Get to know everyone - 10 questions

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

1. We had some poorly kept tanks growing up, but I never was into fish until around 4 years ago. My first fish, which got me into the hobby, was a feeder comet I got as a white elephant gift, which lived in a glass vase on top of my toilet.

2. My 90g CA cichlid tank, which I recently got rid of. My first attempt at a 3D background which turned out better than I hoped. It will be set back up soon and home to my lungfish.

3. ACO videos. I think it was those “top ten videos” which led to care videos, which led to livestreams, etc.

4. I don’t have any real secrets to help. Pothos is really easy and helps water parameters. DIY 3D backgrounds are surprisingly cheap, fun, and easy to make, and make you set up unique, with the added benefit of adding a bunch of surface area for bacteria.

5. Breeding for profit and other ways to keep costs down. Shipping fish intimates me so I’ve never really tried. I turn stuff into my LFS for credit every once and awhile, but I’d like an actual profiting fish room to set back costs a little.

6. Bolivians Rams and Whiteclouds.

7. monthly, but I am trying to be better. This is why all my tanks have pothos and duckweed.

8. For me, one big one. If I have to choose a show tank comes before breeding setup.

9. Right now.

10. Raw fish.

[Ken Burke]

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?

when I was a kid, my sister had a tank of mollys.  

2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?

my 75 gal discus tank 

3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?

you tube.   I came back to the hobby a few years back.  I was trying to figure out why my tank was so cloudy.  It wasn’t a bacteria bloom, but the rest of the internet was convinced it was.  Cory had to videos, one helped me figure out it was algae, the other the rant about canister filters. He made me think, and saved me a ton of money.  So when he mentioned the forum, I was all in.

4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?

I don’t know about easier, but I would like to see a reimagined HOB.  Maybe use an Archimedes screw to lift the water, and chamber running across the back of the tank. I hate messing with/cleaning impellers, and there isn’t enough room in any of the current HOB’s.

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

how to talk my wife into “just one more tank”

6.  What fish do you miss most?

I had an amazing African cichlids named sonny when I lived in Germany 20 years ago.  

7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?

I like weekly changes mostly because it gives me  ‘touch time’ with them.  But the tap water is too cold during the winter.  So I’ve backed off on the changes for my 75.

8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?

why not both?  20s are great for breeding projects and increasing variety, but big tanks are just plain easier. 

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?

does today count?

10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

I love feeding frozen bloodworms with a pipette (brine shrimp is a close second)  watching fish race across the tank to slurp up worms is so fun.  

 

[Val]

Fun idea.

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?

A pair of fantail goldfish.  I named them Adam and Eve, since they were the first.  

2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?

While I have mostly kept goldfish, I had one bio-topish Amazon tank with cardinal and emperor tetras.  But I promptly killed all my plants (and I had spent more on plants than I did my fish,) got seriously depressed and basically let the fish die.  But that was a gorgeous tank and I really liked the community I had.

3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?

Youtube vids.

4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?

After that fail, I embraced plastic and silk plants.  (Silks used to be better 20 years ago....)  This is a hobby that I enjoy, I don't want to work at it.  I don't care to become an expert.  I just want a couple of pretty fish tanks in the house.

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

How to breed goldfish.  I've had 5 - 7 goldies in a various tanks for 30 some years now.  They can't all have been males or all have been females, could they?  And I've tried some of the basic things, and yet never had a single egg laid.

Oh, and how to take good aquarium photos.  I know I have a crap phone, but the pictures I take are awful.  I have a good looking tank, but I am so in awe of most of the pics you guys post here.

6.  What fish do you miss most?

Checkerboard barb.  I love the fish and I don't see them any more in the hobby.  They were the "ish" in my Amazon bio-tope tank.

7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?

33% three to four times a week.  I have overcrowded goldfish.

8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?

One big.  Not even close.

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?

Honestly?  Probably never.  8 years ago when I re-established my 62g goldfish tank, I did rearrange the living room so that I could see the fish better when just sitting in my  preferred chair, but that's as much as it goes.

10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

Broccoli.  But my current fish -- though I've only had them for 3 months -- won't touch the stuff at all.

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Val

[ccc24]

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?

As a teenager, I kept 3 bettas in unfiltered 2 gallon bowls that I changed religiously. First pets I bought and supported with my own money from my first job. Had a light orange guy named Phineas that I nursed back to health (still remember my 17 year old self picking out tetracycline at the big box store). Trained him to target and eat from my hand. Loved that little fish. 

