the new tank is going

[helen nightingale]

ok, i admit it, im excited

i have now got the new tank going, at last! all the fish seem to have settled in now. the harlequins got a bit randy, and the loaches are either whizzing about or investigating the wood and new plants. when i put the striata in, they went straight for the pit of wood with the hole in, that i got at the last LOL meet. that bit of wood caused Loach World War 1, as when i put in the yoyos, fatty the striata didnt want the biggest yoyo in his cave. then he decided he couldnt have his other bit of wood either, so Loach War 2 broke out. that was fierce ! i hadnt expected a shy but territorial striata to triumph over a bigger yoyo, but somehow fatty won. now they will almost do the loachy dance together.

fuzzy pictures to follow (unless its too boring) when we get back on line at home

[Emma Turner]

Sounds great! And yes, we definitely want to see some pics!

Emma

[helen nightingale]

i wont promise any photos of any sort of quality other than fuzzy, as i havent had much time to practise recently, but hopefully i will be able to post some soon. its not the prettyest of tanks, but it sort of has a natural look, so you can really see how well camoflaged the fish are.

i am now really looking forward to when i can add more fish. Emma i hope you still have some of those gorgeous harlequins that i saw last time, especially male ones!

[Emma Turner]

Practice makes perfect, we don't mind looking through lots of pics! Are the loaches sitting with their heads poking out of that hole in the bit piece of bogwood like we thought they probably would?
I'm not sure what our stock of those Harlequins is like as the shop has been very busy over the last couple of weeks. I'll have a look tomorrow evening when our shipments come in (a day later than usual because of new year). Fear not though, I plan to only use that same supplier for the Harlequins in future as they are of such exceptional quality.

Emma

[Graeme Robson]

Superb news Helen!!

We wait

[helen nightingale]

OK, sorry i havent cleaned the glass and tidied up, but id prefer to practise and try the settings and then worry about the easy bits. they looked OK at 100% size on the computer, si i will have to hope they stay that way......











the bottom right fish is the one i bought as a yoyo, but still seems to be changing



this is fatty (above) who has taken top spot in the tank



any tips on improvements are always appreciated! i know i still have work to do - on the tank and the photos

[shari2]

very nice Helen!

[Emma Turner]

Yes, very nice indeed! The photography is coming on a treat as well. I think that fish may be a B. rostrata (the 'yo-yo' who has changed).

Emma

[kaz]

Very cool pics Helen

Kaz

[Graeme Robson]

Looking good!!

Loaches Paradise with all those shaded areas.

[Martin Thoene]

It looks very dark and jungly....just what they'll love.

Martin.

[helen nightingale]

i think it looks dark as there was just 1 tube on when i took the pics, and just used low flash.

at the moment a have a load of smallish plants floating on the water that i took out the old tank, but they are not supposed to float. i just chucked them in temporary till i get the cory tank going. i dont do very well with proper floating plants, and these ones survived the yoyos digging them up in the old tank. so that makes it quite shady too. the loaches seem to swim into the floating mass and have a nose around.

the water is ever so slightly stained from the bogwood tannins, as i havent got carbon in right now, as i put in melafix after the initial bust ups

they seem to like swimming through the bogwood with the hole in, rather than lounging about in it, but the one thats probably a rostrata likes to sit on the curved bogwood, in the right of the bottom photo. he is the only one that seems to like loafing. the others are all to nosy.

now that you have had a little peek at the tank, would you be happy with the idea of me putting in a garra species? and which ones?

Emma the yoyo/rostrata seems to be graually moving away from the vertical stripes you can see at his rear end and getting a bit more blotchy at the front end. do they normally seem to change all the away along as they get older, or do they stay blotchy and stripey sometimes? i have lost track

i am so glad to see the end of the gravel.

thank you all for your kind comments. i will keep practising and playing with camera settings

[Mad Duff]

Lovely tank Helen , the photos look great as do the fish

That yoyo/rostrata looks almost identical to a couple of the Rostrata that I purchased last time I visited Emmas shop.

[helen nightingale]

Thanks. are yours changing patterns much Mark?

i wonder if the different pattern types come from different places? some i have seen have very clear vertical stripes, others are quite a lot more blotchy. presumably there must be some kind of evolutionary advantage, or maybe just a bendy set of genetics.

i wish i knew more about stuff like that and the botia genus overall. when im rich.....

[Mad Duff]

Thanks. are yours changing patterns much Mark?

I have 4 B. Kubotai and 4 B. Rostrata and not one of them has the same pattern as another one, they have all changed slightly since I got them in December.