18 April 2006
Salinity Level: 1.004
Goal Salinity Level: 1.005
In this update, I will be going over what I have done to my tank thus far. It will be from plants to hide-outs to new fish! Also, I am currently in a major algea bloom in my tank, so bear with me on the pics.
Salinity
As you can see, my salinity level is only one one-thousandth away from my goal!
So far nothing has gone HORRIBLY wrong (i.e. putting in too much salt, or fish dieing), so I'm still hoping nothing goes wrong.
Plants
Despite the salt in the water, my plants are doing excellent! All of my plants are showing new growth, even from my Lotus (which sent up a pad to the surface)that I thought wouldn't make it. My dwarf sag is also sending out new runners! Here are some pics:
Lotus:
Dwarf Sag:
My plant list is as follows:
1 Moneywort
3 bunched Anacharis
1 bunched Cabomba
2 Wisteria
8 Jungle Val (w/ numerous runners)
5 Dwarf Sag (w/ numerous runners)
I inject CO2 through a DIY, and I add Flourish.
Fish
My fish are more healthier than ever! My now 5 Yellow Jacket Platies (addition of a mature fry) are doing excellent. One of the females recently gave birth to 19 fry, of which don't seem to exactly be Yellow Jacket Platies (look more of a cross-breed between platies and mollies). I recently moved my fry to a 5 gallon tank I set up specially for them, since they have been adding a lot of waste to my tank.
Also new to the tank are 4 Bumblebee Gobies!!! These guys are only 5/8 inches long, but they sure stand out in the tank! Since I brought them home from my LFS (which kept them in freshwater), they have deepened in color and have been more active. Here are some pictures I took:
BB goby on glass:
Size comparison:
Fry (black):
Hide-Outs
Since I got my bb gobies, I made 4 "hide-outs" for each of the gobies out of PVC piping. I made burrows in the sand with them, and my gobies just love them! They are spread throughout the tank in numerous random places.
1 of the hide-outs:
Tank
So far so good! Only downside is I am in a huge algea bloom! I am planning on doing numerous water changes until this is cleared up, which will be this weekend. Other than that, all my perameters are fine:
pH: 8.4 (well water, naturally high)
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 20
That is all for now! I will update as soon as when my tank FINALLY clears up from the lake water!
Tubbs