Any Aquarium guys? (1 Viewer)

[TLEF316]

dont have any java fern attatched to rocks. The only attatched fern in the tank is the piece on the wood on the right. Everything else is just floating at the moment while i figure out what to do.

I have moss attatched pretty much everywhere at this point. It's growing really well. Great decision on my part. I love the look.

As far as the red goes, i realized it require high light, but i was under the impression that ludwigia was a little more forgiving. It is still growing, but it quickly went green, and i just didn't like the look at all. It has to go. The Bacopa has a similar look but is much less fragile. I like it alot and will be getting more. The sword on the left will have to be placed in the background soon. It's getting too big. A lot of the anubias are shaded. In fact, most of the tank is due to the valis. the taller anubas are having the algae problems.

good call on the sports setting. i'll give it a try. I've been using Macro mode.

 

[TheFanatic]

dont have any java fern attatched to rocks. The only attatched fern in the tank is the piece on the wood on the right. Everything else is just floating at the moment while i figure out what to do.I have moss attatched pretty much everywhere at this point. It's growing really well. Great decision on my part. I love the look.As far as the red goes, i realized it require high light, but i was under the impression that ludwigia was a little more forgiving. It is still growing, but it quickly went green, and i just didn't like the look at all. It has to go. The Bacopa has a similar look but is much less fragile. I like it alot and will be getting more. The sword on the left will have to be placed in the background soon. It's getting too big. A lot of the anubias are shaded. In fact, most of the tank is due to the valis. the taller anubas are having the algae problems. good call on the sports setting. i'll give it a try. I've been using Macro mode.

I meant Java moss on the wood....Just trim the crap out of it. That stuff will take over....

 

[phthalatemagic]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

 

[TheFanatic]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

I meant to address this. Buddy of mine got the 24 gallon nano plus the Halogen light (which were like $250 for just the light) for about $500. Then he threw in about 40 pounds of live rock at about $8/pound. Then he had to buy tons of small crabs, shrimps, and snails to act as a cleaning crew for the tank. That was a couple hun. After adding corals (some costing as much as $90) a red banded shrimp and a couple small static fish he has dropped more than $1500 and getting closer to $2K every day. Looks pretty sweet, but not $2K sweet...He talked about converting his 125 to salt and then he did the math and decided sending his kids to college was more important....

 

[TLEF316]

did a massive re-scape on saturday. Tried to fit my new piece of mopani wood, but it was too big. I cut it in half. Doesnt look as good as it did, but it fits and provides another cave, so its all good. I also pulled a bunch of plants (ludiwiga, oakleaf, anubias hastifolia, some small valis) to clear space for some more interesting and robust background plants.

I moved 2 of my swords to better locations and spread out my anubias. Tank looks more ogranized now IMO. I'm headed to the fish store in about half an hour. I'm planning on picking up a few more corys (peppers if they have them as i only have the 1 at the moment) possibly a pair of apistos and something for the top of the tank. I am flirting with the idea of starting a school of denisoni barbs, but i will not be getting them and the apistos at the same time (thats like $200 worth of fish) I may go for some marble hatchets, as i've been eyeing them for a while.

My smaller gold ram died the other day. He was a weak male and the other one kicked its butt. i couldn't find the body, so i assume it was eaten. Water chemistry is perfect. PH holding steady at 6.8 and the nitrates havent risen above 25 in months. ammonia and nitrite at 0.

Not sure just how much further i can push the stocking. My filter/plants can obviously handle the load, but i will probably wait until the move to add a canister and push the stocking.

 

[TheFanatic]

did a massive re-scape on saturday. Tried to fit my new piece of mopani wood, but it was too big. I cut it in half. Doesnt look as good as it did, but it fits and provides another cave, so its all good. I also pulled a bunch of plants (ludiwiga, oakleaf, anubias hastifolia, some small valis) to clear space for some more interesting and robust background plants.

I moved 2 of my swords to better locations and spread out my anubias. Tank looks more ogranized now IMO. I'm headed to the fish store in about half an hour. I'm planning on picking up a few more corys (peppers if they have them as i only have the 1 at the moment) possibly a pair of apistos and something for the top of the tank. I am flirting with the idea of starting a school of denisoni barbs, but i will not be getting them and the apistos at the same time (thats like $200 worth of fish) I may go for some marble hatchets, as i've been eyeing them for a while.

My smaller gold ram died the other day. He was a weak male and the other one kicked its butt. i couldn't find the body, so i assume it was eaten. Water chemistry is perfect. PH holding steady at 6.8 and the nitrates havent risen above 25 in months. ammonia and nitrite at 0.

Not sure just how much further i can push the stocking. My filter/plants can obviously handle the load, but i will probably wait until the move to add a canister and push the stocking.

Make sure there are absolutely know gaps in your hood more than .333 inches wide or you will find hatchets on the ground. Their natural defense when threatened is to jump out of the water. Any gap and they will find it....

 

[TLEF316]

yeah, i know. No gaps. The glass hood covers 95% of the top, and the remainder is covered by a little plastic cover. The only holes are the gaps that the filter output comes in through.

 

[phthalatemagic]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

I meant to address this. Buddy of mine got the 24 gallon nano plus the Halogen light (which were like $250 for just the light) for about $500. Then he threw in about 40 pounds of live rock at about $8/pound. Then he had to buy tons of small crabs, shrimps, and snails to act as a cleaning crew for the tank. That was a couple hun. After adding corals (some costing as much as $90) a red banded shrimp and a couple small static fish he has dropped more than $1500 and getting closer to $2K every day. Looks pretty sweet, but not $2K sweet...He talked about converting his 125 to salt and then he did the math and decided sending his kids to college was more important....

I guess he could always buy a $2 beta and keep him in a plastic cup. You are inflating the costs on nearly eveything you listed anyway. Please be honest next time.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

I meant to address this. Buddy of mine got the 24 gallon nano plus the Halogen light (which were like $250 for just the light) for about $500. Then he threw in about 40 pounds of live rock at about $8/pound. Then he had to buy tons of small crabs, shrimps, and snails to act as a cleaning crew for the tank. That was a couple hun. After adding corals (some costing as much as $90) a red banded shrimp and a couple small static fish he has dropped more than $1500 and getting closer to $2K every day. Looks pretty sweet, but not $2K sweet...He talked about converting his 125 to salt and then he did the math and decided sending his kids to college was more important....

