Congo Tank Update, light blackwater tank

[@TarasTankFriends]

This is my 40 breeder congo Tetra tank plus one empire gudgeon. My camera is funny about light, so sometimes the tank in this video doesn't really look how it does IRL. At the end you'll see that I sometimes forget that tetras have very sharp teeth 😂. Thank you everyone for watching!

[@jackanddan]

Fire bad! Thanks for the update. We don’t have many tetra left. We have to restock. They are beauties and we love them. We saw a lot at the aquarium in Gatlinburg, though that definitely gave us the Jonesing for more.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Yes, fire really bad. I know what you mean, I need to get a few more younger ember tetras. Am down to 7 from 10 now. I'm going to try harder to breed them this time. That was a great tour of the aquarium in Gatlinburg. Thanks for watching, I appreciate it! 😊

[@GhostHorror-ik5sd]

Like a natural ecosystem that is quite clear, whether the tree is alive or fake, greetings

[@TarasTankFriends]

Hi, thanks for watching, I appreciate it! 😊

[@JungleJimAquatics]

The colors and fins on those tetras 😍! I love the backwater look!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks so much Jim! They are really nice fish, they don't normally bite, I swear! 😅 Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@madcat61207]

Nice update, and show n tell with Congo tetras. Enjoyed the story about making a fire in your basement with botanicals, but glad it turned out ok. 😾👍Watching and supporting. Tara's Tanky Teamates 4 eva!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks so much 😾! Yeah, I felt really terrible and stupid about the fire. 🤦 Thank you for watching and your support, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@SandyDoughty]

The Congo tank looks great!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks so much, Sandy! Hope you're doing well and thanks for watching, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@Gilsfishroom]

Love that tank Your Higness. I'm glad you didn't burn your house down. So cool that you trained the tetras to jump, perhaps next you could train them to sit and roll over.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Now that would be a trick! 😋 Thanks, Gil, this is one of the 4 tanks that I don't film that often due to the fish's sheer terror induced by the sight of the telecominicatious hypercarnivorous. Thanks for watching, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@invalidrequest]

Epic vedio! ~I'm going to love watching these Congo Tetras grow. Tara's Tank Friends for life. ✌ 😲

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thank you so much! 😁 Thanks for watching and commenting, I appreciate it! 😊

[@dudusiagata3117]

Witam serdecznie super piękne akwarium I rybki pozdrawiam z Polski miłego wieczoru życzę

[@garageaquatics2023]

Hello, very beautiful aquarium and fish, greetings from Poland, have a nice evening (translated by copying and pasting into Google then adding 'translate' to the end of the string.)

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks so much and thank you for watching, I appreciate it! Hope you have a nice weekend 😊

[@natalialazcano7]

ሀሎ! የኔ ውድ ጓደኛ ❤ ይህን አስደናቂ እና የሚያምር ቪዲዮ ስላካፈልከኝ አመሰግናለሁ። ❤ ከምርጦቹ አንዱ ነው። ❤ ድንቅ፣ ቆንጆ እና ምርጥ እንቅስቃሴ ነው። ❤ ቪዲዮህን ማየት በጣም ወድጄዋለሁ። ❤ መልካም ቀን ይሁንላችሁ። 😊 ጤና ይስጥልኝ ሁሌም ደስተኛ ሁን።👍 God bless you 🙏 Like 12

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thank you and thanks for watching! 😊

[@stubbsaquatics6080]

Great update ... Oh crap... You were lucky about the pot.. omg... 🔥 I have tannins in my one tank ( gold Barb ) that everyone says it needs cleaning lol Wow those plants!! I just got some amazing Anubis and some java ferns.. I usually don't do well with java either ... Really great update . Big 👍. 😂🤣 Ending... ungrateful fish

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks so much, Chris! I like your gold barb tank! This tank used to look a little murkier with the way I used to do it, there were a lot more particulates. I didn't mind it, but it did clog my filters more often. I felt like the biggest idiot in the world forgetting that I had that pot going 🥴 . That was ungrateful! 😋 Looking forward to seeing your new plants, and thanks so much for watching, I really appreciate it! 🙂👍

[@FishRfun]

I love congos....beautiful. i used to soak freeze dried daphnia in tank water before feeding.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Yes, I absolutely love them! I've not seen freeze dried daphnia, only krill, which I was surprised at how large they were! Most pure foods like that I get frozen. I hope you've been doing well, and thanks so much for watching and the support, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@FishRfun]

@TarasTankFriends my pleasure watching your content. Yeah I used Hikari brand daphnia...just off amazon

[@larrydsAquatics]

Glad the fire didn't do too much damage, yep tetras are related to piranhas 😅

[@TarasTankFriends]

Me too, I felt so stupid 🤦. Yeah, I don't think I'll be keeping piranhas! 😂😨 Thanks for watching, Larry, I appreciate it! 😊

[@FishRfun]

Congos are so beautiful, but I burned some mopani wood on the stove once as well. I was boiling it and had forgotten about it. The water was gone and smoke everywhere....no fire though so I guess I caught it in time. I'd love to have like a 250g tank with a huge school of congos. Actually when I move back to Houston I'm going to do a project with a large tank. 175g or larger, but I'm most likely going to make it a rainbows tank because Houston as hard water like here in Florida. I'd love to have a geophagus as the centerpiece fish as well. Lots of ideas 💡

[@TarasTankFriends]

sorry I missed your comment! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who's burned botanicals, lol! thanks for watching, I appreciate it, again sorry for the late reply!

