Yeah, like I don't have enough hobbies already. So besides computers, music, my piano, astronomy, my car, electronics, movies, I now got myself a 25 gallon tropical aquarium.

I'm currently aquascaping it (a word I learned during the past few days ) and in about 10 days, the water will be good enough to put in some fish.

Here's a pic of how the tank looks now. I'm going to add some more plants and perhaps an extra piece of driftwood.

quote Originally posted by Cliff Pennock: Yeah, like I don't have enough hobbies already. So besides computers, music, my piano, astronomy, my car, electronics, movies, I now got myself a 25 gallon tropical aquarium. I'm currently [b]aquascaping it (a word I learned during the past few days ) and in about 10 days, the water will be good enough to put in some fish. Here's a pic of how the tank looks now. I'm going to add some more plants and perhaps an extra piece of driftwood. [/B]

Hey Chris!
I am assuming it is fresh water...
I always buy some ten for a dollar gold fish (feeders) and drop them in for a few days...
If they survive, then I buy the regular fish...
Then after I add the regular fish, go fishing with the feeders as bait!

thats cool, my cousin in law has a big aquarium and it has dep sea (?) fish in it so he has to keep it covered a lot.

[This message has been edited by Formula (edited 10-07-2001).]

OHHH MY!
More mouths to feed there Cliff!
Will this turn into an alternate food source? LOL
Shrimp and Lobster sound good!

Cliff,

Looking good. I use to have a 70 gal, A 44 gal. hex, and 2 10 gal tanks all running at once. Once we had the boys, I had to get rid of some of the tanks. Many tanks is a lot of work. I would follow Fierowreckers idea of putting a few 10 for a $1.00 type of fish to start the tank.
What type of fish were you thinking of getting?

Looks Awesome. I just bought a 55 gallon aquarium last night and started to set it up. In just a few minutes I am going to the pet store to get the rest of the supplies to complete it. I've only got 2 angelfish and 2 algae eaters (pleco's), but they need some company. One of the pleco's is about 8 inches long, all of them are sharing a 29 gallon tank now.

I'm not sure about the name of the fish, since I'm an absolute aquarium noob, but I want different fish in different layers. For the bottom, I want two little crabs and perhaps two small lobsters and a few bottom dwelling fish. The ofcourse a bunch of tetra-neons, and 3 moonfish, and a few surface fish.

I will also need a few Pleco's, since the driftwood is already starting to develop some algae (which in itself is weird, 'cos I boiled that sucker for a few hours).

I'm paying very close attention the the tanks I'm buying the fish and plants out of. If the tank in the shop looks dirty, or the fish look a bit unhealthy, I will not buy anything out of that tank. I don't want to introduce any new deceases or algae or other bacteria in my tank.

[This message has been edited by Cliff Pennock (edited 10-07-2001).]

wow Cliffy! sounds like a fun hobby!! :-) we have a big pond in our backyard we've had it since I was 9 so for about 8 years now too bad last winiter was so bad it killed all of our fish! how RUDE! but we are starting all over again... we hve some very nice looking fish most are gold fish but we have coi and pearlscales its pretty cool!!! I want to see pics when the fish are in that tank

Ahhhhh Cliffff!

That brings back childhood memories of my aquarium days. 4-25Gal, 10-10Gal and 15-5Gal Aquariums.

Everything from Angle Fish, Black Mollies to Zebra Fish.

Be careful though! You will find watching fish way to relaxing.

I had to get rid of my aquariums. I almost drowned once when I fell asleep watching them.

So, if you put your goggles on to put your face in the top of the aquarium, make sure somebody else is around.

Anyways, sounds like salt water fishys you are putting in your aquariums. Or are the crabs and lobsters you are looking at Fresh Water?

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::Steering the conversation::

Cliff, astronomy? Cool. Whatcha got for a scope?

Mine's a 5" SCT on a GEM.

quote Originally posted by Patrick's Dad: Cliff, astronomy? Cool. Whatcha got for a scope?

I gave my telescope away when I moved to the city about 10 years ago - not much star-gazing opportunities here.

So my computer is my scope now.

You can get a freshwater lobster type thingie( crawfish) but be advised you'll never see them, they'll hide under something anytime it's light( unless you have infra red and goggles)

quote Originally posted by Phil: You can get a freshwater lobster type thingie( crawfish) but be advised you'll never see them, they'll hide under something anytime it's light( unless you have infra red and goggles)

I've already decided against them since I've learned they are also predators. So probably just a few crabs.

You've got to be careful when you put lobster type thingies in with fish. You may end up with a fat lobster thingie. Here are some pics of my aqua stuff.

This is my new set up. 55 Gallon tank. Waiting to reach the right tempature (82 degrees F)

This is angelfish #1. She's a female and has laid eggs once. She's about a year and a half old.

Here is Angelfish #2. The same age as the other one, but as the Male he likes to eat freshly laid eggs.