Umm couple of problems with this nano cube set up as I currently have one in its last cycle. 40 pounds of rock for a 24 gallon cube is a bit much. Everything I have read and was told was that about 20-25 lbs for a 24 gallon is enough (suggested is 1lb of rock per gallon of water). Once you put in your live rock and either live sand or coral substrate, 40 pounds of rock does not leave much space/water for anything else in the tank. As for the cleaning crew -- He should not need more then 2-3 hermit crabs (couple of bucks a pop) - 4 or 5 turbo snails (another couple of bucks) and a peppermint shrimp (6-8 bucks each)As for the coral -- that $$ can go as high as someone wants. However after doing much research I have found you can put a very nice nano cube with mushrooms, leathers, brain, sponge, flame scallops, and polyps for under $400.00 and its going to be rather full. I was nervous about starting a salt water nano but so far I have had great success with it. It currently has 12 lbs of live rock, 1 shrimp, 1 damsel, 3 turbo snails, and two hermits. I will be adding a clown fish this coming weekend and some coral the week after.

 

[TheFanatic]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

I meant to address this. Buddy of mine got the 24 gallon nano plus the Halogen light (which were like $250 for just the light) for about $500. Then he threw in about 40 pounds of live rock at about $8/pound. Then he had to buy tons of small crabs, shrimps, and snails to act as a cleaning crew for the tank. That was a couple hun. After adding corals (some costing as much as $90) a red banded shrimp and a couple small static fish he has dropped more than $1500 and getting closer to $2K every day. Looks pretty sweet, but not $2K sweet...He talked about converting his 125 to salt and then he did the math and decided sending his kids to college was more important....

I guess he could always buy a $2 beta and keep him in a plastic cup. You are inflating the costs on nearly eveything you listed anyway. Please be honest next time.

Uh, no. I didn't inflate the cost of anything. The 24 gallon cube with the Halogen light was close to $500. 1-1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon is recommended. He put in 40 of the top of the line stuff. Fiji rock maybe. Or was it Fuji. Dunno. I'll dig up the costs and post them later from the emails he sent me...

 

[Zoomanji]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

I meant to address this. Buddy of mine got the 24 gallon nano plus the Halogen light (which were like $250 for just the light) for about $500. Then he threw in about 40 pounds of live rock at about $8/pound. Then he had to buy tons of small crabs, shrimps, and snails to act as a cleaning crew for the tank. That was a couple hun. After adding corals (some costing as much as $90) a red banded shrimp and a couple small static fish he has dropped more than $1500 and getting closer to $2K every day. Looks pretty sweet, but not $2K sweet...He talked about converting his 125 to salt and then he did the math and decided sending his kids to college was more important....

I guess he could always buy a $2 beta and keep him in a plastic cup. You are inflating the costs on nearly eveything you listed anyway. Please be honest next time.

Uh, no. I didn't inflate the cost of anything. The 24 gallon cube with the Halogen light was close to $500. 1-1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon is recommended. He put in 40 of the top of the line stuff. Fiji rock maybe. Or was it Fuji. Dunno. I'll dig up the costs and post them later from the emails he sent me...

I set-up a 75 gallon saltwater for under $2000. Either way not sure what your point is. Fish are expensive unless you want a betta or goldfish.

 

[TheFanatic]

Here is an email I got from the guy a few months ago when this all started:

You are right that cube was expensive to set up, but now I shouldn’t have to spend too much $. I will be able to get a few corals from my cousin and I will need to buy a fish or two & some more cleaner guys. I have thought about making it a seahorse tank. When it is all said & done I will probably have dropped 800 or 1000 on everything (that is with fish, coral, & everything). I could have saved about 100-125 on the light, but I wanted the better light. I would have kicked myself for not getting it when there would be all kinds of stuff I couldn’t get because not having enough light. Also I could have saved 100-125 on live rock, but then it wouldn’t have been cured rock, so this 2-4 week cycle my tank will go through would have taken forever. Yeah I know 1000 is stupid to blow on a 24 gal deal, but what better way to try a reef tank. I mean versus setting up a 75 gal reef with a separate tank below, a protein skimmer, a 800.00 light for the tank, 800 on live rock. #### my cousin Tom has 10,000 into his 220 and my cousin Jeff has about 3-4000 in a 90 gal reef set up. Also keep in mind I got almost 400 for the fish and I will probably get 900 for everything else (for the 220). I probably wouldn’t have done all of this if it wasn’t for the store credit.So after I set this up and sell off all of my other stuff I will still be up a few hundred

He talks of getting corals from his cousin. Well that didn't happen. They guy let all his stuff just die off due to lack of attention so that added to the cost....The money he got from the fish he traded in for credit ($400) and the $900 he got from selling his 220 gallon is long gone and then some on that 24 gallon beauty.Here is part of another email he sent around the time he was originally setting the tank up. I think he had the live rock but that was about it at this time:

I have been doing some research and it looks like I am going to go through some algae blooms, but they say to just let it go. Add some more crabs & snails (Probably 10-12 small crabs & 20-25 small snails) and just let it run its course. Then in a month or 2 I will start adding coral and eventually it will be covering all the live rock.

Looks like I miss named the light. I meant Halide. Here is an email that mentions what he did a little later:

New pic. I had to do some rearrange the LR. I just thru it in there before and the rock was too close to the sides of the tank (I couldn’t get the magnet down the side) and I created more shelves for coral. When you get a chance look up these (3) corals (Candy cane, ricordea, & frogspawn). That is what I plan to start with. Last night I added a dozen crabs & ½ dozen snails ( 2 margaritas, 2 astraea, & 2 nassarius). I plan to wait a week and add 1 clown fish then wait another week and add a diamond or dragon goby (They are sand sifters & will clean all the sand). Then I will wait a week or two after that and add maybe 1 more small fish then about 1-2 weeks after that I will try adding a coral. I don’t have any algae yet. I have been running the halide 5 hours a day (will increase it a little when I add corals) and I have been using RO water for top offs and I am running phos ban in there and my phosphates are 0. There is already coralime popping up all over the place (Which you want – it is the purple stuff on the live rock) and a bunch of other stuff is growing on the LR (Feather duster maybe and some pops) look to be growing. You get all kinds of hitchhikers. This thing is like a science experiment!

