Hello Everyone!

[Afishionado]

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!😁

 

 

[BAT]

On 3/25/2023 at 9:43 AM, Afishionado said:

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!😁

 

 

Welcome @Afishionado! Your tanks look great!  I am thinking about upgrading to a 75g. We just moved to a bigger house. Any ideas re stocking? The only thing I breed now is snails - and that was an accident when I received a pregnant snail from the fish store. LOL

Right now i have a 10g betta and a 20gL with snails and tetras.

[rockfisher]

On 3/25/2023 at 9:43 AM, Afishionado said:

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!😁

 

 

I love the chose of the UGF. I have lots of tanks. I filter in a lot of ways but my clearest tank are the few with a UGF. I have used one since I got my first tank at 14. They were way more common then. I love them. I like to use powerhead on mine. But I size them way smaller than than the tank. I just want a little pull through the gravel and not much flow on top. The air stones work as well. I have one set up with a layer of filter foam on top of the UGF and them a layer of lava rock. The tank is aways clear. There is one down side and that’s when you have clean under the plates. I don’t don’t often but for me it is 2-4 years. Some people will have a heart attack at that but for me that when they need to be done. I do have a cheat that extends the life between them. That is the only down fall I have with them. Good luck and have fun.

[rockfisher]

On 3/25/2023 at 10:34 AM, BAT said:

Welcome @Afishionado! Your tanks look great!  I am thinking about upgrading to a 75g. We just moved to a bigger house. Any ideas re stocking? The only thing I breed now is snails - and that was an accident when I received a pregnant snail from the fish store. LOL

Right now i have a 10g betta and a 20gL with snails and tetras.

@bat you have a ton of options with a 75.  I try to pick a region when doing a tank. When I first started I would say the Amazon and stock the tank with fish from the Amazon river. Now I do get more detailed and pick regions or tributary of the Amazon to the best of my abilities. For me they star that way but one of my oldest was an Amazon tank now it has clown loaches, kuhli loach as well as the Amazon fish. I would suggest picking a fish you love and build around it.

[CorydorasEthan]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:43 AM, Afishionado said:

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!😁

 

 

Welcome! Those tanks look phenomenal!

[MichaelL710]

Hello afishnado I love all your tanks and I have breed some apistogramma cacatuoides double red in the past but I will have to try maybe breeder so rainbow fish in the future. I am also think about getting some bosmani rainbow fish for my 90 gallon once it's done cycling.

[Afishionado]

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

Edited March 25, 2023 by Afishionado
Reply to others

[rockfisher]

@Afishionado the lave rock was going to part of an experiment and with substrates grow the best roots. The lava rock was axed for it and : other types were used. About that time I was discussing using a course filter pad and moss on top of that so the moss was like a carpet. I did a small tank in the moss and it is great. I had the filter pad and the lava rock so I decided to try it. I put on top of the filter. Works great. The tank has been up as it is for at least 8 months  and probably more. I have 2 pairs of breeding angels in it. I have plants going in the tank. Most rooted plants. They do well once their roots grow into the lava roots or reach down in to the filter pad. I like the fact that the lava rocks have lots of pores in the rocks themself. I think it really allows for the grow of bacteria. Now when I set up a new tank I take a few of the lava rocks along with a seeded sponge filter. To get thing right.  I basically had the stuff and want to try something. I’m not sure I will use the lava rooks again but of the will I love a lot of bottom fish, Pecos and Corey so it’s not ideal situation for them. 

[Levi_Aquatics]

Welcome @Afishionado your aquariums look amazing and I appreciate your thoughtful introduction of each! It sounds like I have a similar fishkeeping style to you, so I will enjoy seeing what you end up doing with your aquariums!

[Afishionado]

@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?

[Levi_Aquatics]

@Afishionado 

Thank you! In regards to your question, I believe it is completely personal preference. I don’t have as much time/ interesting things going on in each aquarium to do a separate thread for each, so I have consolidated them all into one journal, but I certainly enjoy reading posts on specific aquariums!

[Afishionado]

@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.

[Miska]

Gosh, what beautiful tanks! Your 75 in its glory is heaven to me. Are those Denisen Barbs???

[Afishionado]

@Miska thank you so much!

On 3/25/2023 at 8:03 PM, Miska said:

 Are those Denisen Barbs???

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.

[Miska]

I go to my LFS and stare at this cylinder of them! I love them so much. I can't imagine ever getting a big enough tank, but I adore them so so so so much. 

[Afishionado]

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]

I have not! Do you have them on your wish list???

Do you have a fish wish list?

 

I looove the tank because it magnifies them so I really get to see them, and today when we were at the swap we took turns there sitting at the bench and just... relaxing to it. 

[Afishionado]

On 3/25/2023 at 8:26 PM, Miska said:

I have not! Do you have them on your wish list???

Do you have a fish wish list?

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.

 

On 3/25/2023 at 8:26 PM, Miska said:

 I looove the tank because it magnifies them so I really get to see them, and today when we were at the swap we took turns there sitting at the bench and just... relaxing to it. 

Coooooooooool