Phishies' 55 Gallon

your tank looks amazing! I really like your cave that's probably my fav part of the whole tank, and the best part is that you didnt even pay for them! I wish I had something here in nebraska that I could go get rocks like that, did u get them from a lake or a river?

 

Actually I did pay for them But not that much! The local nursery/gardening place had the rock on sale for like 15 cents per pound...so I got about 25 pounds of rock for $4...and I didn't use all of it in the tank, so it would've been less if I'd just got that! Definitely worth it I think.

I wish we had a river with those kinds of pretty rocks too But thanks, I had fun putting the rocks together!

Edit: As an annoying side update, my green hedge is all but dead - disappointing, but for some reason it didn't do well..all the other plants seem to be okay, although they keep uprooting lol...I've ended up potting some of them behind the driftwood to keep them in place so they can take roots. But since the green hedge is pretty much gone I'll buy a couple of plants to take their place. Sad, cause they were my favorite plants Oh well! At least the others are doing well. The diandre especially are showing lots of pretty colors (the plants behind the cave/rocks)

I'll probably pick up the 4/5 zebra danios in a week or two...the tank is cycling nicely.

 

It looks and is coming along just great! Keep up the good work.

 

any fish yet?

 

Actually yep I got 5 zebra danios a week or so ago - everyone is alive and well! They love the new tank...I could see it in their eyes when they went from the small store tank to the 55 gallon...they love swimming around the plants and rocks.

I went to the LFS yesterday for some kuhlI loaches, but they were fresh out! The guy said he'd order some next week and new arrivals are on Mondays...so hopefully I'll be able to pick some up by next Monday.

Sad thing was, they didn't have any yoyos...and he couldn't find yoyos on their list of fish that they ship regularly...they had some a month or two ago when I was still in the early stages of the tank, but I guess they weren't popular enough to keep. I dunno what I'll do about that.

Edit: I just remembered, I *think* I saw either "zebra" or "striped" loaches on their list...which are botia striata...those are so pretty! And they stay slightly smaller than yoyos so, I think I might go with those. Hopefully anyway.

I don't want to have to ship fish to my house :/ Too nervous. I think the LFS guy said once that they will order any fish I want and hold it till I come to pick it up. I hope I can still take up that offer.

 

who was the seller you got the 'upgraded' lights from? its sounds like a really good deal XD

 

Hehe, uhm one sec let me check ebay...

Aw, can't find him But eBay is pretty good for lights I've found.

That guy never did email me back about the lights. I wonder if he was too embarrassed? Oh well Then again there wasn't much else to do - I certainly wasn't going to pay any more/less than I had, and by the time he paid for the shipping to receive and send another fixture, he would've probably lost money

 

Wow your tank looks really great..Can't wait to see what it looks like with fish in it..More pictures pleasedrool

 

You've done a wonderful job with your tank. A perfect fishie playground. Good job.

 

Wow your tank looks really great..Can't wait to see what it looks like with fish in it..More pictures pleasedrool

Once I get all the fish I want in there, I'll make a video - I think videos are more fun Besides it's hard to get real sharp pictures since my danios are all over the place all the time!

I'm going to call the LFS tomorrow to see if they have any kuhlis. I'm also going to see if they have any zebra loaches..I want some zebras rather than yoyos now. They stay a touch smaller anyway and they're so perttty.

 

Zebra loaches would be very cool to find. I hope you have good luck in finding some.

 

Ack ack kuhlI loaches are nowhere to be found!

The guy I usually talk to at my LFS said he ordered some kuhlis for this week, so they should've shipped and been there Monday...I went by today, my guy wasn't there...it was some new person from what I can tell (that knows NOTHING about fish...was trying to talk about African cichlids...he said "well, I mean, I guess they need some hiding places....so I've heard" to this poor man looking at the tank), and he said none had arrived.

I called the local Petco and the guy at the fish department there knows me (I'm too much of a regular, makes me feel like a dork lol!), and he said they haven't had kuhlis for a while now....they don't sell well apparently so they don't order them much.

Acawergrgaer I just want some kuhlis darn it!

However, I did get 4 angelicus loaches today. They're loving the tank! They're very playful and have lots of fun dancing around in the bubbles made by the powerhead and filter.

So I figure I'll get some kuhlis, and then that'll be it for the tank. Depending on the bioload after the kuhlis I might get an angelfish or something. Something else that hangs in the upper part of the tank to balance it out a bit.