Something else he bought. I don't know what any of this stuff is so I'm putting it in here for the experts to determine if I am blowing smoke on the cost of this stuff. Also realize that being smack dab in the middle of the country doesn't bode well for this stuff being cheap...

Scored a Goniopora last night.This guy is crazy. When I put him in my tank (Being stressed out) he was about the size of a flattened out golf ball. Then as he opens up (or his tenicles come out) he gets to be about the size of a softball.

Some more stuff. He had issues with a Clown Fish and had to take it back:

Here is what I got when I took the clown back (Firefish & bicolor dottyback). Also picked up a small orange & purple ricordea. This thing is about to split too.

More stuff:

Saturday I went to a place I have never been before (Clayton emporium). I got a neon green candy cane, a huge rock with green star polyp, & a red star.

I'll keep digging and see what else I can find and then post a pic of the finished product. Most will agree it is very impressive. I'm just not in a position to take on that project at that cost at this time. Others may be....Not me right now with a 3 month old at home...

 

[phthalatemagic]

I've been thinking about selling my paintball gear or skiis to get enough cash to start a 110 tank or a salt water nano. I think my son would love either. I'd probably keep the nano at work though... Had a 55 growing up and enjoyed it. Maybe I'll scrape the cash together to get started soon.

You can get a 29 gallonn Oceanic Nanocube plus protein skimmer for pretty cheap now, I think 300 or less? The lights are still fluorescent, but you can grow some softies. Throw in a smallish, static fish that likes to nest like a blue spotted jawfish and you have a great tank! Salt is so much more interesting than fresh.

I meant to address this. Buddy of mine got the 24 gallon nano plus the Halogen light (which were like $250 for just the light) for about $500. Then he threw in about 40 pounds of live rock at about $8/pound. Then he had to buy tons of small crabs, shrimps, and snails to act as a cleaning crew for the tank. That was a couple hun. After adding corals (some costing as much as $90) a red banded shrimp and a couple small static fish he has dropped more than $1500 and getting closer to $2K every day. Looks pretty sweet, but not $2K sweet...He talked about converting his 125 to salt and then he did the math and decided sending his kids to college was more important....

I guess he could always buy a $2 beta and keep him in a plastic cup. You are inflating the costs on nearly eveything you listed anyway. Please be honest next time.

Uh, no. I didn't inflate the cost of anything. The 24 gallon cube with the Halogen light was close to $500. 1-1.5 pounds of live rock per gallon is recommended. He put in 40 of the top of the line stuff. Fiji rock maybe. Or was it Fuji. Dunno. I'll dig up the costs and post them later from the emails he sent me...

The stuff simply doesn't cost that much. If your friend actually paid that much for the things he bought you keep idiots as friends. Sorry man, your emails were wonderful, they really are. It doesn't prove much though, either you are BSing or your friend can't figure out how to keep himself from getting ripped off. Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300. You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine. Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred??? You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

 

[TheFanatic]

Here are the pics of the tank.

Full Tank

Closer Shot of the Corals

Closer Shot of the Corals

Closer Shot of the Corals

Closer Shot of the Corals

Closer Shot of the Corals

Closer Shot of the Corals

Closer Shot of the Corals

 

[TheFanatic]

Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300.

Not a chance with the Halide Light. Here is the 28 gallon from an online retailer with the Halide light for $500. He bought his locally so it is more expensive.

You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine.

To you that is fine, but to others it isn't. Walk around any salt water shop and they have the Fiji Live rock separate and it costs a lot more. Here are a couple of articles that sing the praises of Fiji RockLink to PDF

Link

Quote from the article immediately above:

Fiji live rocks are usually collected from Fiji, Indonesia, Tonga and Nambu. These kinds of rocks will have the best collection of coralline algae in them. Small colonies of animal and beneficial plant life also stick to these live rocks. The Fiji live rocks are not "dense". They have various nooks and crannies, branches and pores. They are lighter and are more porous. The myriad collection of tiny creatures that usually ship in with Fiji live rocks make them a hot favorite among aquarists. Though they are a bit costlier than many other varieties found, they also take up more space thus reducing the quantity of rocks that are needed.

Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred???

I never said a few hundred. I may have overstated this a bit but I know he spent more than a hundred on the crew. Maybe even close to $200

You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

Well, I guess my friend, like myself, does things the right way. Some go cheap. And some go the whole way. You fall into one of those categories. And good for you. I hope you invest the difference and make yourself some money on that. But with the cost of the tank (something you have way undervalued) buying Fiji rock and not the cheap stuff, and all the corals/invertebrates he has bought as shown in the pics I stand by my $2K comment.

 

[TLEF316]

Got back from the store a little while ago. Picked up.....

2 bosemani rainbows (they are small, but they were a 2-1 deal, so i didn't want to pass it up) hopefully the others don't bully them

3 marble hatchets (i asked for 6, but i started talking to the owner while the kid was netting them, and i never looked in the bag. I'll get 3 more next time)

pair of double red apisto agassizi. The female is really small, which is a bit concerning.

2 stems of giant hyrdo

1 anubias nana broad leaf

some wisteria, which i regretted once i got home and just tossed it. It was only $5 and i knew it would make a mess.

I fed the current fish while the new ones were acclimatizing. For some reason, my red tail shark has decided to be a ##### and chase all the rainbows for the last ten minutes or so. Hopefully he's just in a pissy mood and this trend wont continue.

Pics later.

 

[TLEF316]

pics as promised. Sorry about the floating java fern. Still need to figure out what to do with it all.

Full tank Shot

Giant Hydro

ocelot sword

clown

Gold ram

Male apisto, couldnt get a shot of the female

couldn't get a shot of the hatchets, unfortunately. They have already colored up really well and are playing in the current. Will definitely be getting a few more.

 

[TheFanatic]

pics as promised. Sorry about the floating java fern. Still need to figure out what to do with it all.

Full tank Shot

Giant Hydro

ocelot sword

clown

Gold ram

Male apisto, couldnt get a shot of the female

couldn't get a shot of the hatchets, unfortunately. They have already colored up really well and are playing in the current. Will definitely be getting a few more.

Everything is looking great. Now I would suggest leaving it alone for a bit and letting stuff grow out to see how big everything gets. Then you may want to play with the arrangement. That giant Hygro is impressive. Sounds like you have a great plant dealer in your town. The plants in St. Louis suck except for the common stuff (Swords, Valls, Java Fern, Annubias, etc)....

