Welcome to the C.A.R.E Forum - Look here first.

[Patrick_G]

Welcome @Dwight! 

[Mydonkeyfish]

Hi I have been in the hobby for about a year and my first fish was a electric blue crayfish and I love him. I really like how his spider like legs walk around. My first real fish was a giant danio and I have three right now and plan to buy more as they are social. I am a beginner breeder and have bred dwarf crayfish and guppies. I can't show pics right now but will do as soon as I get home, I am very excited to be here as aquarium Co op has been a huge inspiration to me and has helped me through many water changes.(joke)

Edited January 13, 2022 by Mydonkeyfish
Update on my 20g

[drewzero1]

I'm Drew from WI and I heard about the forum on the Aquarist podcast. Thanks @Randy!

I kept goldfish for a few years before going tropical and breeding mollies. I'm currently setting up my 40 breeder community with cories, pearl danios (not the celestial ones), endler's, and my last surviving molly. I've also been breeding white cloud minnows in a low tech no heat tank.

Future plans include small south american cichlids and gouramis (though probably not at the same time).

[Mary Amen]

Hi Everyone😇! Spoiler alert: no fun photos (yet!).

For the last few months I have been researching how to properly parent a Betta. Which has naturally led me down a rabbit hole. Finally at a point in my research for where is best to set the tank up, I found my first Aquarium Co-op video! All about algae! Thank you so much, Cory! I am looking forward to learning much more. I am both intimidated and thrilled at the opportunity to learn how to properly do this!

I am not familiar with how formus really work-so excuse me as I bumble around to find where to ask my initial questions! It will be so exciting to share the process (I definitely want to be able to fully utilize all the options for this text box--wow--so very professional!!! I love all the options!!!🥰

[Taco Playz]

Welcome! @Mary Amen

[Yuns Aquatics]

Hi Everyone!

My name is Yeon-Hee, and I go by "Yuns". I am located in Olympia, Washington and I am very excited to be here among fishy friends as I am finally pursuing my love of fish and aquatics! 🌱☺🐟🌱

I have kept one small 2.65 gallon palludarium with Endler's Livebearers for about 5 years now. This tank has moved with me through two different moves and today, I have 11 tanks! Part of me can't believe my explosion of tanks, the other part of me is not surprised at all.

I have been very inspired by videos by both Cory and Irene, and I am now propagating a variety of plants for the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society (GSAS) Horticulture Award Program (HAP) and also am doing some breeding of cherry shrimp, endlers, and guppies for the Breeder Award Program (BAP) as well.

I am also growing Java moss, seasoning extra cycled sponges, and processing beautiful pieces of driftwood (boiling, cleaning up, and sinking) to potentially help support my aquatic hobby. I would not be surprised if I eventually became some kind of a fish store. 🌲😅🐟🌲

The land I live on is a wetlands rich with a variety of mosses, so my next project is to see if I can adapt some terrestrial mosses to live under water.

My favorite fish are Endler's Livebearers because they are so hearty, active, and colorful, with such a variety of tail shapes!

Recently I went through a 36hr power outage and barely slept as I was trying to keep the water temperature up. At night, the temp dropped as low as 54°F and I didn't lose any fish! Given, I have had this line of endlers for about 5 years now and they have seen other power outage and broken pumps before.

Anyhow, now that I've written a whole essay, I just wanted to introduce myself and share my love and excitement for fish and aquatic plants!

Attached are a few pictures of some of my tanks.

Cheers and thank you for having me! 🙂

Best,
Yuns

[ADMWNDSR83]

Welcome, Yuns!! Beautiful tanks.  I can relate on the explosion of tanks.  It's most definitely addictive!  I've started breeding multies, but am having trouble finding an lfs local who will buy them, so I may need to step it up a notch.

On 11/28/2021 at 12:57 PM, Mary Amen said:

Hi Everyone😇! Spoiler alert: no fun photos (yet!).

For the last few months I have been researching how to properly parent a Betta. Which has naturally led me down a rabbit hole. Finally at a point in my research for where is best to set the tank up, I found my first Aquarium Co-op video! All about algae! Thank you so much, Cory! I am looking forward to learning much more. I am both intimidated and thrilled at the opportunity to learn how to properly do this!

