Thanks Luis
I'm starting to get some algae now-- a bit of green dust on the rocks and glass, and a bit of filomentous and the tiniest bit of BBA (gah!!) growing on some of the moss. So, I decided to go to the shop and get some back-up. I dispatched 5 Amanos and 2 otocinclus onto the front lines.
God speed.
Aside from algae eaters though, I couldn't help myself and ended up buying some fish. For a while now I've been debating what fish should go in this layout. I always knew I wanted some kind of cyprinid-- working this hard to recreate a Japanese/Asian bamboo forest, and then using South American fish would just rub me the wrong way. I also new I didn't want anything too flashy.
Summary: I wanted an asian fish that would communicate the feeling of the wild-- a cool fast moving stream running in a mountain forest.
In the aquasketch, I originally used emerald eyes again but . . .
I decided to start with a trio of ordinary White Cloud Minnows. I've played with the idea that WCM might be the perfect fish for this tank for a while, and yesterday I couldn't help myself, and took the plunge.
I'm glad I did. I have NEVER picked a fish so . . . no, that's not what I want to say. I want to say:
Never, has a fish I chose done a better job of communicating the spirit of an aquascape than me.
It's like this fish knows this forest better than I do. Their brown bodies and auburn fins, plus it's excitable/playful personality, lend it a rustic attitude and the feeling of a "forest creature," I think. It's quick swimming and flshy white cin tips express the movement of the mountain stream. It's also stunning to see them stretch their fins and dance together over the riccia meadows.
Ok, I'm going a bit poetic, sorry for that. It's just that these fish fit so damn good. They really don't deserve the name, "Poor man's neon." For me, this fish has awakened a layout that neons would have weakened. Anyway, does anyone think the fish might be a bit big? That's the only concern I had before getting them. The layout might seem bigger if it had a school of sparrow rasbora instead. But now that I look at it, the WCMs really don't seem that big, and so sparrow rasboras might have just disappeared completely. I think I'm going to get 3-4 more WCMs, and maybe a second fish species to compliment it. I was thinking if not emeralds, try find a second duller, smaller fish. Rasbora kubotai? Something like that.
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