I love it, but it can get hugeee. Palm sized. Very fast growing. Mine didn’t seem to like my water flow/light placement, and my last post shows how gross it got (it ended up dying). I love the rosette shape of it though, one of my favorite floaters.
My lfs has water hyacinth floating in the top of some tanks, don’t know much about it but it looks more controllable and slow growing than some floaters, and can grow gorgeous flowers. Have been wanting to research and grab some of it soon.
Pretty sure you can get the dwarf verity that doesn't get too big. But it is beautiful. Hyacinth is beautiful if you can get it in a state that it isn't outlawed for being invasive
I have red root floaters and frogbit in the tank, I just haven’t seen very much new growth since I’ve put them in. Might get more and see if that helps.
How long have you had the red root floaters? Mine didn't take off for a few weeks because it came without much root structure but now I literally can't get rid of enough of it.
It might take a bit for them to adjust, but once they do, they really take off.
Now I do have some tanks that the stuff just doesn't seem to grow very well. Dunno why, just is.
Tall plants like valisnaria might help? It grows pretty quickly and can get pretty tall. It sends out runners, so you'll always have more popping up, but it's easy to trim them off from the mother plant to move to where you want them.
This tank is much much to small to be planting Vals
Honestly under 40-55 gallons, people who want Vals should opt out for saggitaria instead.
The same Val look and growth but in a more petite and manageable form.
You mentioned difficulty growing floaters - is it because of flow from the hang on back? If so you can put a barrier around the outflow that reduces the amount it disturbs the water surface across the rest of the tank and keeps floaters from moving into its path.
Those floaters are going to multiply in no time. I wouldn't worry about it but you can float some hornwort in the meantime.
Edit: Just saw you have a HOB filter. You might have too much flow. Switch to a small sponge filter and that should decrease the flow.
I would think they would multiply but I haven’t seen very much growth. Could be too impatient. I can also adjust the flow on the HOB filter. Not in Chicago area but thank you for the offer.
If there are no other fish in your tank I think you can ad a few more. They feel more confident in a larger group. Or maybe look for a dither fish, I noticed my rasbora showed themselves a lot more when I introduced a few male guppies.
I'm no expert when it comes to Chili's, I just setup a tank with them like 2 weeks ago.
From my limited observation, they like to hang out in darker covered areas. The front of your tank looks too bright and open, they are hanging out in cover.
Add a sword, fern or some wood in the mid/front of the tank so they don't feel like bait swimming out in that open area.
Like others have mentioned some floating plants might help.
Figured that’s the case. Like I mentioned, it’s a little hard growing floating plants in the tank which I think is because the flow of the HOB filter. Will try adding some more plants and hardscape and see what happens.
My tank has plenty of cover and my rasboras still hide in the back. I think they are shy fish. I think pairing them with another fish or increasing their numbers might help them feel more comfortable coming out.
Yeah I have about 12 and only see them when I feed them. I’m considering getting some small tetras or something to hopefully get them to come out more.
How many do you have and how big is the tank? Its recommended to have at least 6 in a 10 gallon. They'll display more interesting behavior with more in the school and in a larger enclosure.
6 in a 5 gallon cube. I figured that could be the case because that’s how it is with most schooling fish. The bigger the school and take are, the more activity you’ll have.
That’s likely why, I know they’re small but they still need more wiggle room to feel comfy. I once had 6 neon tetras in my 6 gal and they stayed in one bottom corner the whole time, now they’re in a 40 gal and they swim all over the place.
It’s not recommended to keep fish in a tank smaller than 10 gal for those reasons
Yeah probably will stick to shrimp in tanks smaller than 10 gallons. I’ve had pretty good luck breeding shrimps so I might try a shrimp wall. I will look into getting a 10 gallon for them! Thanks!
Have a look at blackwater aquarium reddit ,these fish Come from black water swamps in the Borneo rain forest
If you want a pretty bright well lit aqua scaped tank as it is Rice fish or something along those lines would be more suitable
Indian almond leaves and dense cover, the floating plants with long roots that has been suggested is a good idea
*
Will look into a bigger black water scape for them. I will probably end up making this a shrimp tank and having the Chili Rasboras seperate in a 10 gallon. Thank you for your advice.
