After thinking about it for a long time, I finally got around to re-aquascaping my 54G corner tank in my living room. This tank has had roughly the same aquascape for 2-3 years, and being a low-tech tank, has always seemed to kick along without much intervention from me. It might not be my most impressive tank, but it’s consistently, well, okay.

Click picture for larger version.

With the new scape, I wanted to incorporate some rock into what had previously been a very wood-dominated aquascape. So, I grabbed my largest available piece of porous mossy rock, put it on the left/middle side, and went from there. I kept the plants the same, utilizing tons of anubias, java fern, crypts, and bolbitis. I’m not really happy with the foreground, and may try growing some Marsilea quadrafolia, but I’m unsure as to whether or not it will hug the substrate as this is a tall tank without a ton of light on top (only 110W). All in all, this is a scape-in-progress, but I wanted to document how it looked initially, so that I can keep track of how it progresses. Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

For many catfish, specifically “suckerfish” like plecos, it’s often stated that you want to keep wood in your aquarium as it’s an integral part of their diet. It’s also true that they ought to be fed other vegetable matter, such as algae wafers, veggie-based pellets, and so on. Well, fresh, clean vegetables are also a cheap and much appreciated treat for these fish.

We had zucchini as part of our dinner last night, so rather than throwing the ends down the disposal, I cut the stalk off, and set aside 4 small circles of the squash for my catfish. Now, these vegetables were certified organic, so I was fairly confident that they would be pesticide free. In the summer we grow our own vegetables, so we know their source as well. If there’s any doubt, at the least do a thorough washing, and at the best, don’t throw them in your tank. Also, if they’ve been contaminated with any oils, butter, or seasonings, don’t put them in the aquarium.

The problem with fresh zucchini is that it floats. Placing the pieces in a small dish with a bit of water, I microwaved them for 4-5 minutes, or until they stopped floating. This boiling process breaks down the cellular walls, allowing them to become water logged. Alternatively, you can tie them down to a heavy object. The last step is to slice a couple notches in the rind of the squash. The reason being that the catfish eat out the soft core, and could potentially get the “ring of rind” caught around their bodies.

At first, when I dropped the cooled zucchini into the aquarium, none of the fish took much notice. I was surprised that the cories didn’t seem to care for it at all. Then, my chinese algae eater (CAE) found one of the pieces, and started going to town. Two other plecos (Ancistrus sp. L279) took notice and latched onto the same piece. A rigmarole of back-and-forth swapping of the vegetable pieces ensued for 20 minutes before I let them continue on for however long.

Even when not scraping the inner core of the zucchini, the CAE sat over top of one of the pieces, claiming it as his own. While this was going on in my 54G, Red Lizard Catfish and some cherry shrimp were devouring two pieces in my 75G tank. Over the next day or two, I’ll pull out the rind once all of the “good stuff” has been eaten.

Bottom line, if you’re chopping squash for dinner, set aside a couple rounds for your catfish — they’ll love you for it!

I maintain my 54G corner tank in a very low-tech fashion; I don’t use CO2, and I allow Phyllanthus fluitans, or Red-Root Floater, to help suck up any excess nutrients. What that means is that after about a months time, the floater has completely covered the surface, shading out everything below.

Look at how much darker the tank is above with the floater, verses below, without it, albeit, this is probably common sense. This tank is easy to forget about as it generally maintains itself, but it always reminds me to do a water change and remove some of the floaters when the tank is quite dark. It’s a nice visual cue.

And just because he was out and about while I was taking the above pictures, here’s another picture of my Irian Red Rainbowfish (Glossolepis incisus).

I haven’t paid much attention to my 54G corner tank in awhile, so I decided that it was time to do a small photo shoot give these fish the appreciation they deserve. Unfortunately for most of the rest of them, the Red Irian Rainbow (Glossolepis incisis) decided to steal the show, posing and darting right in front of the camera. (And more importantly, directly under the flash sitting on top of the tank!)

This rainbowfish is definitely the centerpiece of the tank. He’s always out and about, and is hard to miss, both because of his size, and his swagger.

I really wish I had followed my own advice and cleaned the glass before this shoot, as there’s a lot of particular matter on the glass and in the water.

And then, one of the oldest fish in my aquariums, the Chinese Algae Eater. I bought this fish long before I read that they can be aggressive toward other fish by sucking holes in the sides of their tankmates. Fortunately, this guy hasn’t caused any problems during his long 5-6 year tenure. I love when he props himself up on his fins like this.

At both the Catfish Convention and the Aquafest auction, I picked up a bag of Ancistrus sp. L279 dwarf bushy-nosed plecos. After keeping them for other a year, I think this species is a fantastic match for a planted aquarium. They max out in length around 4 inches so they’re not going to inadvertently uproot plants from their size. Mine are not shy, so I see them on wood or lounging on open substrate, and they’re fairly active algae eaters. Plus, they’re very attractive fish with white markings on the tips of their tail, and many have very nice spots on their body. I’m guessing that the spots are a gender distinction because some of mine have very pronounced ones, and others not so much.

I don’t have any with huge sections of tentacles/growths on their snout, but they do have some small barbels. I’m hoping that as my latest batch grows up, they’ll develop these further. I’ve seen this species posted on Aquabid, sometimes called Ancistrus sp. ‘Huaca Mayo,’ so if you come across this listing, give them a try — they’re a great little ancistrus!