rothenb1
06-18-2010, 12:40 AM
When I first came to this site, I had no idea about the aquarium journals. So I'm going to start one now!
Be prepared for a novel, but then pictures!
In August 2009, my boyfriend (whom I live with... who shall now be referred to by his name, since he does, in fact, have one) expressed interest in an aquarium. I had been working at a pet store for a while by then and had become very interested in fish myself.
So when we could scrape together enough money, in October we purchased a 30 gallon with all the accoutrements: Marineland Penguin 200 filter, stealth heater, digital thermometer, gravel, et cetera. I ended up buying a stand at a local thrift store, and I was so lucky: someone had JUST dropped off a wooden stand meant for a 30 gallon tank, only 20 USD! It wouldn't fit in my car so they delivered it-- and they forgot to deliver it when scheduled, so they did it for free!
I started out with live plants, but since I had no knowledge on how to keep plants (and no one told me how to care for them), they all died. I became disillusioned from this so now I have tons of plastic plants. I don't mind them, but some day soon I'd like to go back to live now that I know what I'm doing.
When I noticed my plants dying I joined a different aquarium forum which shall remain nameless. I asked if I better lighting would help the plants. Their response? I couldn't keep live plants without having a CO2 injection system. HA!
We set the tank up and had the filter running for a week. I had no idea about cycling so there was no BB in the water. When we went to go get fish at the LFS, the man at least had the sense to ask if we had any BB in the water. When I said no, he gave us a bag full of juice he squeezed from a sponge filter to get us started. Thank goodness he did!
We bought two serpae and two red eye tetra, and one pearl gourami. I soon learned that tetras were schooling fish, so I decided to get a few more of each. Yet again, I asked on the other forum: will tetras of the same species school together even if they're not from the same original tank? Most people said that they would be fine, but one man picked the most ridiculous fight with me: because these tetras were captive bred they didn't need to be in groups-- basically that they didn't have the same needs as a wild fish. So I gave him this analogy: a captive bred wolf still needs a pack! Just because he's captive bred doesn't mean he conforms to what we want, he's still got innate psychological needs. Anyway he basically told me I was stupid and wrong, and when I told him I was finishing a degree in animal behavior so I was pretty sure I was right in this aspect, he told me to "hit the books". WHAT A JERK! (And this is why I adore this forum-- everyone is nice and understanding and no one would pick a ridiculous fight like that!)
We soon added more gouramis. Sam really had a fascination with them, and I didn't mind them. I just wanted my tetras, I still love tetras. So we added two more of each tetra and one gold and one blue gourami. Later we got three false-julii corydoras and 4 bloodfin and 4 penguin tetras. At one point we noticed that our gouramis fins were tattered, and after some observation we saw that the serpae and red eye tetras were chasing them, so these fish were taken back to the store. An opaline and moonlight gourami were acquired.
Then I came to this lovely site! We had decided to do a serious upgrade because our interest in fish had expanded quite a lot, and I was learning more and more each day. Everyone here is just so incredibly helpful with everything. Because of this site, I have learned so much, and now I am actually able to give proper advice to people!
So we got a 90 gallon in the beginning of March. We kept our old stock, but since then almost all of it has been replaced. We had been planning to give the 30 gallon to a friend, but when he never came to pick it up we set back up. I put my 4 bloodfin and 4 penguin tetras and 3 corydoras in there. Over time, I expanded my tetra schools to 8, and added celebes rainbows. I had 11 originally, 5 males and 6 females, but 4 of the males and one female died, sadly (I did add them all at once but knew about ammonia spikes and doing water changes, but I think they died because I bought them at the store where I worked which had a really cruddy aquarium system). That was actually the first time we ever lost a fish. I purchased three more cories, but two of them died recently. Soon I found more celebes at the LFS so I got my 4 males back!
Current stocking of the 30 gallon: 8 penguin, 8 bloodfin tetra, 9 celebes rainbows, 4 false julii corydoras, 1 BN pleco, 5 border loaches (I'm hoping to acquire a used 55 from craigslist [birthday present, Sam?] and that tank's going to be upgraded... again!!!) Sam wants to get rid of the 30, but I want a pair of rams in there! And of course, gotta add some other fish too....
Soon all the three-spot gouramis were replaced. We still have the pearl and the moonlight in there, we are having trouble parting with them, but I am worried about their safety with the current stocking. Everyone seems to be getting along well, for now. The three-spots were still getting along fine, but Sam lost interest in them and decided he liked SA cichlids. Again, I wasn't crazy about them but I didn't mind them, so I went along with it. Now I like them a lot!