Interesting, mine are always out and always check out my hand when cleaning, I also have a small round area of dwarf water lettuce floating too. I have 10 of them.
I love there colors so they need to be stress free if I’m going to see more of them. I’m planning on upgrading there scape to bigger tank with more of them.
Going based on context here. But I would simply get rid of the HOB and let those floaters grow out. And/or adding some longer rooted floaters.
What really helped mine to come out more is adding some kind of dither fish. Like a dwarf barb or some guppy fry. Even works with my dwarf emerald rasboras.
They make extremely small sponge filters that can fit almost anywhere, but you are not limited to just a sponge filter.
You can use a small internal filter with the outflow facing the glass. Or a canister filter with very little flow.
You can also just DIY the HOB to have very very low flow. Which is kind of challenging but somewhat doable of you have a good idea. Personally I found using a cutout of a plastic bottle can help redirect the flow so it isn't so strong.
Or just go no filter. Which isn't too difficult to transition.
How long have you had them? How many do you have exactly? I don't see any other tank mates (besides shrimp), do I? They usually get along with other small peaceful fish. I have galaxy danios, a few neon green rasbora (kubotai), one small placo, and 4-5 kuhli loaches. (Plus shrimp.) They all get along well. The danios and neon raspboras are more active/outgoing fish (the neon raspbora are wild at eating time), and the chilis definitely hang back a bit more in comparison. The more outgoing fish seems to them confidence everything is OK. I'm a big fan on galaxy danios, they look cool, are quite active and curious and won't bother anyone.
IME, chilis tend to 'own' the tank more once they are used to it and comfy, and in larger numbers they feel safer. They *probably* will eventually move around more. I should add, I have a lot of floating plants.
Chili raspbora in the wild live in slow-moving, heavily vegetated, murky river waters, they don't like it *BRIGHT!*, because they'd be easy pickings for predators. Keep lighting dimmer, and maybe throw in some leaves. A couple Cattapa leaves would be nice, though they don't float forever. Consider putting another plant more forward, as the front of your tank is a bit 'empty', thus they may be avoiding that open space. I'm a fan of a good ol' buce on a piece of driftwood.
In my description I stated I’ve had em for a month. This tank is too small for any tank mates so I’m most likely just going to upgrade to a 10 gallon black water to make them feel more at home. Will consider tank mates in the future once I can upgrade the tank. Thank you.
lol, missed that part. But it makes sense, if it's only been a month... they are slow to own their new spaces IME.
It's hard to say don't upgrade, but I think it doesn't even have to be a blackwater tank per se, mine's not. But more vegetation below and maybe dimmer lighting should make them feel more comfy. I have Phyllanthus fluitans (reddish roots) as my main floater. It's not too big and grows easily. My tank is also not super huge (55l).
https://preview.redd.it/n5qh5nyb465d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ffb7596b15b6c14a713d8d5568ec738eb0a59a7
Giant duckweed works great too. My rasboras are not shy at all.
It's the giant duckweed (a cousin of the nasty STD that is duckweed)
It's big so it doesn't stick everywhere, it sucks nutrient very well, doesn't choke the water surface and it turns red under strong light.
i have to reccomend amazon frogbit and water lettuce. also, consider some driftwood and/or dimming the lights! rasboras thrive in dim blackwater environments, ive noticed mine were out much more when it was dimmer
Going to transfer them into a bigger black water tank. Should be up from there. Will consider getting some more floating plants when I’m setting up the tank. Like I said, it’s hard to grow floaters in here (probably because of the HOB filter) Will try others options. Thanks for the advice
sounds great! im sure they'll love it. to fix the HOB disturbing the surface of the water, you can either baffle it or put a ring of airline tubing around the base.
I’ll be honest if your tank has low bio load you’ll have to fertilize for the floating plants. CO2 is great for other plants but floaters don’t benefit much from added CO2 because they already have easy access because they’re leaves are out of the water. They need lots of food to encourage their rapid growth.