2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?

It’s a tie between the 55 and the 6g cube palidarium. It has been first try at both types of set-ups and I think they turned out well for first attempts.

3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?

Heard Cory mention its existence in live stream I was watching after the fact. 

4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?

I have a infared thermometer that is “point and shoot” for water temps. It’s my favorite for balancing water temps during water changes. 

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

fish disease. There’s like 3 constellations of symptoms and we just hurl the same things at them. Would be very helpful if we could learn better diagnostics. 

6.  What fish do you miss most?

Phineas. He lived about 3 years. Not bad for a betta. He was a great little fish.

7.  How often do you change water? 
Is this the same for all of your tanks?

20L with two total tiny fish - hardly ever. Top off, and leave it mostly

29 & 55 are heavily stocked and get changed and cleaned 1-2 a month depending on fry and plant growth

8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?

one big tank. That’s a preference only because I would love one of giant “Tanked” tanks. 

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?

Yesterday. We usually feed the display tank in the living room and watch the interactions of the fish.

10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

live baby brine. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/2/2023 at 8:01 PM, ccc24 said:

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

fish disease. There’s like 3 constellations of symptoms and we just hurl the same things at them. Would be very helpful if we could learn better diagnostics. 

Agreed.  I do think one of the best "beginner tools" might actually be a microscope and having the "API MASTER TEST SCOPE" kit.  Something where you can understand what to do, post photos, get some help.

[flyingcow]

On 2/2/2023 at 2:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?
3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?
4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?
5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?
6.  What fish do you miss most?
7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?
8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?
9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?
10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

1. When I was really little, I won a fish at a carnival. You can guess how well that went. I named it Fish. I think that was a big red flag to my parents that they gave birth to yet another engineer

2. I think it's my 20 long pygmy cory and ember tank. I learned so much and am still learning so much with that one. First time using sand, first time using aqua soil. First time I made changes based on fish behavior (changed from a 10 to a 20L because the pygmys were freaking out... it worked)

3. Not sure if I found the website or the Youtube channel first, but I was definitely looking for plants.

4. Well I'd use the term "easier" loosely, but I have crappy water, so I remineralize RO. It's very nice not having to panic about water quality during a water change. It leaves me with rock solid parameters which does a great job of putting that piece of the puzzle in place.

5. Cichlid behavior. It still intimidates the hell out of me, which is why I currently only have one little cichlid, who is easily my favorite fish.

6. The other Ram who didn't make it. He was so cute.

7. Weekly in my 36 gallon because... phosphates. more like every 3 weeks in my 20L since there's damn near no bioload in it.

8. Both. One big because it makes maintenance so much easier, a rack of 20's to do science!

9. About 3 minutes ago.

10. Frozen Brine Shrimp. Big Buddy gets so excited when he sees me walk over with a plate of brine shrimp.

[Huckleberry]

 

1. Growing up my mom had black mollies in our dining room. My father also had a tank where he kept minnows for fishing.

2. My daughter's 5 gallon. She has me impressed with her massive java moss and lillies.

3. Cory's  videos

4. Most of my substrates and scaping material come from my woods or crick. Saves money and I personally like the look better.

5. Cory fry are a challenge for me.

6. My first female golden panda molly

7. Some every week, others every 2 weeks. Around 25%.

8. A rack of 20's . Biggest tank I have is 47g so I wouldn't really know a big tank.

9. Every day. 

10.  Xtream krill flakes and Hikari sinking wafers.

[Procrypsis]

On 2/2/2023 at 2:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?
3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?
4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?
5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?
6.  What fish do you miss most?
7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?
8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?
9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?
10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

😜

Edited February 3, 2023 by Procrypsis

[Scaperoot]

On 2/2/2023 at 2:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?
3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?
4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?
5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?
6.  What fish do you miss most?
7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?
8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?
9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?
10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

1. Goldfish. My wife and I had 5 in a 40 breeder. We eventually gave them away to one of her coworkers who had a 75 gallon tank.

2. I put together a 20 long island-themed tank for my wife a couple months ago. I'm very proud of the way it turned out. It was my first time working with pool filter sand. I love the collection of fish we chose; 15 white cloud minnows from Aquahuna, 5 fancy guppies, and 4 Julii Corydoras. The plants and fish are thriving. 