 

[TLEF316]

pics as promised. Sorry about the floating java fern. Still need to figure out what to do with it all.

Full tank Shot

Giant Hydro

ocelot sword

clown

Gold ram

Male apisto, couldnt get a shot of the female

couldn't get a shot of the hatchets, unfortunately. They have already colored up really well and are playing in the current. Will definitely be getting a few more.

Everything is looking great. Now I would suggest leaving it alone for a bit and letting stuff grow out to see how big everything gets. Then you may want to play with the arrangement. That giant Hygro is impressive. Sounds like you have a great plant dealer in your town. The plants in St. Louis suck except for the common stuff (Swords, Valls, Java Fern, Annubias, etc)....

wish it was in my town. 45 minute drive (although i went from work last night, which cuts it in half). And yeah, I'm gonna let everything grow out for now. Tank seems pretty stocked right now, so after the 3 more hatchets, I wont be adding more fish.

 

[TheFanatic]

pics as promised. Sorry about the floating java fern. Still need to figure out what to do with it all.

Full tank Shot

Giant Hydro

ocelot sword

clown

Gold ram

Male apisto, couldnt get a shot of the female

couldn't get a shot of the hatchets, unfortunately. They have already colored up really well and are playing in the current. Will definitely be getting a few more.

Everything is looking great. Now I would suggest leaving it alone for a bit and letting stuff grow out to see how big everything gets. Then you may want to play with the arrangement. That giant Hygro is impressive. Sounds like you have a great plant dealer in your town. The plants in St. Louis suck except for the common stuff (Swords, Valls, Java Fern, Annubias, etc)....

wish it was in my town. 45 minute drive (although i went from work last night, which cuts it in half). And yeah, I'm gonna let everything grow out for now. Tank seems pretty stocked right now, so after the 3 more hatchets, I wont be adding more fish.

I was more talking about the plants. Noe of your fish are going to get very big. Sure the Clown Loaches can get a foot long in the wild or some public aquarium but it will take them 20 years to do so in your tank. One thing with small fish is they don't have the longest lifespans. So keep an eye on your schools and replenish as needed...Don't freak out if you lose one here or there. Just be ready to replace...

 

[TLEF316]

yeah, i knew you meant the plants. I'm sure the swords will continue to grow out, and the anubias will spread a little bit. I'll be propogating the bacopa as well. Other than that, i dont see anything that is gonna fill out all that much. I haven't been seing the valis spread, other than the occasional daughter plant from the really big one.

 

[TheFanatic]

yeah, i knew you meant the plants. I'm sure the swords will continue to grow out, and the anubias will spread a little bit. I'll be propogating the bacopa as well. Other than that, i dont see anything that is gonna fill out all that much. I haven't been seing the valis spread, other than the occasional daughter plant from the really big one.

Give it a few months. And I bet you contradict this post...

 

[TLEF316]

yeah, i knew you meant the plants. I'm sure the swords will continue to grow out, and the anubias will spread a little bit. I'll be propogating the bacopa as well. Other than that, i dont see anything that is gonna fill out all that much. I haven't been seing the valis spread, other than the occasional daughter plant from the really big one.

Give it a few months. And I bet you contradict this post...

what else do you se growing a lot? The lotus' should get pretty big. I've had the valis going for months now, and it has never sent out runners. Other than that and the stuff i already mentioned, i don't see any big growers here.

 

[TheFanatic]

yeah, i knew you meant the plants. I'm sure the swords will continue to grow out, and the anubias will spread a little bit. I'll be propogating the bacopa as well. Other than that, i dont see anything that is gonna fill out all that much. I haven't been seing the valis spread, other than the occasional daughter plant from the really big one.

Give it a few months. And I bet you contradict this post...

what else do you se growing a lot? The lotus' should get pretty big. I've had the valis going for months now, and it has never sent out runners. Other than that and the stuff i already mentioned, i don't see any big growers here.

I've seen Swords the size of outdoor shrubs. That Hygro can get big. Vals are weird. They may not send out runners for a couple of years and then they send out a single line that has 8-10 plants coming from it....

 

[TLEF316]

yeah, i knew you meant the plants. I'm sure the swords will continue to grow out, and the anubias will spread a little bit. I'll be propogating the bacopa as well. Other than that, i dont see anything that is gonna fill out all that much. I haven't been seing the valis spread, other than the occasional daughter plant from the really big one.

Give it a few months. And I bet you contradict this post...

what else do you se growing a lot? The lotus' should get pretty big. I've had the valis going for months now, and it has never sent out runners. Other than that and the stuff i already mentioned, i don't see any big growers here.

I've seen Swords the size of outdoor shrubs. That Hygro can get big. Vals are weird. They may not send out runners for a couple of years and then they send out a single line that has 8-10 plants coming from it....

yeah, the swords could become huge. That i realize. the store has swords that are like 40 inches tall. They have been there forever because nobody has room for them. If i ever did a massive planted tank (like 200+ gallons) I'd get a couple for the background.

 

[phthalatemagic]

Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300.

Not a chance with the Halide Light. Here is the 28 gallon from an online retailer with the Halide light for $500. He bought his locally so it is more expensive.

You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine.

To you that is fine, but to others it isn't. Walk around any salt water shop and they have the Fiji Live rock separate and it costs a lot more. Here are a couple of articles that sing the praises of Fiji RockLink to PDF

Link

Quote from the article immediately above:

Fiji live rocks are usually collected from Fiji, Indonesia, Tonga and Nambu. These kinds of rocks will have the best collection of coralline algae in them. Small colonies of animal and beneficial plant life also stick to these live rocks. The Fiji live rocks are not "dense". They have various nooks and crannies, branches and pores. They are lighter and are more porous. The myriad collection of tiny creatures that usually ship in with Fiji live rocks make them a hot favorite among aquarists. Though they are a bit costlier than many other varieties found, they also take up more space thus reducing the quantity of rocks that are needed.

Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred???

I never said a few hundred. I may have overstated this a bit but I know he spent more than a hundred on the crew. Maybe even close to $200

You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

Well, I guess my friend, like myself, does things the right way. Some go cheap. And some go the whole way. You fall into one of those categories. And good for you. I hope you invest the difference and make yourself some money on that. But with the cost of the tank (something you have way undervalued) buying Fiji rock and not the cheap stuff, and all the corals/invertebrates he has bought as shown in the pics I stand by my $2K comment.