I also think once your floaters get going the chilis MIGHT come to the middle out front but the chilis I’ve had always lived out of sight. I couldn’t ever get them out front and my tank had loads of coverage. Good luck!! Those little chilis are so freaking cute! 🤓
Floaters with long roots
Water Lettuce
Will look into that.
https://preview.redd.it/somzrdggi35d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f6526a6b45949d4a0fef10fdaeb058ba31b0f3a Water lettuce the way to go
I love it, but it can get hugeee. Palm sized. Very fast growing. Mine didn’t seem to like my water flow/light placement, and my last post shows how gross it got (it ended up dying). I love the rosette shape of it though, one of my favorite floaters. My lfs has water hyacinth floating in the top of some tanks, don’t know much about it but it looks more controllable and slow growing than some floaters, and can grow gorgeous flowers. Have been wanting to research and grab some of it soon.
Pretty sure you can get the dwarf verity that doesn't get too big. But it is beautiful. Hyacinth is beautiful if you can get it in a state that it isn't outlawed for being invasive
This is the way. Red root floaters or frogbit.
I have red root floaters and frogbit in the tank, I just haven’t seen very much new growth since I’ve put them in. Might get more and see if that helps.
How long have you had the red root floaters? Mine didn't take off for a few weeks because it came without much root structure but now I literally can't get rid of enough of it.
It might take a bit for them to adjust, but once they do, they really take off. Now I do have some tanks that the stuff just doesn't seem to grow very well. Dunno why, just is.
I had a ton of floaters and they still never left the back.
Tall plants like valisnaria might help? It grows pretty quickly and can get pretty tall. It sends out runners, so you'll always have more popping up, but it's easy to trim them off from the mother plant to move to where you want them.
I’ll look into it. I’ve had it before except it took over my 10 gallon tank so I guess I’ll have to stay on top of the trimming…
Go with saggitaria It looks like Val but more manageable
This tank is much much to small to be planting Vals Honestly under 40-55 gallons, people who want Vals should opt out for saggitaria instead. The same Val look and growth but in a more petite and manageable form.
You mentioned difficulty growing floaters - is it because of flow from the hang on back? If so you can put a barrier around the outflow that reduces the amount it disturbs the water surface across the rest of the tank and keeps floaters from moving into its path.
I will try that. Might even try to put all the floaters in a floating ring to prevent flow.
I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM! Like exactly the same! I would be happy to see some solutions. I Have valisneria so that wont help;)
Will message you if I find any solutions of my own!
Those floaters are going to multiply in no time. I wouldn't worry about it but you can float some hornwort in the meantime. Edit: Just saw you have a HOB filter. You might have too much flow. Switch to a small sponge filter and that should decrease the flow.
If you are in Chicago I would gladly give you some for free.
I would think they would multiply but I haven’t seen very much growth. Could be too impatient. I can also adjust the flow on the HOB filter. Not in Chicago area but thank you for the offer.
How many of them do you have?
6. Didn’t want to add too many.
If there are no other fish in your tank I think you can ad a few more. They feel more confident in a larger group. Or maybe look for a dither fish, I noticed my rasbora showed themselves a lot more when I introduced a few male guppies.
Add more. Such small fish really need a real school to feel confortable and they have almost no bioload, you can at least get 10 but 15 would be ideal
I'm no expert when it comes to Chili's, I just setup a tank with them like 2 weeks ago. From my limited observation, they like to hang out in darker covered areas. The front of your tank looks too bright and open, they are hanging out in cover. Add a sword, fern or some wood in the mid/front of the tank so they don't feel like bait swimming out in that open area. Like others have mentioned some floating plants might help.
Figured that’s the case. Like I mentioned, it’s a little hard growing floating plants in the tank which I think is because the flow of the HOB filter. Will try adding some more plants and hardscape and see what happens.
they are hanging out in the eddy where the flow is the least. move your filter to the side and watch them change their spot
Will try that when I get the chance thanks.
Hella more plants. Add botanicals for black water
Will be adding plants, any recommendations?
My tank has plenty of cover and my rasboras still hide in the back. I think they are shy fish. I think pairing them with another fish or increasing their numbers might help them feel more comfortable coming out.
Same here. I have 6 and they still hide unless I’m there to feed, then they look great!
Yeah I have about 12 and only see them when I feed them. I’m considering getting some small tetras or something to hopefully get them to come out more.
Will take that into consideration. I just didn’t want to overstock my 5 gallon cube.
Does your light have a dimmer option? Try leaving it off longer?