3. I watch and listen to Cory's streams every day, and I got tired of the indifference I found with what I posted on Reddit. I'm new to the hobby, and live 2 hours from the nearest club, so I wanted some sense of community. It's been great!

4. Something I do is always ask for help, opinions, recommendations. To anyone starting out, ask all your questions, don't wait for things to go wrong. 

5. I wish I had more examples of the plants I love thriving in different low tech setups. I've lost so many plants since starting out. 

6. Dark Knight, our common Pleco. We had him for about a year, but one morning my wife found him on the floor near the tank. I still kick myself over that for not being invested enough in caring for that tank at the time. 

7. I do weekly water changes, 15-20%, depending on which tank it is. 

8. Not sure I can say better, but our 40 breeder is much more forgiving than our 10s and 20s. It's definitely more stable. 

9. The last time was a few weeks ago, when I rescaped the 40 by adding 50 lbs of blasting sand, new wood, and switched out plastic plants for live ones. I just stared to make sure the fish were ok. 

10. Favorite food is a toss up between frozen baby brine, and Xtreme krill flakes. They go NUTS for those flakes lol. 

[Schuyler]

1. My dad had a "wequarium" when I was still too young to pronounce it correctly. The first fish I kept myself was a Betta that I was given at wedding (they had them as decorations). He learned to jump and eat food off my fingertip. I kept it begrudgingly for three years then our neighbors watched him for a week and when I got back he no longer knew how to jump and eat off my finger. He went on to live another two years... Yeah I'm pretty sure it died while my neighbor was caring for it so they bought a replacement for the fish I didn't really want in the first place.

2) My 40 gallon. Because it's the one I actually put effort into looking nice.

3) I got confused while setting up my ACO account...

4) I tend to make things harder than they need to be but finding other hobbyists to talk to helps

5)  How to fit more tanks in my house

6)  Our first male guppy. He survived two fish in cycle done by someone who had no idea what he was doing. After outliving more tank mates than I'm willing to admit, he got ick from an unquarantined new addition and that was his last straw

7)  Weekly for my display, every two days for my grow out

😎 I like the idea of lots of smaller tanks. You can try more stuff without worrying about it they'll get along. Plus that's pretty much required if you want to keep more than once annual Killifish.

9) Last time I cleaned it...

10) Rapashi community gel is fun. Everyone gets involved, snails, corys, guppies, and even the shrimp if they're feeling brave

[Schuyler]

On 2/2/2023 at 3:46 AM, reefhugger said:

The hardest part is separating the facts from the pervasive"common knowledge" out there in fish world.

No kidding... The Dunning Kruger effect is in full force in a lot of this hobby. I know I've fallen victim to it myself (and probably still do)

[Schuyler]

On 2/2/2023 at 10:03 AM, JJenna said:

I wish someone would teach me how much to feed my fish and how to know if everyone is getting enough, with the exception of you're not giving them enough because they are dying. 

Oh that's a good one I've worried about too 

[Remi de Groot]

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?
Fancy goldfish in a small fishbowl as a kid. Didn't work out great...

2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?
I changed an old 2nd hand terrarium used for a bearded dragon into an paladarium. Was a big DIY project.
- Resealing it all so the water would actually stay in the tank (took me a few try's).
- Making a background with expandable foam and fern roots.
- Making a watering system with a small water pump and hoses.
- Adding floodlights inside the tank as lighting
- Scaping the waterpart and background with plants.
Has been running for nearly 1,5 years now and the first thing people go to when entering our house.
Did some projects after that and i think i would do pretty much everything different if i had to do it again.
But still very proud of the work i did. And some day.. I think i'll just start all over and try to do it even better.

3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?
Covid Lockdowns made me stay home for months in a row. Started the aquarium hobby first and watched some Dutch Youtube video's to learn some new things.
In one of the video's they talked about the Co-op channel, so i had to check it out.
Seen most of the video's so far and decided i could learn even more by going on the forum. No regrets so far.

4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?
Let nature do his thing. Don't try to be some god that can fix it all.
I found out that how harder i try. The worse it get's.

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?
Still strugling a lot when fish get sick. Especially because no strong meds are allowed in the Netherlands.
I do use salt sometimes. But still feels like a lucky shot when a fish actually survives and still not sure if it's because of my doing or that the fish would have been fine without any help from me and the salt.

