Newman's 40 Gallon Planted Tank

[Newman]

Ok, so I know my tank is a bit overstocked with all these mollies, but since there is no goldfish around, I kinda wanted to get cories in this tank ASAP for cleaning up w/e food the mollies refuse to eat.
So today i went out after class to my favorite LFS, the Aquatics-only one and got me 7 panda cories.
Unfortunately as i was trying to get them all from the bag to my net, two of them missed the net and went into the sink (thank goodness they didnt fit down the drain!), so they kinda got rubbed against the sink in my very bad attempt to rescue them. So I dont really expect every single one to survive, but I really hope that all of them do, because they are, as I expected, very cool fish to have around.


Also while I was at the store, I noticed some tanks had "Jumbo" platies and swordtails. This was a real surprise since I am used to seeing very tiny fish of both species at most LFS. But these jumbo versions were really something. I think the jumbo swordtails were even a little bigger than the Blood red females I used to have in this tank! And the platies were huge too! about the size of the swordtails I had! It's nice to see that some breeders still saved that gene for large size in their stock, because I have been noticing that swordtail and platy breeds have been getting smaller and smaller

 

[ryanoh]

Corys are so awesome. I hope your two make it.

 

[Newman]

I do too, thanks! They seem to be doing ok, but its only been a few hours lol.

 

[bassbonediva]

Squeee! I love pandas!!! Yours are so adorable. And is it wrong to "hate" you because you get such awesome pics of your fish? Just kidding, Newman! I could never hate you!

 

[Dylandrewsdad]

Great Pics! The second one, the one where the fish is looking at you, looks like the fish is smiling!

 

[Newman]

lol it does look like it, though its snout is where the mouth actually is
Bass, the second pic doesnt focus on the face of the fish which would have looked better lol, so I dont take photos as well as you'd expect xD

 

[bassbonediva]

Newman, I can't even get pics of my GBR OR panda cories! ROFL! They won't sit still long enough...and my camera hates me. I tried taking pics last night and the tank is nice and steady, but there's just a slightly colored blur where my GBR was when I pressed the shutter button.

 

[Newman]

Here is what the tank looks like right now. not anything good but it still kinda keep s that planted tank feel. also cories are going to become a standard now lol.

 

[riseabovethesun]

Looks good Newman! I love the darkness and then the green and lighting, lovely!

I can't believe you got a photo of your cory! I can never catch mine! The only fish I could photograph who would sit still for the camera was the SAE, but once I moved him to the other tank he refused his photo -- I think he's mad at me.

 

[Newman]

lol
cories are always moving. if you move in front of the tank a bit they might stop moving and you may get a pic of them

 

[riseabovethesun]

Oh no way! Mine are stubborn. They must be, that's it. It's like "Oh here comes that lady, head to the back now behind everything!"

I'm looking into re-getting an old camera I had, so that might help. I also totally want some panda cories, they're too cute.

 

[Newman]

they are awesome!

 

[ValRasbora]

Can you please stop having incredible aquariums? It makes mine look even more awful than they already are. I'm coming over there and uprooting everything!
*sigh* I need to re-do my 20g. Like, badly...

 

[Newman]

lol thanks Val, I can help you redo that tank if you want, not physically obviously lol. just let me know

 

[Newman]

As you know I am a fan of Ruby nerites. Unfortunately I only have 1 left in my 40 gallon (the rest crawled out while I was away from my tank for a month in August). I want to buy around three more of these and breed them. the eggs will be hatched in my SW tanks. I am wondering if it will work. I got the idea from someone who has successful bred theirs in a marine tank so I want to give it a shot as well. Here are some pictures of this interesting animal:

 

[paperdog9]

Wow, its a snail I actually WANT to have! I love how it has a cool pattern on its body as well as its shell!

 

[Newman]

Its awesome! I bought 3 more from ebay. dont know when ill get them yet but I'll be sure to focus on breeding them.

 

[big54bob]

I read that the eggs hatch in FW but then turn into larve which are swept into SW. They morph in SW but then travel into FW/BW.

I think you may have to hatch em in a jar then put them into your sw tank

 

[Newman]

Generally FW gastropods dont have larva stages and have direct development to avoid the whole larva being swept out to sea. the transportaion from FW to SW for a little larve is much too stressful, and even if those did survive they would never make it back to the FW place again. which is why I dont think it works that way with these brackish snails BUT you may be right and I would be interested in reading the source where you saw that info. I have also heard that the brackish nerites lay eggs mostly on DW that is later swept out to sea and the eggs hatch there. I have never come across anyone saying that nerite eggs will hatch in FW at all. But there's a lot of crazy stuff around the web.

The way I will do it is I will put a movable piece of DW into my 40 gallon FW tank which will contain the adult snails. they breed in there, lay eggs on DW fertilize them, and then after a few days of gathering eggs I will move the DW to my reef tank. We shall see whether they hatch into miniature snails or into a planktonic stage.

 

[Newman]

I do need to do a major val trim tomorrow but I re-scaped my tank yet again. Its ready for the nerites arriving tomorrow. what fish can you spot in this FTS? I'll give you a hint, there are four different types in the photo.