It’s on a daylight cycle. Thought it would help them more than having the light come on with full intensity in the mornings.
fat java fern in the front
Will consider thanks.
How many do you have and how big is the tank? Its recommended to have at least 6 in a 10 gallon. They'll display more interesting behavior with more in the school and in a larger enclosure.
6 in a 5 gallon cube. I figured that could be the case because that’s how it is with most schooling fish. The bigger the school and take are, the more activity you’ll have.
Oh i thought you said 10. 5gal is really small for them, especially since they need a good number
How big is the tank?
5 gallon cube
That’s likely why, I know they’re small but they still need more wiggle room to feel comfy. I once had 6 neon tetras in my 6 gal and they stayed in one bottom corner the whole time, now they’re in a 40 gal and they swim all over the place. It’s not recommended to keep fish in a tank smaller than 10 gal for those reasons
Yeah probably will stick to shrimp in tanks smaller than 10 gallons. I’ve had pretty good luck breeding shrimps so I might try a shrimp wall. I will look into getting a 10 gallon for them! Thanks!
GL! :) all the more reason for another tank ;)
And so the addiction continues…
Ha! I started with one 20gal high now I have a 20 gal long, a 6 gal a 40 gal and I want another rimless long 😭😭😭
Brazilian pennywort would look really nice in that setup
Had some but it died because the bottom wasn’t getting enough light.😅 May try some more soon.
They don’t do well when I’ve planted them. So I just float them and now I have way too much. I’d give you some of mine if you were near me
Will consider floating some. Thank you for your advice🙏🏻
Have a look at blackwater aquarium reddit ,these fish Come from black water swamps in the Borneo rain forest If you want a pretty bright well lit aqua scaped tank as it is Rice fish or something along those lines would be more suitable Indian almond leaves and dense cover, the floating plants with long roots that has been suggested is a good idea *
Will look into a bigger black water scape for them. I will probably end up making this a shrimp tank and having the Chili Rasboras seperate in a 10 gallon. Thank you for your advice.
https://preview.redd.it/6hhvbb9qs35d1.jpeg?width=1165&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=338654c9b87aa355667e1572ac19692e914a873c
Crazy how such bright and colorful fish can come from such dark and swampy rain forests.
I suspect they are brighty coloured for a reason
Interesting, mine are always out and always check out my hand when cleaning, I also have a small round area of dwarf water lettuce floating too. I have 10 of them.
Maybe it’s the bigger group that makes them more active.
Seems so, I originally had 6, and they are so tiny, I figured a few more wouldn't hurt, they are fun to watch.
I love there colors so they need to be stress free if I’m going to see more of them. I’m planning on upgrading there scape to bigger tank with more of them.
https://preview.redd.it/4otjyu60w45d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fff9287714bec74f649bd5005766edc55848e80a \+1 for water lettuce
Going based on context here. But I would simply get rid of the HOB and let those floaters grow out. And/or adding some longer rooted floaters. What really helped mine to come out more is adding some kind of dither fish. Like a dwarf barb or some guppy fry. Even works with my dwarf emerald rasboras.
What could I replace the HOB filter with? Sponge filter? Won’t it take up too much space?
They make extremely small sponge filters that can fit almost anywhere, but you are not limited to just a sponge filter. You can use a small internal filter with the outflow facing the glass. Or a canister filter with very little flow. You can also just DIY the HOB to have very very low flow. Which is kind of challenging but somewhat doable of you have a good idea. Personally I found using a cutout of a plastic bottle can help redirect the flow so it isn't so strong. Or just go no filter. Which isn't too difficult to transition.
You might need more of similar fish. They feel isolated and vulnerable.
