College Apartment Fishroom Build

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

9 hours ago, quirkylemon103 said:

Are you "freshwater convert" from reef2reef? if so I just read your build/question thread for your mantis shrimp tank

Yes I am 😁😁😁 yup that was probably my thread. I ended up getting a different species than the title tho but idk how to change it 😅

[Lemon]

8 hours ago, Steph’s Fish and Plants said:

Yes I am 😁😁😁 yup that was probably my thread. I ended up getting a different species than the title tho but idk how to change it 😅

I can't figure out how to change titled either

[Garren]

1 hour ago, quirkylemon103 said:

I can't figure out how to change titled either

To change the title you have to go to the original (first post) the use the edit button. Should be able to change the title there. Hope this helps

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Thanks for the tip @Garren I’m trying to find it 😅

[Daniel]

It is the 3 dots in the upper right.🙂

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Thanks for the help @Danielbut I’m actually trying to change the name of a post on a different forum than this one 😅😅 sorry it’s complicated lol

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Alrighty, so I accidentally took a hiatus from this forum because college is Busy, so here’s gonna be quite the update. I’ve lost a few fish randomly here and there, so rn I’ve got 5 CPDs, 4 gertrudae rainbows, 6 habrosus corydoras, 2 super red plecos (1 male 1 female) and an apisto hongsloi male in my 20 long. My 10 gallon is exploding with shrimp, has 9 Glo lite danios (added 3 more yesterday) my betta Drogo, and 2 stiphodon gobies. My saltwater tank is doing well, I have a purple spot mantis shrimp and lots of corals. 
 

Got a pink crypt flamingo coming in the mail from the CoOp, and about 10 minutes after I got the shipping notification I realized I forgot intake sponges 🤦🏼‍♀️ So I’ll be ordering those and the ziss brine Hatcher probably. 
 

In addition to the Glo lite danios I also got some S Repens for the first time and a red crypt wendtii from my LFS on Monday. Today or tomorrow I’ll probably grab a few more CPDs.

Monday I also isolated a pair of my CPDs and my gertrudaes into breeder boxes with subwassertang to try and get them to spawn. I’ve had CPDs spawn once for me in the past right before I went on a 3 week vacation and lost the fry while I was gone. Since then I’ve added an apisto and haven’t seen any fry since, so I’m gonna try with the breeder boxes again. 
 

woo, alright I think that about sums it up at least for now 😅

[Lemon]

mantis shrimp are kind of scary. the 20 long is looking amazing 🙂

[Jeremy_fishguy]

On 8/22/2020 at 1:16 PM, Taylor Blake said:

I had At one time 5 tanks in my college dorm they had no rules about it until I was gone. I just drove my fish their and back and I would buy tanks while I was there and sell the tanks before I had to move out for the summer. I would trade up on craigslist a lot. That is how I ended up with a lot of tanks bigger tanks cheap. I think in all trading buying and selling I made 500 bucks keeping fish and selling tanks. This is a 58 gallon native tank I had

This is GOLD!

Im currently living in a dorm and have four tanks. I fought the residence provider on their terms and conditions and managed to get them to approve me having a tank haha. I think they only think I have one take though - oops.

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

My dorm itself had no rules on how many tanks, just couldn’t be over 10 gallons (oops I broke that 😅) my current apartment no limits on how many, just that they can’t be over 20 gallons, and nothing about no salt or fresh or whatever.

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Some smaller updates, I did end up getting 3 more CPDs yesterday and they’re so smol 😭 so I’ll be feeding lots of frozen and live foods to help grow them up, and get the adults spawning. I got my pink crypt flamingo from the coop and got it planted in the easy planter, however I Did take it out of the rock wool and planted it in eco complete in the pot, I’m excited to see how that goes. 2 easy planters in a 20 long does take up quite a bit of space tho 😅. The crypt is melting back hard but I’m hoping 🤞🏻 It comes back for me. 
 

