Banasophia's Fresh Start: The IM Nuvo 12 g Atoll

[Woodini]

This is cool! What kind of creatures can live in there?

[banasophia]

Thanks! Freshwater community fish that can get along with a betta, shrimp, snails… possibly lil frogs or crabs can be added but I still need to do more research on that. 🙂

[banasophia]

Two gallon water change tonight, removed tons of of floating plants. Zava and the rest of the fish, and the shrimp and snails are all doing well. 

 

 

[debbeach13]

Beautifully peaceful.

[banasophia]

7 hours ago, debbeach13 said:

Beautifully peaceful.

Thank you, I’m really enjoying it, and my teenager is too. The tank is right by the living room and dining room where she does her homework… she likes looking for Todd and Tad (the amano shrimp) and Barb and Starr (the nerite snails)… I can never seem to locate them all but she’s good at finding them. 
 

I have so many fish in this tank - nineteen! 😳😳😳 I can’t even believe it, but it doesn’t seem crowded and they all seem happy and healthy and everything I read said the embers and cories will be happier and less stressed in groups of 6 or more. The embers, especially, stick together. Whereas the cories sometimes split up. The otos hardly stick together at all. 
 

I need to check my parameters today, but the ammonia badge hasn’t shown any indication of ammonia buildup at any point. 

[Lebowski_]

It turned out so nice, you must be thrilled.

[banasophia]

38 minutes ago, Lebowski_ said:

It turned out so nice, you must be thrilled.

Thanks so much, very happy with it and I really appreciate all your help and support!
 

I know you guys all said to plant it heavily and it seems like it’s probably not enough plants yet, but I’m waiting for the three Cryptocoryne wendtii to grow into their full size as I think they are supposed to get pretty big, they are growing slowly.
 

I haven’t added the Seachem Flourish root tabs yet… do you guys think I should go ahead and add them now? 

[sapling]

5 hours ago, banasophia said:

Thanks so much, very happy with it and I really appreciate all your help and support!
 

I know you guys all said to plant it heavily and it seems like it’s probably not enough plants yet, but I’m waiting for the three Cryptocoryne wendtii to grow into their full size as I think they are supposed to get pretty big, they are growing slowly.
 

I haven’t added the Seachem Flourish root tabs yet… do you guys think I should go ahead and add them now? 

a mature c wendtii gets decently tall, like 6-9 inches height, but imo the individual plant wont look like much, its when they start sending runners from the roots under the soil and its a clump of them it has a nicer dense look. they aren't the slowest, but they move to the beat of their own drum, haha. great low maintenance plant tbh

I think the crypt is going to be the biggest root feeder plant in the tank, they have huge root systems over time, but its still small and the tank still seems too new to put tabs in. You're using an enriched soil already, and I don't think it would deplete this quickly from march afaik with it lightly planted and low tech. so id probably come back to consider this in like 3-9 months. I tend to err on the side of caution, but it may be fine.

 

was going to say I imagine you are wanting them to fill in the back and right sections unplanted right? 

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, sapling said:

a mature c wendtii gets decently tall, like 6-9 inches height, but imo the individual plant wont look like much, its when they start sending runners from the roots under the soil and its a clump of them it has a nicer dense look. they aren't the slowest, but they move to the beat of their own drum, haha. great low maintenance plant tbh

I think the crypt is going to be the biggest root feeder plant in the tank, they have huge root systems over time, but its still small and the tank still seems too new to put tabs in. You're using an enriched soil already, and I don't think it would deplete this quickly from march afaik with it lightly planted and low tech. so id probably come back to consider this in like 3-9 months. I tend to err on the side of caution, but it may be fine.

 

was going to say I imagine you are wanting them to fill in the back and right sections unplanted right? 

Yeah there are three different ones that came in the order:

• a red one in the front (the one Zava likes, in front of the ghost wood) which doesn’t look red at all and I thought was supposed to be the smallest
• a green one in the middle/back right
• a bronze one in the very back right that is supposed to get the tallest, that I want to grow in to create the background… it was the smallest when I got them

My substrate is just Seachem Flourite.

[banasophia]

Moved the salvinia cucullata to the back after taking this pic… they look so pretty from above with their cup-shaped leaves, but the roots are dark and don’t look as nice from below as the salvinia minima… you can see two clumps in the pic. Not sure if that’s how their roots always look… 


 

 

 

 

[sapling]

4 hours ago, banasophia said:

Yeah there are three different ones that came in the order:

• a red one in the front (the one Zava likes, in front of the ghost wood) which doesn’t look red at all and I thought was supposed to be the smallest
• a green one in the middle/back right
• a bronze one in the very back right that is supposed to get the tallest, that I want to grow in to create the background… it was the smallest when I got them

My substrate is just Seachem Flourite.

If I remember right, a Cryptocoryne specific leaves' look are pretty dependent on its environment. The nutrients and light can affect it's height/color/texture/etc. maybe its just a case of giving them time to see how they will come out once leaves mature. 

were they all labelled wendtii?