 

what about ordering this fish online? I know its better to get them from an LFS but just a sugestion if you really want the fish now..I know I'm really impatient when I want a fish bad and just want it then and there

 

Well I've changed out my plan of the tank...I've got 4 angelicus loaches now, which by the time they're full size will take up I think all I want of the bottom of the tank - don't want to overcrowd the babies. So instead I'm just going to get one or 2 angelfish, and an algae eater of some kind. I'd like to find an SAE, I hear they're kind of rare though.

I'll probably pick up the angelfish this weekend or early next week. I'm going to get marbled angelfish, one that is predominantly white, and another that is predominantly black, and call them Dominos

 

lol...love the name choice

 

Oookayy guys, time for pictures )

Warning you now, that my loaches move a bit too much for clear pictures, sorry And they didn't like to sit still when the camera came around. My angels, on the other hand, are quite the posers! I didn't even try the danios They are just too quick.

So first off, we'll do the angelicus loaches:












I have four, but the fourth guy, who is also the smallest, hides all the time in the driftwood, though he did come out when I did some movies, so once I upload those you guys can see all four playing together

 

And now, the 2 angelfish. I didn't get black/white, but yellow/white! They seem to really like each other I almost hope they DONT pair off though (if they are male/female), because they tend to get aggressive as breeders. Meh.








The yellow one is much more of a camera freak than the black one...I got one really nice shot of him.








I think they're quite cute together

Anywho, those are the shrunk versions, full sizes can be found here:

I did a few videos which I'll cut up, edit, and post here in a few days...I'll either make minI movies for each fish or put them altogether as one, haven't decided. Stay tuned!

Oh and, I'm pretty much done for the tank. IF I can find an SAE then I'll get one, but if not, meh, no point in pushing the bioload anymore...I have about 48" of adult fish in there, which gives some leeway in case I skimp out on cleaning But I never do that! Heh...

I went by the LFS and they didn't have any SAE that I could find, they had a tank with "algae eaters", but they looked like CAE to me so I didn't chance it. My normal guy wasn't there so when he's working I'll go ask if those are Siamese or Chinese...the person there didn't really know I'm not too keen on spotting the jagged marks to tell if they're true SAE or not but meh, maybe I'll get lucky!

 

Beautiful angels!

 

Love your tank and your fishies, especially Angels l.

 

Here's a couple shots I managed to get of the danios and one of the loaches, finally. Excuse the algae, I took these like the night before my weekly tank cleanup, hah.

 

So pretty, I really enjoy following the tank. Lots of people start threads like this, but this is the only one I know of that actually is going to finish it out. good job

 

Cool to see that great looking loach. ;D

Here's a couple shots I managed to get of the danios and one of the loaches, finally. Excuse the algae, I took these like the night before my weekly tank cleanup, hah.

 

Wow I can't believe I haven't logged in since May of 2008! Sad. No idea why I stopped posting, I think I was just busy with offline situations and fell out of the habit! I guess it's time for a big tank update!

I don't have any pictures right now, but the tank looks completely different! For one, lately I've been having a bit of issue with that algae that the name escapes me - but that isn't algae, the bacteria. I keep it tame and under control with my weekly tank cleanups, so nothing too bad. It hasn't spread to any plants or rocks or anything, just some sand patches here and there and some of the glass.

Out of all the fish I put in the tank, I lost one angelfish and 3 zebra danios. The danios happened recently, I think they were just old (they only live a year or so), no sickness. The black angelfish passed away, I'm not sure why...I woke up one morning and there he was at the bottom of the tank. I didn't see any signs of disease on the outside and he wasn't beat up. If he was sick, thankfully it never spread to the other fish (this was all months ago).

My precious babies of the tank, the 4 loaches, are all thriving well! They've gotten much bigger since I bought them - I realized the other day if I ever have to move them, I need a bigger net! Hah! The angelfish is also getting huge! From top to bottom I'd say he's about as tall as my hand now. He's definitely the king of the tank.

He also eats eats eats! I have to distract him so he doesn't eat my loaches' food! He'll steal it right off the ground if he sees it. But since he is such a eater if I just piddle my fingers at the tip of the tank he rushes up thinking there's food, and the loaches manage to scoot their food under the rocks, out of sight.

The plants got a makeover too. I was a bit overzealous with my original planting and I had a lot of plants die off due to overcrowding. However, I ended up buying a new, very tall plant that looks beautiful in the tank! Sadly the name escapes me, I'll have to get pictures. But it's an amazing background plant and the danios are constantly swimming and playing around it.

I'm not planning on doing much else with the tank. I might replenish the danio's school and get it back up to 6 again, who knows. Right now I'm focusing on a new task; I want to convert my 10 gallon to a modest nano cube reef tank. I'll have to make a new thread with details on that one

 

Please post some new pics.

 

I really love your tank! Can't wait for those new photos!