Please stop. I've been doing coral tanks for decades. Now you are trying to justify your boy getting ripped off/you lying about how much stuff costs by saying people do things "the right way". Personally, I'm leaning to the you are full of #### side of that. 200 dollars for a cleaning crew in a 29 gallon tank removes any credibility you might think you have. Jesus dude, you didn't even know what the rock was called? Fuji? Fiji? It's all the same, right? Do everyone a favor and stop talking about things you don't know about.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

I think Fanatic's main point was that he would not get involved with a salt water tank because of the price. So since he and his friend feel the need to buy the best of the best of course a nano salt would get expensive.

But the truth is this:

#1- He greatly over paid for his Fiji/Fuji live rock

#2- You are only supposed to put 1lb per gallon, so he used too much (40lbs of water displacement in that small of a tank does not leave much room for anything)

#3- He stated that his friends cleaning crew was around 200 bills. Absolutely insane even if you buy the best of the best there is no way that much can be spent for a tank that small unless he was ripped off

#4 - Live Corals & Invertebrates can cost an absolute ton of $. However that can be done to taste and since Fanatics friend only buys the best, I believe he got off very cheap to have only spent close to 1k on corals.

 

[TheFanatic]

Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300.

Not a chance with the Halide Light. Here is the 28 gallon from an online retailer with the Halide light for $500. He bought his locally so it is more expensive.

You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine.

To you that is fine, but to others it isn't. Walk around any salt water shop and they have the Fiji Live rock separate and it costs a lot more. Here are a couple of articles that sing the praises of Fiji RockLink to PDF

Link

Quote from the article immediately above:

Fiji live rocks are usually collected from Fiji, Indonesia, Tonga and Nambu. These kinds of rocks will have the best collection of coralline algae in them. Small colonies of animal and beneficial plant life also stick to these live rocks. The Fiji live rocks are not "dense". They have various nooks and crannies, branches and pores. They are lighter and are more porous. The myriad collection of tiny creatures that usually ship in with Fiji live rocks make them a hot favorite among aquarists. Though they are a bit costlier than many other varieties found, they also take up more space thus reducing the quantity of rocks that are needed.

Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred???

I never said a few hundred. I may have overstated this a bit but I know he spent more than a hundred on the crew. Maybe even close to $200

You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

Well, I guess my friend, like myself, does things the right way. Some go cheap. And some go the whole way. You fall into one of those categories. And good for you. I hope you invest the difference and make yourself some money on that. But with the cost of the tank (something you have way undervalued) buying Fiji rock and not the cheap stuff, and all the corals/invertebrates he has bought as shown in the pics I stand by my $2K comment.

Please stop. I've been doing coral tanks for decades. Now you are trying to justify your boy getting ripped off/you lying about how much stuff costs by saying people do things "the right way". Personally, I'm leaning to the you are full of #### side of that. 200 dollars for a cleaning crew in a 29 gallon tank removes any credibility you might think you have. Jesus dude, you didn't even know what the rock was called? Fuji? Fiji? It's all the same, right? Do everyone a favor and stop talking about things you don't know about.

Funny you said that the tank was only $300. I show a link where it is $500. You say that $5/pound is OK but the top of the line stuff us $8/pound and that's what he bought. I also stated that I over estimated the cleaning crew in my second post. I have since heard from him and he told me that he spent more than $100 on the crew but not close to $200. But hey, you keep saying what you can do but have not provided a single link to prove your point. Go troll someplace else...

So either show me a link where you can get the tank with a Halide light for $300 and can get Fiji rock for $5/pound or anything else you claim you can do without providing any backing for....

Besides, how much are the corals which are a big part of his cost? I listed nearly every coral he bought. How much do they run there genius? Please link to a price rather than just your opinion. All you do is whine like a little girl and claim you know better. Show me and stop pretending like you know. Been doing this for decades huh? Maybe the prices have gone up since you bought your last tank. The one with the steel seams...

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300.

Not a chance with the Halide Light. Here is the 28 gallon from an online retailer with the Halide light for $500. He bought his locally so it is more expensive.

You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine.

To you that is fine, but to others it isn't. Walk around any salt water shop and they have the Fiji Live rock separate and it costs a lot more. Here are a couple of articles that sing the praises of Fiji RockLink to PDF

Link

Quote from the article immediately above:

Fiji live rocks are usually collected from Fiji, Indonesia, Tonga and Nambu. These kinds of rocks will have the best collection of coralline algae in them. Small colonies of animal and beneficial plant life also stick to these live rocks. The Fiji live rocks are not "dense". They have various nooks and crannies, branches and pores. They are lighter and are more porous. The myriad collection of tiny creatures that usually ship in with Fiji live rocks make them a hot favorite among aquarists. Though they are a bit costlier than many other varieties found, they also take up more space thus reducing the quantity of rocks that are needed.

Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred???

I never said a few hundred. I may have overstated this a bit but I know he spent more than a hundred on the crew. Maybe even close to $200

You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

Well, I guess my friend, like myself, does things the right way. Some go cheap. And some go the whole way. You fall into one of those categories. And good for you. I hope you invest the difference and make yourself some money on that. But with the cost of the tank (something you have way undervalued) buying Fiji rock and not the cheap stuff, and all the corals/invertebrates he has bought as shown in the pics I stand by my $2K comment.

Please stop. I've been doing coral tanks for decades. Now you are trying to justify your boy getting ripped off/you lying about how much stuff costs by saying people do things "the right way". Personally, I'm leaning to the you are full of #### side of that. 200 dollars for a cleaning crew in a 29 gallon tank removes any credibility you might think you have. Jesus dude, you didn't even know what the rock was called? Fuji? Fiji? It's all the same, right? Do everyone a favor and stop talking about things you don't know about.

Funny you said that the tank was only $300. I show a link where it is $500. You say that $5/pound is OK but the top of the line stuff us $8/pound and that's what he bought. I also stated that I over estimated the cleaning crew in my second post. I have since heard from him and he told me that he spent more than $100 on the crew but not close to $200. But hey, you keep saying what you can do but have not provided a single link to prove your point. Go troll someplace else...

So either show me a link where you can get the tank with a Halide light for $300 and can get Fiji rock for $5/pound or anything else you claim you can do without providing any backing for....

