sounds good be sure to post some pics :) what are you goin to stock in the 29?? or is that your rescue tank you mentioned??

Lol i know what you mean my gf hates it when i spend money on fish etc but hey atleast im not spending it all on booze and what not, love having a hobby especially fishkeeping as you can never know enough and learn more every day

what are the low light varietes>> i have anubias think thats the spelling and salvania again unsure of the spellin and the rest i wouldnt have a clue they looked nice so i bought them :)

Why is the substrate your looking at so expensive!!! hundreds of dollars??

Im goin to get some liquid ferts i think as you only need to dose the tank once a week so hopefully it wont be too expensive, what are t5 bulbs theres always people talking about them are they worth buying??
 
Fluorite sand, regular fluorite or Eco Complete were the locally available options. At $22 / 7 kgs, their calculator said I needed 11 -13 bags....so I'm on the look out for a cheaper option!

Dwarf Anubias are a good low light plant (ie slow grower), though I've never grown them in cooler temps.

Java fern are another plant that does well in low light and are pretty much bionic. They reproduce by small plantlets that form at the edges of mature leaves. A caution though, their roots cannot be submersed in gravel
but will grip onto rocks and driftwood making a very interesting display.

Salvinia auriculata also do well in cooler temps and will provide some dense top cover over time.

Other low light plants I've kept are crypts and Hygrophilia. Elodea can do well in cool temps and low light so that may be a consideration as well.

T5's are a smaller diameter fluorescent tube that produces a very bright light at relatively cool temps. I've got a Tek fixture with 4 x 54w bulbs that kicks out a fair bit of light when all 4 are running. I like to run them on a timer to provide a siesta period in the afternoon. Seems to cut back on the algae and give good growth as CO2 levels rebound to near morning levels.

I might raise shrimp in the 29.....it would be nice to have a 55 g or so on hand for aggression rescues mind you.

O
 
ocellatus said:
Fluorite sand, regular fluorite or Eco Complete were the locally available options. At $22 / 7 kgs, their calculator said I needed 11 -13 bags....so I'm on the look out for a cheaper option!

Dwarf Anubias are a good low light plant (ie slow grower), though I've never grown them in cooler temps.

Java fern are another plant that does well in low light and are pretty much bionic. They reproduce by small plantlets that form at the edges of mature leaves. A caution though, their roots cannot be submersed in gravel
but will grip onto rocks and driftwood making a very interesting display.

Salvinia auriculata also do well in cooler temps and will provide some dense top cover over time.

Other low light plants I've kept are crypts and Hygrophilia. Elodea can do well in cool temps and low light so that may be a consideration as well.

T5's are a smaller diameter fluorescent tube that produces a very bright light at relatively cool temps. I've got a Tek fixture with 4 x 54w bulbs that kicks out a fair bit of light when all 4 are running. I like to run them on a timer to provide a siesta period in the afternoon. Seems to cut back on the algae and give good growth as CO2 levels rebound to near morning levels.

I might raise shrimp in the 29.....it would be nice to have a 55 g or so on hand for aggression rescues mind you.

O
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[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"][h=3]SEACHEM FLOURITE BLK SAND 7KG - 16 lbs[/h][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 20%"]Manufacturer:[/TD]
[TD]Seachem Laboratories, Inc.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="width: 20%"]Our Price:[/TD]
[TD="width: 80%"]£157.23[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Availability:[/TD]
[TD]Brand New; In Stock. Dispatched from England, usually 3-5 days for delivery.[/TD]
[/TR]
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Thats what it cost here!!! so expensive my substrate is exactly the same made by unipac and cost £15-20 i think

Will look into all those plants then think i need a few more any way, more plants means less algae right because they have to fight for the nitrite??

Rasing and bredding shrimp for food? that doesnt sound like a bad idea is it hard?

might have to swap my bulbs for t5's :)

whats the deal with c02 levels there good for plants but bad for the fish ive never looked into it to be honest.

i just turn my lights on when i get in from work every day until i go to bed havent had an algae blooms yet :)
 
whats the deal with c02 levels there good for plants but bad for the fish ive never looked into it to be honest.

In a nutshell, CO2 and water are used in (light driven) photosynthesis to produce oxygen and glucose. High photosynthesis will produce "pearling" which is the small oxygen bubbles being produced as a waste product coming off of the leaves.

Plants also respire, using the stored glucose and oxygen from the water to produce energy for the plant to grow / repair itself, and CO2 as the waste product. Although respiration happens day and night, aquarists mainly pay attention to it at night, as it serves to decrease O2 levels and increase CO2 levels. Not typically an issue unless you run supplemental CO2 (which I haven't tried yet as I'm still a plant beginner).

I'm also going to try my hand at raising red cherry shrimp for the first time. There is a lot of experience on the invertebrate threads that I'm trying to absorb, so can't even offer you basic advice / guidelines.

O
 
I see cheers for the info :)

Raising cherry shrimp hmm something i might try maby only a small tank is needed right??

More pics of my channa cf barca coming tomorrow they are growing pretty fast!!!
 
Late with the pictures will get some over the weekend at feeding time :) there starting to show really bright blue colours in the fins now :) happy days!!
 
Getting much bigger now took a few pictures, there not the best of quality, they dont like posing lol

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