Afishionado

Thank you!! What you’ve done with your 75 is very cool as well! A different sort of inspiration

The 75 Gallon Showtank: So for starters, this is what my 75 gallon looked like in its “prime” thus far: I was quite proud of this tank, and only use this picture to show what I think this tank can be, and what I’ve proven I’m capable of already. However, in the year since this photo was taken, I have had a lot of fish “move out”, whether it was to a new home or unfortunate loss due to old age. I have also had a big spike in black beard algae presence, and have sold/lost/gifted a lot of my plants. Finally, after having grown out a group of blue polar tiger parrots in this tank, and knowing I wanted to do a reset very soon, I ripped all the plants out in an effort to catch the tiger parrots so I could sell them. I’ve also moved all of the remaining fish (2 young SAE’s that perplexingly won’t touch my BBA, 1 adult female wild type Bristlenose, 2 of her younger wild type children, the last Pygmy Cory, a runt boesmani rainbow, and couple straggler cardinal tetras, cherry barbs, young plates, and hengeli Rasboras) to a spare ten gallon. This leaves me with a tank that looks like this: Really from here, I know my general direction, but not exact plans. I will manually remove the bba from the plants and tank, but also would like to use something like ?hydrogen peroxide? to try and get as close to eradicating it as possible. I love my fx6, but as I want to focus more on simplicity, so I think I’ll be switching this tank over to sponge/box filtration, and want to start using a new 200W fluval e-series heater on this tank (I want to use Cory’s suggestion of running tanks cooler for less ornery and longer living fish). I also have never been a huge fan of root tabs, so I’m considering dirting this tank as well…. I also have a large amount of emergent peace lilies, pothos, and a spider plant that I want to nest at the waterline. Finally, for hard scape, I’ve removed the huge piece of Malaysian, as I found it just took up too much space where I’d prefer to have plants. So I’m considering now either no wood or rock and just limited hides and plants, or potentially the two pieces of wood on slate pictured below, which I’m considering nestling together and wrapping in Java moss: In terms of stocking, in addition to returning the fish that I removed temporarily from the tank, I want to potentially add to this tank the: African butterfly cichlids, kuhli loaches, panda cories, ottos, swordtails, and maybe the platies and/or some endlers? With such a great volume, I feel like this is a good tank for passive breeding and I would love to have many large groups of small fish breeding and growing out. With so many young Bristlenose being produced, I feel the 20 would be too small for grow out, and would like to move the babies into the 75 when they’re big enough, but worry that my large sword plant may get destroyed when they come to size - my three Bristlenose that had been in the tank with that plant never seemed to touch it though? I also would consider moving my adults super reds to the 75 and doing something else fun in the 20? Maybe the African butterflies and some schooling Fish, maybe something else? Finally for the livebearers and African butterflies, I feel some passive breeding would be very fun, and hopefully partially fund the hobby moving forward, even if the endler and platy babies end up just becoming food for some very well fed swordtails. I also am considering adding a few quarter-ish size angelfish to the tank as I know I have interest in potentially keeping an angelfish display some day, and want to start a growing out the young fish now, and they would also double for population control for the livebearers so it doesn’t get too out of hand. I also love pearl gouramis and Bolivian rams though… so many ideas. Really in general I don’t have any distinct plans for this tank, and would love as much advice or suggestions as you all may have. It appears that the first mini-essay I did was no fluke… I have a feeling that a lot of my updates will come in the occasional sporadic intensive, and while I still have a few more tanks to share, this is all I have time to fully type out today. Thank you again for reading this one, feel free to let me know your thoughts, and I hope to be much more active in maintaining this journal and activity on the forum in the coming weeks. Thanks everyone!

