# 4 months in......



## silvergourami1 (Jun 20, 2013)

Well it's been 4 months in since my official beginning of the hobby. I had posted ahile back on my aquascape and since then I transplanted to a 38g tall from a 20g long. 

Initially I opted for a planted tank with wood(bogwood)that has been a hassle wih tanning leaching, but finally surpressed that over time. Most of my plants were small when bought and now most especially my amazon sword have grown exponentially. I had to transplant to a larger tanks because they outgrew the 20g and were spreading across the surface like a blanket. 

I tied some anubis to my wood, and those plants are doing well with roots that are growing down like weeds...the two plants look cool on the piece of wood i have them attached to. My cryptocryne are doing rather well, and my ludwigi is what has surprised me the most which out of 5 plants are are thriving exceedingly well. It's my DHG that have stunted and due in no small part to my cory's; which dig in the sand and uproot em. 

My fish friends include neons, cardinals, cherry barbs, lemons, glo lights, cory's, shrimp and 1 guppy....I found that guppies are awesome!! Literally showboats of the tanks other than the shrimp which when i put my face close to the tank they swim right to my mug and flutter back and forth. Of course I wave at all of them on a daily basis. Not really sure why i do this, but i feel connected to them enough to give a response.

My cories as stated in an earlier reply have been laying eggs on a weekly basis although the other fish eat them 1 survived however as I found a lil hatchling green emerald cory wiggling at the bottom of the stems of my AS, and this morning in the corner of the tank amongst the crypts just wiggling and blinking at me once and awhile......I hope the lil dude matures as he/she is most welcome in the community. My shrimp(blues/red crystals)have had fry and most are adults now and thriving...I adore there lil pincer picking and cleaning objectives they really make me smile when i watch them, they trully are wonderous creatures for what they are.

My cherry barbs are the doms and can be aggressive, but in the near future i plan on upgrading to a 55-60 gal tall tank in order to give them domain space. 

I did recently introduce a dwarf gourami, but it had parasites so I immediately quarantined and now is in the 20 gal with meds. His condition however has shown no sign of resolve and this upsets me as i know that guy would do well in the community if not somewhat crowded until the 60 gal transplant, but I have a 70 gal rated HOB working heavily on filtration until i get a canister. I like the stream th efilter provided at the surface this is offers a nice natural environ to the tank. 

I will admit pics soon.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Sounds like a great setup, I would suggest two things:

The blue and red crystal shrimps, if they are both neocardinias, will breed together and the genetic mutations giving them their different colorations will be washed out. Keep that in mind as your juvies grow in - you may have to separate/cull to preserve the recessive coloration traits.

I trim my stem plants (ludwigia repens) down to about 1/3 of the height of the tank each time - they grow fast enough that within a week or two they have new stalks growing to the surface and I have to trim them back again. Also, periodically, I uproot the entire plant, trim off the top stems, and plant the top stems in place of the old plant. This ensures that the plant doesn't get too "ragged" looking from all of the top trimmings.

Hope these tidbits help!


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