I had some sudden inspiration the other day. My mom has some orchids in an East facing window that do quite well, but we're having a really hard time finding an attractive humidity tray that will fit in the window. So I decided to try and build an aquarium. I got the glass cut already, it's 30" long, 7" tall, and 6" deep, which comes out to 5.5 gallons. It will be unfiltered and unheated. Would a couple Elassoma be alright in there? Maybe some red cherry shrimp? I know the shrimp eat the elassoma eggs, but the elassoma would probably eat the shrimp eggs too, so it kind of balances out and keeps the tank from getting overstocked. Of course it would be stuffed full of plants too.
oh, and it fixes the humidity tray problem because we can put some egg crate on top and set the orchids over the tank so they get humidity!
Elassoma Gilberti
Started by
Guest_Taari_*
, Jul 23 2011 09:55 PM
45 replies to this topic
#22
Guest_gerald_*
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Posted 04 August 2011 - 10:50 AM
Sounds like that could work as long as it doesn't overheat and there's no pesticides on the orchids.
Could use a sheet of paper or thin white cloth if heat becomes a problem.
Could use a sheet of paper or thin white cloth if heat becomes a problem.
#23
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 04 August 2011 - 11:49 AM
Sounds like a great idea to me... Washington State... so not like the 100 plus degrees we are having down here now... where you would just make fish stew in a window... I know they love crowded plant weeds to swim through.
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#24
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 04 August 2011 - 01:08 PM
I think you already know my opinion about mixing Elassoma and shrimp. Personally, I don't do it.
Shrimp are opportunistic scavengers and the Elassoma eggs are tasty and helpless. It's true that male Elassoma guard their spawn sites against egg predators, but why make their job more difficult? And no, I don't think Elassoma would be able to eat shrimp eggs themselves because shrimp eggs stay protected under the swimmerettes on the shrimp's body. Maybe some of the tiny, newly hatched baby shrimp would be eaten, but still, why? This sounds like a situation that is highly advantageous for the shrimps.
Worry about overstocking when you get there. Don't introduce a predator before you have a problem.
Elassoma gilberti are a rare fish. You currently can't find them on aquabid, Sach's aquaculture, Jonah's aquarium, etc. Wouldn't it be better, if you had extra population, to sell them and get them out to the world instead of feeding them to shrimp?
Shrimp are opportunistic scavengers and the Elassoma eggs are tasty and helpless. It's true that male Elassoma guard their spawn sites against egg predators, but why make their job more difficult? And no, I don't think Elassoma would be able to eat shrimp eggs themselves because shrimp eggs stay protected under the swimmerettes on the shrimp's body. Maybe some of the tiny, newly hatched baby shrimp would be eaten, but still, why? This sounds like a situation that is highly advantageous for the shrimps.
Worry about overstocking when you get there. Don't introduce a predator before you have a problem.
Elassoma gilberti are a rare fish. You currently can't find them on aquabid, Sach's aquaculture, Jonah's aquarium, etc. Wouldn't it be better, if you had extra population, to sell them and get them out to the world instead of feeding them to shrimp?
Edited by EricaWieser, 04 August 2011 - 01:39 PM.
#25
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 04 August 2011 - 09:15 PM
Yeah, good point. My mom really liked the Elassoma too, so I'll probably just go with those.
Here is the tank, all glued together. I just peeled the tape off, just have to wait a few days for everything to cure.
Here is the tank, all glued together. I just peeled the tape off, just have to wait a few days for everything to cure.
#26
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 04 August 2011 - 09:27 PM
Cool. I'm just curious, how much did it cost to get your own glass cut like that?
#27
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 05 August 2011 - 01:52 AM
I got it from a salvage place, so it is second-hand glass, technically. It cost $16.50 for that much glass, 3/16" thick for the glass and getting it cut. I sanded the edges myself though, that would have been another $14. It's easy though, just some 180-360 grit wet-dry sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block with a little water, it knocks the sharp edge off pretty quickly.
If this one holds water, I might try making custom rimless nano tanks to sell. I'll just have to figure out how to keep from getting smudges of silicone all over the glass >.<
If this one holds water, I might try making custom rimless nano tanks to sell. I'll just have to figure out how to keep from getting smudges of silicone all over the glass >.<
#28
Guest_gzeiger_*
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Posted 05 August 2011 - 07:36 AM
Pretty sure you can remove excess silicone after the fact with a razor blade.
#29
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 05 August 2011 - 10:30 AM
Yes, I can, but it's extra work that increases the time involved in building the tank, which would be bad if I were building them to sell. For my own tank, it's not a big deal for me to sit in the garage scraping silicone though.
#30
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 12 August 2011 - 03:07 PM
I set up the tank in my mom's window today! Hurry up and get those Elassoma to breed, Erica! I put my male betta in just to get the tank cycled and established, and to have something to look at until I get the Elassoma. My friend who owns the LFS is going to bring me a bunch of hornwort tomorrow to add to it, and I ordered some Salvinia to float on top with the fuzzy roots hanging down into the tank. Think the Elassoma will like it?
