Matt B Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Greetings all I recently got back into aquariums after a 25 year hiatus. While setting up and playing with 20 gal wine barrel 'porch ponds' , water lilies and other aquatic plants , along with mosquito fish and tadpoles. While doing a little research I came across Cory's Co-Op You Tube videos... And that was it...So much awesome info! I was hooked! And back into aquariums I went!! So much has changed, but still so much fun. 10 gal Pea Puffer tank, 20 gal long community tank and 5 gal experiment tank. At this rate I'll be back to 55 gal soon! Looking forward to learning as much as possible and having some fun along the way! Matt B 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Folk Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Welcome back! It is a great hobby. We'd all love to see any photos once you get things the way you like them with your setups. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 Welcome! A lot of people returning to the hobby talk about his much has changed. I'm curious, what type of stuff is different? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chick-In-Of-TheSea Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 (edited) On 12/10/2022 at 8:09 AM, Schuyler said: Welcome! A lot of people returning to the hobby talk about his much has changed. I'm curious, what type of stuff is different? Mainly making tanks more natural environments for the creatures. A strong focus on live plants, and natural decor such as rocks and driftwood. There is a move away from store-bought ornaments, and a focus on the needs of each species. For example making sure a tank’s habitat, temp, pH, etc… are adequate for all creatures that live there. Embracing microfauna and microflora- the little creature or algae that also live in the tank. I think the old school way was to “clean it away” but the newer way of thinking is that each little creature or plant is part of an ecosystem and plays a role. Edited December 10, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schuyler Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 5:23 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said: Mainly making tanks more natural environments for the creatures. A strong focus on live plants, and natural decor such as rocks and driftwood. That makes sense. I know when I got started I found out that my dad had a serious case of MTS before I was born. When I showed him my hardscape before setting up, he said "Wait... You're going to put those sticks in your tank?" And gave me an incredulous look like I didn't know what I was doing but he didn't want to outright say it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJenna Posted December 10, 2022 Share Posted December 10, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 8:09 AM, Schuyler said: Welcome! A lot of people returning to the hobby talk about his much has changed. I'm curious, what type of stuff is different? For me the biggest difference is testing and treating water, 40 years ago all we did was water changes. On 12/9/2022 at 7:08 PM, Matt Butzin said: Looking forward to learning as much as possible and having some fun along the way! Welcome to the group Matt, you've found a really helpful group of people here. Someday I want to have a pea puffer tank, would love to see pictures of your pea-puffers! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 For me, It's the incredible (at times overwhelming,) amount of information and how easy it is to access. There's always been people doing amazing things, but it was for the most part one on one exchange of ideas or read as much as possible. This is a fascinating subject to me .. I've had many conversations with two friends, one 26 yrs younger and the other 10 yrs older than me about changes. A good analogy about how these conversations go, is compare a car today to one 30 years ago...talk about opening a can of worms. A few things off the top of my head that I had no experience with: Having live plants delivered, LED lights, gravel vacuum, live bacteria in a bottle, root tabs/liquid fertilizer and the term 'nano tank' was new to me. I'm sure there's more, i just haven't learned about them yet! Ha 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 Oh, just thought of another, (change) or something I had never done before. Hatching brine shrimp for a live food source! The pea puffers love em. So do guppies and endlers, but watching the puffers peck them up is so cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 (edited) On 12/10/2022 at 6:24 AM, JJenna said: For me the biggest difference is testing and treating water, 40 years ago all we did was water changes. Welcome to the group Matt, you've found a really helpful group of people here. Someday I want to have a pea puffer tank, would love to see pictures of your pea-puffers! I need to work on my photography skills. I'm sure cleaning a little algea off the glass would help. Ha Edited December 26, 2022 by Matt Butzin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PineSong Posted December 13, 2022 Share Posted December 13, 2022 On 12/10/2022 at 6:53 PM, Matt Butzin said: …need to work on my photography skills. I'm sure cleaning a little algea off the glass would help. Ha Literally the hardest part of the hobby for me! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt B Posted December 26, 2022 Author Share Posted December 26, 2022 (edited) Edited December 26, 2022 by Matt Butzin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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