My journey to plant based filtration.

[nfored]

My other favorite "angor rot" he used to be pretty docile, but I had to remove him twice in his life time because he let my bumblebee beat him pretty badly. Now he doesn't take any nonsense from anyone. There is finally peace in the tank angor is to biggig for the bumblebee, and my polleni stick together hard to take on 5 fish, and he has never bothered the dolphin.

 

[Ulu]

How old is your Oscar?
Mine lives alone. He simply cannot be trusted once I turn my back.
I finally got his system to run with lower nitrates, but also our tapwater has recently improved.

I've had pothos growing right in the tank, and it works fine now that he's decided he doesn't care to eat the roots.

Felix the Oscar is a Certified Google-Eyed Monster.

When I took that last photo he had worms, and was suffering some irritation around the nostrils and lips.
He's since had treatment and a good worming, and all that is vanished.

 

[nfored]

He is a little over 2 years, i am honestly shocked he pulled through the last beating he got a year or so ago.

Fine when I went to bed almost dead with actual dime size hole in him, the next morning. Nice thing about such a large sump is it's a great hospital. It was so bad the second day in the sump I thought he died he drifted into the root ball and just laid there, even as I netted him out to bury him. I just happened to see his girl slightly move.

It's been my experience that small fish are the most aggressive. Before I tore my tank down several years ago I had a pair of jewels that were monsters. They would jointly attack anything that floated into their section.

 

[duanes]

Love the polleni, can you trim the top of them? I looked here https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/foliage/papyrus/papyrus-plants.htm
And it says they grow 10ft tall. I might try and pick some up this week.

My papyrus usually topped out at about 4ft tall, even outside as marginal pond plants.
It may have to do with the short growing season in Wisconsin. I did trim if needed.
But would sometime bend the tops to touch the water surface where they'd start to grow (what I'd call pups) new plants, that, and send out new roots.

 

[Ulu]

I have a single red jewel, and he will not run from fish twice his size.

Felix is now has been thru 7 tanks on his journey to a custom 75+20 system.
I think this will be sweet, and save me lots of water changes.
I hope I never have to catch him again. Neither one of us ever enjoy it.