The natural decorations acquired were a large piece of spider wood, large river rocks, small river pebbles, tiny river pebbles, small assorted foliage and coconut coir.
The artificial decorations were Fluval stratum, silicone, expanding pond foam, and original gorilla glue. Silicone was placed in lines and dots along the side and bottom of the aquarium to secure the expanding pond foam to the glass and allowed to cure for 48 hours. The expanding foam was then sprayed throughout the bottom and back side of the tank, with the spider wood and several large rocks placed in their desired positions. More foam was sprayed on top of the large piece of wood to create a barrier to keep dirt in place, so I could place plants on top of the wood and create a more natural affect. I allowed the foam to cure, then spent two days carving the foam into shape to create banks, places to place the plants, and make the spiderwood appear to be a root emerging from the ground.
I then donned gloves and manually slathered gorilla glue over anything black, and sifted the coconut coir over the gorilla glue to hide the foam and create the appearance of muddy banks. I let this cure for 48 hours, then repeatedly filled and drained the tank to get rid of any foam dust or unattached coir. After a final drain, I spent several hours manually crushing the fluval stratum to create mud, mixed with small and tiny pebbles, and placed the stratum in the front of the tank and inside the “stream banks” created with foam.
I then carefully placed the plants, additional rocks, and allowed more pebbles to settle as they wanted. I threw the leaves into the tank, then came back after 48 hours to adjust the placement of the leaves.
In addition to being provided an environment as close to nature as possible, the fish are receiving regular water changes (weekly to every-other week) and high-quality food.
They are fed live black worms and a colony in the tank is being encouraged. Additionally, they are fed a mix of baby brine shrimp and small mysis shrimp mixed with Boyd Enterprises’ Vita Chem, Seachem Focus, and Seachem Metroplex.
When the fish first arrived, as well, they were treated with three rounds of Praziquantel (via Hikari PraziPro) to eliminate intestinal parasites, as the Elassoma were wild caught.