Besides, how much are the corals which are a big part of his cost? I listed nearly every coral he bought. How much do they run there genius? Please link to a price rather than just your opinion. All you do is whine like a little girl and claim you know better. Show me and stop pretending like you know. Been doing this for decades huh? Maybe the prices have gone up since you bought your last tank. The one with the steel seams...

Not trying to bust your stones Fanatic, but you can get Fiji live rock much cheaper then $8/lbUltra Premium Fiji Live Rock in 50 or 66 lb box lots

50 lb boxes 1 box $2.55/lb, 2 boxes $2.40/lb, 3+ boxes $2.25/lb

66 lb boxes 1 box $2.65/lb, 2 boxes $2.50/lb, 3+ boxes $2.35/lb

http://www.aquatictech.com/livestock.html

CP-90024 SW - DFS Select Fiji Premium Rock - 22 lb. Box

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=397

 

[TheFanatic]

Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300.

Not a chance with the Halide Light. Here is the 28 gallon from an online retailer with the Halide light for $500. He bought his locally so it is more expensive.

You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine.

To you that is fine, but to others it isn't. Walk around any salt water shop and they have the Fiji Live rock separate and it costs a lot more. Here are a couple of articles that sing the praises of Fiji RockLink to PDF

Link

Quote from the article immediately above:

Fiji live rocks are usually collected from Fiji, Indonesia, Tonga and Nambu. These kinds of rocks will have the best collection of coralline algae in them. Small colonies of animal and beneficial plant life also stick to these live rocks. The Fiji live rocks are not "dense". They have various nooks and crannies, branches and pores. They are lighter and are more porous. The myriad collection of tiny creatures that usually ship in with Fiji live rocks make them a hot favorite among aquarists. Though they are a bit costlier than many other varieties found, they also take up more space thus reducing the quantity of rocks that are needed.

Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred???

I never said a few hundred. I may have overstated this a bit but I know he spent more than a hundred on the crew. Maybe even close to $200

You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

Well, I guess my friend, like myself, does things the right way. Some go cheap. And some go the whole way. You fall into one of those categories. And good for you. I hope you invest the difference and make yourself some money on that. But with the cost of the tank (something you have way undervalued) buying Fiji rock and not the cheap stuff, and all the corals/invertebrates he has bought as shown in the pics I stand by my $2K comment.

Please stop. I've been doing coral tanks for decades. Now you are trying to justify your boy getting ripped off/you lying about how much stuff costs by saying people do things "the right way". Personally, I'm leaning to the you are full of #### side of that. 200 dollars for a cleaning crew in a 29 gallon tank removes any credibility you might think you have. Jesus dude, you didn't even know what the rock was called? Fuji? Fiji? It's all the same, right? Do everyone a favor and stop talking about things you don't know about.

Funny you said that the tank was only $300. I show a link where it is $500. You say that $5/pound is OK but the top of the line stuff us $8/pound and that's what he bought. I also stated that I over estimated the cleaning crew in my second post. I have since heard from him and he told me that he spent more than $100 on the crew but not close to $200. But hey, you keep saying what you can do but have not provided a single link to prove your point. Go troll someplace else...

So either show me a link where you can get the tank with a Halide light for $300 and can get Fiji rock for $5/pound or anything else you claim you can do without providing any backing for....

Besides, how much are the corals which are a big part of his cost? I listed nearly every coral he bought. How much do they run there genius? Please link to a price rather than just your opinion. All you do is whine like a little girl and claim you know better. Show me and stop pretending like you know. Been doing this for decades huh? Maybe the prices have gone up since you bought your last tank. The one with the steel seams...

Not trying to bust your stones Fanatic, but you can get Fiji live rock much cheaper then $8/lbUltra Premium Fiji Live Rock in 50 or 66 lb box lots

50 lb boxes 1 box $2.55/lb, 2 boxes $2.40/lb, 3+ boxes $2.25/lb

66 lb boxes 1 box $2.65/lb, 2 boxes $2.50/lb, 3+ boxes $2.35/lb

http://www.aquatictech.com/livestock.html

CP-90024 SW - DFS Select Fiji Premium Rock - 22 lb. Box

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=397

What is the cost to ship that 50 pounds of rock that has to be kept in water to keep the rock live? I went online to buy frozen brine and blood worms because it was MUCH cheaper than at the pet stores. But when the shipping costs of the dry ice packs and styrofoam box made it cost almost the exact same. I will say this that the guy went to probably the most expensive store in the area. One of those places that has totally primo stuff but totally over prices it. But if you get to the know the guy he will knock some off. So everything is way overpriced. Why he went there is the guy will give good prices on trade ins. He traded in a bunch of nice African Peacocks and got $400 in trade which is gives my buddy even more reason to go over the top and buy the top end stuff. The Hallide light was $200 by itself.

Then his wife took him to one of the best salt stores in the area for Father's day and told him he could spend $200. He came home with 3 corals and I think he had to pull a little money out of his own pocket to afford it. Top that off with some coral he bought that he later found out was reallllyyyyy hard to keep and he killed it so he had to go buy something else to replace it....

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Like I said, the tank and skimmer cost ~300.

Not a chance with the Halide Light. Here is the 28 gallon from an online retailer with the Halide light for $500. He bought his locally so it is more expensive.

You can get fine rock for a 29 gallon nano for 100 bucks or less. 8/pound? That's for suckers. You can get 5/pound rock that is fine.

To you that is fine, but to others it isn't. Walk around any salt water shop and they have the Fiji Live rock separate and it costs a lot more. Here are a couple of articles that sing the praises of Fiji RockLink to PDF

Link

Quote from the article immediately above:

Fiji live rocks are usually collected from Fiji, Indonesia, Tonga and Nambu. These kinds of rocks will have the best collection of coralline algae in them. Small colonies of animal and beneficial plant life also stick to these live rocks. The Fiji live rocks are not "dense". They have various nooks and crannies, branches and pores. They are lighter and are more porous. The myriad collection of tiny creatures that usually ship in with Fiji live rocks make them a hot favorite among aquarists. Though they are a bit costlier than many other varieties found, they also take up more space thus reducing the quantity of rocks that are needed.

Cleaning crew won't cost more than 20 bucks. A few hundred???