Thinking, I don't think I've seen a true red crypt, maybe on the stem and underside but not the top of the leaves. I've seen greens and browns for the most part,
 

[banasophia]

Yeah, here’s the info from Aquatic Arts… looks like it is a slow steady grower and on their site the red one appeared to have red stems with green leaves. We’ll see how it grows in for this tank. 
 

 

[ml86743]

10 hours ago, banasophia said:

Moved the salvinia cucullata to the back after taking this pic… they look so pretty from above with their cup-shaped leaves, but the roots are dark and don’t look as nice from below as the salvinia minima… you can see two clumps in the pic. Not sure if that’s how their roots always look… 


 

 

 

 

The most photogenic betta ever!  It almost looks like he's wearing a wedding dress lol. 

[A.m.P]

I know you wanted it to be more grown in, but I actually adore the negative space and think it looks as full as I'd want it right now. 
Looks gorgeous, much, much more interesting and artistic direction than I took with the competition.

[Lebowski_]

I think mid-cut star grass would look great behind those rocks 🪨 🌱 

[banasophia]

On 5/30/2023 at 9:57 AM, ml86743 said:

The most photogenic betta ever!  It almost looks like he's wearing a wedding dress lol. 

 

Thanks so much, he is such a pretty fish and interesting to photograph with his long fins… they do totally seem like the train of a wedding dress sometimes!

 

On 5/30/2023 at 3:07 PM, A.m.P said:

I know you wanted it to be more grown in, but I actually adore the negative space and think it looks as full as I'd want it right now. 
Looks gorgeous, much, much more interesting and artistic direction than I took with the competition.

Thank you, I like it as a freshwater setup, but I also really loved it how you were running it for the contest too… I think the tank is so interesting to work with, figuring out how to scape and photograph the cylinder and how to deal with the challenges of acrylic. Always grateful you passed it along to me!

 

As far as the negative space, I’m liking how it is right now too… kinda looks like a stage to me, with the long dwarf water lettuce roots on the sides and short salvinia roots across the top forming the curtains. 😊 I think it could end up just right once the crypts grow in… I’ll have to give it some time to see. I want to be sure to keep plenty of room for the fish to swim and not feel too stressed or crowded. 

 

On 5/30/2023 at 3:32 PM, Lebowski_ said:

I think mid-cut star grass would look great behind those rocks 🪨 🌱 

Omg yes, do you mean one of these types of plants? I really like them both… if I end up having enough room I’ll have to try them. If I end up not having space in this tank, definitely a top choice for the next one!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lebowski_]

I am talking about the zosterifolia, I used to trim mine to be about 4-6", and then replanted the trimmings. It grew so lush and full.

 

The helferi has always been one of my favourites, though. Just expensive here back when I was still in the planted side.

[banasophia]

17 minutes ago, Lebowski_ said:

I am talking about the zosterifolia, I used to trim mine to be about 4-6", and then replanted the trimmings. It grew so lush and full.

 

The helferi has always been one of my favourites, though. Just expensive here back when I was still in the planted side.

Yeah, they both look so nice! I need another tank already!!

[NatureGuy]

35 minutes ago, banasophia said:

Yeah, they both look so nice! I need another tank already!!

Oh no, the planted tanks phenomenon is taking hold already. 

[banasophia]

8 hours ago, NatureGuy said:

Oh no, the planted tanks phenomenon is taking hold already. 

Totally! There are so many bettas and plants I want and they aren’t as pricey as saltwater fish and corals, which is definitely a plus. I only wish you could keep more than one male betta in a tank. 

[banasophia]

Ember tetras
 

[banasophia]

Water change tonight… tank is doing well. I removed tons of floating plants and trimmed the roots of the dwarf water lettuce since they were super long.

 

And algae in a freshwater tank is so fascinating… the long filamentous algae is so much more like strands of hair than GHA in our saltwater tanks. I’ll have to try to get a pic next time. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ml86743]

Those ember tetras are gorgeous, I think if I had to choose a favorite family of FW fish they would win.  All sorts of shapes and colors..plus the school! So cool.   Lookin spiffy after the WC. 

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, ml86743 said:

Those ember tetras are gorgeous, I think if I had to choose a favorite family of FW fish they would win.  All sorts of shapes and colors..plus the school! So cool.   Lookin spiffy after the WC. 

Thank you, yes I really like them too… glad I went with them rather than some type of neon as I was originally considering because I think these guys are such a nice fit for this tank.
 

It’s funny with both the embers and the cories I have 7 of each… for both I find that 6 of the 7 are prone to stick together when schooling and the seventh is usually on its own. It’s less apparent with the cories, cuz they are more likely to split up into smaller groups/singles, but when the bigger group is together it’s usually 6. 

[wuzzo]

Haven’t read many threads at all recently, but wow this tank is beautiful! The plat betta adds so much contrast to the rest of the tank, and those embers are amazing