6.  What fish do you miss most?
Had a really nice fancy goldfish 10 years ago. Was living a great live untill i went on a holiday and my landlord was taking care of it.
The guy was feeding the amount of food in a week i would have given in a year i guess. Didn't end well again (me and fancy goldfish, never a happy ending).

7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?
Paladarium weekly. It's a bit overstocked and has a lot of dead leaves from the land area.
Regular tank when nitrates numbers start to rise a bit to much without using fertz.
Shrimp tanks when the tds gets to high.

8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?
I would go for a rack of 20G's. I like to try new things. So more tanks is more space to try different things i guess.

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?
Just did a rescape of my regular tank. Didn't like the tank at all before that.
After it was finished i spend a long time just watching the fish explore the tank.
Great to see that the fish did almost exactly what i was hoping for.
Diamant Tetra's where more in the front of the tank because of the hardscape in the back.
Cory's hiding underneath the leaves in the sandy part of the tanks and the endlers chasing each other trough the planted area.

10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?
Frozen food. Love to see the fish nipping at the cube and trying to get the biggest peace.
Only time i actually see them chase each other away and sort of defender their peace of the food.
Feeding shrimps some round pallets are fun as well. They actually try to carry them away from the feeding area to be sure they got the whole pallet for themself.
The bigger ones actually manage to swim away but are struggling not to sink to the bottom. XD

[JJenna]

On 2/3/2023 at 2:46 PM, Remi de Groot said:

I found out that how harder i try. The worse it get's.

 

These are words of wisdom!

[Goldie Blue]

On 2/2/2023 at 1:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?
3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?
4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?
5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?
6.  What fish do you miss most?
7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?
8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?
9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?
10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

1. I had a tank when I was about 12 - 14 years old with angel fish and gourami's in it.

2. Although it doesn't look as appealing as I would like it to, I am really loving my 55 gallon community tank. The shrimp in there have really made me proud, I love watching them carrying the eggs and seeing new babies.

3. I followed the YouTube channel, and after having horrible experiences trying to get any kind of advice via Reddit, I discovered how helpful and nice the community here was.

4. I don't think I have any shortcuts to share lol! The one thing that makes my life 100% easier is the Python vacuum that hooks up to the faucet. But that isn't super secret, I think everyone knows.

5. I'd like to start branching out on more advanced plants. I struggle with plants more than anything in the hobby. 

6. I managed to kill 12 pygmy cories when I first set my 55 gallon tank up. There was fungus on one of them, and I treated the tank too aggressively and all of them died. Still breaks my heart thinking about it. They died a slow, horrible death.

7. Once a week for my Flex 9, 10 gallon. Every other week in my 55, and 20 gallon long with my axolotl in it. 

8. It's impossible to just have one tank, this is common knowledge 🤣

9. Just about every evening! I love relaxing and watching my 55 gallon! My axolotl needs a lot of attention so I sit and play with her daily.

10. Frozen brine shrimp. EVERYONE in all of my tanks go wild for it. I also like watching my shrimp gather when I drop snowflake in there. Watching my nerites eat carrots or green beans is really fun too. Actually, I just like feeding time in general! 

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/3/2023 at 11:13 AM, Schuyler said:

On 2/2/2023 at 10:03 AM, JJenna said:

I wish someone would teach me how much to feed my fish and how to know if everyone is getting enough, with the exception of you're not giving them enough because they are dying. 

Oh that's a good one I've worried about too 

Zenzo has a video about body size, measuring how much food in terms of grams, there is a science to it!  I think Irene's video is good too because it gives you an idea of the fish's stomach size as well as that the food itself expands and bloats up.  Some more than others. 

I generally follow the rule of trying to keep an eye on activity and how much food is left after 15-20 minutes.  If they are ignoring food, and I see a ton of food left in the tank, feed half that amount the next day.  Find that balance and then just try to be consistent while you feed various types of food.

On 2/3/2023 at 5:10 PM, Goldie Blue said:

8. It's impossible to just have one tank, this is common knowledge 🤣

LOL! I will have just 1....

[Cinnebuns]

1. What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?

Glo tetras like a lot of people. Then guppies like the other half of people lol.

 

2. What tank are you most proud of and why?

My 29 main tank. I spent time scaping it after a major crash. I also have a thriving panda cory colony in it. I also have tons of plants thriving which I never thought I could do. I'm not exactly a plant person. 

 

3. How did you get here, specifically to these forums?

A friend from facebook recommended i check it out 

 

4. What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?

i have a lot of health problems. When I'm not feeling well the first thing I do is reduce, or stop feeding adults. Fry still get fed but not feeding adults temporarily helps get through rough patches. 