I never said a few hundred. I may have overstated this a bit but I know he spent more than a hundred on the crew. Maybe even close to $200

You can buy one expensive fish and a handful of softies to fill the tank out and not spend more than 200 total on that livestock. Throw in some salt, food, supplements and you are out the door for less than 600 dollars for your 2K mythical tank, and that's at a LFS. You can mail order this stuff and get it even cheaper. Hell, that's even including a 100 dollar fish. Exchange that for a cheap clownfish and you spent about 500.

Well, I guess my friend, like myself, does things the right way. Some go cheap. And some go the whole way. You fall into one of those categories. And good for you. I hope you invest the difference and make yourself some money on that. But with the cost of the tank (something you have way undervalued) buying Fiji rock and not the cheap stuff, and all the corals/invertebrates he has bought as shown in the pics I stand by my $2K comment.

Please stop. I've been doing coral tanks for decades. Now you are trying to justify your boy getting ripped off/you lying about how much stuff costs by saying people do things "the right way". Personally, I'm leaning to the you are full of #### side of that. 200 dollars for a cleaning crew in a 29 gallon tank removes any credibility you might think you have. Jesus dude, you didn't even know what the rock was called? Fuji? Fiji? It's all the same, right? Do everyone a favor and stop talking about things you don't know about.

Funny you said that the tank was only $300. I show a link where it is $500. You say that $5/pound is OK but the top of the line stuff us $8/pound and that's what he bought. I also stated that I over estimated the cleaning crew in my second post. I have since heard from him and he told me that he spent more than $100 on the crew but not close to $200. But hey, you keep saying what you can do but have not provided a single link to prove your point. Go troll someplace else...

So either show me a link where you can get the tank with a Halide light for $300 and can get Fiji rock for $5/pound or anything else you claim you can do without providing any backing for....

Besides, how much are the corals which are a big part of his cost? I listed nearly every coral he bought. How much do they run there genius? Please link to a price rather than just your opinion. All you do is whine like a little girl and claim you know better. Show me and stop pretending like you know. Been doing this for decades huh? Maybe the prices have gone up since you bought your last tank. The one with the steel seams...

Not trying to bust your stones Fanatic, but you can get Fiji live rock much cheaper then $8/lbUltra Premium Fiji Live Rock in 50 or 66 lb box lots

50 lb boxes 1 box $2.55/lb, 2 boxes $2.40/lb, 3+ boxes $2.25/lb

66 lb boxes 1 box $2.65/lb, 2 boxes $2.50/lb, 3+ boxes $2.35/lb

http://www.aquatictech.com/livestock.html

CP-90024 SW - DFS Select Fiji Premium Rock - 22 lb. Box

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=397

What is the cost to ship that 50 pounds of rock that has to be kept in water to keep the rock live? I went online to buy frozen brine and blood worms because it was MUCH cheaper than at the pet stores. But when the shipping costs of the dry ice packs and styrofoam box made it cost almost the exact same. I will say this that the guy went to probably the most expensive store in the area. One of those places that has totally primo stuff but totally over prices it. But if you get to the know the guy he will knock some off. So everything is way overpriced. Why he went there is the guy will give good prices on trade ins. He traded in a bunch of nice African Peacocks and got $400 in trade which is gives my buddy even more reason to go over the top and buy the top end stuff. The Hallide light was $200 by itself.

Then his wife took him to one of the best salt stores in the area for Father's day and told him he could spend $200. He came home with 3 corals and I think he had to pull a little money out of his own pocket to afford it. Top that off with some coral he bought that he later found out was reallllyyyyy hard to keep and he killed it so he had to go buy something else to replace it....

Shipping cost $45 per 100 lb by the first one and $1.39 per lb by the second one. So even with shipping its still much cheaper. Once again no matter how you slice it your friend paid way to much. Not sure why you keep arguing the point because he clearly did.

 

[TLEF316]

for what its worth, this is the 2nd time this point has been argued in this thread. No point turning it into a pissing match.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Here are a few pics from my nano cube:

#1

#2

#3

#4

I will slowly add to it over the next month or two.

 

[TLEF316]

amazing tank.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

amazing tank.

Thanks, I hope you are talking about my nano. Its my first salt water set up and so far I could not be happier. So far not one single thing in this tank (except for the live rock) had a purchase price over $20. I have really been patient on adding things to this tank quite slowly. We just got the feather duster and leather coral this weekend. If they live for a week or so I will add a couple more inverts to the tank.

 

[TLEF316]

amazing tank.

Thanks, I hope you are talking about my nano. Its my first salt water set up and so far I could not be happier. So far not one single thing in this tank (except for the live rock) had a purchase price over $20. I have really been patient on adding things to this tank quite slowly. We just got the feather duster and leather coral this weekend. If they live for a week or so I will add a couple more inverts to the tank.

yeah, it looks awesome. I would love to take a shot at something like that in the future.

 

[eoMMan]

What freshwater fish grow the biggest in home aquariums? Oscars?

What freshwater fish are the hardest to kill?

How long do the longest living freshwater fish live to?

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

amazing tank.

Thanks, I hope you are talking about my nano. Its my first salt water set up and so far I could not be happier. So far not one single thing in this tank (except for the live rock) had a purchase price over $20. I have really been patient on adding things to this tank quite slowly. We just got the feather duster and leather coral this weekend. If they live for a week or so I will add a couple more inverts to the tank.

yeah, it looks awesome. I would love to take a shot at something like that in the future.

Well thank you very much. You should absolutely try it. I was real nervous about and so far its been super easy. The key is taking your time and really letting your water cycle with the live rock or live sand before you put anything in the tank.

 

[TheFanatic]

What freshwater fish grow the biggest in home aquariums? Oscars?What freshwater fish are the hardest to kill?How long do the longest living freshwater fish live to?

Well, Oscars don't even come close to the largest freshwater fish. They get to be 12-16 inches or so. Sturgeon can get to like 14 feet. Arapima get to be like 12 feet. What freshwater fish are hardest to kill? Don't like the way that question is being asked. IT seems to me like someone saying, "what fish will demand the least amount of effort." If that's the case, pick a different hobby.There was a lung fish in Shedd Aquarium that was like 80 years old. I have a Clown Knife that is 20 years old....

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

What freshwater fish grow the biggest in home aquariums? Oscars?

What freshwater fish are the hardest to kill?

How long do the longest living freshwater fish live to?

Well, Oscars don't even come close to the largest freshwater fish. They get to be 12-16 inches or so. Sturgeon can get to like 14 feet. Arapima get to be like 12 feet. What freshwater fish are hardest to kill? Don't like the way that question is being asked. IT seems to me like someone saying, "what fish will demand the least amount of effort." If that's the case, pick a different hobby.

