Overcrowding and the costly solution

We started with two "small tanks". This is one that was a lot of problems- mainly overcrowding. Then we woke up and saw this on the tank walls.

They are eggs laid by the corys in the tank. So what to do? (The plants in the tank are my project and they were thriving.)
So here was the solution.


I took this picture just after midnight, after we finished setting up the tank and moving everyone. (Catching 50+ fish is quite an experience.) I know, I know, fish lovers are cringing- I put them in the tank before letting it sit for sometime. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Our only other tank had fish that were being quarantined because they were newly purchased.
Everyone survived, the plants are doing well. (And I did get around to dusting the shelves beneath the cabinet. At midnight, I was just too beat to do anymore.)
So now he wants to redo the tank in the first picture, clean it up, plant it (I have to buy more plants? What a hard life I have!) and make it an African cichlid tank. The fish in the big tank are all South American with the exception of the clown loaches. There is one problem child in the tank- the smallest in the cluster of four Discus that you can see in the lower left hand, the yellow one, is a big bully. He is smaller than the other three but terrorizes the orange Discus. He may have to be moved to a tank of his own.

 

Wow, have you got Corydalys eggs? I've never experienced that, lucky you! Your new tank looks so inviting I'd like to move in straight away. And you have to go and buy more plants, poor thing.

We've had a fish tank for years, but it's too small and I'm very fed up with the high maintenance level of it, so we're just removing it as soon as the three remaining tetras are dead.

My dream is to make a plant tank, with just a few fish for ornamental reasons. Then I could go plant-shopping mid-winter too.

 

That is a very nice looking tank. I've never been a fish lover to own one, but i sure do love to eat them,,lol. But i can sit and watch for hours at a time, but the fish is cold and you have to reheat them. (sorry very dry norwegian humor) Your tank is looking very nice, and you have done a very nice job of the plants. They look very healthy. Well done!

 

Lol, Biita, that was very funny. I wasn't a fish lover either but he got me hooked once he started showing me planted tanks. (He is very crafty that way.) I can't have a dog as we travel often and it would not be fair so fish and plants are the closest I get to "babies", my real babies are grown up.
Droopy, I didn't think we would ever have corydalys or any other fish breeding. I read that you really have to have the temperature correct, simulate rainstorms, etc. But they wound up doing it again in the new tank. I don't know if we will see babies as there are so many fish to eat them up but some of the more hidden eggs (behind the heater, etc) hatched. I was afraid they would be eaten but they may have enough places to hide in all the plants. Planted tanks are fun- it is a whole new way of "gardening". I am always thrilled to see a plant shoot up or bloom or sprout new little plants.
Toni, fish here are really inexpensive but they are tiny, no pre-loaded fish. (That is such a funny way to put it!)

 

Congrats on the Cory eggs. I hope they hatch.

I do need to make a suggesiton though. If you still have the old filter media from the old tank throw all of it in the new filter or in some nylons hanging in the new tank. This will help seed the beneficial bacteria and help prevent ammonia. Ring out the media once in a while to help the bacxteria get everywhere it needs to.

I love planted tanks. I have 2 ten gallon tanks planted now with Anubias nana, Wisteria, Crypt Lucens and one other I can't remeber right now. Cabomba I think.

Talk about a lot of work to maintain plants! I thought farming was hard.
If you have questions please let me know. Not an expert but I have learned a lot sinc eI started keeping planted tanks 5-6 years ago.

 

Hi fish-4-all. We used the old filter with the old media as well as some of the water from the old tank along with a new filter. The two filters are working well. The first tank in the pictures had a problem with ammonia levels but was solved by adding an undergravel filter to the setup. We weren't able to do this with this tank so we opted for the two filter system- a Rena Filstar Xp2 and an Eheim 2227. It has been a week and I tested the water again today and everything seems to be fine. My only worry is that we plan to be in the States for nearly a month for the holidays. We do frequent water changes when we are not travelling and we have always been lucky that we haven't had any problems but this will be our longest time away. Before that, our vacations were two weeks and under.