Oneiroid

Following my post from May 2009 (http://albertaaquatica.com/index.php?showtopic=24592&st=0&p=2189546&hl=rust&fromsearch=1entry2189546), I am pleased to report that I've got a number of new Batrachospermum sp. colonies growing in my shrimp tank (click the thumbnail to see detail). I'm hoping that I'll be able to maintain it for some time; the conditions in this tank seem to remain incredibly consistent, so I've probably a good chance. I'll post more photos as I see more growth. Just thought I'd share again, since there was a bit of interest in the last discussion.

Well, after 5 days of treatment in QT and daily 50% water changes, the little guy's red fin is still red. So, back in the main tank with his friends again!

Thanks Val. That is actually what I expect will happen with this guy (except the getting killed in a fight part ) but I'm going to QT and treat him just to be sure. If the red doesn't go away by the end of the treatment, he'll go back in the main tank again and it will forever be a mystery. I'll let you know how it goes. Setting up the QT tank now.

Thanks for the replies. No there is no streaking on the fins - the red area is staying quite localized. I'll quarantine and look into an antibiotic treatment. The condition of the water he is in right now is kept really clean, so I don't think that is an issue.

I picked up a group of L. Dorsigeras juvies about a month ago. One of the little guys had some kind of redness around the base of one of his pectoral fins - I only noticed this when I released the group into my tank. I thought at first that maybe it was an injury from netting/bagging, but a month later he still has it. He acts as though there is nothing wrong with him, is growing very strong, and eats well. The red around his fin does not appear to be worsening, except that it is maintaining size proportion as he grows. None of the other fish seem to have "caught" this. Yet... I can't find any exact matches on this condition through google. But it looks like it might be a bacterial infection of some sort. I'm thinking of quarantining this guy to try an antibiotic treatment. Is this a good idea? What product should I use? Attached are a couple pictures. This guy is really quite active, and these are the only reasonable shots I could get out of about 50 I took. Click on them to see the full-size images and that should give you an idea. Does anyone recognize this? Thanks!

April's topic is the Aquarium Beautiful Contest!

No introduction necessary. While these guys may enjoy eating some meaty treats, they do not actively pursue live food. So I suppose what I said is not entirely true. More accurately: they may eat your shrimp if your shrimp are dead and not running away. If you observe anything different, I will be very surprised indeed!

I've never met an oto that will eat other tank inhabitants. I've kept many with shrimp colonies as well, and never have had problems. Personally, I don't care for zebra snails because their eggs are tough to remove - especially from driftwood, and they will climb out of your tank if they find an uncovered spot. Algae wafers are a good idea if you don't have a lot of plants. But imo, if you need to feed algae wafers, you have too many otos in your clean-up crew.

Otos won't eat your shrimp or shrimp babies. These guys mind their own business and are very well mannered under any circumstance. For a 30g, I would add 5-10 otos for a cleanup crew. They stay small, so a nice handful won't put too much of a dent in your bio-load and they'll be happier to be able to hang out with more of their kin. As Val mentioned, zebra otos are also very nice (and expensive). I've found, however, these guys get a bit bigger than the more commonly found varieties, and are a bit more finicky about water conditions.

Aquarium Central has a huge amount of manzanita drift wood too.

I'm looking forward to it too. See everyone tomorrow!

Not sure about all brands, but Krazy glue is aquarium safe!

I picked up a set of tweezers with a fine tapered tip for about $5 from Bedrock Supply (they have a large selection - I think mostly for manipulating gems or beads or other tiny things). The set I got was not especially long in length, but the pointed tip really helps with fine substrates.

Val: As ridiculous as I made pico tanks out to be, I really am interested to hear any 'aftermath' stories if anyone experiments with maintaining their pico tanks beyond the December meeting! This is a form of aquascaping that involves the scale of resources that allows anyone, on any budget, to create complex and detailed aquascapes and at the same time does not require large ongoing commitments. It is also something very new and explored to only a very small degree, so I see this as almost a test case for the concept. I am truly excited by the response to project and am really looking forward to seeing everyone's entries - learning new things that I'd not imagined! syno321: I have some lovely baby anubias plantlets I'd be happy sell you :guns: Ishkabod: Wow! How did the tank turn out? Glad we had a couple sets of glass left over so you and another member could sneak under the wire and participate in the contest :thumbs:

If you have any questions, please post here and I will do my best to help. I totally encourage everyone who is participating in the pico contest (and even those who aren't!) to discuss ideas and techniques. This is new ground!