Aquarium Talk: Fish/Reptiles/Lizards/Insectivoids...

[lesofprimus]

Decided to make a thread about Aquariums....

Ive had a wide variety of aggressive fish in all my years... I grew up with three 12 inch Oscars in my Dads 100 gallon tank, and I've never looked back....

Ive had Piranha, Gar, Devils, Terrors, Oscars, Paraya, Firemouth, Convicts, Salvini, Dempseys, Acaras, Severum, Black Nasty, Wolf Cichlids and Quetzals....

Currently, in my 30 gallon tank I have the following:

Green Terror
Red Devil
Salvini
Jack Dempsey, but maybe Juvenile Terror
Unidentified, but probably a Juvenile Managuense Cichlid
Pleco

Nothing better than droppin 30 feeders into the tank and watch them devour those poor little toughies....

Some pics and an older vid clip I took awhile ago... The vid includes a small Piranha, the last one who survived...

 

[syscom3]

GREAT IDEA LES!!!!!!!

I'm looking at getting an aquarium for my daughter. I havent decided to go for a freshwater or marine type.

All idea's or comments are welcome!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Well if you wish to get an aquarium for your daughter dont go with the Marine type. Marine fish are very sensitive and expensive. If you dont know what you dont have a lot of aquarium experience it is not recommended to go with Marine fish.

Right now I have the following:

1. Aquarium with about 20 different fish and 2 eels in it.
2. Auarium with 2 catfish and 4 beautful Mudskippers
3. Terrarium with 4 1/2 foot Ball Python.

The house that me and my wife build has several built in large aquariums for marine fish. We want a few sting rays and moray eel.

Also there is a reptile room in the with about 10 to 15 terrariums for different snakes.

 

[evangilder]

I just tore down my last tank in the house. I had three tanks at one time, but after moving a couple of years ago, I found the pH is much different only 7 miles away from where I was before. With 2 kids, work and a business to run, I didn't have time for tank maintenance anymore. Maybe when things settle down a bit.

 

[lesofprimus]

Added some pics, check em out...

 

[evangilder]

Nice looking tank, Dan.

 

[lesofprimus]

Thanks Eric, but the tank pic is old and from my old house... The Mako jaw is from one that I caught several years ago and adornes my tank still...

My Green Terror rules the tank with an iron dorsal fin... Mean fish...

 

[Matt308]

I've always admired people who had aquariums. Guess I'm too lazy.

 

[lesofprimus]

Freshwater is a piece of cake... Tropical or saltwater, however, is alot more difficult and expensive...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

The bigger the fresh water tank is actually the better. If you put live plants in there it will actually make its own ecosystem and support itself.

Once the tank is properly set up, there is little maintenance involved. Sure you have to clean the filters and the glass, do water changes (20%) and everyonce in while put in tablets and liquid to help with the pH and everything but it really is not a lot of work. I enjoy it but then again I live with a Biologist and we love animals.

Eric there are special things you can buy to drop the pH. Were we live the pH is extremely high as well so whenever we clean the filters and do a water change (20%) we put a two capfuls of the liquid (I can give you the name later) and it controls the pH level and keeps it in tolerance. Also catfish and suckerfish help lower the pH. We had a problem with our mudskippers because they need salty water (not as much as marine fish) which raises the pH even with the liquid stuff that we use. My wife put a few catfish in there and it lowered the pH to a good level within a week.

 

[evangilder]

I know there are things I can do, but finding the time lately has been tough, and I would rather be able to devote the time for a healthy tank than go at it halfway. Maybe one day, I will get back into it, but for now, it's kinda nice to not have to worry about one more thing to do.

 

[comiso90]

Nice photos Les,

Here is my tank. I really like African Cichlids... I need a few more fish.

BTW... The pottery is GENUINE antiquity from the Med

Anybody who has a tank over 20 gallons needs a python system... u just hook up one end to a sink, drop the other end in the tank and you can drain or fill your tank. No walking back and forth with sloshing buckets!

Aquarium Maintenance Water Changes: Python No Spill Clean 'N Fill

 

[lesofprimus]

Very nice tank...

 

[comiso90]

Very nice tank...

Thanks, I like the natural look.. It reminds be of SCUBA diving in the Med or California...

I found the gold chain on a dive off of Northern Sicily... it's very heavy and worth over $1000.

I hate jewely, i thats a good place to keep it

 

[lesofprimus]

Ive had some Africans, and the small vid clip of my tank has a couple of em swimmin around....

However, they couldnt keep up with the Terror and the Devil in the aggression dept.... Only the strongest survive...

They died quite viciously.... Sad as they got to be quite large and pretty....

 

[comiso90]

Yeah.. Africans need to stay with similar types. I like them cause they are very active and social. much more fun than a lame community tank filled with mollies and zebras

I'd like to have a salt water tank but I don't want one under 70 gallons and there is no logical place in my house for a tank that size.

I'm thinking about getting 2 more tanks.... One for "Hyper aggressive" like Oscars and terrors and another tank just to raise feeders.

 

[lesofprimus]

I will be getting a new 55 gallon and a shoal of Piranha within the next 2 months, so Im lookin forward to that...

 

[comiso90]

cool... i'll expect pics

be careful what u post.. i know in CA they are illegal.

 

[lesofprimus]

I do more illegal things in a month than most do in a year so I think I'll be alright...

 

[evangilder]

I had African Cichlids for a long time. They are very active and colorful. My first big tank was an 80 gallon with African Cichlids, lot's of natural rock for hiding places and plants. My last cichlid in my scaled down cichlid tank died late last year after 7 years. He was a Regani. Just watch out for the Auratus. Those things are perhaps the evilest of cichlids. I had 2 and they were fine cause they went after each other. When one died, the survivor savaged half my tank. Thinking I would teach him a lesson, I dropped him in with 2 Oscars twice his size. I figured my problem was over. Boy, was I wrong! The next morning, one oscar was dead, and the other had no fins and one eye! I couldn't believe it!

Great looking tank, Comiso. I love bow-fronts. The one I just tore down was a 46 gallon bow-front.