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

[Matmac67]

Hi everyone my names Matty, good to join and looking forward to having a read through this forum! I’m signing in from Inverness away up in the north of Scotland! Currently have a couple planted tanks setup up with a 6 foot one lying empty in the garage as well. I’ve got a pair of chocolate cichlids, ropefish, marbled goby, clown barbs, catfish and then also got some African dwarf frogs and rasboras. I’ve had tanks for 12 years now but am in no means an expert far from it infact, so I’m excited to get some tips and advice from you all. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/12/2023 at 6:13 PM, Matmac67 said:

Hi everyone my names Matty, good to join and looking forward to having a read through this forum! I’m signing in from Inverness away up in the north of Scotland! Currently have a couple planted tanks setup up with a 6 foot one lying empty in the garage as well. I’ve got a pair of chocolate cichlids, ropefish, marbled goby, clown barbs, catfish and then also got some African dwarf frogs and rasboras. I’ve had tanks for 12 years now but am in no means an expert far from it infact, so I’m excited to get some tips and advice from you all. 

Welcome to the forum; nice tank! Have you also been watching the rugby? Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 vs Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 was fun to watch! 

[Miss May]

Hello. I’m Miss May from Annapolis,Md. I’m new to the aquarium world. I have a 10 gallon with gravel and artificial plants. I have 2 platys, tetra, and 2 Cory. I’m working on setting up my first tank (8)with live plants. I look forward to learning a lot 💜🔵

[Guppysnail]

On 11/4/2023 at 9:01 PM, Miss May said:

Hello. I’m Miss May from Annapolis,Md. I’m new to the aquarium world. I have a 10 gallon with gravel and artificial plants. I have 2 platys, tetra, and 2 Cory. I’m working on setting up my first tank (8)with live plants. I look forward to learning a lot 💜🔵

Welcome. I’m in PA. Glad you are here. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 11/5/2023 at 2:01 AM, Miss May said:

Hello. I’m Miss May from Annapolis,Md. I’m new to the aquarium world. I have a 10 gallon with gravel and artificial plants. I have 2 platys, tetra, and 2 Cory. I’m working on setting up my first tank (8)with live plants. I look forward to learning a lot 💜🔵

Welcome to the forum! 

[Opie]

On 11/4/2023 at 8:01 PM, Miss May said:

Hello. I’m Miss May from Annapolis,Md. I’m new to the aquarium world. I have a 10 gallon with gravel and artificial plants. I have 2 platys, tetra, and 2 Cory. I’m working on setting up my first tank (8)with live plants. I look forward to learning a lot 💜🔵

Welcome. You can learn a lot from everyone here. I know I have! Can’t wait to hear about the plants you pick.

[nabokovfan87]

Welcome welcome to the forums @Miss May

[Jeff]

On 2/12/2023 at 12:13 PM, Matmac67 said:

Hi everyone my names Matty, good to join and looking forward to having a read through this forum! I’m signing in from Inverness away up in the north of Scotland! Currently have a couple planted tanks setup up with a 6 foot one lying empty in the garage as well. I’ve got a pair of chocolate cichlids, ropefish, marbled goby, clown barbs, catfish and then also got some African dwarf frogs and rasboras. I’ve had tanks for 12 years now but am in no means an expert far from it infact, so I’m excited to get some tips and advice from you all. 

Tank looks great! I'd love to see some pics of your Ropefish!

[Retired Geezer]

Retired Geezer here. My neighbor brought over a 2.5 gal tank with one sad guppy for me to watch while he is on vacation. 

My wife and I have had tanks before and this triggered happy memories. Well you can guess what happened, we're off to look for a 20-29 gallon tank for ourselves. It's been 40 years since we had fish and I remember the filter was called an 'under gravel filter'. Do they even have these anymore?

Second question. Should lights be on 24/7 or should I turn them off during dark hours to help the fish maintain diurnal rhythm.

[JE47]

@Retired Geezer yes under gravel filters still exist and there are definitely people on the forum who still use them. By the way welcome to the forum light should not be on 24/7 start with about eight hours.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/9/2023 at 7:30 PM, Retired Geezer said:

Retired Geezer here. My neighbor brought over a 2.5 gal tank with one sad guppy for me to watch while he is on vacation. 

My wife and I have had tanks before and this triggered happy memories. Well you can guess what happened, we're off to look for a 20-29 gallon tank for ourselves. It's been 40 years since we had fish and I remember the filter was called an 'under gravel filter'. Do they even have these anymore?

Second question. Should lights be on 24/7 or should I turn them off during dark hours to help the fish maintain diurnal rhythm.

Welcome to the forum! UGFs (under gravel filters) seem to have made way for the easier to maintain sponge filters in the past years. 
Definitely do as @JE47 says and keep a diurnal rhythm. Good luck! 

[Guppysnail]

Welcome to the forum. From one retired geezer to another 😉 Until this past year when I switched to sand substrate all my tanks had UGF. I still run 2.

 

On 12/9/2023 at 1:30 PM, Retired Geezer said:

remember the filter was called an 'under gravel filter'. Do they even have these anymore?

