Upgrades!

I have been in a constant struggle as to what type of fish to add to this tank. What I did not foresee, was that trying to make this decision would lead to major upgrades for my tank as well as the addition of a second tank! What started all this was two different fish that I absolutely love; Hengeli Rasboras (Trigonostigma hengeli) and Norman's Lampeyes (Aplocheilichthys normani). Both are stunning fish that I knew I wanted to keep. It is my opinion that fish look best in large groups. That being said, in this tank, I did not want to have more than two types of fish (one of those being the 5 oto's that are in the tank already). After doing much research I realized that my tank fit almost 100% in to an Asian biotope. The only exceptions here were the oto cats and the Anubias barteri 'nana'. I also was happy to discover that Hengeli Rasboras that I love also fit into this biotope. This got my obsessed brain to thinking of converting the 20 Gallon into an Asian biotope. This thinking quickly turned into doing...

The first thing to do was to replace the Anubias. After many hours of looking online at aquatic plant species from the Asian biotope, I chose a handful of possible plants and headed to the fish store after work to see what they had. To my surprise they actually had many of the plants on my list. I ended up choosing two; Cryptocoryne wendetii 'red' and Cryptocoryne wendrtii 'green gecko'. I also happened to pick up another thing while there - a Eheim Classic (2213). I had been eyeballing this for some time and had actually planned to use a credit I had from drsfostersmith.com to buy it. Whilst eyeballing this, I came up with the idea that rather than putting the two Penguin Bio-Wheel filters on the shelf, I could eventually set up a 10 gallon tank that would be of the African biotope for the Norman's Lampeyes.

A quick note on this Asian biotope - All the plants in the tank are now native to Asia: Hygrophila corymbosa 'siamensis', Hygrophila difformis, Cryptocoryne wendetii 'red', Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia, and Riccia fluitans (Cosmopolitan). The Fauna will be almost 100% Asian once the Hengeli's are added. I plan to keep the oto's in the tank although they are not Asian. This is mostly because they are the only catfish/tank cleaners that I really like the look of... Water parameters and lighting are within the biotope conditions as well!

Well, my obsessive mind took over... Since I only needed one of the two Penguin Bio-Wheels I decided to make an attempt at exchanging one at the store for a 10 gallon tank and hood...

Big Pet Store Chain One - take one: I went in and got myself a new tank and hood and got online to make the exchange with the original receipt. No success - my receipt was over 30 days old.

Big Pet Store Chain One - take two (a different location): I went in without the receipt and asked if I could exchange it. I almost had the cashier convinced until she noticed that the box had stickers that this store did not have. No success again.

Big Pet Store Chain Two: I didn't buy it from here, but as long as they carried the model I figured I had a shot. Success! I peeled the price tags off and happened to get a very nice cashier who let the exchange slip by.

I should note that I feel no remorse for doing this. The big pet stores not only put local pet stores out of business, but they treat their animals horribly. For proof watch the link below... Support your local pet store!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ltIFL8rY4M&feature=related

Anyway, back to my obsession...

Major score! I got a new tank and hood to go with my extra filter for my new setup! Since I bought the Eheim at the fish shop this opened me up to use the credit I had at drsfostersmith.com to use for two bags of Eco-Complete substrate and a 50 watt heater. So, in essence for the price of a filter upgrade for my 20 gallon I got all the essentials for a new 20 gallon setup. Only thing left to figure out is lighting and CO2... I'll save that for the beginning of my 10 gallon blog...


New planting 1

New planting 2

Closeup of new Crypts

Phewww...

So here's where I stand now... The Anubias are currently in m sisters tank (which is cycling) anchored to some rocks until my new ten gallon is up and running. The new crypts are in the tanks and looking great so far. I went to my local fish store to see if they could get me Hengeli Rasboras. Right now it is looking like a couple weeks. Just my luck though, I happened to spot a fresh batch of Norman's Lampeyes in one of their tanks. Seeing that they don't come around often, I am going to pick them up tomorrow and keep them in this tank until the new tank is ready. I'll get picks of them up asap!