Fish Keepers

[Smyth's Skate]

Hey all. Do any of you keep fish? I have a 135 gallon Lake Malawi Tank.

Show off your tanks.

Here is a link to more photos.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...9&l=fe372cf708

[dissentowner]

I had a beautiful reef tank a few years ago but tore it down. I am thinking of getting it back up and may use this thread to show pics of the progress when I start.

[stampsx2]

Wow that's a nice one. Too much work for me so I will just admire other people's aquariums.

[Smyth's Skate]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I had a beautiful reef tank a few years ago but tore it down. I am thinking of getting it back up and may use this thread to show pics of the progress when I start.

Do it! I would love to follow the build!

[Smyth's Skate]

Originally Posted by stampsx2

Wow that's a nice one. Too much work for me so I will just admire other people's aquariums.

Thanks. It is a lot of work but it sure is worth it to sit in the arm chair and watch the fish.

I had rotator cuff surgery on Wednesday, so a lot of the last few days have been spent watching the fish.

[metallicat]

I have a fish tank, but it sucks. As soon as the three fish die, it's gone. The problem however, is that the fish are nearing two years old. I didn't think they'd last nearly this long.

[Otto-matic]

How long does that thing take to clean?

[DropIt]

The last fish tank I owned was won in a colouring contest....

[Jimmy Stang]

My wife is a bit fish keeper. She has a 25 gallon (but the tall, rounded type) tank on the main floor with an assortment of freshwater fish in it. My favourite resident of her tank was a red shrimp named "Claw". He was pretty elusive and a Claw sighting was a rare treat. One day Claw was just sitting there out ion the open - very rare for Claw. After looking a little more closely, Claw was a little more pink than red. Claw was dead.

She also has a 25-gallon tank of newts. Four are in there I think. 3 are firebelly newts, and one is a paddletail newt. She has also had a green newt at some point, as well as a very cool-looking, orange, Oregon/California newt. He succumbed to some rare bloat problem after a few years, but he was pretty awesome. One of the newts in that tank has been around since 1995 - much longer than I expected any newt to live.

She has always wanted to get a mudskipper. Those are stupid-looking, buggy-eyed amphibian things that just kind of sit there and don't really do much. I know that it is only a matter of time until she gets one. Her love of newts and mudskippers is a bit strange because she's always been a bit of a girly-girl with everything else. Except for her amphibians.

[Smyth's Skate]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

How long does that thing take to clean?

About 2 hours to clean, and change 50% of the water. It is done about every 10 to 12 days.

I use pumps to drain and refill, so there is no packing buckets and I made a powered sand vacuum, so cleaning the substrate is quick and easy. Keeping up with the plants, pruning and such takes up a bit of time too.

[sclitheroe]

My current tank is home to 6 juvenile Nicaraguan cichlids, and a sailfin pleco that is now rooming with its third generation of tank inhabitants.

The nicaraguan’s have poor colouration as juveniles, nothing to write home about, but they seem pretty smart and relatively docile as cichlids go.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

She has always wanted to get a mudskipper. Those are stupid-looking, buggy-eyed amphibian things that just kind of sit there and don't really do much. I know that it is only a matter of time until she gets one. Her love of newts and mudskippers is a bit strange because she's always been a bit of a girly-girl with everything else. Except for her amphibians.

I’ve read that they are territorial and aggressive, as much as any bug-eyed slimy creature can be. If you google them, there’s lots of pictures of them performing a gill flaring type move that looks quite neat.

[Wookie]

I have a 25 or 30 gallon tank breeding snails. It's former inhabitant used to eat them. He died. The tank is now in a uncertain state while we debate what to get. In the meantime there are probably 20 large snails and about 1,000 little spec sized ones.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Wookie

I have a 25 or 30 gallon tank breeding snails. It's former inhabitant used to eat them. He died. The tank is now in a uncertain state while we debate what to get. In the meantime there are probably 20 large snails and about 1,000 little spec sized ones.

Was the former inhabitant a puffer? Had one of those, felt bad for it because i had a fairly hard time keeping it fed with snails. Puffers sure like snails, crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Was the former inhabitant a puffer? Had one of those, felt bad for it because i had a fairly hard time keeping it fed with snails. Puffers sure like snails, crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle.

Nope, had a Crayfish, the replacement will probably be a few puffers.

[Leon]

A thoroughly enjoyable thread to sift through.

Our house tank is 25 gallons and is a home for a goldfish, a red tail shark and a neon tetra.

This is what the shark looks like.

The goldfish owns the tank and he always gets first feed. We've been through about 4 or 5 generations of tetras and neons; however, the tetra we have in the tank is from the very first bunch introduced into the tank.

We've had a few angel fish come and go as well as a pleco which I was very sad to see pass away.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Was the former inhabitant a puffer? Had one of those, felt bad for it because i had a fairly hard time keeping it fed with snails. Puffers sure like snails, crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle.

Well that was fast. Went to Petland and got a great deal on two Figure-8 puffers. They're pretty cool. They pretty much anhialated the snail population.

[Smyth's Skate]

Originally Posted by Wookie

Well that was fast. Went to Petland and got a great deal on two Figure-8 puffers. They're pretty cool. They pretty much anhialated the snail population.

Many moons ago, I had Puffers, but never had much luck with them. They are such a neat fish.

[Wookie]

Originally Posted by Smyth's Skate

Many moons ago, I had Puffers, but never had much luck with them. They are such a neat fish.

How so?

Care to share any tips?

What about you sclitheroe?

[Smyth's Skate]

Originally Posted by Wookie

How so?

Care to share any tips?

What about you sclitheroe?

Figure 8 puffers are a Brackish Water Species (not freshwater and not saltwater, but a mix). I tried to keep them in freshwater, but it did not work so well. The lived, but did not thrive and eventually got sick.