Anybody else into aquariums?

[i.keenum]

Was coming up short last minute on getting my wife a Christmas present and she had been quite interested in our little 20 gal. of late so i went all out and picked this up from petsmart the day before christmas eve, not something i would suggest, but she loved. She is not the jewerly and perfume type but was very excited about what i got her.


55 gallons, got the marble from a countertop store around the bend went in seeing if they had any spare or broken that they sold for tile jobs ect.. and they just tossed a 50 pound piece in the back in the car from a broken slab and said don't worry about it.

 

[Boulder]

Very nice set-up, enjoy.

I had a few over the years and do miss it.

 

[Josjor]

NICE!

I've got a 20 gallon the wifey got me one year for Christmas. Nothing too fancy in it and it's been a bit of a struggle as there isn't really a good place for stocking fish in over 100 miles. We've got a local shop that sells a few fish but they always look pretty sickly and they don't keep the place any too clean.

 

[i.keenum]

Try cichlids they are very forgiving, that is what is in my tank and i got most of them from either walmart or petsmart. The people there are never very helpfull and had no idea what was what so i just picked out some colorful ones. Now that i got a bigger tank i am going to a actual pet store so i can get better service and more knowledge on the subject.

 

[Hermit]

I used to. We seemed to always have at least a twenty gallon fresh water.
My last one was a 175 gallon salt water tank. It was way too much work!
And them damn fish are expensive! I brought home stuff I picked and
caught while diving the oil rigs, but we spent a fortune on fish and I
spent hours working on it. Since Katrina, the only fish we keep are
goldfish in an outdoor tub/fountain.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I have a 12 gallon Nano Cube with a single red-capped Oranda. My place is pretty small, but it's a neat setup. I'll scrape off some of the algae and take some pictures... I don't mind algae, the fish digs eatin' it, but it makes pictures a little difficult. :lol:

Great setup you have, cichlids can be kind of cool, never really got into them. I prefer the business of fancy goldfish. They're always moving around, and can be pretty comical.

 

[taharris]

Nice tank.

I don't know how much you know about fish, but I would encourage you to join a fish forum and educate yourself.

Just a quick bit of advice: You should do a 20% water change once a week for a while to make sure your fish don't succomb to "new tank syndrome" i.e. a build up of ammonia. This is caused by too much fish waste being introduced into a tank that has no beneficial bacteria built up yet. Also, get a flossy filter and don't throw it away. Just rince it out during every water change.

You can PM me if you have specific questions.

Good luck.

Todd

 

[user 2031]

My wife and I are thinking about getting one of these aquariums later in the spring after we repaint the living room. I think they are really cool.

 

[idbowman]

Very nice!

We have an empty 20 gallon tank that we've been hemming and hawing about getting up and running for the last year or so (she got it for free from a co-worker when she was moving...it's just been sitting in a spare room ever since).

My wife is equally difficult to shop for, so maybe I'll take a cue from you and surprise her for her next birthday! Mind if I ask what kind of cost you were looking at for that setup (excluding the ornamental stuff since that'll vary so widely between owners' preferences)?

 

[idbowman]

Also, I noticed in your closeup that you have a tin of Kajun Kake...not to get way off subject, but I just went back and forth with myself over whether to buy a tin of that or of C&D's Bayou Morning (I've tried neither before). Any thoughts on either or both?

 

[i.keenum]

Not experienced in the cajun kake it is my first tin. I like it,it is a good strong smoke with a little sweetness. I'm mostly into aeros because my wife doesn't like anything else. But the pirique def comes through kinda like a nice dark coffee with a little pepper to it.

As far as the tank I transferred gravel and water from the old tank to keep the good bacteria and cycle the ammonia. They are nice and healthy plus put in a bacteria supplement. Watching a fish tank with a nice bowl is very relaxing.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Nice tank.

I don't know how much you know about fish, but I would encourage you to join a fish forum and educate yourself.

Just a quick bit of advice: You should do a 20% water change once a week for a while to make sure your fish don't succomb to "new tank syndrome" i.e. a build up of ammonia. This is caused by too much fish waste being introduced into a tank that has no beneficial bacteria built up yet. Also, get a flossy filter and don't throw it away. Just rince it out during every water change.

You can PM me if you have specific questions.

Good luck.

Todd

This. 8)

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Since you fish are primarily mbuna - Rift Lake Cichlids from Lake Malawi, these guys like hard water with some salt content (Instant Ocean) and a high PH.

Ideal for these guys would be 1-tsp per gallon of Instant Ocean or similar, and use Baking Soda to raise the PH to 8.3 minimum.

Been raising African Cichlids off and on for years now. Currently have a 75-long Oscar tank and a 29 with Julidochromis Transcriptus. Google them if curious.

Anyway, looks great and they'll love the rock ledges you provided for them. Almost makes me want to setup another one.

 

[Bub]

Here is the easy way
http://www.wimp.com/underwaterlife/

 

[Hermit]

Here is the easy way
http://www.wimp.com/underwaterlife/

Yeah, that's way more fun!

 

[Harlock999]

I've had the same koi in the same tank for over nine years.
I never thought he would be around so long. He's outlasted a few girlfriends... 8)

 

[Kyle Weiss]

My red-capped oranda "Ichi."

You have no idea how hard it is to try to photograph a moving goldfish under weird lighting. He's very active, stares at everyone outside the tank, eats veggies by hand, tries to follow them from one side to the other, coolest fish ever.

 

[Mordechaj]

this 200l tank

turned into this over few years

and I have a 60l red cherry shrimp tank in my bedroom

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Great setups, Mord. 8) That planted tank looks healthy. Where are the fish? :lol:

Love the shape of the shrimp tank!

 

[Mordechaj]

Thanks. I like to keep my aquariums with quite a lot of vegetation, it proved to be the biggest factor in water quality and stability. Because of the plant biomass I have no qualms about keeping green algae and snails in my tanks, especially the malayan trumpet snail - which burrows through the substrate and eats rotting plant matter.

The 200l one has ~12 rasbora harlequins, 4 siamese algae eaters, 4 corys, 1 pleco and 1 pearl trichogaster.

The smaller tank is designed to be looked at from slightly above, it holds smaller kind of rasboras and red cherry shrimps.