Who here keeps aquariums as a hobby?

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi All,

I was just wondering who keeps aquariums as a hobby?

I have a 50G, corner, freshwater tank that I have maintained
for 9 years now. It has a canister filter and about 30 fish right now.
I have Bala sharks, tetras, white and black mollies, platties, a Large Plec (who is camera shy),
and my favorite a fresh water puffer named puff. Here is may tank.

My living room tank.

A few members of the community.

Puff the Puffer fish.

Puff.

Post some pics of your aquariums.

 

[bhazell123]

Wow puff is cute

and I wish my tank would last longer than a month lol I am not a very good fish keeper lol

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

I have been keeping fish since I was ten. Don't feel bad, it takes time to get a good
handle on it. Sometimes getting the water conditions just right can be kind of scientific.

I have helped a few of my friends start tanks, and have a good success with them. It is
a trial and error method at times. Most of my fish live well beyond their life expectancy.

I think my oldest member is 7.

 

[FarmGirl01]

Mine has been set up and running great for a few years. I just have neon and black tetras. A few guppies and some cherry barbs. One cory cat for the bottom.

I really want one of the puffers. Where did you get it? Fresh water! Am I missing something.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Yes, he is a fresh water puffer. I think I got him at a aquarium store that specializes
in rare fish. He was not too expensive but then I got him when he was really small.
He is about 4in in length now. I think they get to about 6 inches in length.

he does puff in defense. He does not have spines like his saltwater counterpart
but he does makes himself bigger nonetheless. He puffs at me when I clean the tank.
I guess he is not too fond of the gravel vacuum.

It is so funny.

 

[conny63malies]

he is a leopard or spotted puffer, isnt he? I used to have a few pygmy puffers

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi,

he is a spotted puffer. I have had him for almost 4 years now. He has
been quite hardy given the claims that they only live for about 2
years.

pygmy puffers are really cute too. How many did you have in your tank?

 

[bullyforme]

I have three tanks - one 55 gallon with a Jack Dempsey, a large catfish and a clown loach. My others are a 25 gallon with 2 angel fish, 4 corydora cats and an albino pleco, and one 5 gallon with a long-finned rosy barb and an endler.

Your tank is stocked so full! Have you had any of your fish for very long?

We had a bala shark that grew to be about 12 inches long (in only a couple of years). He eventually committed "suicide" by leaping out of the tank. They are really fast and need a long, long tank....our 55 gallon long was not even enough for him and it's 48" long!

I'm also curious about your puffer. I understand they are brackish water fish that are susceptible to fuzzy rot if they don't have a moderate amount of salt in their water and also that they are little terrors, killing every fish they can. Yours must be pretty peaceful to cohabit with all those other fish! How are you keeping the water? Is it brackish at all? I have ALWAYS wanted a puffer, but figured I'd need to have one in a species only tank, by himself, with brackish water.

 

[Kuntry Klucker]

Hi bullyforme,

Wow! you really have a lot of fish tanks. Do you have an aquatic room like some do who
have numerous tanks? That is neat though.

About Puff, I do put small amount of salt in the water. Not only does it help Puff
but the salt does help to keep diseases as a minimum. I researched Puffer fish
before I got one. I have heard both sides say they work well in a comm tank and
other say not.

I decided that since the claims were about equal on both side to give it a try.
I had a tank set aside for him just in case he needed his own space but never had
to use it.

He does have territories that he patrols in the tank but thus far has never
really been aggressive. My tank is rather large so there is plenty
of space for all. I have had him for going on 4 years now with no
problem. I just makes sure the he has some places to hid and get
away from the other fish and that has been all that he requires.

Also, puffers are carnivorous, they need meat. If he does not get the
protein that he needs he will start to snack on his tank mates.
Sometimes I notice Puffer size bites out of the other fishes tail
fins. Since then I make sure that he gets meat. Either in the form
of brine shrimp or blood worms. As long as he is well feed he seems
to leave the other fish alone.

I have had my fish for a while. The Bala Sharks are almost 2 years old. I have a
tetra barb that is my oldest living fish at 7 years now. The other are anywhere between
2-4 years old.

 

[binders]

Hello fellow water tank keepers!

I have a 90 gal tank set up at the moment and also have 2 29 gal tanks that aren't set up yet. Have been keeping tanks for many years but recently moved and am still trying to figure out the water parameters at the new house. It is really hard and has a high pH. Since I am really into aquatic plants it is important to figure out what I need to be adding so that I don't get hugh algae problems. I use really high light, fertilize and also add CO2 to the water. Having constantly changing water is not helping!

Right now I have turquiose rainbows, harliquin rasboras, ottos, blue rams, and cories. It is not very heavily fished because I'm waiting for until I figure out the new system.

Happy Fishing to all!