Aquariums

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Anyone into aquariums/fish keeping ?

I have switched my African Cichlid (my last old boy of 10 years died two months ago ) set-up to a more peaceful community tank with Zebra Danio , Serpae Tetra and Red Eye Tetra . I absolutely love this hobby , nothing more peaceful than watching a school of fish swimming and darting from one side to the other while the plants sway in the current and the sound of the trickling of water from the filter return .
 

KenB

New Member
After having been 'out of' the aquariums since the kids were small and growing, we have just set up another a week ago. I agree, although I have sort of forgotten how peacefull they are, it's all came back. Along with the "need" to upgrade... But yes it is most relaxing!
 

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
I have had a hard time keeping up with them. I had a 55 gallon that I gave back to my brother, and still have a 20 gallon. They were nice to look at, but always seemed to get a lot of algae, and the filters needed changing very often.

The wife does not care for them, but the kid likes it sometimes. She has tried climbing the stands which worries me, but has gotten better about it.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Because of the nitrates is why algae grows so readily in an aquarium . Try getting live plants for your set-up . They will compete with the algae for the nitrate and if you have enough live plants , the live plants will win out . It's hard to find that perfect balance of live plants , after all the years I have kept fish I am still looking for it , but since I started using live plants my algae problem is manageable . What little of it that now grows is dealt with by my otocinclus (algae eater) . And direct sunlight will really get it going also , that and running aquarium light too long .They say to run your light for 10 hours , I have mine on for 8 hrs. . The light in the living room is enough for them to see by in the evening after feeding .

I like a little algae though ,just enough for my Oto to graze on between feedings and also I don't like that sterile look of a new aquarium . Just doesn't look natural to me .
 

jason

Seanchaí
Staff member
I had both in the center of the house. I did try live plants without much luck too. I had some Cichlis with the live plants and they dug them up. I liked the natural look though, so it could have been something to do with the wood in it.

I think it comes down to the time it takes to maintain it.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
Cichlids are omnivores and the will pick around on plants and/or flat out tear them to shreds . I know mine did , I even switched to platic plants and they worked them over pretty well also .

Once it is set up and established one day a week should do the trick in maintaining it . I do a 40% partial water change and small bit of maintenance every Sunday . I don't use activated carbon , so I never change my filters till they fall apart , just rinse them out in the fish bucket with the old aquarium water and pop them back in .
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
After having been 'out of' the aquariums since the kids were small and growing, we have just set up another a week ago. I agree, although I have sort of forgotten how peacefull they are, it's all came back. Along with the "need" to upgrade... But yes it is most relaxing!
Ken ,

I just caught your "need to upgrade " part . I think that is a big problem for all in hobby , there is always that heater , light etc; etc; you just have to have or your walking around the house seeing where you can place a larger aqaurium . I am now getting myself a new Aquaticlife T-5 high output dual bulb lighting system that has both a bulb for plants and a bulb for the fish . I am also going to make the switch over from a Hang on back filter to a canister filter later down the road . I also have my eye on a titanium submersible heater .
 

JohnQ

New Member
I would love to have an aquarium one day but right now I just don't think I have the time to invest (or the money) in it. Maybe once our little one gets a little older.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
You can find great deals on Craig's list for set-ups on the cheap . And if you go for a freshwater community set-up , the fish are very inexpensive . But you are right , one must have the time to invest in them first .
 

alice30

New Member
What to put in it

I bought and aquarium. I want to get a pet for my son so he can learn to be responsible. He doesn't want fish though. It is down between a turtle and a lizard. Any suggestions?
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
How old is your son ? Young reptiles should not be handled by very young children , they carry deceases that can be a threat to a child . Young turtles are not even allowed to be sold in my state anymore because of this .

But , if you do get an aquatic turtle , let's say a painted turtle . They have the same level of care that fish need . They need a lot of water to swim and dry land to warm themselves and to rest . Their water must be filtered and changed regularly . They are very messy , believe me I have had them , and can take a lot of work to keep healthy . I could go on but it would take pages .

With lizards , the size of your tank would come into play . Iguanas would be ruled out unless the tank you bought is extremely massive as they can grow to be very large . Any monitor lizard would be too dangerous as they can be mean and need expert care . A nice terrarium with a Gecko would fit the bill . A 10 gal tank would do them nicely , just make sure you do the research and get all they need to thrive . Here's a great link that should help .... Crested Geckos
 

jenlee

New Member
I like our aquarium, but would love an upgrade also. our tank is only a 10 gallon tank and I want a much larger one, but money and time are lacking in my household right now!
 

greatness in you

New Member
plecos

I have a foot plus long common pleco in my office as a solitary fish (cause he ate everyone else) in a 40 gallon tank. feeder fish 9 of them and a shark with a smaller pleco in my living room(I agree with you Ashler) about the sound and my son has a crawfish in a 10 gallon in his room.
 
G

Gary

Guest
I've got 2 male Bettas (in two separate large bowls) does that count?:D

Actually I've had several aquariums in the past. The wife decided we needed more space in the house, so I scaled down...:rolleyes:
 

TrowelTalk

New Member
I got into the hobby for a good 15 years or so. Made all the newbie mistakes, kept changing my mind of what type of environment I wanted to create (and how). I bought every book I could find on the subject and devoured information and spent more than a few buck$.

I gave my aquariums and fish away when I moved from California to Maryland, always planning on re-starting the hobby from scratch; but haven't gotten around to it yet.
 

thebrianmo

Member
We don't have an aquarium....yet. But we do have a fish bow with three Goldfish in it. My sister-in-law came to visit and we went to our local fair and she won them and of course could not take them back to Pennsylvania with her. I didn't want them, but they've grown on me a little. I think I'd be lost without them now, lol. We've considered an aquarium so that we would not have to change their water quite as often if we had a filter and all that.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
I have been so preoccupied as of late fighting BBA (brush algae) in my 30 gal. planted that I have thought of little else . It piggied back in on a bunch of plants that I ordered and now it is taking over , and this stuff is a pain to get rid of of . I destroyed the plants when , after a few days I noticed the BBA growing on it but it was too late , the genie was out of the bottle . This is day 7 of a blackout , and hasn't fazed it . I am now going to start doing partial water changes everyday , and dosing each and every spot of algae with Flourish Excel and hope that does the trick and may as a last resort try and control the phosphates more by using Phos-guard .
 

BG_TRBL

Watcher of the posts
We have gotten a 10 gal. and have been trying with goldfish first, then tetras. We haven't had such good luck though. Been trying, we upgraded our filter, try to keep it clean with partial water changes every week. We've been having some difficulty keeping the fish alive. This week we had a problem with green algae on the walls and ornaments. Not sure what has been happening, but we aren't having very good luck. Did a complete water change last night, and lost 2 of the 4 fish. Do you think an aireator would help, or work to keep them alive. I just don't have any experience with fish, but would love to have a nice aquarium. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
 

Ashlar2006

Masonic Mafia
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