fish tanks

[Scapegoat]

Finally fulfilling a small dream to own a decent sized fish tank. Just set up my 45 gallon freshwater tank, that will become a saltwater tank once i move and have a house.

For now... i'm going to learn the ropes on a freshwater.







i intend on keeping crayfish in this so you'll notice some ground shelter for them.

I'll more than likely be keeping african cichlids and other larger fish in the tank with them. i'm expecting losses on both sides... i've read the fish figure out when the crayfish shed their shell and go after them, as well as the crayfish tend to hunt the fish at night.

I'm hoping introducing a feeder fish or shrimp will keep that down...

this is my first tank and i'm pretty excited to get some fish in it this weekend.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

if you want a cool but not that exciting looking fish, get an oscar. i have three in my tank and they're extremely intelligent. when they see me, they'll swim up to the glass all excited but will totally snub strangers. they also enjoy being petted and i've taught them to swim through a hoop. they're like fish dogs lol. the only downside is they'll bully pretty much any other fish.

[james_ls]

Your lines are all oxidized, note the crazy amount of bubbles.

Check your PH levels.

I <3 salt-water and can help you with a badass and relatively inexpensive setup when the time comes Ken.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by james_ls

Your lines are all oxidized, note the crazy amount of bubbles.

Check your PH levels.

I <3 salt-water and can help you with a badass and relatively inexpensive setup when the time comes Ken.

the pic was moments after i finished filling the tank with 45 gallons of tap water and turning on the system. Bubbles are considerably less today, more than 12 hours later.

pH this morning was 7.2
no2 was .05
nh3/nh4+ was .25

everything is within acceptable levels for a brand new tank w/o fish, from what i've read anyway.

heater is set to 78/79. but i don't have a thermostat yet, will get that and some test fish tomorrow during lunch if i can work from home... or right after work.

[grmreapr]

nice setup unfortunately I could never keep freshwater fish for some reason but my salt tank has been up and running for over three years now go figure. One of these day il figure it out lol

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by grmreapr

nice setup unfortunately I could never keep freshwater fish for some reason but my salt tank has been up and running for over three years now go figure. One of these day il figure it out lol

thanks. i'll be going with saltwater once i've got a house that is mine. I'm out of this apartment in 6 months and renting a house after that most likely. just isn't the right time to spend the time and money required in setting up a live rock aquarium

[mcperson2k]

Originally Posted by 3rdGenMr2Girl

if you want a cool but not that exciting looking fish, get an oscar. i have three in my tank and they're extremely intelligent. when they see me, they'll swim up to the glass all excited but will totally snub strangers. they also enjoy being petted and i've taught them to swim through a hoop. they're like fish dogs lol. the only downside is they'll bully pretty much any other fish.

You taught your fish tricks and they know who you are? I didn't think that was possible. I thought they had like 10 second memories.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

^ oscars are very intelligent, you won't find a lot of fish like them. that's why i love them

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by 3rdGenMr2Girl

^ oscars are very intelligent

for fish that is ;)

i did some reading on them. I don't intend on picking one up. though they are an interesting sounding fish.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

well yeah lol. they're nothing to look at but they're pretty cool.

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

doing a water change, that's why the water is low but i just snapped a few shots. the two tiger oscars are about 6 inches and the albino is about 4 inches.



oh haiiiii

[Scapegoat]

i read that you shouldn't have two oscars unless the tank is huge.

are your fish friendly towards each other?

I want a number of fish... so it is a tough choice what to do... currently i am set up w/ basic pebble substrate and the drift wood... which has, again, tinted the water orange/yellow. i was told this would happen. i am tempted to, again, emptying the tank and refilling. but i am considering dropping the plan of getting crayfish in order to have a tank with live plants and more... docile freshwater fish that won't eat the plants...

also would love to put these tiny dime sized blowfish in the tank that the store has in stock.

i'll have to look around again at their supplies tomorrow and see what they've got that won't eat the plants or the blowfish and see how i feel

[3rdGenMr2Girl]

my fish love each other lol, they never nip or anything. that's a 50 gallon and they'll be fine for a few more months. i have a 75 gallon for them, just haven't done the transfer yet. its huge.

[ASIAN JUL]

I've had a few tanks.. I liked gouramis, had a number of different kinds.. the pink "kissing" ones, dwarfs, powder blues.. had some upside down catfish.. lots of male guppies.. blood tetras.. glass fish.. otocinclus..

[ASIAN JUL]

Oh and as for cichlids just keep in mind the difference between SA and African.

[dragonfly2k3]

Id like to get a 50 gal. I have 2 red ear sliders now in a 30, They're small guys, and are plenty within their room requirements, but if i got something larger i could introduce a few more fish, and some live plants. Right now I just introduce cheaper fish, because if they get hungry they just eat them. I love aquariums.

[sponsored1]

Originally Posted by 3rdGenMr2Girl

my fish love each other lol, they never nip or anything. that's a 50 gallon and they'll be fine for a few more months. i have a 75 gallon for them, just haven't done the transfer yet. its huge.

I had 3 oscars that were all about 10 inches and they all got along fine until one day they just snapped. One oscar completely hammered the other 2 and so i kept the one and gave the 2 others away. Everyone told me that at any point they could turn against each other but i thought i got lucky. I was wrong. It happened in the course of 1 night. 120 gal tank. It took about 8 months until they turned on each other.
But anyway oscars are great fish. Mine recognizes me and will come right up to the glass whenever i walk by. He lives with a green terror that is picking up his habits because he does pretty much the same thing now.

[Scapegoat]

i've got three cichlids in the tank now

so nice having fish in a fish tank... of course, its a bitch to take pictures of these little guys. but they're all about an inch and a half long. one is orange, one is kinda spotted and camo looking and the other is blue w/ darker blue stripes and a red tip to it's top fin.

and of course i can't find pics of what they look like...

they've got some character though. the blue and camo ones scratch their faces on rocks and the drift wood. while the orange one plays in the bubbles from the air stick. it'll go near the top of the tank the swim straight down through the bubbles and continue to do this

[jrtcbmw]

very nice set up.

ive had a fresh water tank for about 6 years, and one gourami that ive had for 6 years. we just upgraded to a 20gallon or so tank. and its big but im done with fresh water for a while, so the its now the rest of my familys job to maintain the tank.

Im planning on getting like 50-65 gallon tank and build a nice saltwater tank. i have wanted a saltwater tank for some time now, and now that ive been threw freshwater. its time for something different.

[Scapegoat]

i thought i was losing a fish last night. got home from the city and the camo cichlid was laying down on the slate "shelf". well, i assumed he was done for... but today he's rowdy and swimming around like nothing is even remotely wrong. apparently this fish likes to lay down while sleeping... not very smart as that will make him easy prey for the crayfish when it goes in

edit: looking into the cichlids more now, this is the guy i thought i was losing

http://malawicichlids.com/mw08065.htm

amazingly enough, his behavior is common for the species... they have "been observed mimicking a dead fish, lying motionless on its side"

and i believe i've figured out what my orange cichlid is... it appears to be a female Red Zebra http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...d/RedZebra.php

though, it may be a young midas cichlid... however, the fish closer resembles the red zebra

the blue one is one of these http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fres...eusIceBlue.php