Dutch fish nerd

[Gino]

Hi all! I've been a fan of Aquarium Co-op on Youtube for some time now, and apparently there is a forum now as well, so I just had to join. 😄

My hobby technically started when one day, as a little kid, I impulse-bought two goldfish at the LFS. Oh, how my mom must have loved that... As a teenager I had a fish tank as well. I still didn't really know what I was doing in terms of the nitrogen cycle and stuff like that, though, and eventually (lucky fish...) I picked up other hobbies.

2.5 years ago I finally got a fish tank again and by now I'm a confirmed fish nerd. 😉 Researching everything about the hobby and loving it.

I'm looking forward to meeting other hobbyists here, and hope to learn a thing or two along the way!

The image below is of my "main" tank. It's about 132 gal. It has some goldfish in it, siamese algae eaters, two garra species, hoplo cats, a leopard ctenopoma, a bristlenose and some homebred crayfish. It might sound like a strange mix of species, but they live alongside each other quite harmoniously. 😇

This tank used to be dominated by vallisneria. Right now I'm experimenting with other plant species as well as some aquaponics to help reduce the need for water changes.



 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Gino

[FriendlyLoach]

Welcome! I love your tank! I love goldfish and good looking plants and so I love the tank!  

[Colu]

Welcome to the forum Great looking tank

[H.K.Luterman]

Welcome to the forum! What an interesting mix you have. I'd love to see some pics of your hoplo cats; been wanting some of my own but for now I have to live vicariously through other people's pictures.

[Gino]

Thanks guys (girls). ^^

 

45 minutes ago, H.K.Luterman said:

Welcome to the forum! What an interesting mix you have. I'd love to see some pics of your hoplo cats; been wanting some of my own but for now I have to live vicariously through other people's pictures.

Haha, I feel you.
I just took this pic of the albino hoplo, peeking out of one of its hiding spots:






And here is my brown hoplo. He's in a shadowy spot at the moment and I couldn't get a good shot of him. So I used an older pic. He's more mature now and looks somewhat burlier than this. 😀


 

[H.K.Luterman]

Just now, Gino said:

Thanks guys (girls). ^^

 

Haha, I feel you.
I just took this pic of the albino hoplo, peeking out of one of its hiding spots:






And here is my brown hoplo. He's in a shadowy spot at the moment and I couldn't get a good shot of him. So I used an older pic. He's more mature now and looks somewhat burlier than this. 😀


 

Absolutely adorable.

[HH Morant]

Those two catfish are the same species - spotted hoplo - one albino and one not. A brown hoplo is a different species.

[Gino]

You're right! For most fish I usually (on a different forum) just use the scientific names, to prevent exactly this scenario, lol. With "brown" I was referring to its color. ^^

[GameCzar]

Wow what a great tank and fish!