The 20H UGF Tank: This 20 gallon Aqueon kit was my first ever aquarium, and has been through many many iterations. I’ve kind of used it as my main experiment tank, as well as the home of a lot of my breeding and grow out. In line with these experiments, after being lucky enough to receive a huge bag of used Seachem Flourite, I decided it was finally time to go about setting up the under gravel filter I’d bought for this tank. I have an Aqueon QuietFlow 10 air pump running both the two heads of this Penn-Plax Under Gravel Filter, as well as my second diy box filter. Flow has tended to be quite slow, but being a UGF, I haven’t seen really any dead spots, and I prefer the gentler flow a lot of the time anyway. I then took every brick cave or hide I had and threw it into the tank, as my main goal was to provide as many possible caves for my plecos as possible. At some point I’d like to switch to a smaller one of those fancy stacks of water spikes and pleco caves the high level breeders use, but for now I’m sure this will do. I also filled the tank with Java moss because I believe it’s great for hosting little microorganisms, providing hiding spaces, and processing nitrates. In a similar vein, I have some pothos, a small spider plant, and a arrowhead plant sticking out the top of the tank for the time being, although I hope to move these to my 75 once it is back in business. The two sweet potatoes coming out of this tank aren’t moving though (I hear they’ll rot eventually, so I suppose the sweet potatoes are moving, but the shoots will stay), and I hope to eventually have a good amount of leaves around the top and sides of tank. I also have two very grown in pots of Anubias (barteri nana maybe?) which I am growing out, and a top covering of salvvinia for nitrate removal and selling to the lfs. In terms of stocking, I currently have 3 super red Bristlenose (1m/2f), ~3 Kuhli loaches, 2 leftover panda cories from back when I was breeding them, a group of male endless livebearers, a ton of young platies, 3 swordtails (1m/2f), and more ramshorn snails than I can count. There’s also supposed to be an assassin snail or two in there somewhere, theoretically. The final inhabitants of this tank are the reason behind the Penn-Plax net breeder at the front. After being away from home unexpectedly for a week, I came back to an absolutely huge clutch of eggs from the super red Bristlenose that I had nearly lost all hope of breeding. After waiting for the eggs to hatch and absorb nearly all of their yolks, I counted about 80 babies while moving them to their net. Full Tank View: One of the Female Bristlenose: Top Down View Into the Breeder Net:

Hey all… so long time no see… it’s been an especially busy couple of months for me, so unfortunately the forum had to take a quick back seat. I hope I can be more consistent in the future, but I’m the type who likes to be involved in a hundred different things, so I never know what my free time looks like. Anyways as far as aquariums go, I’ll start with my 10 Gallon Dirted Tank. This tank went through the algae bloom that I hear is typical for most dirtied tanks. I did manual removal of the algae for a while, but it was also loosely attached, so when I threw in the diy box filter I made (considering posting overview of how I made it, if there’s any interest) it was all sucked away into the filter quite quickly. After the algae was dealt with I switched to a sponge filter, and the box filter I think has acted as a pseudo-refugium now, with algae growth in there I think slowing down algae growth in the main tank? Once the tank was testing good, I did a test run with a few snails, and then decided to use the tank as quarantine for three new young swordtails and a pair of African Butterfly Cichlids, which I knew to be healthy but wanted to keep an eye on. I also added a passive co2 system I’m trying out, a lilaeopsis brasiliensis mat, and planted a pot of hydrocotyle tripartita japan, which are just starting to grow in. The hydrocotyle had been in a different personal tank beforehand, so some Java moss has also come along for the ride. Within the past week, I saw eggs miraculously appear from the African Butterflies, and so I removed the swordtails for fear of the eggs being eaten. However I also was emptying out my 75 gallon at the time (see below), and so I had to move my 4 ottos into the tank because I felt best about them getting access to algae in the 10. The eggs lasted about a day before some started disappearing, but were all eaten by the second morning. I haven’t been able to find a ton of information on breeding these guys online - I don’t know if anyone on hear has any experience? As I finish writing this I’ve been watching the pair chase each other around the tank, and it looks like they may have started digging a pit hidden away in the corner under behind the hydrocotyle Updated View of the Tank: The Male (are these breeding colours?): The Female and some ottos: The Female Guarding Her Eggs:

Wow your tanks look great. Always a fan of the dwarf Lillies. The Cory’s look like like they’re potentially Corydoras melanistius?

If you were looking to use a power filter, why not go with an internal filter in this situation? It won’t take up any back-wall space, can be hidden wherever needed, and is much less expensive and hard to maintain than a canister

The first couple of times my group of zebra loaches found an extra snail they’d missed during feeding time, I would freak right out trying to figure out where the cacophony of clicks was coming from. Those clicks were easily the loudest and most noticeable sound I’ve ever had any of my fish make.

Makes sense. Was just curious if there was another benefit I was missing. Sounds like a very nice set up you have in the works

I think the medium sponge makes the most sense as far as I’m aware. What’s your reasoning behind the mix of substrates?