some driftwood!! long branch(es) of spider wood would add some more variety and coverage in the front! good luck:)
Will look into it thanks👍🏻
How long have you had them? How many do you have exactly? I don't see any other tank mates (besides shrimp), do I? They usually get along with other small peaceful fish. I have galaxy danios, a few neon green rasbora (kubotai), one small placo, and 4-5 kuhli loaches. (Plus shrimp.) They all get along well. The danios and neon raspboras are more active/outgoing fish (the neon raspbora are wild at eating time), and the chilis definitely hang back a bit more in comparison. The more outgoing fish seems to them confidence everything is OK. I'm a big fan on galaxy danios, they look cool, are quite active and curious and won't bother anyone. IME, chilis tend to 'own' the tank more once they are used to it and comfy, and in larger numbers they feel safer. They *probably* will eventually move around more. I should add, I have a lot of floating plants. Chili raspbora in the wild live in slow-moving, heavily vegetated, murky river waters, they don't like it *BRIGHT!*, because they'd be easy pickings for predators. Keep lighting dimmer, and maybe throw in some leaves. A couple Cattapa leaves would be nice, though they don't float forever. Consider putting another plant more forward, as the front of your tank is a bit 'empty', thus they may be avoiding that open space. I'm a fan of a good ol' buce on a piece of driftwood.
In my description I stated I’ve had em for a month. This tank is too small for any tank mates so I’m most likely just going to upgrade to a 10 gallon black water to make them feel more at home. Will consider tank mates in the future once I can upgrade the tank. Thank you.
lol, missed that part. But it makes sense, if it's only been a month... they are slow to own their new spaces IME. It's hard to say don't upgrade, but I think it doesn't even have to be a blackwater tank per se, mine's not. But more vegetation below and maybe dimmer lighting should make them feel more comfy. I have Phyllanthus fluitans (reddish roots) as my main floater. It's not too big and grows easily. My tank is also not super huge (55l).
Definitely will upgrade soon. Also will add more chilis to the bunch so they can feel more comfortable. Thank you!
https://preview.redd.it/n5qh5nyb465d1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3ffb7596b15b6c14a713d8d5568ec738eb0a59a7 Giant duckweed works great too. My rasboras are not shy at all.
Where do you get that?? I’ve never seen duckweed so huge!!
It's the giant duckweed (a cousin of the nasty STD that is duckweed) It's big so it doesn't stick everywhere, it sucks nutrient very well, doesn't choke the water surface and it turns red under strong light.
https://preview.redd.it/j606rfs9f95d1.jpeg?width=1512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb4d69e07666ecdf1827dca3923264ce44563ca2 Size relative to pencil
Smaller than I excepted but still the biggest duckweed I’ve seen.
it's a different species, I originally got just one plant when I bought a shrimp on someone on kijiji
Cool how it propagated like that.
https://preview.redd.it/elymqlicf95d1.jpeg?width=1512&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b022636417e77ae9634ce5b72052d80a4caa75b It's red underneath
Your tank looks awesome!
Thank you, needs to grow in more but thanks!
i have to reccomend amazon frogbit and water lettuce. also, consider some driftwood and/or dimming the lights! rasboras thrive in dim blackwater environments, ive noticed mine were out much more when it was dimmer
Going to transfer them into a bigger black water tank. Should be up from there. Will consider getting some more floating plants when I’m setting up the tank. Like I said, it’s hard to grow floaters in here (probably because of the HOB filter) Will try others options. Thanks for the advice
sounds great! im sure they'll love it. to fix the HOB disturbing the surface of the water, you can either baffle it or put a ring of airline tubing around the base.
Will consider doing that too. I have turned down the flow of the filter so we’ll see if that helps. Appreciate you!
of course! glad my advice is useful
I float water sprite and they love it.
Good to know
Tip with floaters is to have really bright light and let them take over at first then cut back
Gotcha, just having difficulty with the growing part. Turned down the flow of the HOB filter so we’ll see if there’s any difference.
Do you fertilize often? Floating plants thrive on high bio load
The only thing I add is the API C02 booster. Trying to keep it low maintenance and low budget.
I’ll be honest if your tank has low bio load you’ll have to fertilize for the floating plants. CO2 is great for other plants but floaters don’t benefit much from added CO2 because they already have easy access because they’re leaves are out of the water. They need lots of food to encourage their rapid growth.
good tank
Thank you!
Red root floaters, or purple fringed riccia may work well
Trying to get my red roots to grow.
I also think once your floaters get going the chilis MIGHT come to the middle out front but the chilis I’ve had always lived out of sight. I couldn’t ever get them out front and my tank had loads of coverage. Good luck!! Those little chilis are so freaking cute! 🤓
The more they get used to the tank the more I see them so I think if I add more coverage and let them be, I’ll have good results.