Current stocking of the 90 gallon: 1 BN pleco, 1 redtail shark, 1 pearl and 1 moonlight gourami, 4 Geophagus pindare, 2 Biotodoma wavrini, 2 green and 1 gold severum, and a jack dempsey (which I wasn't too crazy about getting but Sam said he did a lot of research and they are generally peaceful if with other similar aggressive fish. The JD is the biggest fish in the tank [6 in] and actually is so peaceful that the pindare boss her around! She hides under her log most of the time but has become much more social recently. If I see any signs of aggression, though, she's out!)
We then acquired a 55 gallon from a friend, and Sam decided he wanted African cichlids. Again, I went along with it (who wears the pants in this fish relationship??). There's 11 Malawi cichlids in there, I believe it's a mix of peacocks, pseudotropheus and I think there's a hap or two in there. I'm not sure if this is the best mix but I'm still on the lookout for any aggression.
I added 4 blue botia to this tank. I adore loaches and when I saw these guys in the store I HAD to have them.
So, current stocking of 55: 10 cichlids, 4 blue botia, 1 6 inch albino BN pleco.
Sometime in February I snatched my lovely Mr Betta (RIP) from the store where I worked and stuck him in a 5gal. He died recently :(
So within 9 months we acquired four tanks... and it seems as if at least another 55 is in the future... and Sam has his eyes on a 125... I'm not gonna argue with that because the stocking in the 90 will soon need a 6 foot tank, and I still have my clown loaches on hold waiting for said 6 foot tank!
Now that you've (maybe) read my entire fishy-life story, here's some pictures!
This was the 30 gallon when it was the only tank we had. Looking at this picture... this tank stinks. We've since become much better interior decorators!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs127.snc3/17452_1187613453904_1335330097_30845357_6295256_n. jpg
You can see the gouramis, serpae and red eye tetras in that picture.
Currently, the 30 gallon:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4703529387_25f6157f5f.jpg
Still have my pots... I like them. And so do the loaches! (I have a bubble wall back there but turned it off temporarily to take better pictures... which I'm still having trouble doing!)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/4703528535_800cfe49e7.jpg
One of the male celebes. These guys and the tetras are really hard to get pictures of!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs315.snc3/28434_1218645429684_1335330097_30927966_5860009_n. jpg
Be prepared for a novel, but then pictures!
In August 2009, my boyfriend (whom I live with... who shall now be referred to by his name, since he does, in fact, have one) expressed interest in an aquarium. I had been working at a pet store for a while by then and had become very interested in fish myself.
So when we could scrape together enough money, in October we purchased a 30 gallon with all the accoutrements: Marineland Penguin 200 filter, stealth heater, digital thermometer, gravel, et cetera. I ended up buying a stand at a local thrift store, and I was so lucky: someone had JUST dropped off a wooden stand meant for a 30 gallon tank, only 20 USD! It wouldn't fit in my car so they delivered it-- and they forgot to deliver it when scheduled, so they did it for free!
I started out with live plants, but since I had no knowledge on how to keep plants (and no one told me how to care for them), they all died. I became disillusioned from this so now I have tons of plastic plants. I don't mind them, but some day soon I'd like to go back to live now that I know what I'm doing.
When I noticed my plants dying I joined a different aquarium forum which shall remain nameless. I asked if I better lighting would help the plants. Their response? I couldn't keep live plants without having a CO2 injection system. HA!
We set the tank up and had the filter running for a week. I had no idea about cycling so there was no BB in the water. When we went to go get fish at the LFS, the man at least had the sense to ask if we had any BB in the water. When I said no, he gave us a bag full of juice he squeezed from a sponge filter to get us started. Thank goodness he did!
We bought two serpae and two red eye tetra, and one pearl gourami. I soon learned that tetras were schooling fish, so I decided to get a few more of each. Yet again, I asked on the other forum: will tetras of the same species school together even if they're not from the same original tank? Most people said that they would be fine, but one man picked the most ridiculous fight with me: because these tetras were captive bred they didn't need to be in groups-- basically that they didn't have the same needs as a wild fish. So I gave him this analogy: a captive bred wolf still needs a pack! Just because he's captive bred doesn't mean he conforms to what we want, he's still got innate psychological needs. Anyway he basically told me I was stupid and wrong, and when I told him I was finishing a degree in animal behavior so I was pretty sure I was right in this aspect, he told me to "hit the books". WHAT A JERK! (And this is why I adore this forum-- everyone is nice and understanding and no one would pick a ridiculous fight like that!)