Edited by Taari, 12 August 2011 - 03:07 PM.
#31
Michael Wolfe
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Posted 12 August 2011 - 04:12 PM
yes, I think they will... I have had good luck in the past with water lettuce... with the Elassoma picking at the little bugs that were hiding in the long roots that they have... I keep the plant outside for a while, then bring it in... its like a buffet!and I ordered some Salvinia to float on top with the fuzzy roots hanging down into the tank. Think the Elassoma will like it?
And your tank looks great... very nice job
Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin
#32
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 12 August 2011 - 04:22 PM
I'm going to get some dwarf water lettuce to put in it. I can alternate batches, keep some in the pond outside and some in the tank, then swap it out every few weeks. My koi like to eat the floating plant roots though, that's why my water hyacinth in the pics has no roots >.< I'm also going to feed black worms and frozen brine shrimp and try and dig some pond snails out of my koi pond so they can eat baby snails.
#33
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 12 August 2011 - 05:21 PM
It's hard to tell what's going on with my tank as green as it is, but the rotifers should breed and get a large population if all goes according to plan. I've added three capsules of 10,000 rotifer eggs; one each for the past three days. If even one of those 30,000 rotifers hatches, it'll eat the algae and parthenogenically replicate, and the Elassoma will have a temporary rotifer population to gorge themselves on until the algae clears.Hurry up and get those Elassoma to breed, Erica!
The pygmy sunfish are also definitely eating the flakes and getting fatter. And the fatter they get, the happier they get, and the more inclined they are to spawn. This population will breed again, it's just unlikely I'll have shippable fry for a few months.
If you're sick of waiting, it wouldn't offend me if you bought some Elassoma okefenokee from Sach's aquaculture. Link: http://www.aquacultu...ml#pygmysunfish They're nearly an identical species; the only way to tell the difference without range data is to operate on a [dead] one to see how many preopercular canal pores it has.
There also has to be someone else on the NANFA forum with okefenokee or gilberti pygmy sunfish. I can't be the only one...
Edited by EricaWieser, 12 August 2011 - 05:21 PM.
#34
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 12 August 2011 - 06:24 PM
I was just teasing you 
I'm not in a hurry to get the fish, I can wait for the right opportunity.
I'm not in a hurry to get the fish, I can wait for the right opportunity.
#35
Guest_10gallonplanted_*
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Posted 18 August 2011 - 10:23 AM
Okay so I need some help deciding. I have been looking for E. gilberti for about 2 months now. I've been referred to this site many times but never came until now. I have any awesome 20H native tank setup. Here is the hard choice, either keep my 6 chubs and soon to be 2 sculpin or get some E. gilberti.
#36
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 18 August 2011 - 01:27 PM
Can you make your own topic? This one is kind of Taari's. Please title it something other than Elassoma gilberti, as there are already two topics with that name.Okay so I need some help deciding. I have been looking for E. gilberti for about 2 months now. I've been referred to this site many times but never came until now. I have any awesome 20H native tank setup. Here is the hard choice, either keep my 6 chubs and soon to be 2 sculpin or get some E. gilberti.
#37
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 22 August 2011 - 12:26 AM
I just got back from the lake a few hours ago with a bunch of collected plants. I got some more Elodea and some Myriophyllym, along with some other plants I couldn't identify. I'll put up pictures tomorrow.
#39
Guest_EricaWieser_*
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Posted 27 August 2011 - 06:19 PM
What's your nitrate? I can't help but think that with such a small bioload (only a betta) and with sand as the substrate, that the plants are going to suffer from a lack of nutrients. If you're nitrate's at 0 ppm, that's a bad sign. That would point to the plants starving to death.
#40
Guest_Taari_*
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Posted 27 August 2011 - 10:32 PM
I took the betta out as he was not doing well in the tank, I think it was too much of a shock. I put in 12 jeuvenile whiteclouds (6 died because they were feeder fish and were of very poor quality and health to begin with) and 6 ramshorn snails, plus a bunch of pond snails came in with the salvinia I got. The fish get fed every day and the plants are growing nicely. I've had planted tanks for about 5 years and have dry fertilizers that I dose in my higher tech tanks if it's necessary. My 40 breeder has medium light, pressurized CO2, and I dose fertilizers 3x a week, Nitrate, Potassium, and a micro nutrient blend. My tap has enough phosphate in it that I don't need to dose that. The Java fern has a new leaf bud sprouting off it, and the weird elodea with the long leaves that's probably not actually elodea is growing about half an inch a day.
I don't have a current test kit, so I can't trust the results, but the plants are doing fine. Hopefully I can get some more hornwort soon to fill in some more.
I don't have a current test kit, so I can't trust the results, but the plants are doing fine. Hopefully I can get some more hornwort soon to fill in some more.
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