Hi

[Elizabeth Power]

Hi. I'm new to aquariums. I started a year or so ago with a goldfish. That was a mistake. Big fish, small tank, lots and lots of problems. I started because I wanted a dog, but because I live with my parents and they don't want dogs in the house I got fish instead. Probably a better fit for my life right now anyways. 

I have a degree in horticulture because I love plants, but found that I didn't really like working with them professionally so I left that profession and have not really worked with plants much since. But of course when I started my aquarium I HAD to have plants (also didn't work well with a goldfish). 

Having learned my lesson, I sought to make my aquarium experience as easy as possible. So now I have a 20 gallon tank and have filled it with easy fish; neon tetras, jewel tetras, cory catfish, and a pleco (another possible mistake). Also I filled it with easy plants; sagittaria, vals, crypts, Amazon swords, water lilies, etc. So far a much better experience. 

Edited March 30, 2021 by Elizabeth Power

[Elizabeth Power]

This is my aquarium.

[Isaac M]

Hello Elizabeth, 

Welcome to the hobby! 

It is ok, we have all made those mistakes as a new fish keeper. Looking at your aquarium, it looks like you are doing very well now. Very beautiful aquarium! Much better than I did a year into keeping fish. 
 

Hopefully planted aquariums will reignite the passion you had for plants. Have you ever thought about a riparium? You could grow both aquatic plants submerged and grow plants above the water line as well. It looks like you may have something similar now as I see some foliage above the tank. 

[lefty o]

welcome to the forum.

[Elizabeth Power]

1 minute ago, Isaac M said:

Hello Elizabeth, 

Welcome to the hobby! 

It is ok, we have all made those mistakes as a new fish keeper. Looking at your aquarium, it looks like you are doing very well now. Very beautiful aquarium! Much better than I did a year into keeping fish. 
 

Hopefully planted aquariums will reignite the passion you had for plants. Have you ever thought about a riparium? You could grow both aquatic plants submerged and grow plants above the water line as well. It looks like you may have something similar now as I see some foliage above the tank. 

I never thought of a riparium but I did at one point time, when I was a kid, have fire bellied newts. I loved them. I think I had a ripatium at that point in time. 

I do have plants hanging off the back. I figured they would help me control the nutrient levels in the water, making managing the tank easier. I think they are various philodendrons which I got from stealing clippings from my mothers plants when she was out of the house. 😇

[CorydorasEthan]

8 hours ago, Elizabeth Power said:

Hi. I'm new to aquariums. I started a year or so ago with a goldfish. That was a mistake. Big fish, small tank, lots and lots of problems. I started because I wanted a dog, but because I live with my parents and they don't want dogs in the house I got fish instead. Probably a better fit for my life right now anyways. 

I have a degree in horticulture because I love plants, but found that I didn't really like working with them professionally so I left that profession and have not really worked with plants much since. But of course when I started my aquarium I HAD to have plants (also didn't work well with a goldfish). 

Having learned my lesson, I sought to make my aquarium experience as easy as possible. So now I have a 20 gallon tank and have filled it with easy fish; neon tetras, jewel tetras, cory catfish, and a pleco (another possible mistake). Also I filled it with easy plants; sagittaria, vals, crypts, Amazon swords, water lilies, etc. So far a much better experience. 

Welcome to the forum (and hobby)! Don't worry, everyone makes mistakes when they first come into the hobby. Do you have a list of the exact fish species you keep in the aquarium (I might be able to identify if the type of pleco you have is a problem or not). If not, do you have a picture of the pleco that can be shown?

[Elizabeth Power]

9 hours ago, CorydorasEthan said:

Welcome to the forum (and hobby)! Don't worry, everyone makes mistakes when they first come into the hobby. Do you have a list of the exact fish species you keep in the aquarium (I might be able to identify if the type of pleco you have is a problem or not). If not, do you have a picture of the pleco that can be shown?

 @CorydorasEthanThank you!

My understanding is I have Neon tetras, Serpae (red minor/jewel/callistus) tetras. The pets store said my corydoras were Julii, but when I researched them further online it seemed to indicate most Julii corys were not actually Juliis, but some other kind. I think they are actually the leopard cory.

I was told (at the same pet store) that the pleco was a rubber nose pleco. I have a 20 gallon community tank, so I specifically ask if that pleco was peaceful, that it would fit in my tank (not get too big), and that it would eat my algae. They told me yes to all these, so I bought it. But when I looked up the rubber nosed pleco it did not look like it and the internet also said this one is often falsely identified in pet stores and is usually a rubber pleco, which from my understanding is not a good fit for my aquarium. The rubber nose has stripes, mine is all dark gray.

I can't get a picture. I rarely see him and he disappears almost immediately after I see him. There's been a number of times I thought he was gone and he finally shows up again a number of days later very briefly. I've even looked for him by physically moving stuff around, but I was not able to find him. He's almost the same color as my substrate and my aquarium is heavily planted. He is the newest addition so I'm hoping with time he will feel more comfortable and he will come out more. But even then I'm not sure if I can get him out without ripping apart my whole aquarium. But I can send you pictures of everything thing else.

[CorydorasEthan]

20 minutes ago, Elizabeth Power said:

The pets store said my corydoras were Julii, but when I researched them further online it seemed to indicate most Julii corys were not actually Juliis, but some other kind. I think they are actually the leopard cory.

Very nice aquarium! I believe (based on the picture and the label at the store) that the corydoras you got are Corydoras trilineatus, which is also known as the three-lined cory or false julii cory. It is also the most common species mistaken for a julii cory. 

[Elizabeth Power]

@CorydorasEthan You are in luck. I decided to try feeding the pleco and the other fish to see if I could coax him out. Seems today he was willing to get his picture taken.  Ihope that helps. I'd really like tp know if he's going to be a problem noe so I can deal with it. He's been a great at eating the algae. So far there have been no problems with other fish. And right now he's pretty small so his size is not a problem yet. 

[CorydorasEthan]

1 minute ago, Elizabeth Power said:

@CorydorasEthan You are in luck. I decided to try feeding the pleco and the other fish to see if I could coax him out. Seems today he was willing to get his picture taken.  Ihope that helps. I'd really like tp know if he's going to be a problem noe so I can deal with it. He's been a great at eating the algae. So far there have been no problems with other fish. And right now he's pretty small so his size is not a problem yet. 

He looks like some sort of rubberlip pleco (genus Chaetostoma) to me. Species of that genus are a good size for your 20 gallon. They won't cause any problems in the future.

[Elizabeth Power]

Thank you. That's a relief because I do really like him and really want to keep him. 

[CorydorasEthan]

56 minutes ago, Elizabeth Power said:

I was told (at the same pet store) that the pleco was a rubber nose pleco. I have a 20 gallon community tank, so I specifically ask if that pleco was peaceful, that it would fit in my tank (not get too big), and that it would eat my algae. They told me yes to all these, so I bought it. But when I looked up the rubber nosed pleco it did not look like it and the internet also said this one is often falsely identified in pet stores and is usually a rubber pleco, which from my understanding is not a good fit for my aquarium. The rubber nose has stripes, mine is all dark gray.

Oh sorry I just saw this. I still do believe that he might be a Chaetostoma species though. All plecos from that genus are considered rubbernose plecos, and there are many different varieties - some have spots, while others do not. Hope this helps.