I am not familiar with how formus really work-so excuse me as I bumble around to find where to ask my initial questions! It will be so exciting to share the process (I definitely want to be able to fully utilize all the options for this text box--wow--so very professional!!! I love all the options!!!🥰

Welcome, Mary!  We all know how to be new, so feel free to ask away!  I also know just how you feel on the betta project.  My wanting a simple betta tank shifted through research into a tank that is a full Southeast Asian biome!  It's fun to be able to figure all that out and watch as a plan comes together.  Looking forward to the photos! 

[Clarke O]

On 7/14/2020 at 3:03 PM, Nancy K said:

Me too! Also #Houston, also NW side!  🙂  I'm newer to fishkeeping (less than a year). What are the best ways you've found to connect with the local fish scene? Trying to learn how to connect locally, not just online--I need people time too! 😬

On 7/14/2020 at 3:03 PM, Nancy K said:

Hey Bill - I am also from H town (NW side) 🙂

and J. Mantooth - well said and I feel exactly the same way. 

 

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Edited December 21, 2021 by Clarke O
Clarification

[Matt_AKA_Poth-O-Carry]

Hi!  It's always nice to make new friends. My name is Matt, I live in Virgina, and have been off and on keeping fish my whole life. My father had tons of guppy tanks in his office when I was young and I was always fascinated by the little guys swimming around just being fish.  he always kept a bunch of plants floating in his tanks, hornwort I think, or something similar. After I got married I convinced my wife to let me set up a tank, and, as you can guess, now we have three. She's got a 5 gal tank on her desk with a beautiful betta, and I'm keeping cherry shrimp in a 10 gallon on the kitchen counter. my 54g corner tank is kind of a mishmash of fish (fishmash?). Mainly keeping Endlers, and a few other buddies. no particular theme, just your typical fairly laid back aquarium.  I'm real lazy with my water changes so plants and not overloading were a must.  I've got an fx6 stocked with biohome ultimate, and a ton of easy no ferts no co2 plants in the tank to help with nitrate.  It's doing quite well.  A few weeks into the pandemic I finally picked up a pathos plant and suddenly realized I had no way to keep it connected to the side of my tank. I designed something with my 3d printer and it came out so cool I shared it with a fb group. long story short, that became my Poth-O-Carry side hustle. It's worth all the time I spend just to read the reviews of the things that came out of my head that make people's tanks a happier place.  

I'm looking for ideas of what kind of larger centerpiece fish to get for my 54g corner tank.  something easy. eeeaaasy.  Father, two kids, full time job and aforementioned side hustle, not a ton of time for maintenance. maybe I'll move some cherries to the other tank and see how they fare. Anyway. I saw the theme of this forum and knew I had to be a part of it.  I'm so tired of the animosity on the internet. I want to be friends. ❤️ 

[Crystal_Marie]

Hi all. I’m Crystal from CA. I’m a total noob and very grateful to have found aquarium co-op. I got into fish keeping because my husband is allergic to cats and my youngest is still scared of dogs. Fishies it is! 
 

I’m still cycling my first tank which is a planted fluval flex 9. Plants are vallisneria (in the back) and cryptocoryne lucens (the two up front) from aquarium co-op.  It will be for a betta. I’m really wanting a small school (6) of neon tetras and a snail but I’m not sure if there is enough space. Wishing I’d gotten the 15 gal, lol. 

I told my family if I can manage to keep a betta alive for at least a year I’ll upgrade to a bigger tank 🤞

Also, if you have any recommendations for more plants to add, I’d really appreciate it. 😄

[JettsPapa]

On 12/25/2021 at 3:00 PM, Crystal_Marie said:

Hi all. I’m Crystal from CA. I’m a total noob and very grateful to have found aquarium co-op. I got into fish keeping because my husband is allergic to cats and my youngest is still scared of dogs. Fishies it is! 
 

I’m still cycling my first tank which is a planted fluval flex 9. Plants are vallisneria (in the back) and cryptocoryne lucens (the two up front) from aquarium co-op.  It will be for a betta. I’m really wanting a small school (6) of neon tetras and a snail but I’m not sure if there is enough space. Wishing I’d gotten the 15 gal, lol. 

