PostsVery Tiny
November 19th, 2009 - 20:56 UTC | 
Owen
Dario dario
Two Scarlet Badis (Dario dario) in my 10L nano-aquarium with some Red Crystal shrimp. This picture does not do them justice really, they are a real living jewel; truly beautiful and tiny (1 to 1.5cm adult size). They are related to the Perch family, and lots of interesting behaviours. I was having a small issue with minute water bugs; sub millimetre dots swimming and crawling over the rocks and plants in the Nano tank. I have always wanted to keep some fish in that tank, so this seemed like a good opportunity to go for it on the basis that the shrimp were ignoring them, but a predatory fish would not. They will eat very young shrimp too, but leave juveniles and adults alone, having some shrimp population control in that tank is no bad thing.
10L 'Jewel' of a tank
I’m already keeping Celestial Perl Danios, and Microrasboras in a 35L aquarium, the Danios are a bit bigger than the Badis, but the Micros are even smaller (possibly the smallest invertebrates in the world). I like these very small species, and the shrimp I keep them with, it’s like owning Fabergé miniatures or a precision mechanical watch, they are so tiny but so perfect. I have a pair of males, I’d hoped the smaller one was a female but it turned out to be a male that had not coloured up yet..
What I had not reckoned on was that they are fussy eaters in a way that would make most girls with ‘Anna‘ really, really jealous. I’m currently having to feed them individual live bloodworms with a pair of tweezers.. But they seem to have finally got the idea that the little critters in their tank can be eaten too. I noticed the number suddenly start to decline last week, and I eventually saw one of the Badis chasing and eating them; they seem to have cleaned them up now. Going forward I need to wean them onto frozen live foods, and if I can I’d like to get them accepting small flake and pellets. I actually tricked one of the them to eat a pellet last night, he spat it out really quick. This may be even harder than I imagined.
Personally speaking.. I have no comment
3 months later.. the tank is working very well, I’ve got baby shrimp crawling around it, and the female is carrying eggs again. No fish in there; I’ve abandoned that plan (for this tank at least!)
Hi Owen, As i said in my first post i also have a Nimrod. I sail her in my local bay and regulary trail sail her up the west coast of Scotland, we have been caught out in some heavy weather in her and she has got us home every time. I dont know if you have sailed her much yet but with a good wind she will take off,we have had 10 knots out of her. I went through all the same jobs as you while doing her up, I also painted the hull and topsides and improved the bouyancy using 2L bottles instead of the loose foam which i found in the chambers. I managed to get the original winch with her which i reinstalled after the last owner had made system with ropes and blocks so he could winch up the keel from the cockpit. When you had the keel out i couldnt see the lock down rope does your keel have one? I think this is a important safety feature, so in the event of a capsize or inversion the keel does not come crashing back into the keel casing and damage the boat. what number is your boat? If you have any questions email me.
thanks
John
John, (you probably deserve a prize or something.. first comment left here by anyone other than me
)
Well, Sail #95, so far one, and only one, trip. Ever since then I’ve been stymied by either lack of time or crew. However, this weekend is free and I plan to take her out again. But only on the local lake (which is 1.5K long), I want to shake her down a few times before I hit the Ijselmeer, and don’t have a permanent mooring as yet, and that’s a task for the winter.
No; I don’t have a lockdown rope, how does that work? (forward to the front of the keel slot?) I can see the point, but not really sure if I’ll ever be out in anything strong enough to take her over. I’d have reefed and run well before that, I’m far more worried about the mast stays, she has already lost a mast when one parted (20 years ago..) and I’m seriously wondering if she should have a backstay. Do you just have the three normal stays, or a backstay too?
I plan on getting new sails made (old ones are very baggy) and fitting roller furling, plus setting her up for singlehanded use. Plus making the cabin a lot more comfy and fitting a simple electrics system (led based).