Greatings from Texas

[JimOp]

Thanks for having a place to go with questions. My name is James and i have kept fish for a little over 40 years. My very first aquarium I purchased I was around 12. I found a 55 gal at a garage say for like 5 or 10 bucks. I ballanced it on my BMX bike and wheeled it home. 

My hobby grew and shrunk over the years. I got heavily into breeding to the point I had over 300 tanks. But flooding basicly killed my breeding hobby. While I still kept aquariums. I never went back into intentionaly breeding. 

Because raising fry and planted Aquariums really don't go together. The planted aquarium was never really something I included in my hobby.

For the past 5 years i did not have any aquariums at all. I decided a couple months ago to pick up a 40 gallon breeder and wanted to try a planted aquarium. First problem is my water is very hard and i was having extreme difficulty lowering it. So i used Peat moss in the filter to get the water quality under control. Now i have a thriving planted community of tetras, danios and corydoras who spawn ever 2 weeks. I also have an albino bristle nose, reproducing freshwater shrimp, a mystery snail and an infestation of unwanted rams horns.

It is not with out issues because in typical fashion I went in blind and made several mistakes. But that's ok too, it is why it is called a hobby.

[JettsPapa]

Welcome.  What part of Texas (I'm about an hour drive northwest of Houston)?

I know what you mean about the hard water.  I have trouble reading the colors on the strips, but my TDS is close to 300 ppm.  I don't try to adjust it.  Instead I just find plants, fish, and invertebrates that thrive in it.  There is a larger variety than you might think.

[JimOp]

Beaumont area of south east Texas. 100 miles east of Houston.

 

Our tap water is over 300 carbonate. So i use zero filter water to do my partal water changes and drinking water. But initial fill and large water changes the peat moss is a better aid to combat the hardness. I like the look of tannins in an aquarium too.

 

My goal was to make an easy to maintain schooling tank. Nothing special just nice to look at. The plants added enexpected complexity to the tank that I am really enjoying learning about.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Welcome to the forum James! I'm sure you have a wealth of knowledge you can share not only in what you found success in before but also in mistakes. I tend to roll with Bob Ross on the "happy accidents" though they can often suck, we always learn something from them. To me, that's one of the coolest things about this hobby. 

[redfish]

Welcome to the forum.  There is a wealth of knowledge here so you should fit right in.  I learn something every day.  Great looking tank!