 

[Sammy]

On 12/9/2023 at 11:30 AM, Retired Geezer said:

Retired Geezer here. My neighbor brought over a 2.5 gal tank with one sad guppy for me to watch while he is on vacation. 

My wife and I have had tanks before and this triggered happy memories. Well you can guess what happened, we're off to look for a 20-29 gallon tank for ourselves. It's been 40 years since we had fish and I remember the filter was called an 'under gravel filter'. Do they even have these anymore?

Second question. Should lights be on 24/7 or should I turn them off during dark hours to help the fish maintain diurnal rhythm.

I still use UGFs. Lowest maintenance,  zero leak potential (I still remember my first major leak - annihilated my living flooring). I buy every one I can find for sale used. They work well for most of my requirements. Most hobbyists prefer newer technologies.

Lights on 12, off 12 depending on the light/ spectrum. 

Welcome back

[OhGee]

Hello all!

I’m excited to be here and to learn from everyone! Very much a beginner here. I did keep three goldfish over 25 years ago as a teen, and managed to keep them alive for five years before I had to give them away. Definitely didn’t know anything about cycling/having a seasoned tank back then! 😅

Anyway, getting back into it again. I’ve been going down a YouTube rabbit hole for the last 2 months and after hours upon hours of watching videos and reading articles/forums, I set up a 10-gallon planted tank (amazon sword, windelov java fern, anubias, with amazon frogbit arriving in a couple days) a couple weeks ago and am waiting for the water parameters to stabilize before I add fish. I’ve decided on either a female betta or a short-finned male betta, a mystery snail, and a nerite snail. Hope the betta doesn’t end up bugging them too much. Anyway, wish me luck! Here’s a pic of my planted, fishless tank. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 1/17/2024 at 2:37 PM, OhGee said:

Hello all!

I’m excited to be here and to learn from everyone! Very much a beginner here. I did keep three goldfish over 25 years ago as a teen, and managed to keep them alive for five years before I had to give them away. Definitely didn’t know anything about cycling/having a seasoned tank back then! 😅

Anyway, getting back into it again. I’ve been going down a YouTube rabbit hole for the last 2 months and after hours upon hours of watching videos and reading articles/forums, I set up a 10-gallon planted tank (amazon sword, windelov java fern, anubias, with amazon frogbit arriving in a couple days) a couple weeks ago and am waiting for the water parameters to stabilize before I add fish. I’ve decided on either a female betta or a short-finned male betta, a mystery snail, and a nerite snail. Hope the betta doesn’t end up bugging them too much. Anyway, wish me luck! Here’s a pic of my planted, fishless tank. 

Welcome!  The tank looks great so far!  Be careful with the betta vs. the snails - be prepared to separate them if needed.  Antennae look like tasty worms to most bettas!  I tried it and ended up having to move my snail to another tank because he was being attacked. Then again it depends on the betta's temperament. Some are nicer than others.

And I love sword plants!  You can also look for one called a rosette sword. They are shorter and bushier and go great in 10 gallon or even 5 gallon tanks.

On 12/9/2023 at 1:30 PM, Retired Geezer said:

Retired Geezer here. My neighbor brought over a 2.5 gal tank with one sad guppy for me to watch while he is on vacation. 

My wife and I have had tanks before and this triggered happy memories. Well you can guess what happened, we're off to look for a 20-29 gallon tank for ourselves. It's been 40 years since we had fish and I remember the filter was called an 'under gravel filter'. Do they even have these anymore?

Second question. Should lights be on 24/7 or should I turn them off during dark hours to help the fish maintain diurnal rhythm.

They do still make under gravel filters. I have one in my tank and enjoyed it, but I ended up decommissioning it (taking the tubes off) so that I could use sand.  I had heard that plants do well in sand, and I am having good luck with plant growth.

[Tony s]

On 1/17/2024 at 3:05 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Welcome!  The tank looks great so far!  Be careful with the betta vs. the snails - be prepared to separate them if needed.  Antennae look like tasty worms to most bettas!  I tried it and ended up having to move my snail to another tank because he was being attacked. Then again it depends on the betta's temperament. Some are nicer than others.

And I love sword plants!  You can also look for one called a rosette sword. They are shorter and bushier and go great in 10 gallon or even 5 gallon tanks.

Was coming to warn about the antennae.  But was just thinking, I keep bettas in community tanks. A small group of harlequins or pork chop rasboras would alleviate the aggression. And bettas never bother them. And they never bother the bettas. Several small species would work. Prime time aquatics has a better betta buddies video. And a bad betta buddy video for that matter 

Edited January 17 by Tony s

[OhGee]

Thank you @Chick-In-Of-TheSea and @Tony s for the advice! Yes I had heard that it was a gamble having snails and betta together. It seems like most fish are a gamble when it comes to putting them together with bettas, and that it ultimately comes down to the betta’s temperament. 

You both have me re-thinking this combo. I’ll take a look at those Prime Time Aquatics videos. I’m sure I’ve likely watched them (I’ve watched sooo much Prime Time Aquatics, KG Tropicals, Girl Talks Fish, and Aquarium Co-Op). I’m just trying to refrain from overstocking my tank. 

