Seasoned aquarist but still learning new things all the time

[Chili_girl]

I'm in Fort Worth Texas and have kept fish since I was a child. Most recently (the last 10 years or so) I have kept Mbuna African Cichlids. I have high Ph hard water which is what they love. Currently I have a 125g, 75g and 55g with Mbuna.

I love the outdoors and have 5 acres of several gardens and wooded areas, a pond with five species of frog, toads, snakes and have lots of bird feeders and bird baths. I ENJOY NATURE DAILY.

I recently started a 20g long planted tank for the first time with cherry shrimp, Neon Tetras, Celestial Pearl Danios, two Nertite snails and White Cloud minnows and a 10g quarantine tank. As far as plants I have Anubias, Amazon Sword, Java Moss, Vallisneria, Pogostemon Stellatus Octopus, Dwarf Sagittaria and one ivy plant from my yard. 

I'm learning a lot from Aquarium Co-op site.

 

 

[Rewcolee1]

Welcome! Your tank looks great.

[nabokovfan87]

Very beautiful tank setup.  Well done!

Welcome to the fun. 🙂

[Shadow]

Great work and welcome! 

[Odd Duck]

Welcome!  I’m in North Richland Hills.  We’re practically neighbors.  😆  Your tank looks good, especially for a first planted tank.

If you don’t already know there is a decent local group (DFWAA - DFW Aquarium Association) but you just missed the Expo weekend before last.  They try to hold monthly meetings but it’s been a bit sporadic this year.  It’s a fairly young group still finding their way around how to run it.  There is also Aquashella every spring, too, which is a very big show - much bigger than the local Expo.

Lots of people around here breeding African cichlids with our hard water.  I’m bucking the system by keeping lots of things except African cichlids by mixing RO with dechlor tap.  Most of what I keep I could use straight tap, but many do better with a blend.  I have lots of tanks, but only some are “display” tanks.  I’ve also been keeping fish since I was a tween but it’s been a LOT longer than 10 years.  😆  I actually took about 10-12 year break from keeping fish and only back in it the last 3 years.  I’m happy to help any way I can since I’ve recently relearned a lot of stuff and had to learn a lot about plants since LED lights were few and far between in freshwater settings when I left fishkeeping previously, but all my tanks are planted now except my Daphnia/snail culture tank.  Hard to catch Daphnia around plants.  😁 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Welcome to the forum, great tank! Welcome to the world of "smalls"!