A Beginners 55 - Aka My 2nd Big Mistake

And I know it's a fish but I swear he's making puppy dog eyes at me in that picture.

 

It's looking great!

 

So pretty! I could happily have a whole fish room dedicated to plecos lol love them all

They're definitely different looking! I hardly saw Gollum for some time after I first got him but now he's one of the first to the feeding zone and he makes sure to get his share.

One of the Leopard Cories, they've put on some weight and size just since I got them too.

 

I used to feed my common pleco zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. It saved my plants.

 

I used to feed my common pleco zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach. It saved my plants.

I think everyone in this tank likes veggies or algae wafers. Mollies, Platies, Gourami's, Plecos, they will all spend a lot of time grazing on plant based foods.

 

My pleco used to hang from the zucchinI and mushrooms. I would just cut a piece, wash it and throw it in. It floats. I read online to blanch it but I never did. I think it will sink if you du but my guy liked his floating.

 

One of my BN's was working on a piece of driftwood during dinner time. Not a great picture, he has the look on his face of someone who's been busted.




This is the smaller of the 2, he might be an inch and a half long. I haven't seen the other one in a couple of days, he may be more nocturnal.

 

I have bristle nose too but I'm not as clever as you with names.

 

I just read through this whole thread and I love it. Sounds like you’re having lots of fun

 

How do you get such good pics? Your fish family pose for them. This is what mine do.

 

How do you get such good pics? Your fish family pose for them. This is what mine do.

Most of mine are taken during feeding time. I feed the fish on top water and at the bottom of the tank. It gets them conditioned to being comfortable with me there right up against the glass with the phone in hand. And then it's just a matter of taking lots and lots of pictures and picking thru them to find one that's worth posting. I also crop the heck out of the pictures, try to remember to keep the glass clean.

 

I've been out of town since Sunday. I wish now that I had a webcam installed so that I could watch what was going on with my tanks. I won't be back until this next Monday either. Hang in there guys!

 

Nanny cam for the fishes. I’d love to see the Babies r us sales associates face on that one XD

 

First time reading this thread, and it's a good read lol. I can't wait to see more updates.

 

First time reading this thread, and it's a good read lol. I can't wait to see more updates.

This is my first time being away from the house since I started keeping fish. I hope that my next update isn't a body count.

 

These updates are hysterical. Nice looking tank and fish! Keep us posted...

 

This is my first time being away from the house since I started keeping fish. I hope that my next update isn't a body count.

Uhhh that's for months then? Were you in jail ?

 

Uhhh that's for months then? Were you in jail ?

No, just Mississippi. So, kinda I guess.

All the fish are fine though a bit shocked to see me again. I think they thought they had won.

 

I woke up about 4 this morning and decided to play in the tank a little bit. Moved Harold the turtle and his rock as previously discussed and trimmed and moved some Wisteria and the Lily. I'll get some pictures to post once the water has cleared up some or I might wait until after a full cleaning on the weekend.

 

Okay, I took a couple of snapshots of the tank. First one is the left side where I moved Harold up to the glass so he can see and the other is the full tank.







It's a bit unbalanced this way and now I'm not happy with the right side of the tank, lol. There's a piece of driftwood on the right side of the tank at the back that I'm thinking of moving. Idea is to place it at an angle from the front right corner to the back wall of the tank and move the plants that are currently in the right corner a little more along the front glass. Shrug. We'll see!

Oh, also thinking about Harlequin Rasboras. Maybe a fairly large school in the 55 or starting one of the vacant 20 longs as a Rasbora tank. I saw a video of a school of 200 of them in a large tank and it was pretty spectacular.

 

Nice mate.

 

I went a little crazy with the re-do of the right side of the tank. I completely removed the driftwood that had been hiding there and added a rock pile feature. I think I like it, it's a bit cleaner/not so cluttered maybe?




I *think* that if I could get some Val to grow in the front left corner to sort of hide the tubing and sponge filter I'd have a pretty decent looking tank that I could live with. For a while.

Oh, and I added 7 small Harlequin Rasboras. Just couldn't stop myself. Might add some more next week. Sorry, not sorry!

 

I took another picture, trying to convince myself I like the new look I think.

 

"Hey, Verde! What ya doin?"
"Oh, you know, adding more fish"


I bought a dozen furcata blue eyed rainbow fish. Should be here this afternoon. I'm headed to the store as soon as I get off work today to see if they have any more Rasboras.

Big plan for this weekend actually isn't the addition of the new fish, it's going to be upgrading the filter! I've had it here for going on a month now but this will be the first real chance I've had to tear some things down and get this guy online. Roughly 3 times the flow and 6 Liters of media space. That's a gallon and a half of bio ring goodness.

Hopefully this filter will provide enough of what fishes need to keep the tank alive and happy for a long time to come.

 

My little herd of blue eyes arrived today and man are they TINY. Barely larger than fry! I went to PSmart and picked up what they had in the way of Rasboras so that's going to be it for stocking the 55. Sigh. I kinda hate when a project comes to an end, the process is the fun part! So.... while I was in the store I saw the Bettas and I think I've found my next little friend. I've got a brand new 10 gallon here just waiting for someone to take up residence in it too! Here's a really bad snapshot of the fish I'm looking at.





He's a redheaded Dumbo with a white body and fins. There's some red at the base of his fins too and I think I want.

 

Hmmm an empty 10gal? My wife and I get a ton of fun watching “her” African dwarf frogs. Just throwing it out there.

 

Hmmm an empty 10gal? My wife and I get a ton of fun watching “her” African dwarf frogs. Just throwing it out there.

Man, I don't know. Can you leave one of them for a week if needed? I feel okay if I leave the fish for a while, I know they'll be hungry but okay. And I've heard a lot of bad luck stories with ADF's, on here and from folks I've talked to at the pet store.

