6 replies to this topic

[gymrat987654321]

I'm hoping to use this thread as a live journal as my 10g Florida native aquarium continues to take shape and grow. The goal is to have it be a heavily planted tank that mimics some of the marshy conditions I regularly fish at. I'll try to update it regularly as changes occur. 

 

Last Saturday (9/14) I set everything up. It has a small sponge filter, black sand as the substrate, a piece of driftwood, Helanthium tenellum, Bacopa caroliniana, and Mayaca fluviatilis. I also added some fertilizer for the plants and bacteria to give the nitrogen cycle a head start. 

 

The plants are struggling a bit, but I hear that's normal as the plants adjust to new water conditions. I've kept some aquariums before, but never anything with live plants. My last experience with aquariums was a 2.5g betta aquarium about 15 years ago. I'm hoping the plants take off and can really cover a lot of the aquarium, especially the filter and back wall. I'd like to add some invertebrates first and hope they can start reproducing before I add any fishes. It would be great if some of the invertebrates could become naturally sustaining, but I don't have high hopes for that. I'm thinking some Palaemonetes paludosus would be great as well as some amphipods. 

 

As far as fish stocking, I'm still not sure. My original plan was a single Enneacanthus gloriosus with a small group of Heterandria formosa. Then I thought of replacing the Heterandria formosa with some Lucania goodei due to their larger size. Now I'm thinking of doing a group of Heterandria formosa and Lucania goodei with a duo of Etheostoma fusiforme. There are too many decisions here, but I still have some time. 

 

Thanks to everyone who responded to my original thread here: https://forum.nanfa....will-this-work/. It really helped get my mind moving and thinking things over. Any comments on this so far and suggestions are welcomed. 

 

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[ShadetreeIchthyologist]

I love my least killifish tanks. They are very resilient and quit ferocious feeders.

[gymrat987654321]

Here's the six week update. 

 

I had one Palaemonetes paludosus die a few days ago and I'm not sure why. All of the shrimp are no longer clear like they were when I bought them, but instead they have this white color to them. I did some research, but it didn't lead to any answers. Some have said that it is a water hardness issue, but my GH is at 75. Some have said it is a calcium issue, but I feed shrimp food with calcium in it. Some have said it is a molting issue, but I've found shrimp shells in the tank regularly over the last six weeks. Long story short, I don't know why it died and I don't know why the living ones have this color. 

 

The Mayaca fluviatilis is doing better than I could've imagined. It is growing really well and filling in the background nicely. The two tiny Bacopa caroliniana stems I was able to salvage are also doing well. They're producing new leaves and growing vertically. I just wish all the other stems of this plant I got six weeks ago would've done as well. Oh well. The Helanthium tenellum is losing the leaves/stems it came with, but is producing new leaves. The original leaves/stems have been browning at different rates over the last six weeks, but it is producing some really good looking leaves/stems from its base. Finally, the Hemianthus micranthemoides is starting to take off in spots. This was the most recent plant addition to the aquarium and a few of the stems are growing really well, while most are growing very conservatively. I suppose as long as they're not dying I shouldn't be upset. 

 

Today I finally added some fishes. I was originally going to try to catch my own, but decided it would just be easier and probably even cheaper to buy them from a retailer. I ordered two male and three female Lucania goodei, and six unsexed Heterandria formosa. They sent me six Lucania goodei and eight Heterandria formosa. I'm definitely not complaining about the free fish and the Lucania goodei came in with two or three males and three or four females so I'm happy with that. A few of them are adults which are easy to sex, but a couple are still too small. All of them are rather light and bland in color, but I'm hoping they color up soon. The Heterandria formosa on the other hand look to be all females. It's hard to keep track of all of them in the aquarium so I can't be certain I've looked at all of them, but every single one I've seen has been a female. I was sure that with eight of them I would've got at least one of each sex. Oh well. 

 

They're all still pretty shy. When I'm across the room they're out and about, but when I get close to the aquarium them take off and hid in the plants. Hopefully the become more outgoing soon. While this aquarium still has a long way to go, I'm very happy with how it is turning out. 

 

[ShadetreeIchthyologist]

If you don’t have any male least killifish let me know. It might be a couple of months before I enough to give away again but I’ll send you some. Males are pretty obvious with their large gonopodium. Let me know if you need any advice keeping them. I’ve had mine for several years.

[littlen]

I like your setup.  FWIW, you may not see much recruitment for a while--at least until your plants grow in more.  I kept a mixed colony of both of those fish species in a ~40-50g tank (along with a couple Swamp darters who I also assume helped with the predation).  The Bluefins are pretty good at picking off fry as I saw them hunting frequently.  Both their own and the Least.  But I was able to sustain a growing population, albeit slowly.  Have you thought about adding any floating vegetation?  I noticed the Least fry liked to hang near the top in a big mat of floating foxtail, while the Bluefin fry seemed to be in the clumps of java fern on the bottom.  Enjoy the tank and watching them all do their thing.

[gymrat987654321]

If you don’t have any male least killifish let me know. It might be a couple of months before I enough to give away again but I’ll send you some. Males are pretty obvious with their large gonopodium. Let me know if you need any advice keeping them. I’ve had mine for several years.

 

That would be great. Thanks. 

[gymrat987654321]

I like your setup.  FWIW, you may not see much recruitment for a while--at least until your plants grow in more.  I kept a mixed colony of both of those fish species in a ~40-50g tank (along with a couple Swamp darters who I also assume helped with the predation).  The Bluefins are pretty good at picking off fry as I saw them hunting frequently.  Both their own and the Least.  But I was able to sustain a growing population, albeit slowly.  Have you thought about adding any floating vegetation?  I noticed the Least fry liked to hang near the top in a big mat of floating foxtail, while the Bluefin fry seemed to be in the clumps of java fern on the bottom.  Enjoy the tank and watching them all do their thing.

 

Funny you should mention that. Yesterday I saw one little fry. I guess one of the females already came in pregnant. I saw it a couple times, but at one point it came out into the open areas of the aquarium and got chased around by the bluefin killies. It escaped a few times, but I'm pretty sure it ended up as an evening snack. I haven't seen it at all today. 

 

I've thought about floating plants, but I'm not sure. I don't want them to block out the light too much for the other plants. I'm thinking of just letting the Mayaca fluviatilis grow tall and then lean over the top on the aquarium. That plant is growing in pretty well and thick.