 

5. What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

Tbh, I would love to breed my hillstream loaches. They have spawned. I have never seen eggs but I believe I did once see a fry but it never grew up and I have yet to see another fry. 

 

6. What fish do you miss most?

Thick lipped gouramis. I had 3 of them. 2 I got from a sketchy source so they died within 2 months. The 3rd got too depressed without its friends so I gave it to someone who had 2. I really enjoyed them. 

 

7. How often do you change water? Is this the same for all of your tanks?

Not at all the same for all. Some have more plants or more stocking. It's entirely as needed. If possible I like to try to get most done weekly but it doesn't always happen.  Some tanks aren't needed weekly either. 

 

8. What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?

Hands down rack!  I'm addicted to breeding!  If I did ever have a larger tank I would just fill it with a bunch of nano fish anyway. I don't get into larger fish. 

 

9. When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?

Literally right before typing this lol

 

10. What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

For adults bug bites. For fry first bites. For bottom feeders shrimp pellets. 

[The endler guy]

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?

java loaches and my panda and salt and pepper cory 
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?

my South American (it is my largest)

3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?

I had algae issues 

4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?

 

I’ll admit it, I don’t really test or water change (unless there is a problem)

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?

everything 

6.  What fish do you miss most?

My greatest losses are my female gbr, and my Java loaches 

7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?

I plead the fifth 

8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?

one big tank,that’s all I’m allowed 

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?

Like 10 minutes ago 

10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?

live food

[Tanked]

 

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?  Swordtails and Corys
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?  75 gal. TFB tank. It is plainly scaped, and individual fish activity can be watched from 2 rooms away.
3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?  Candi
4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?  Water pumps for changing water, reusing aquarium water for houseplants and gardens, and bending rules.  
5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby? Balance
6.  What fish do you miss most?  Leviathan.  My 16" 11+yr. Common Pleco. 
7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?  Every other week. Changes always include a deep gravel cleaning, and all aquariums are over filtered.  The exception is the project tank which has no filter and gets fewer water changes.
8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?  One tank. Larger tanks seem to have fewer problems. While offering more potential, Unless fully automated more tanks= more work.
9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?  1 year? When I had a healthy MTS population I would watch the aquariums each night as the lights began shutting down.  It was interesting to wait and see where they would pop up in the substrate. The lights in the last tank were set to shutoff in 5 min. intervals and the fish would follow the light.
10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?  Cucumber and veggies for the Tinfoil Barbs and Silver Dollars.  I like the feeding frenzy.  Shrimp for everybody else.

[Comradovich]

It's really interesting reading these responses. Especially the ones from people with bigger tank preferences. Being honest here, I almost answered the "when was the last time you spent half an hour looking at a tank" with staring at two 40G breeders. They're both empty. I keep looking at these things and trying to imagine all of the possibilities. Then a voice chimes in with "Jeebus, what were you thinking?" I could probably breed X in there... but I can also breed that in a 10 G, where I'd have more control over my parameters.

Yup, watched Cory's video on easy racks for 40 breeders and bought the same shelf and two 40 breeders. Still trying to come up with a plan. Local fish club wasn't willing to take the project off my hands last auction, so I'll eventually have to get serious with these things. On the plus side, the 20 G and the 5.5 G both fit on one shelf with room for more "stuff". I also worked out how to make some nice looking black shelf liners with hefty bags and duct tape. Leaks aren't going to worry me about the shelf giving way. It's just... what do I put in there? Where do I even start?

Think I may lurk around Select Aquatics' channel and see about getting the entire Eiseni complex as a CARES project. I know Greg's got Doadrioi. Goliad Farms has Lyonsi mislabelled on his website, (but notes this in his videos), and I see Dan's occasionally listing straight Eiseni, (he just isn't sure of the collection point). I'd like to get into rarer live bearers, but I'm also kind of a tiny cory/pleco nut. @mountaintoppufferkeeper's divided 40 has all kinds of my gears churning right now.

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

 

On 2/4/2023 at 8:08 PM, Comradovich said:

It's really interesting reading these responses. Especially the ones from people with bigger tank preferences. Being honest here, I almost answered the "when was the last time you spent half an hour looking at a tank" with staring at two 40G breeders. They're both empty. I keep looking at these things and trying to imagine all of the possibilities. Then a voice chimes in with "Jeebus, what were you thinking?" I could probably breed X in there... but I can also breed that in a 10 G, where I'd have more control over my parameters.