How long has your wife had "hers"?

 

They’ve been around about 10 months. They get fed frozen blood worms every other day. We have no experience with long fasting periods; so no idea if that may be an issue. They are insanely funny to watch though. Also they can be a bit noisy. First water change I did took me aback. I heard a slight hum and thought what the is breaking down.

 

They’ve been around about 10 months. They get fed frozen blood worms every other day. We have no experience with long fasting periods; so no idea if that may be an issue. They are insanely funny to watch though. Also they can be a bit noisy. First water change I did took me aback. I heard a slight hum and thought what the is breaking down.

Post up some pics here if you don't mind. I'm pretty set on the Betta but tanks are cheap it's SPACE that is at a premium.

 

They aren’t very good at “storm the fort”.


They do like to cuddle though.

 

I've thought it over and frogs just aren't for me, at least not right now. There's too many fish and too little time. I appreciate the thought though and I might consider one down the line. Maybe in a smaller setup in the kitchen? Since I moved Carlos into his 10 gallon tank the kitchen HAS been void of pets so....Who knows?

 

I had a dad once who I loved watching. He would swim up and down my hex tall tank. He grew so big that I saw him with the Kuliloach half out of his mouth that I got rid of him and regretted it. I fed him this frog food that was Kuliloach shape. Maybe he just mistook it.

 

I had a dad once who I loved watching. He would swim up and down my hex tall tank. He grew so big that I saw him with the Kuliloach half out of his mouth that I got rid of him and regretted it. I fed him this frog food that was Kuliloach shape. Maybe he just mistook it.

Dad?? Lol, I'm trying to figure out what you meant and I'm drawing a blank!

I'm probably overthinking this but is there/are there certain colors that I should want to use on an aquarium for a white and red fish? I think I'm going to go buy that little guy today. I can keep him in another container until I get the 10 gallon set up, I just don't want to build a tank and then go back to the store and him be gone! That would be no bueno.

I threw the 10 gallon together today and picked up my new friend from PSmart. Water is still a bit cloudy and I'm letting the little cup of water with the fish in it acclimate right now. Pics soon to follow!

Okie dokie, well, here's what I got - tank with fish in a cup and a PSmart Anubias Nana!




Fish!




Same fish, different angle!




I hope he likes the new home, it's GOT to be better than living in a CUP, right?

 

Hopefully the water will clear up overnight. I've still got to get the other filter up and running this weekend. Well, don't HAVE to but you know - goals. HA! Anyway... one more pic.

 

Dad?? Lol, I'm trying to figure out what you meant and I'm drawing a blank!

I'm probably overthinking this but is there/are there certain colors that I should want to use on an aquarium for a white and red fish? I think I'm going to go buy that little guy today. I can keep him in another container until I get the 10 gallon set up, I just don't want to build a tank and then go back to the store and him be gone! That would be no bueno.

"Frog"

Green is the complementary color for red..(I've had color theory)

 

"Frog"

Green is the complementary color for red..(I've had color theory)

I'm not sure how frog translated to dad but I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I'll just let that one go.
I actually looked at some color wheels and realized that I have no sense of fashion. Maybe I need to consult with Joanna Gaines? LOL.

Anyway, water in the 10 seems to be clearer this morning and I'll check on the new guy later.

The big story turned out to be the new filter, holy cow does this thing put out some water compared to the old one! The mass of floating plants that have always been on the far right side of my tank aren't there anymore, the circulation has pushed them out to the middle of the tank.




The fish as far as I can tell seem to be loving it. The project wasn't without some headaches. After I had everything hooked up I turned it on and no water! The Eheims, at least at this price, don't have a primer, it has to be done manually. I got a trickle started and took a break because my old back was killing me. It was a bit later when I noticed the plants being blown around in the tank and the floaters no longer being on the one side.

I also added an Eheim prefilter to the setup. I think I like it, I guess I'll find out how much I like it when it's time to inspect/clean the sponges.

Ah, and today is water change day. I've been piecing together a larger pump and drain hose and may get to test it out today, the plan being to speed up the time it takes to drain this thing.

Alrighty then, that's all I got right at this moment, more informative than entertaining I guess. I'll leave you with a joke - What is the medical term for when your foot falls asleep?

Spoiler

coma toes

 

The new guy (as yet unnamed) is doing well and I was able to get a couple of semi-decent pictures of him in action. He's small. Also, his fins are nowhere the size of my other 2 guys' so he is able to swim much better, faster, farther. Also means it's hard to get him to sit still long enough for a phone pic.

 

name him wilbur or willis

 

name him wilbur or willis

I'm thinking "Runt", for a couple of reasons. 1) His size 2) This...

 

My female gold sailfin Molly died this past Sunday, quite unexpectedly. She and Bob were swimming around together as usual early on in the day but that afternoon I noticed him swimming alone. I didn't think much of it but after a little bit I got curious because they were never apart for long. Sigh. I couldn't find her anywhere but with my eyesight and the plants and rocks etc... I'm not surprised at that. I finally found her floating on Tuesday.
I knew she was gone already on Sunday though when she was nowhere to be found. Bob, poor Bob. He was swimming around pretty frantically without his lady friend, glass surfing a bit and doing a bit of a Molly dance. I went to PSmart and picked up 2 females to keep him company but he's not shown any interest in them yet. They may not yet be sexually mature, he's more interested in the female Platies in the tank.
Doris (the Molly) I'd only had 4 or so months. She was full grown when I got her so not really sure how old she was but she had shown no signs or odd behaviors to indicate that she might pass.
RIP Doris, you beautiful little fish! (Doris on the left in better times)