Greetings

[Arbarbash]

Hello everyone and glad to be here.  This past Christmas my 5 year old son asked for a fish tank.  This request sent me to YouTube to research what we needed and lead me to Aquarium Co-Op.  Watching the videos helped him and I setup a 20g planted tank with guppies, panda corydoras, and shrimp.  It’s a simple setup with a Fluval 3.0 light and an Aquarium Co-Op sponge filter, but the tank has been doing great with both the shrimp and guppies reproducing.  My son loves coming home from school and feeding his fish and even helps with some of the maintenance. 
We have had so much fun with the tank we decided to get a larger one for my home office.  My wife was onboard with the idea once I agreed to get her a new dining room table.  This weekend him and I setup our new 120g tank.  Still messing with it and the equipment to get it where we want, but so far so good.  It holds water.  
We are keeping this one simple as well and running a Fluval 3.0 light and 3 large Aquarium Co-Op sponge filters.  The only real difference between setups is we are running the new Aquarium Co-Op pumps on this tank instead of the nano air pump.

I’m looking forward to learning more about this great hobby from everyone and thanks for the help so far.

[Fish Folk]

Love this! You are headed for MTS. (Multiple Tank Syndrome)

Oh the places you’ll go…

My wife, too, has mastered the art of bargaining against new aquarium purchases.

We’ve settled in at 18 tanks, 10 jugs, 3 outdoor mini ponds 😂

[Hannah Parker]

You've obviously done a great job with your research before setting up and have a great eye for hardscape and plant placement! 🙂 Do you have any ideas on what you might stock for your 120g?? Best of luck.  

[Arbarbash]

On 5/17/2022 at 10:35 AM, hannah662parker said:

You've obviously done a great job with your research before setting up and have a great eye for hardscape and plant placement! 🙂 Do you have any ideas on what you might stock for your 120g?? Best of luck.  

Thank you!  a LFS near us has a tank of Central/South American Cichlids that my son loves.  I know that this tank, hardscape, and plants are probably not the best for them, so I am researching similar looking fish that will work well for our system.  

Edited May 17, 2022 by Arbarbash

[Hannah Parker]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:58 AM, Arbarbash said:

Thank you!  a LFS near us has a tank of Central/South American Cichlids that my son loves.  I know that this tank, hardscape, and plants are probably not the best for them, so I am researching similar looking fish that will work well for our system.  

I know they're not super similar-looking but you could always try bigger species of gourami! You can get cool colors in that species as well. 

[JettsPapa]

On 5/17/2022 at 11:03 AM, hannah662parker said:

I know they're not super similar-looking but you could always try bigger species of gourami! You can get cool colors in that species as well. 

I agree.  In fact, I highly recommend pearl gouramis.  They may not look like much when you get them, but they color up nicely when they get closer to maturity and get comfortable in the tank.  They also have the benefit of being very peaceful, which isn't true for all gourami species.  I have a dozen in a 40 gallon breeder, along with tetras and Corydoras, with no aggression issues.

If you want more variety you could do 3-spot gouramis.  There are at least three colors of those; blue, gold, and moonlight.  While gouramis aren't schoolers, they are social, and most species do best in groups.  The 3-spots are more aggressive than pearl gouramis, with some not tolerating other species in the tank, especially when they mature.

I would avoid dwarf gouramis.  They aren't at all peaceful, and are often plagued with health problems due to overbreeding.

[AndreaW]

Welcome! You have beautiful tanks and I can't wait to watch them *grow*!

[Griznatch]

Welcome to the forum, how cool to get in to the hobby with your son. Love that big tank!

[Jawjagrrl]

Welcome! You are indeed well on the way to MTS 😉 It's a wonderful hobby to share with kids and can be enjoyed for life! 

My husband probably could have wrangled something new for his shop in exchange for the two 5gal, one 3gal, one 2.5 gal, one 55, two 75s and the conversion of our lemonade dispenser for shrimp... but has been pulled into the hobby as well now (though not doing the maintenance, lol). Our mutual interest in building things allows us to do things like nice stands, etc., too. He is really intrigued by breeding (thanks Dean videos!), while I enjoy the overall aquatic experience. I look forward to hearing what aspects of the hobby appeal most to your son. And what gets to live in the beautiful big tank - love that wood!

[Arbarbash]

Thanks everyone for the warm greetings.  

This evening as my son and I were feeding his tank we discovered several baby Panda Corys. The guppies reproduce almost weekly, but these are the first Panda Corys we have had.  They are small, but plenty big enough to not be eaten. 

For the big tank I ended up caving in and picking up a group of 6 1-1.5" Parachromis Multifasciatus like my son wanted.  We are going to grow them out and keep a pair and a few friend are waiting in line to take the ones we decide to not keep.  I'm sure the plants will slowly be picked off, but my son and I are excited to watch them grow and color up. 

[cavdad45]

Next you'll be getting a couple breeding tanks, it's an addictive hobby