[@Greg.is.a.bot.]

Those Congos are some of my favorites among all of your fish (wait, would that be "fishes" in tjis case?) They're active without being too hectic, and they're really cool looking.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Yes, it would be "fishes" for multiple species 🙂. Though now that I'm thinking about it, I've never heard anyone say they're a fishes keeper 🤔...semantics!! 😋 Thanks so much for watching!

[@IndoorEcosystem]

I had a fair bit of trouble keeping plants in my last blackwater build as well. But crypts do very well. Java fern surprisingly did not like it 1 bit!

[@TarasTankFriends]

Oh that's interesting, I should've specified these are the only broad leaved java ferns I still have. I've only had them in this tank for a few months, they might still end up the way of my other ones. For whatever reason, the windelov variety does better for me in general. Thanks so much for watching and the support, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@aquariumdelirium]

Love a black water tank I need one Tara very beautiful

[@TarasTankFriends]

Thanks Mal! Just don't set your house on fire 😅 thanks for watching, I really appreciate it 😊

[@aquariumdelirium]

Tara I sent a comment about the fire, when I reached that part, but it never appeared Honestly no swear words I promise

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@aquariumdelirium no worries, Mal, I've had that happen too. I'll leave a comment on someone's channel that's perfectly nice and clean and it will just disappear. Your comment isn't in my held for review either. I highly doubt you would've said something that triggered the comment bot. Just yt being yt 🤦🙄

[@Gilsfishroom]

The swearing would have been in geordie, so Tara wouldn't have been able to understand anyway.

[@redlaser1656]

I love the Congo Tetras. My females will tap the glass top if you do not feed enough food. I have some questions. What type of peat balls do you use? Is there a particular brand or place to get them? Do you use them in HOBs or in the tank itself? This is a potential future video for you.

[@TarasTankFriends]

Oh that's funny that they do that! It's just the fluval peat balls bought at Petco, I got a little filter sock, put them in and stuffed it into the hob. There's really not much to it, but thanks for the suggestion! Thanks for watching also, I really appreciate it! 😊

[@garageaquatics2023]

Tetras are related to piranhas. Just a thought. 🙂 I love Crypts. I really want to expand varieties. I really like that black gravel as well. It has a fantastic look. You are very lucky you only ended up with a smoky mess. Coulda been so much worse. I'll just throw an Alder cone or two. or an Indian Almond leaf directly into the tank. Id a day or two they'll sink and release tannins. Turns out, the cherry shrimp love the cones after they've been sitting in the tank for a while. They look a lot like what's left of a pine cone after a squirrel gets through with it. Curious - are you planting your Java ferns into the substrate? Or are you Super-Gluing them to a rock or a piece of wood? Keep 'em coming! ~Ron

[@TarasTankFriends]

I know, this was the first time they've ever bitten me, they're pretty scared of the camera so I'm thinking they might've just been super nervous 🤷. I felt so terrible for forgetting that pot was on! The java ferns in this tank have their roots (not rhizomes) tucked in between some rocks. I've previously had them attached to rocks or wood in other tanks. I probably should've specified that these are the only broad leaved ones I have left, the windelov variety does much better for me for whatever reason. I'm a big fan of crypts, too! Such a diverse group of hardy plants. I have way too many and like to share, though I've been having a hard time finding cold packs online to ship with them that last more than 24hrs and aren't really expensive. Thanks for watching, I appreciate it 😊

[@garageaquatics2023]

@@TarasTankFriends I’ve never gotten plants with cold packs. They’re wrapped moist and sealed well. Like that they’ve always been good.

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@garageaquatics2023 that's the way I've shipped them before, I'm just afraid of someone getting cooked plants like the shipment Mexicali fishkeeper got 🫤. I don't know if you have crypt pontederifolia or usteriana? I have a couple of those right now for a little more unusual ones, of course you're welcome to my more common ones, too! Just send me an email if you want plants (in description), I just ask for the cost of shipping for all except pink flamingo crypts 🙂.

[@garageaquatics2023]

@@TarasTankFriends Yup, I do love Crypts too. I only have three varieties so far. I looked for Pink Flamingo and wasn't able to find any. I do have 'Wendtii Green' and 'Wendtii Red' and Spiralis. I'd love some of your other varieties. Is you email in your KZbin description? I'll look. I did see Jorge's video unboxing of those plants. They looked like they were sealed with no air or moisture in the pouches. I hate to say it, But I think Warrior did a lousy job of packing those plants. I've gotten lots of plants via Amazon and once from a guy in Washington after watching his KZbin channel. A couple from an Amazon vendor came in in poor shape because they weren't packed well. Usually they're packed in a fish bag with some moisture. Then just packed well in a box. I think I'd be more concerned about them freezing during the winter. Who knows, maybe I've been really lucky.

[@TarasTankFriends]

@@garageaquatics2023 They way I've received plants in the mail is with them wrapped in wet paper or paper towel-like material and then in a zip bag. The couple of times I've shipped them before, I've just tried to mimic that. As far as I know, they arrived in good shape. I will admit that I haven't seen what looked like vacuum sealed before, but I know Jorge also said they got held up over the weekend in the AZ heat. I use priority mail, so I like to try to ship Mon or Tues so they'll arrive before the weekend. I can send photos of the exact plants in an email, too. Just a disclaimer: almost all my tanks do have snails of some variety or other, I try to get them and any eggs all off, but I may miss a couple.