I told my family if I can manage to keep a betta alive for at least a year I’ll upgrade to a bigger tank 🤞

Also, if you have any recommendations for more plants to add, I’d really appreciate it. 😄

Welcome to the forum.  When I had a betta she liked to rest on the crowns of the water wisteria.  It would need occasional trimming in a small tank, but that's not a bad thing.  You can cut the top portion off and stick it in the substrate to make a new plant.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Crystal_Marie Welcome to the forum! I have a Flex9 as well and it was intended for my last Betta- unfortunately she died before I was able to put her in there and I've decided to no longer keep Betta fish. What I can say is Bettas can be tough in a community tank. What you'll want to do is start with your community fish- you said you wanted Neons- and I agree they might be a bit big for the Flex as really in the end it's about 7 gallons of usable fishy space- so consider that. I started my community tank with Ember Tetras- they are a good option as they are small (less than an 1") and a group of 6-8 will work well in the Flex. They have similar water parameter needs (I'd keep them at about 7pH and minimum temp of 80 with a Betta inhabitant) I would recommend 1 Nerite Snail for clean up.

You'll want to add your Betta LAST- they are rather territorial- have your community fish settle in first. THIS means you'll need to start a QT for a Betta. I use Petco's Imagitarium Temporary Holding Habitat (as I keep small fish these make great inexpensive QT tank- and the advantage to these as opposed to storage bins is they have lids that already have breathing holes and tube cut outs/feeding lid- but see through as well) but you can use any plastic storage bin or even get a small glass tank. We here cannot stress how important quarantining new fish is!

I will also say because you have to start with community fish first- and you're putting in what is considered an "aggressive" fish- have a backup plan if things do not work out....Bettas can be great in a community tank but they all have different personalities and some will be too aggressive for the other fish. 

Since I decided to not keep Bettas anymore I've added 1 Hillstream Loach and 5 Endler males to my Flex- this is a very fun, colorful and very active combination- just as alternative to Betta fish keeping. Male Guppies would also be fun and colorful and IMO both are much easier to keep than a Betta. Just food for thought. 

As far as plants, I love Anubias, easily glued to a piece of wood, rock or decoration they are beautiful and easy to grow- the Flex doesn't have the best plant lighting- so lower light plants are best for this tank. I have Anubias, Java Fern Windelov and Narrow Leaf, as well as Bacopa Caroliniana in my tank and they all do very well- and are easy to propogate. 

p.s. Most on here seem to have the Flex15, I've had a lot of issues with filtration in my 9, so watch the pump and parameters closely. I've not noticed the 15 owners saying the same.  I've since hotrodded my tank so that doesn't happen anymore- not saying it will happen to you- just keep an eye on it. 

Edited December 26, 2021 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Crystal_Marie]

@xXInkedPhoenixXThank you for the information! I almost want to do a community tank instead but it’s for my kids and I figure if I can keep one fishie alive then I can venture to get more. Ideally, I’m thinking to just put in the betta and a nerite. If all goes well then I’ll upgrade to a 20g and keep the 9g as a backup. 
I’ll definitely look into the plants you mentioned. 
My daughter mentioned tonight that she wants a female betta (she prefers girl animals 🤷‍♀️). I don’t have much in the way of a LFS. The closest one is about 20-30 mins away and their male bettas were in cups 😔. They had a sorority tank but it looked dirty. It was odd, half their tanks were pristine and the others looked like they forgot about them. So, it’s a mixed bag. I honestly don’t know where I should get our fishie at this point 😬 I was looking at Aqua Huna.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@Crystal_Marie honestly if that's your thought, just make the flex a Betta tank and if the deal goes well- get your 20 gallon and leave the betta in the 9- go mad with the 20! 

The fish thing is hard- typically you want to get a fish that comes from similar water parameters as you, LFS are usually your best bet. Barring that if the parameters aren't posted on the sites you're looking at- email the company and ask- I find good customer service is also a test of whether or not I want to order a fish from them. 

I say that but I got 8 CPDs from Aqua Huna which is in another region as me and often described as soft water territory (I have hard water) and my CPDs did great- on the other hand I ordered a beautiful Betta from a company in TX and sadly she didn't last much more than a month. It's hit or miss- but if you can find someone that has closer water parameters you have a better chance!

[Jorgey]

Hi All,

Long time lurker on the forum, but finally decided to join. 😀

I've been keeping aquariums off and on from about 1985.  Different sizes, multiple tanks, and various fish.  I had (what I think) was a beautiful tank years ago with some incredible gourami's and a couple of enormous blood parrot fish.  My wife and I went on a vacation and had my neighbor check in on things every day while we were away.  On the last day of vacation, only hours from getting on the plane, I received a call saying that all of my fish were dead.  I really am still not sure what exactly happened to kill all of my fish, but I was devastated and gave up fish keeping for almost 15 years.  (Except for a few little aquariums for my son.)