Hi all! As I am planning the eventual “overhaul” of pretty well all of my aquariums in the near future, I figured this was a good time to start my journal, and follow the progress on all of these tanks. I‘l introduce each of my tanks as I come to them, but I currently have running a 75 gallon, 20H, 10 gallon, 5 gallon, 10 gallon quarantine, and a 2.5 I’m considering setting up at some point or another. The 75 will be the main focus of this journal I’m sure, as it has been my favourite tank thus far, and I’m always experimenting and trying new things, so I am sure that I will have questions galore. I should also mention that I am hoping to keep my tanks relatively low maintenance, and am hoping to eventually get each tank down to maybe one waterchange a month. Anywho, here’s my first tank to introduce: The 10 Gallon Dirted Tank: So after using this tank exclusively for breeding projects, grow out, and quarantine up to this point, I decided it was time it finally got set up a long term planted tank. After a solid scrub down, I used Krylon Fusion Gloss Black to paint the back of the tank (my first time painting a tank!!), and was quite happy with the results. I set a layer of egg crate on the bottom to try and prevent dirt creep. For the “dirt” layer, I ended up using worm castings, which I think should work similar to potting soil, but without paying for the huge wood chunks I had to sift out. I capped this with a generous inch or so of well washed traction sand - I wasn’t able to find pool filter sand locally, and in the spirit of experimentation, decided to give traction sand a shot. From there I filled the tank, and that is where it has been left since. I still want to add water movement of some sort, and was considering just a small water pump, but am now thinking it may be worth it to just throw a sponge filter in there to make it easy. Lighting is a Nicrew LED btw. My plan for this tank is either endlers livebearers, or more likely microrasboras and some little shrimps. Probably some ramshorn snails too. In terms of planting/scape, I’ll take any suggestions I can get. I really love Dwarf Aquarium lilies, but I feel like they reach such a size that they may be more well suited for my 20H or 75 gallon. Any advice at all is welcome! Just Dirt and Egg Crate: Add Sand and Water:

Looks like a dragonfly nymph to me

I don’t have much of a formal list, but there are definitely a few species that pop to mind. The Spotted Congo Puffer I mentioned is easily the top of that list. The Australian Lungfish is right there beside it, but I fully realize that one will most likely only ever remain a dream… Giant Red Kribs, African Butterfly Cichlids, and some of the L number plecos - Leopard Frogs, Queen Arabesque, etc - are all high on my list as well. These sort of rarer high dollar fish are still probably a few years out though. For now I’m happy to mess with Angels, tetras, and Cories. And yes, the gold Denison's are somewhere on that ever-growing list. Coooooooooool

Oh wow! That’s an awesome looking tank. Have you ever seen the golden Denison barbs? They were first introduced to me through a DansFish video a while ago. Oh and I just realized a cylinder tank is smart for them too. I find their movement is almost sharklike (they are the roseline sharks after all) and so the curved edges would be good for guiding them the same way it does with sharks a believe? That’s really interesting

@Miska thank you so much! They sure are! As a species I can’t say enough good things about them. They seem like the real gentle giants of the fish tank world. They don’t bother my plants, or my smaller tetras, or anything at all really. Just constantly meandering back and forth across the tank, always in their little school. My only wish is that I had a slightly larger tank for them.

My first thought looking at that picture is “gold long fin zebra danio”. I think @Miska is right that more pictures would definitely be beneficial though.

@Levi_Aquatics Thanks for the input, that makes sense. My changes and updates will probably be fairly spaced out too, so I think a single journal will be the way to go.

Wow such a stunning tank! What’s your substrate if you don’t mind me asking?

Super cool looking tank. What are you doing for filtration? It’s impressively well hidden whatever it is.

@rockfisher thanks for the info. I’ll keep it all in mind. @Levi_Aquatics thanks! I remember reading your grow tent journal back during my lurker days. It seems like a really cool idea. Also, I have one question for everyone regarding tank journals. I plan to document the progress of my 75, 20H, 10, and also potentially a 5 and 2.5 in the future. I have seen some people do one journal “thread” per tank, and others do one general journal for all of their tanks combined. Is there any specific deciding factors for choosing a method, or is it more personal preference?

Especially with that level of plant growth, I don’t think that would be overstocked at all. A pearl Gourami would be another great option for that tank. Both are peaceful fish in my experience.