Also, I got some great photos of my apisto hongsloi so I had to share. I’m going to try and find him a girlfriend this summer 🤞🏻

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Well guys, it’s been a year now since I moved into my current apartment, and it’s time to move again! 
 

Sorta.

I need to condense my fishroom into my bedroom so my new roommate can move in, which means everything has to move. Not very far, but it’s gonna be tedious.

I Also want to put up a rack system to move everything into instead of tying up my desk and dresser space. 
 

Right now, my two main challenges are figuring out what order to move things, and figuring out what to do about the rack system. My 20 long is standalone but I want to combine it with my 10 gallon freshwater, which currently shares some electrical with my saltwater, which shares a reservoir with my bioactive enclosure. However, I work a ton this week and want to only move a tank at a time, and it has to be done by this weekend. 
 

Wish me luck Nerms, and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

At least the majority of my cresties will be easy 😅

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Well it’s time for an update. The rack is currently in stasis, I think I need to get the wood cut another time to fit a little less snugly so it doesn’t bow the shelf at all. 
 

In better news tho, I got wrestling halfbeaks! These are the gold variety, which have the same bacteria as that which gives the gold tetra it’s color. I got them this morning and drip acclimated them for about an hour or so, maybe even a bit more. CoOp fry food seems to be a hit.

Then, I came home to my CoOp order coming a day early. I didn’t have time to really unpack it other than chuck the plants in my tank, but I got the Ziss hatchery so I’m excited to really be pumping out BBS

[Lemon]

halfbeaks are so cool! they look like tiny gars.

do you have any shrimp in there? if you do please let me know how the halfbeaks do with them

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Oh my has it been a long time. The past few months have been insane for me to say the least 😅 but that’s not what we are here for. We are here for fish.

I had 2 successful spawns of my super red Bristlenose pair but was unsuccessful in raising *most* of the fry. I have 1 remaining individual, I believe the apisto Viejita pair is responsible. I finally got the wood for the aquarium rack fit to the right size and moved the 20long over. However, I tried to leave all the fish in there and while most everyone is ok, I did lose the female super red bristlenose pleco and have yet to find another one since 😔 so I’ve put that breeding project on the back burner.

I also did lose one of the halfbeaks but the remaining three are doing amazing, I think I had too many males and so he was getting bullied and outcompeted (this happened about a month, maybe more after the tank move). 

In better news, I added a group of 6 Beckfords red pencil fish to the 20, 3 males and 3 females and they’ve added so much activity it’s amazing. Also, my tanks have become subwassertang factories somehow because I just threw away probably $15 worth of credit from my LFS bc I was lazy and didn’t feel like bagging it and waiting a day to bring it in (I’ve already brought it in so many times we are kinda full of it anyways at the store).

And now for the biggest and probably weirdest bit of news: I’m getting a spotted congo puffer. However, I can’t get the tank setup for him yet, but my friend/coworker/about to be manager at my LFS (I work at my LFS btw lol) Can setup a tank at his apartment for one, so he got a stand today for it and will get the tank setup shortly. At the latest I’ll be setting the tank up at my place sometime next summer when I move to another state and will be upgrading to a 40 breeder during the move to downsize on number of tanks (10g is gonna get the axe. And possibly the 20long as well, we will see). I’m extremely excited as this has been my dream fish for several years now, I’ve got @Preston John podcast interview with @Randy going on repeat to help refresh all the countless hours of research I’ve already put into this fish (and there will be countless more).

 

Alright, I believe that sums it up for now. Attached are pics of the baby pleco from today, I think they’re roughly 2 months old, maybe a little less. I don’t know if they’re from the first spawn or the second. The plan after the move was to setup a fry raising tank and strip the caves but since I lost the female I’ve not had a reason to.

On 8/14/2021 at 11:46 AM, quirkylemon103 said:

halfbeaks are so cool! they look like tiny gars.

do you have any shrimp in there? if you do please let me know how the halfbeaks do with them

I don’t have any shrimp at this time. I will say that my halfbeaks spend most of their time at the top of the tank. I would image a large, well established planted aquarium with lots of nooks and crannies and hiding spaces and a well established shrimp colony you would be alright. I could be wrong, but based on their behavior thus far they don’t spend much time in the same spaces shrimp do. It’s possibly that they’d hunt them given the chance, so I wouldn’t put them with something other than neocaridina to start out with just to be on the safe side.