We soon added more gouramis. Sam really had a fascination with them, and I didn't mind them. I just wanted my tetras, I still love tetras. So we added two more of each tetra and one gold and one blue gourami. Later we got three false-julii corydoras and 4 bloodfin and 4 penguin tetras. At one point we noticed that our gouramis fins were tattered, and after some observation we saw that the serpae and red eye tetras were chasing them, so these fish were taken back to the store. An opaline and moonlight gourami were acquired.
Then I came to this lovely site! We had decided to do a serious upgrade because our interest in fish had expanded quite a lot, and I was learning more and more each day. Everyone here is just so incredibly helpful with everything. Because of this site, I have learned so much, and now I am actually able to give proper advice to people!
So we got a 90 gallon in the beginning of March. We kept our old stock, but since then almost all of it has been replaced. We had been planning to give the 30 gallon to a friend, but when he never came to pick it up we set back up. I put my 4 bloodfin and 4 penguin tetras and 3 corydoras in there. Over time, I expanded my tetra schools to 8, and added celebes rainbows. I had 11 originally, 5 males and 6 females, but 4 of the males and one female died, sadly (I did add them all at once but knew about ammonia spikes and doing water changes, but I think they died because I bought them at the store where I worked which had a really cruddy aquarium system). That was actually the first time we ever lost a fish. I purchased three more cories, but two of them died recently. Soon I found more celebes at the LFS so I got my 4 males back!
Current stocking of the 30 gallon: 8 penguin, 8 bloodfin tetra, 9 celebes rainbows, 4 false julii corydoras, 1 BN pleco, 5 border loaches (I'm hoping to acquire a used 55 from craigslist [birthday present, Sam?] and that tank's going to be upgraded... again!!!) Sam wants to get rid of the 30, but I want a pair of rams in there! And of course, gotta add some other fish too....
Soon all the three-spot gouramis were replaced. We still have the pearl and the moonlight in there, we are having trouble parting with them, but I am worried about their safety with the current stocking. Everyone seems to be getting along well, for now. The three-spots were still getting along fine, but Sam lost interest in them and decided he liked SA cichlids. Again, I wasn't crazy about them but I didn't mind them, so I went along with it. Now I like them a lot!
Current stocking of the 90 gallon: 1 BN pleco, 1 redtail shark, 1 pearl and 1 moonlight gourami, 4 Geophagus pindare, 2 Biotodoma wavrini, 2 green and 1 gold severum, and a jack dempsey (which I wasn't too crazy about getting but Sam said he did a lot of research and they are generally peaceful if with other similar aggressive fish. The JD is the biggest fish in the tank [6 in] and actually is so peaceful that the pindare boss her around! She hides under her log most of the time but has become much more social recently. If I see any signs of aggression, though, she's out!)
We then acquired a 55 gallon from a friend, and Sam decided he wanted African cichlids. Again, I went along with it (who wears the pants in this fish relationship??). There's 11 Malawi cichlids in there, I believe it's a mix of peacocks, pseudotropheus and I think there's a hap or two in there. I'm not sure if this is the best mix but I'm still on the lookout for any aggression.
I added 4 blue botia to this tank. I adore loaches and when I saw these guys in the store I HAD to have them.
So, current stocking of 55: 10 cichlids, 4 blue botia, 1 6 inch albino BN pleco.
Sometime in February I snatched my lovely Mr Betta (RIP) from the store where I worked and stuck him in a 5gal. He died recently :(
So within 9 months we acquired four tanks... and it seems as if at least another 55 is in the future... and Sam has his eyes on a 125... I'm not gonna argue with that because the stocking in the 90 will soon need a 6 foot tank, and I still have my clown loaches on hold waiting for said 6 foot tank!
Now that you've (maybe) read my entire fishy-life story, here's some pictures!
This was the 30 gallon when it was the only tank we had. Looking at this picture... this tank stinks. We've since become much better interior decorators!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs127.snc3/17452_1187613453904_1335330097_30845357_6295256_n. jpg
You can see the gouramis, serpae and red eye tetras in that picture.
Currently, the 30 gallon:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4005/4703529387_25f6157f5f.jpg
Still have my pots... I like them. And so do the loaches! (I have a bubble wall back there but turned it off temporarily to take better pictures... which I'm still having trouble doing!)
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1302/4703528535_800cfe49e7.jpg
One of the male celebes. These guys and the tetras are really hard to get pictures of!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs315.snc3/28434_1218645429684_1335330097_30927966_5860009_n. jpg