My Tank - R E W I N D!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Hot Slime;5133979; said:
I think your blood parrots think there in heaven. Very nice aquascaping, looks a ton better now.
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ahah! Thanks, I would say so too! everyone seems to swim around the tank so gracefully now.. I think the whole setup has changed their attitudes a bit..

HyPHyISM42o;5133995; said:
very nice ....great job
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Thanks buddy!

GhostShrimpMan;5133997; said:
Very nice job, very natural! Huge Bp's btw, :thumbsup:
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Word yo!! my little fattie babies.. the male never fails to bite me everytime I have my hands in the tank..

muffywrx;5134000; said:
Looks beautiful!!! WOW. I would just worry of the leaves rotting? Then again I don't know if that would happen or not. Either way, I hope not because they are gorgeous.
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I'm thinking it will, but I stare at the damn thing so much.. I'll be able to tell when I'll need to pull them out.. but really I'm not for sure on the subject.. thanks a bunch!

College fishman;5134012; said:
i dont like the leaves, but love that its centered like that! i say take the leaves out and keep the wood and rocks how the are :)
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Your gett'n brave aren't ya, moth man!!! hahaha!! jk.. I can probably do with and without them.. the Brochis seem to really like them.. always messing around in the leaves, so I'm gonna keep them for now;).. but as always thank you.. oh, and I can't do the centered thing .. it's gonna drive me nuts till I can fix it..
 
The leaves are there because that's what is found in their natural habitat...

[YT]3B-YCMGy4HI[/YT]

They are supposed to get all slimy and disintegrate like that. It releases tannic and humid acids, which are beneficial to SA fish, gives the fish a nice little interactive object and hiding place in a tank environment, and the "slime" that develops on them is an excellent source of food for fry.

And it ultimately completes the biotope look (although your water is a little clear for a SA setup, as you can see in that video a lot of SA rivers are pretty murky). You can add something like backwater extract if you want, or just leave it clear--whatever your preference.
 
aclockworkorange;5134305; said:
The leaves are there because that's what is found in their natural habitat...

[YT]3B-YCMGy4HI[/YT]

They are supposed to get all slimy and disintegrate like that. It releases tannic and humid acids, which are beneficial to SA fish, gives the fish a nice little interactive object and hiding place in a tank environment, and the "slime" that develops on them is an excellent source of food for fry.

And it ultimately completes the biotope look (although your water is a little clear for a SA setup, as you can see in that video a lot of SA rivers are pretty murky). You can add something like backwater extract if you want, or just leave it clear--whatever your preference.
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I thought you could help out with the 'leaves' subject.. so I guess they'll be staying.. ;)

All the fish are acting different now.. the catfish come out more.. it's nice to see them moving underneath the leaves, like snooping and looking for food and such.. one thing that I just observed was my common plec being very territorial.. hope that doens't get out of hand..
 
I had leaves in my raphael catfish spawning effort and they loved them! But after a few months they really fell apart beyond manageability. I think if you just remove the lot and add new leaves once a month you'll be riding the gravy train. They'll still tan your water but won't clog your filters. You can use the dark purple leaves from decorative japanese maples, too. They turn the water a beautiful rose color.
 
Yes, you should occasionally remove and replace the leaves. You can use pretty much any hardwood leaf as long as it's cleaned and dry and the tree isn't toxic (obviously).
 
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