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

To say that today has been one of the highlights of my fish keeping and fish store working career would be an understatement. The schoutedeni puffers came in today and are looking even more amazing in person than they do online. I’ve been obsessed since the moment the guy walked in. There’s 4 males and 1 female. I’m not sure yet if I want one of the males or the female. But regardless I’m Extremely excited. Theyre full grown and are a mix of wild caught and F1, the guy said he no longer remembers which were which. They’ve been through a round of metro but I will be deworming with a few rounds of prazi pro. 
 

and now for the part you’ve all been waiting for… the photos!

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Well guys, after much deliberation I’ve decided to go with 1 male in a 40 breeder for now. I may still get the female, or get a remaining pair in the hands of a coworker and work with them to spawn them. That’s still up in the air. But for now, here’s my boy who I’m thinking of calling Domino

[Flowerhorn_K]

He's so cute!!!

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Let’s kick off 2022 with some full tank shots and some updates!

Biggest fishkeeping update: I have baby halfbeaks! They were just born today, I started a thread in the fish breeding section so go check that out for more info.

Also fish breeding related, my one remaining super red Bristlenose fry is now almost an inch and has great coloration! I’m hoping to source a new female this year so I can get that project going again.

I also have a pretty big move coming later this year, it’ll be the second time I’m moving across state lines and I’m excited because I’ll be upgrading when I move but I’m also nervous bc it’s gonna be a big task. 
 

I also want to be more active in the online fish keeping community on this forums and on social media in general this year but this is a pretty big semester for school so we will see.

 

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

Alrighty, lots of light shuffling is occurring in the fishroom rn. The planted 3.0 has been running just over a week and I’m getting some great growth on my plants and my Val absolutely exploded. I mounted it using zip ties to the underside of the shelf above, and I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. The workroom is really nice being able to see and not worrying about dropping or bumping it, but I’m getting wayyyy too much light spill into the room and the black strip in the lid is cutting out the entire middle of the tank. I may end up either finding a new solution for the lid or taking the light back down. 
 

here’s some pics of the tank before I moved a bunch of plants and deco around.

And here are some photos from after. I moved the caves around to give the apistos some better, easier to defend areas to spawn as well as removed a pleco cave to have more room for plants, which I also shoveled around. 

[Levi_Aquatics]

Looking good! I love how the val looks!

[Steph’s Fish and Plants]

A lot has happened just in the last week alone much less the last few months. Didn’t realize I hadn’t updated this in so long!

Lets dive right in. About a month ago I tore down all my tanks, brought my fish back to the LFS I used to work at, and moved several hours away into the city. I upgraded to a 40 breeder freshwater tank, and cracked and upgraded my saltwater tank to a UNS 60A or 20 gallon all in one. After a week of cycling the 40 I got silver tip tetras, threw in some crypts, and another week later I have returned with half of the fish I had before. I now have 3 super red bristlenose (1 male 2 female), my viejita apisto pair, 3 male wrestling halfbeaks (my 2 original males and my 1 remaining fry) and 2 L397s. I also FINALLY took my Schoutedeni Puffer named Domino, who was chilling at my former managers house till I could move and upgrade. I also grabbed some plants and a yellow spiny eel. And my mantis shrimp and corals.

As if the 8hour trek there and back weren’t enough, as I’m adding fish to the tank I discovered the plecos had ich 😔 and now so do the halfbeaks, and 1 apisto. I’ve got the majority of the plecos in a bucket with salt and a heater and an airstone, I’ve got the heat turned up, and I’m getting IchX tomorrow. First time dealing with ich in a personal rank and I’m not looking forward to it. Hoping the eel and the puffer will be ok.

The mantis shrimp is settling in very well tho, and I’ve got a skimmer coming later this week for that tank.