[Tony s]

On 1/17/2024 at 4:38 PM, OhGee said:

Thank you @Chick-In-Of-TheSea and @Tony s for the advice! Yes I had heard that it was a gamble having snails and betta together. It seems like most fish are a gamble when it comes to putting them together with bettas, and that it ultimately comes down to the betta’s temperament. 

You both have me re-thinking this combo. I’ll take a look at those Prime Time Aquatics videos. I’m sure I’ve likely watched them (I’ve watched sooo much Prime Time Aquatics, KG Tropicals, Girl Talks Fish, and Aquarium Co-Op). I’m just trying to refrain from overstocking my tank. 

 

On 1/17/2024 at 4:38 PM, OhGee said:

Thank you @Chick-In-Of-TheSea and @Tony s for the advice! Yes I had heard that it was a gamble having snails and betta together. It seems like most fish are a gamble when it comes to putting them together with bettas, and that it ultimately comes down to the betta’s temperament. 

You both have me re-thinking this combo. I’ll take a look at those Prime Time Aquatics videos. I’m sure I’ve likely watched them (I’ve watched sooo much Prime Time Aquatics, KG Tropicals, Girl Talks Fish, and Aquarium Co-Op). I’m just trying to refrain from overstocking my tank. 

Yes. I'm on those sites daily (or more). with the correct kind of dither fish, they shouldn't bother the snails. and I've seen other fish do much more damage to the betta, than I've seen bettas do. Bettas don't like Betta's, or betta looking fish. other fish they really don't care about. depending on the bettas personality

[CHRT396]

I want to thank y'all for having me!!  I have been an avid fish keeper for several years until the great flood of 2020.  I fell asleep doing a water change on my 90g planted tank....while filling it up. I sat down while waiting and woke up to over 850 gallons of water and dead fish on the floor.  After 5 mos. of clean-up....I sold all my tanks..(7) except for a 40 g. breeder..and bought ONE (1)..UNO..120g tank  to replace the 90g in my entryway.  I've been very interested in the fertilizers and supplements that Aquarium co-op has...and have bought pretty much all of them.  I recently switched the newer 120g African Cichlid tank over to a more subtle and peaceful community planted tank.  Much less chaos.  I'm looking forward to getting involved and educated about plants and what makes them tick!

The picture shows a few of the fish collected that were scattered on the floor..DOA.  I had some REALLY nice Rainbow fish and Dennison Barbs!!
 

Edited February 6 by CHRT396

[Retired Geezer]

Sad to hear about that devastating event. You have a lot of fortitude to keep going after all that. 
Welcome, friend 

[jo1414]

On 7/14/2020 at 10:28 PM, Bcarson said:

 

OMGosh, what is this guy?? I love the fins

Woo, they are SO variable with what they accept. I have a nerite in each of my betta tanks. I have only 1 betta that accepts other fish. I have him in a 10g so that might be the difference, but the other betta weren't happy in anything bigger than a 6G. My betta in the 10 has oto's, emerald danios, and 2 nerite. They all school together at times and the betta is going for the betta obstacle course olympics.

[Guupy42]

Greetings from Texas

I am fairly new to the fishkeeping hobby (Started around December 2022). I have kept 8 fish (all guppies) in total. Currently, I have a 5 gallon Nano Aquarium with 3 male guppies (Turquoise Tuxedo Delta, Sunrise Delta, and Green Cobra variants) and one Nerite snail. I do water changes every week, and my primary source of supplies is PetSmart. The fish eat the TopFin Community Mix (the one with Tropical Flakes and Spirulina treats). I strongly believe in Aquarium Salt, which is what I use to cure all my fish diseases, and it has been working very well.

I hope that by joining this community, I can gain knowledge and learn to be a better fishkeeper.

Edited March 9 by Guupy42

[Whitecloud09]

@Guupy42, this forum is amazing and you made a good decision on joining it. I am also a strong believer in aquarium salt over medications. I have a 5 gallon to from petsmart, all my items are from petsmart uselly I do water changes every week, seems we have some things in common lol

[Carolina]

Hi everyone, I’m very glad I found this forum. I got a beautiful betta fish as a surprise present, which is crazy because I didn’t even have a cycled tank or let alone know much about bettas. I’ve only owned a couple in my life as a kid, and everyone knows how that goes. I want to treat this betta as best as I can, this is the best tank set up I could come up with at the moment due to tight finances, but please give me all the tips and affordable websites for live plants or anything else. I’m kind of panicking because I really don’t want to kill this fish, lol. His name is Darius and I love him so much. I tried my best with his tank, and I cranked in literally a crazy amount of research because I had to make a tank for him extremely quickly, I’m just worried about cycling and how that will go🥹

[Whitecloud09]

hello @Carolina!!! Love your betta there! I would say, first maybe you can raise the water level a bit.

Bettas are kinda sensitive to to much movement in the water and if you raise it to right under the filter that woud be great! Welcome to this awesome forum!