[masterkush]

Looking great

 

[winstonamc]

I would say tragedy, but it's my own damn fault: I was adding some assassin snails and micro crabs last night and left the front door a crack open and came home to find Lawrence, the adult, desiccated on the floor. Still don't know if one of the three little guys is still in there. Super sad...

 

[stevenhman]

Oh no! So sorry man

 

[hydrophyte]

Oh that's a bummer I'm sorry to hear that. That sounds like something I would do.

 

[winstonamc]

Thanks for the sympathy y'all. Looks like i just lost the adult. The other three are just fine.

Holding off on pics for now but thought I'd update wt some news on the aquatic front.

The denizens are now:
~10K bladder snails
3 clea helena (assassin snail)
2 limnopilos naiyanetri (thai micro crab)
~12? neocaradina heteropoda (culled blue rillis, so sweet but not high-grade)
4 Rasbora dorsiocellata (emerald eye rasbora)
1.1 dario dario
1 otocinclus
3 corydoras habrosus
1 hara jerdoni

So, I kind of regret getting the rasboras, they get pretty large for rasboras and I really should have a larger school. I also reret the hara, worried it either has eaten shrimp or will eat the babies. Though, perhaps this is just my prejudices against carnivorous catfish no matter how minute

I definitely need more of the habrosus, as I think they'd be happier in a group. I will do that at some point. I think another 5-8 would be perfect.

I love having the dario pair in there, he definitely has a crush on her I see them more than anyone else. I'm almost wondering if this is the mating rituals I've been reading about online.

Overall though, surprisingly, I don't see a ton of any of the aquatic inhabitants. I only see the crabs and the hara at night. It's interesting because at least 70% of the water is underneath the substrate and bank, and they all seem to enjoy the area down there. At first I was a bit annoyed but it feels much more natural now that I've gotten used to it (and a flashlight at night ) and it almost makes me think that the standard aquarium set-up is almost an open water set-up. Anyways, I think the schoolers would be out more if their numbers were boosted.

ALSO, got at least 1 berried shrimp, so hoping for some successful shrimplets in the next few weeks.

 

[winstonamc]

*update*
had to put up a video for my old roommate to check out the viv

 

[winstonamc]

Nice fish choices, very cool. I've never been able to actually find a female dario dario, good work! Every time some store says they have one it's ended up being a stressed out / colorless male. Heads up, though, they will eat baby shrimp and I've never had much luck getting them to eat flake. Also, oto's appreciate the company of other oto's. They'll be alright without but I've had one pal around with a group of cory cats for company before =)

Thanks for the feedback. It's funny, you might be right about the male/male thing as I was at the store yesterday and saw some pretty damn colorless specimens that made me think what I had assumed were romantic flourishes were in fact just beef between two males. So, maybe I have a 2.0... Just got some new fish, made the mistake of not buying enough of the emerald eyes and they dwindled off so, despite the fact that they might eat up things like baby shrimp, I got a dozen neons and a few others (more dwarf cories for example)

PS. my dario darios LOVE eating snail eggs.

 

[dendrothusiast]

how are the crabs doing for you? I thought about trying some when I initially set my paludarium up but decided against it because info on them was really not around at the time.

Is the water slightly acidic? strong current? they're really cool and nice to have a crab that can actually be kept with fish.

 

[winstonamc]

hey, so I've not seen the crabs in a couple of weeks. I actually never saw them except at night. The water is pretty acidic, so maybe they died off. Interestingly, now that i got a dozen neons, all of the aquatic life is out more.

Made some changes to the terrestrial part and added some rocks, added a couple begonias. Hopefully once some plants start growing in there will be more to show

 

[winstonamc]

a few nice pics of the inhabitants.

You can see that they stake out spots for the night, which is pretty darned cute.

such as this guy on my pinanga:

this one is this here orchid leaf every night without fail nowadays,

and a group solidarity shot:

Also two semi-decent shots from the top

 

[winstonamc]

Just a little update, things are growing in nicely, some additions since the last update

and here's one of the little guys surrounded by begonias, the pavonina is starting to shape up after being reduced to the tiniest leaf cutting ever

 

[hydrophyte]

Nice!

It looks like that Pinanga palm is still growing in there.

 

[winstonamc]

Nice!

It looks like that Pinanga palm is still growing in there.

the 'mottled thai', yea man, slow and steady wins the race. It looks like it's just starting to take off, and believe me I'm in no rush with that guy

 

[stevenhman]

I was wondering if we could get a FTS from the direct front with an object for scale next to the tank? Lookin good growing in! I can't remember if you said anything about the little guys starting to call.

 

[winstonamc]

fair enough. I really need a camera that can handle the light and dark of the viv, cause the bottom really isn't dark...


here's FTSs from a distance and up close:

(for scale, there's an empty beer right up front)

and a few shots from some other angles:

side shot

at an angle

large mossy branch starting to get tangled

the ground from above

and some of the fish doing there thing

 

[hydrophyte]

That's looking great!

It's hard to capture subtle differences in light and dark with a camera because the camera over-accentuates the shadow and glare. I have a hard time getting good pictures of my riparium setups for this reason; even though it looks great in person, the underwater area often looks like a dark shadow while the foliage closer to the lights often has white blowout.

If you want to get a real good FTS you might try to make a layered image by putting your camera on a tripod and shooting the same shot with several different exposures. You can then stitch them together with Photoshop to get a more balanced image.

 

[winstonamc]

oh, ps. I've heard a little calling but it's been infrequent and rather timid for how loud these guys can be

 

[ilovejaden]

wow that tank is amazing!!

 

[winstonamc]

wow that tank is amazing!!

Thanks Tyson, should be getting a few more vines to add over the next week or so. It is so fun watching it grow in

 

[flyingSquirrel]

That's looking great!

It's hard to capture subtle differences in light and dark with a camera because the camera over-accentuates the shadow and glare. I have a hard time getting good pictures of my riparium setups for this reason; even though it looks great in person, the underwater area often looks like a dark shadow while the foliage closer to the lights often has white blowout.

If you want to get a real good FTS you might try to make a layered image by putting your camera on a tripod and shooting the same shot with several different exposures. You can then stitch them together with Photoshop to get a more balanced image.

You are totally on point with this. It's called a High Dynamic Range or HDR photo. This is how I did my FTS for my paludarium. It helps to have some photographic experience and also knowledge of photoshop, but anyone can do it with the right tools and patience.