flyingcow

and now we are getting into Cichlid land.. so I've tentatively named them A$#hole and Non-A$#hole. A$#hole has suddenly developed a very dark band on the eye and red on the tail. Non-A$#hole has not. Non-A$#hole keeps coming back for more, though... Edit: Yeah, that took less than an hour... I feel like a beginner all over again!

Ok. I'm gonna apologize in advance for my geeking out. This is my first time with Cichlids. They have now teamed up to explore the tank together. 15 years of keeping community fish never prepared me for the level of interaction of these little buddies.

It ain't easy with a phone. Remember, a phone's sensor is about a quarter the size of the sensor of a cheap point and shoot, nevermind a 1" or APS-C or 35mm. The big thing with smaller sensors is they need HUGE amounts of light. It becomes very challenging to photograph faster moving stuff in low light. Higher ISO or composite shots when the fish is calm can help.

Yeah I noticed with the Fluval Plant 3.0, after a power outage, you need to connect your phone in order to get the Bluetooth schedule up and running again. The only "smart" stuff I plan on doing is the pump (since it's only plugged in during a water change) and a heater safety. I'll have a separate thermocouple and a smart plug for the heater. If the heater stays on and goes runaway (had it happen in the past), ill get a notification and itll shut the heater off. If the power blips, I can program it to reset.

Edit: as an aside, plugging a submersible pump into a smart plug so you can control it with your phone rather than scrambling to unplug it when the tank is full is game changing...

2 Bolivian Rams are in the tank! I'll take some pictures once i turn the light back on. In talking with my LFS, they were of the opinion that a 36 is a great place to grow out Angels and EBA's, but not enough space for them in a community as adults. So I'm gonna a hold off until I have a better plan for when they grow up. I think I'll do either Rummy Nose or possibly Black Neons and see how the two Rams play out. If they pair up, then the bottom of the tank is theirs. If they don't maybe some Cory's join the fun. If not, maybe some Silver Hatchet's up top.

BUDDIES!

Just from moving them out of the quarantine tank and into the new tank, the plants are looking AMAZING! It's astonishing how much they perk up in two days. I might go pick up some buddies for the tank today depending on how my work schedule goes!

I'll get a better shot when the water clears a bit, but PLANTS ARE IN!

In the "never buy a kit aquarium" department. I realized that my stupid cartridge filter was the reason my cycle is taking so long. All the bacteria got held up on the cartridge floss, it plugged the filter, and I had to chuck the dang cartridge 24 hours after I put in bacteria. I decided to exact my revenge today. ...why is this rotating 90 degrees when I upload? Oh well, NO MORE CARTRIDGES! I spiked some more bacteria in there as well in hopes of getting some to settle in. For those playing at home, I have now replaced the light and the filter. All that is left is the lid (that already broke) and the heater.

I put up a little bit more detail on the project over here! Forgot to mention, that fluval 3.0 scheduling thread is how I heard of aquarium co-op... then I found a Youtube channel!

After about a 20 year hiatus, I'm getting fish again! My awesome wife got me a 36 gallon bowfront for my birthday, and we are getting it ready now. I figured this is as good a place as any to document our misadventure! I started a fishless cycle with Dr Tim's. I'm not sure how well the bottled bacteria held up, but next time I try it, I'm going to get it straight from them instead of paying for Jeff Bezos to tear down Dutch bridges. Currently there's a bunch of driftwood and a few rocks in the tank... plus a fake plant thing that will be removed, but it was holding down some of the driftwood while it sank. (don't judge my little plane... I like my little plane) While this is cycling (we are very much so in the land of Nitrate spike at this point), I've been slowly and slightly obsessively accumulating plants in a 5 gallon tank I'm going to use for quarantine. Apparently Dwarf Baby tears actually really like floating... who'da thunk? My java ferns need to be trimmed back of all the brown crap, and I have one Dwarf Sagitaria that isn't looking so good. The one I got from the Co-op is looking great though! I have these guys lit for 8 hours a day, and every few days, they get a squirt of all in one. Hopefully, these plants will make the trip across the living room next week, and I'll be able to get some fish soon! We have well water here, and, while it isn't SUPER hard, it's Carbonate Hardness is high enough that getting the pH below 8.2 is really difficult. The original fill was well water, but I now have a 50gpd RO and am building water with a more reasonable KH and lower pH. All this because I REALLY like South American fish. Eventually, I'll semi-automate the RO down in the basement with a batching tank and storage tank. I'm pretty sure that when the RO came home was when my wife regretted getting me the tank. As far as fishies, I'm planning on two Bolivian Rams, a school of either Rummynose, Emperor, or Colombian Tetras, and an Angelfish, or an Electric Blue Acara... or a Flag Cichlid... or a Keyhole Cichlid... Anyone have thoughts on an EBA or Flag Cichlid in a 36 gallon tank? I feel like I'm pushing it there. That said, we have the space and resources to move this tank to the other side of the room and put in something bigger eventually when they grow. This should be fun, and I've already found a bunch of things I would have done differently had I known more when we bought the tank a couple weeks ago (cough... substrate... cough). Thanks for reading, and as we progress, I'll keep this up to date! Should I also do updates on the water treatment side? That's one of those places where my career and hobbies meet, so I think I'm going to nerd out a bit.

oh yeah, a fluval 3.0 was bought less than 48 hours after I bought the tank 🤣

Thanks! It's a plant out cycle. I have plants hanging out in a 5 gal quarantine tank (my dwarf sag isn't doing well, but everything else is). I started the cycle before seeing Cory's video and reading Diana Walstad's book. I'm still forming an opinion on all of this (especially how it is substrate and somewhat pH dependent), but I decided to stick with Dr. Tim's method since that's how I started it. Next tank, I'm gonna get the plants right in and do some science!

Well hey there, and greetings from New Hampshire! I kept fish for my entire childhood (mostly in a 10 gallon tank my mother still has), but haven't had any for the past 20 ish years. This year, my wife got me a 36 gallon bowfront for my birthday, and I'm stoked to jump back in! We got the tank a couple of weeks ago, and I'm in the process of doing a fishless cycle on it, while accumulating plants in a 5 gallon quarantine tank (which is already starting to be a learning experience). This is going to be my first real attempt at a planted tank, so I'm sure I have a ton to learn! I am putting my chemical engineering background into play and refusing to use our super high pH water without treatment, so I'm building RO water up to something a bit more palatable for South American fish. I'm pretty sure when the RO was set up was when my wife started regretting getting the tank... but she married an engineer, so jokes on her! I'm planning on bringing home a couple of Bolivian Rams, some sort of schooling fish (Rummynose? Colombian? Emperor?), and possibly an angel or a pair of keyhole cichlids. I guess when I get home, I'll get some pictures and start up a journal. Seems like a good place to document these shenanigans.