There was a lung fish in Shedd Aquarium that was like 80 years old. I have a Clown Knife that is 20 years old....

I do not suggest putting a Sturgeon in a home aquarium.

 

[eoMMan]

What freshwater fish grow the biggest in home aquariums? Oscars?

What freshwater fish are the hardest to kill?

How long do the longest living freshwater fish live to?

Well, Oscars don't even come close to the largest freshwater fish. They get to be 12-16 inches or so. Sturgeon can get to like 14 feet. Arapima get to be like 12 feet. What freshwater fish are hardest to kill? Don't like the way that question is being asked. IT seems to me like someone saying, "what fish will demand the least amount of effort." If that's the case, pick a different hobby.

There was a lung fish in Shedd Aquarium that was like 80 years old. I have a Clown Knife that is 20 years old....

That's pretty cool.I knew that Oscars are the biggest freshwater fish by far, but I was wondering what are the larger fish that people normally keep in their home aquariums. I suggested Oscars because I've seen some large Oscars.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Get yourself a Pirarucu and then get a huge tank.

 

[TheFanatic]

Get yourself a Pirarucu and then get a huge tank.

That's an Arapima in that vid. There is a guy that posts on Monsterfishkeepers that has 3 of them in a custom built 10K gallon tank...oops. Spelled it wrong. It's an arapaima. Arapaima gigas I believe.

Also the tank is only 5K gallons. Wanna see it live? He has a web cam in front of it. Go here and type in ilovefish and ptcptc as username and password

 

[TheFanatic]

What freshwater fish grow the biggest in home aquariums? Oscars?

What freshwater fish are the hardest to kill?

How long do the longest living freshwater fish live to?

Well, Oscars don't even come close to the largest freshwater fish. They get to be 12-16 inches or so. Sturgeon can get to like 14 feet. Arapima get to be like 12 feet. What freshwater fish are hardest to kill? Don't like the way that question is being asked. IT seems to me like someone saying, "what fish will demand the least amount of effort." If that's the case, pick a different hobby.

There was a lung fish in Shedd Aquarium that was like 80 years old. I have a Clown Knife that is 20 years old....

That's pretty cool.I knew that Oscars are the biggest freshwater fish by far, but I was wondering what are the larger fish that people normally keep in their home aquariums. I suggested Oscars because I've seen some large Oscars.

Not even close. Red Tailed cats get to be 3 feet. My Clown Knife is 2 feet. No Oscar will get close to 2 feet. Common plecos can get more than 2 feet. Tiger Shovel nose can get 3 feet. Pacus can get 3 feet....They aren't even the largest S. American Cichlid. Peacock Bass would be the winner there...

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Get yourself a Pirarucu and then get a huge tank.

Pirarucu and arapaima are the same fish. Thanks for the heads up on his site but I could not get it to work.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Couple more pics from my Nano

Duster at full bloom

Duster retreating

 

[TLEF316]

just some updates. Did a re-scape and added some sunset Hygro.

Kinda going with the less is more idea as far as hard scape goes. i know i'd like to do more with it, but can't figure out what. Maybe when i move and have to tear the tank down I'll be able to think of something.

Anyways, things are going alright. My last panda cory died. same symptoms as the other ones. One day he had a shredded top fin, the next day he was dead. It doesn't affect my other corys. I just had no luck with the pandas. I'm planning on building up the schools i have. I may also go with some sterbai if i can find them for the right price. My ram and Apistos get in little spats, but nothing to write home about. My shark likes to chase the rainbows at night, but there are 7 of them and they are pretty big, so it isnt a big deal. They just flare their fins and run away for a few seconds.

Anyways, here are some new pictures. Enjoy....

Full Tank

Sunset Hygro

Cardinals

Rainbows

Hatchets

Female Apisto

 

[TLEF316]

Long time since i posted an update, so i figured I'd do so.

Things are going alright. I've gotten great growth from some plants, while others have done poorly. The tank is VERY heavily planted right now (as you'll see in the pics). Water stats have been good (no ammonia or nitrite, ph 7.0, nitrates around 20 usually). 25% weekly water changes. At this point, my biggest issue is algae. I have green spot, some green dust and some BBA. The BBA is grows on the tips of my valis, so i just trim them every week as a stop gap measure. I finally tossed most of my anubias (around 7 plants) because i was just tired of them growing BBA all the time. Lack of cO2 is the culprit. I tried overdosing exel, but it didnt really work. I hope to go to injected CO2 at some point soon. Until then, I'll just live with the algae and brush off what i can.

Some pics....

Full Tank

left side

Right side

Current stocking...

4 clown loaches

1 red tail black shark

4 Bosemani rainbow fish (recently lost 2 to bacterial infection, but rest look good after some big water changes and a 2 degree temperature raising)

1 marci rainbow fish, which is apparently some sort of hybrid. Was sold to me out of a bosemani tank, and i couldnt tell the diference at the time.

8 cardinal tetras

8 rummy nose tetras

1 german gold ram

pair of apiso agassizi

6 zebra danios

3 pepper corys

4 cory arcuatus

4 cory sterbai

8 marble hatchets

9 ottos

 

[eoMMan]

I got a 1.5 gallon aquarium for Christmas.....

What one kind of fish or fishes, , will do best in an aquarium this small?

I was thinking about maybe a Kissing Guarami and hopefully one more hardy fish.

Thoughts?

Stick to boring Goldfish?

 

[TLEF316]

I got a 1.5 gallon aquarium for Christmas.....What one kind of fish or fishes, , will do best in an aquarium this small?I was thinking about maybe a Kissing Guarami and hopefully one more hardy fish.Thoughts?Stick to boring Goldfish?

that's way too small for a gourami. Honestly, its way too small for almost any fish. I'd go with a beta if anything. Don't put a gold fish in there. they are very messy and produce a ton of waste (which pollutes their water). There's a reason why gold fish that live in bowls only live like 3 weeks. by the way, i had to move my tank last week (we are painting the house). Just for future reference, a 75 gallon tank WILL NOT move an inch when placed on sliders (even if you get all the decor and 90% of the water out). Took 4+ hours to move the tank 12 feet. Good news is that everyone survived (although it appears my clown loaches are mad at me)