Yup, watched Cory's video on easy racks for 40 breeders and bought the same shelf and two 40 breeders. Still trying to come up with a plan. Local fish club wasn't willing to take the project off my hands last auction, so I'll eventually have to get serious with these things. On the plus side, the 20 G and the 5.5 G both fit on one shelf with room for more "stuff". I also worked out how to make some nice looking black shelf liners with hefty bags and duct tape. Leaks aren't going to worry me about the shelf giving way. It's just... what do I put in there? Where do I even start?

Think I may lurk around Select Aquatics' channel and see about getting the entire Eiseni complex as a CARES project. I know Greg's got Doadrioi. Goliad Farms has Lyonsi mislabelled on his website, (but notes this in his videos), and I see Dan's occasionally listing straight Eiseni, (he just isn't sure of the collection point). I'd like to get into rarer live bearers, but I'm also kind of a tiny cory/pleco nut. @mountaintoppufferkeeper's divided 40 has all kinds of my gears churning right now.

I do like the ability to quickly modify when appropriate. I even adjusted it temporarily this evening to limit the puffer drama with two of the four spotted congos. 

The right most spotted congo decided the middle spotted congo should be aggressively attacked constantly ..... So we added the 2nd of three optional dividers to the tank. 

Right two sections are currently 9.5"x 23.75" x 11" with black acrylic dividers inserted and supported through the top and at the back bottom.  Left half is a pair of spotted congos in 19" x 23.75" x 11". 1/4" holes in four rows along the bottom of each divider and 1/4" along the edges to allow for water flow. Total tank is 38" x 23.75" x 12" around a 43 gallon that i call a "puffer breeder" tank.  

[AquaHobbyist123]

1) My first fish was a female veiltail betta named Ruby.

2) I am most proud of my 55 gallon Native Biotope Tank, which I am still working on as adjusting a couple of things. I have done so much research and spent more time and money on this tank than I ever have before.

3)I started watching ACO vids when I first started keeping fish about 5 years ago. I just so happened to be browsing the website, when I found  out that they had a forum.(which I joined this year) I'd been on fishlore and had been browsing on a couple of others. 

4) Always keeping at least 1 cycled Sponge Filter at all times.

5)CO2

6) My Dwarf Gourami Pete. I didn't even have him long before he passed from DGD, but still miss him.

7) Once a week for all tanks, 10 percent.

😎 Obviously a Massive 12x6x6 foot aquarium (3261 gallons)to make the ULTRA-ECOSYSTEM!!!!!!!! ( You never said how big the tank was hehehe!)

9) An hour ago.

10) Instant Baby Brine Shrimp. All my fish go nuts over it! Also, For a cheap and readily available flake food, Tetra Min tropical flakes is taken by all my fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by AquaHobbyist123

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/4/2023 at 9:37 AM, Tanked said:

5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby? Balance

How do you mean?

On 2/4/2023 at 9:37 AM, Tanked said:

9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?  1 year? When I had a healthy MTS population I would watch the aquariums each night as the lights began shutting down.  It was interesting to wait and see where they would pop up in the substrate. The lights in the last tank were set to shutoff in 5 min. intervals and the fish would follow the light.

Hm...  I am guessing this is related to the above.

[Stephan1973]

1.  What was the first fish you ever kept in some sort of an aquarium?
Betta
2.  What tank are you most proud of and why?
thats hard because I am roud of all my tanks for some reason or another
3.  How did you get here, specifically to these forums?
watching Cory on YouTube
4.  What is something you think you do to make the hobby easier for yourself that others can use?
not really sure only been fully into fish now 7 months
5.  What is something you specifically wish for guidance with in the hobby?
Water quality
6.  What fish do you miss most?
i wish that one day I can keep larger fish like an Oscar
7.  How often do you change water?  Is this the same for all of your tanks?
I change water approx once a month of when nitrates get above 40
8.  What is better, one big tank or a rack of 20Gs, why?
a rack of 20s variety is key
9.  When was the last time you spent 30 minutes staring at a tank?
before I left for work
10.  What is your favorite food to feed your tanks?
flake food

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/4/2023 at 7:08 PM, Comradovich said:

It's just... what do I put in there? Where do I even start?

I imagine two tanks, is one of them planted yet?