You tanks look great Michael! I’m a big fan of the Figure 8 puffer. This 40B just screams “Bolivian Ram” at me. They’d make a nice centrepiece while not being too boisterous for the other fish imo.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! @BAT I think @rockfisher had some solid advice, and I especially want to emphasize the “pick a fish you love and build around it” part. I will also add to that the idea of setting a goal. Is your goal keeping and learning about a certain species? Trying to breed fish? Grow a whole lot of plants? Keep a biotope tank? A mix of the above? Being very clear about this goal helps with the decision making process a lot in my experience. Just a few quick ideas of 75 gallon stockings I’ve considered, and hope to try at one point or another, if you need a little inspiration: 1. A swordtail or mollie breeding tank. These fish seem to be somewhat less prolific than guppies (correct me if I’m wrong), so you’ll get overrun less quickly, and are large enough as adults to be noticeable as individuals in a 75. Also, I’ve found locally that swordtails and mollies are somewhat less common, especially locally bred, so you should hopefully have an easier time distributing the babies to other hobbyists once the tank starts getting quite full. As these are hard water fish, I’ve considered something like synodontis lucipinnis as a potential tank mate? They would probably help slow the livebearer population explosion as well. 2. A South American nano fish biotope/biotype. Start with a nice pair of apistos, get a mid sized group of cories (I love the pandas), and then fill the midwater with a couple different types of tetras (it’s such a big tank, I’d suggest starting schools at at least a dozen). Potential species could be rummynose, cardinal, emperor, gold, penguin, glass blood fin, x-ray, and more. Maybe try some pencil fish or hatchets (tight fitting lid and well quarantined!). And if you’ve got the cash, a real nice L number pleco - L471 dwarf snowball, L134 Leopard frog, etc. I’d highly suggest Catappa leaves for that black water effect as well. 3. A puffer tank. My bucketlist fish happens to be a Spotted Congo Puffer, but Amazon Puffers sound very cool as well. Large tetras, small rainbows, and midsized cories sound like potential options as tankmates? 4. A rainbowfish tank. I really enjoyed keeping my 75 as a rainbowfish tank. Boesmani and Neon Dwarfs have both been great species, Blues and Reds also sound great, and should be somewhat available. Same deal where I’ve found mixing in tetras and Cories have worked well. My one word of caution would be to not go too heavily on the hardscape or filling the tank with tall plants, as I’ve found this fish really enjoy their swimming space. Tons and tons of low growing and background plants really complimented the tank in my opinion though. My one warning thus far is to stay away from Denison Barbs in a 75. These fish came with the tank when I purchased it, but I’ve found they’re such big and powerful fish that they seem cramped in a 4ft tank. Part of the reason I want to switch to Angels or Opaline Gouramis is because I’m hoping to eventually rehome the Denisons locally to someone with a 6ft tank, to give them the space they deserve. They’re wonderful fish, but a 75 is just too cramped imo. @rockfisher I’m glad to hear you like the UGF. When you mentioned the lava rock, do you mean you put lava rock and then a layer of gravel on top of that? Or use that lava rock as the only substrate? What’s the benefit of this? I’m very interested to learn more about this type of filtration. thanks @CorydorasEthan! @MichaelL710 I say go for it with the Rainbows! They’re phenomenal fish

Hello all, After being a long time silent reader of the forum, I finally decided it was time I created an account and introduced myself. I’ve been keeping aquariums for approximately four years, and have a great interest in breeding fish, as well as keeping jungle-style heavily planted tanks (although none of my tanks have ever ended up quite as jungly as I’d like). I started out with a 20H where I kept a community tank, which naively included a male-female guppy pair, which subsequently turned into hundreds of guppies. This got me hooked on breeding, and in the next few months I started breeding blue neos, as well as bristlenose plecos out of this tank, and trying to grow them in my new 10 gallon (the start of my mts). Looking back, I recognize many things I would do different considering what I know now, however I still look back on this time fondly, and I think I learned a lot over this period. Since then I have experimented lots with my aquarium keeping, and highlights included purchasing my 75 gallon, which has been my pride and joy, as well as breeding blue tiger parrots, neon dwarf rainbows, boesmani rainbows, and somehow even my panda cories! My 75 Gallon in its prime: Mama blue tiger parrot, some baby rainbows, and one very blurry young cory: Papa blue tiger parrot, and his many offspring (the ring of Val was very temporary, ended up planted in gravel): The only photo evidence I have of my corydoras breeding - a group of offspring in a bucket on their way to my lfs: In terms of future plans, I feel my 75 gallon is no longer where I want it to be, and am considering switching it over to something new, perhaps featuring angelfish or opaline gouramis. My 20H I plan to dedicate to a breeding trio of super red bristlenose (unless they end up in the 75, still unsure), and I have recently purchased an under gravel filter for this tank which I am excited to try out. My 10 gallon I am in the process of setting up as a very experimental dirted tank, which someday will most likely feature either endler’s livebearers, neo shrimp, and/or maybe microrasboras of some sort. Life’s always busy, so any progress on my aquariums can take a while to be made, and I may not always be the most active on the forum. Either way, I’m excited to finally be able to share my hobby with fellow nerms, and greatly appreciate all I’ve already learned from this form!😁