Then, like a super hero, in comes @Cory at Aquarium Co-op.  I came across Cory on youtube at least 5 years ago and although it took me almost two years of watching his videos, he was instrumental at getting me back into the bobby.  His knowledge and passion was contagious.  Now I am back to multiple tanks and spending WAY TO MUCH money at Aquarium Co-op.  🤣  But it is all worth it.  A few years ago when placing a few of my first orders, I was highly impressed and felt privileged to get answers to my questions directly from Cory.  Thanks @Cory for all that you do.  You are a rockstar in the fish world.

 

[Native Keeper]

Hello everyone! My passion is Native fish keeping, especially keeping species that aren't popular int the hobby, like Western Mosquitofish. I currently do not have a good camera, but I will be getting a better camera soon, then therefore posting updates more frequently!

[Vafloo]

Hello Everyone! 

My name is Tomek. I'm from Poland. I'm around 2 years in hobby now. I have some nano tanks and I'm currently preparing to setup something what for me (and for most hobbists in Europe) is considered as large tank, but for you in US it seems not to be so large (250 litres = around 66 gallons). 

Here are some my tanks:

 

 

 

Tomek

[SFF.Aquatics]

Hello Everyone! My name is Brad. I am just outside Chicago in the western suburbs and I am returning to the hobby after a little more than a year without fish. I like subtropical and tropical fish. I just recently got in some CPD's, Longfin White Clouds and Glowlight Danios. I have bred these fish in the past with pretty good success. I may get some Reticulated Hillstream Loaches once my tanks have run for a bit. If anyone has any experience with the Red Lizard Hillstream Loach Homaloptera parclitella or the saddled Lizard Loach Homaloptera orthogoniataI would love to hear from you. 

It is nice to be part of this group. I have been following Cory and his Channel from the very beginning. I will be posting pictures along the way!

[Patrick_G]

@Vafloo, your aquascapes are beautiful, welcome to the forum!

@SFF.Aquatics, welcome and we’d love to see some pics of those tanks! 

[ColinRocks]

Hi everyone, my name is Colin and I just moved to WA from Florida. I’ve been a long time Aquarium Co-Op fan on YouTube and was really excited to find out the shop was only about 20 minutes from my new apartment! 
 

I’ve worked in pet/fish stores for most of my life and have kept both fresh and saltwater tanks from 2.5 gallons to 150 gallons. Within the last year or so, my best friend and her husband set up their first aquarium and it hit them hard! She’s on her 3rd tank already, and talking to her about fish all day every day has really sparked my interest in the hobby once again. 
 

I picked up a free 20 gallon tank on Facebook and…that very quickly became a 20, two 10’s and a 29 (multiple tank syndrome shows no mercy). So far I’ve met a lot of great hobbyists just trading and giving/getting things away for free, everyone in WA has been very welcoming, kind, and generous.

like Cory mentioned, I too enjoy the layout and style of a forum, over some of the groups on Facebook or other social media, and I’m happy to be a part of this great community! 

[Patrick_G]

@ColinRocks welcome! We have an active club here in the Seattle area, The Greater Seattle Aquarium Society. I’m a fairly new member, but so far it’s a lot of fun. I highly recommend joining! 

[plantedtanks1052]

Hi everyone I'm currently living in Northern California and I'm trying to learn as much as I can about the hobby as I can.pictures is a 10 gallon planted tank that I'm cycling. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

@plantedtanks1052 welcome to the forum! Nice tank you have going there so far!

[Waricks]

Hello Everyone!

I am not new to fish, I had fresh and Saltwater tanks around 25 years ago. I just started a new tank and am looking forward to learning from everyone here. 
 

Looking forward to seeing what’s happening here. 
 

Bill

[PaigeIs]

Hello,

I am new to fishkeeping.  My daughter got a 10g kit tank for her birthday in August.  After killing a dozen fish, I started ignoring the sage advice from my local big box pet store and did some research.  It took a few weeks, but we finally have a healthy tank, and I have a new obsession.  For my birthday last month, I bought myself a 20g tank and am having fun picking out all the "stuff."

In my defense, my daughter's tank population has doubled in the last six weeks (platies) so it was either rehome or get another tank.  

I'm looking forward to learning from those more experienced in the hobby.