And here is the larger of the 2 Pleco's that I have. He's about 2 years old and is about 8 inches long.

Right now they seem kind of lost and confused in the pics, I took all the rocks and most of the plants out of their home today and put them in the 55 gallon tank, so they have nothing in the tank now.

quote Originally posted by FieroFanaticus2: And here is the larger of the 2 Pleco's that I have. He's about 2 years old and is about 8 inches long.

Ok, I guess I'm learning fast about this new hobby of mine. I already decided against Plecos as well since they can grow quite big. What would be a good alternative as an algae-eater? Preferable one that stays small.

I've also been reading up on crabs. I've seen them at the pet-store and they are quite small (about 1.5") and I will ask tomorrow if they'll stay that size. Do all crabs need out-of-water time? Or are there crabs that will happily live submerged all of the time?

Don't worry about Pleco's. I've been told mine is much bigger than it should be. I feed him a lot of algae chips and shrimp pellets. Much more than is needed. Plus he eats all the food that the angels don't. You could just get some algae control solution to put in the water to take care of the algae growth and then get some bottom scavangers to take care of all the extra food that sinks to the bottom. Catfish are good for that. Something like a Peppered Catfish (Corydoras paleatus), they stay fairly small.
As for crabs and lobster things, I don't know much about them. I know Crayfish (or crawfish) will kill and eat almost anything that swims. Ask the guys at the pet store about these types of creatures, and maybe do an internet search on them or go to the Library and find a book on them.
I like peaceful fish. They are easy to take care of and normally don't kill eachother. I have a poster that shows a bunch of different fish and puts them into catagories to show you who can live with who without chaos. I would be glad to scan it and post it to my website if you'd like to see it. Just let me know.

"I gave my telescope away when I moved to the city about 10 years ago - not much star-gazing opportunities here."

Bah, humbug. Small refractor is where it's at! Get a Tele-Vue 76 or an 85. Easy to carry to a darker spot near you, and contrasty enough that you'll be surprised in the city! Or a Celestron NexStar 80GT. Short 3" refractor with GOTO.

I'm only 15 miles away from Boston, with another, smaller, city in between (Quincy). I plan on getting a Tele-Vue 102 w/i the next couple of years to replace my C5....

Sorry about the sky talk on top of the aquarium. Not much for that kind of maintenance, plus I have two cats who, in their only act of cooperation, would knock one of those things over.

Cliff: Keep the Plecos. they're quiet, and peacable. They will only grow as big as the aquarium will let them I had one that I got at about 1-1/2"-2" and he only ever got to 3" after almost 2 years. He grew as big as he did in less than 6 months. Then my heater shorted out and cooked everything

1) What kind of fish? Tropical? Here's my faves for algae/misc cleanup:

*Koolie Loaches. Lookes like a purple-orange striped eel. about 3" long AT MOST, very friendly, and very entertaining. Also the toughest fish I've ever owned. After a huge infestation of fungus, they were the only ones to develop the growths, AND SURVIVE. The rest died before I could fully treat the tank
*Corydoras: Friendly, small, hyperactive little buggers.

One of the guys I work with is into the aquarium stuff.. and a bunch of his friends. They have some crazy setups.. 2-300 gallon tanks with full-on living coral reefs. Just insane setups..

Right now I have a 20 gallon tank, but it's holding a ~3 foot long boa constrictor

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1988 Quad 4 Coupe 5 speed
1986 GT 5 speed, 1984 SC Auto
AOL: LastMinuteBastrd AIM: SavedbyJebus

I started with a 10 gallon tank a few years ago and went to a 20 and then 50 gallon- all for one fish, an Oscar named Rusty. When she died, I gave all the stuff away. I miss the relaxing sound of the "waterfall" filter that I had. Maybe I need another fish, like a big mouth billy bass

We've always had at least a 5 gallon around.
The most unusual thing we've had was an african water frog (I think that's what it was anyway). It was supposed to be non predatorial and happy to stay in the water.
It never harmed a fish, but it kept jumping out of the tank and wandering around the house during the night. After getting stepped on at 3am a few times, we decided to sell it to a pet store. Other than that, it was cool to watch.

[This message has been edited by Leper (edited 10-08-2001).]

I have a 15 Gallon, it's still a work in progress took me a month and a half to get the water PH and stuff right. Everyone is right GET FEEDERS FIRST if they live then buy others. OR just stay with Feeders, BanditBALZ has only feeders in his tank (they are BEAUTIFUL) feeders when they grow up are nice fish.

Do not be alarmed if the feeders die, but DO NOT buy more fish until they STOP dying.

I run a fully organic tank, no chemicals, carbon filter (that's as chemical as it gets) and I never use drops, or anti-ick or stuff like that, Aquarium Salt if the tank get's yucky.

I have a 10 cubic foot freezer with cod fish sticks.

upon closer inspection, look what i fiound in Cliff's aquarium!

(heh.. all i have is microsoft paint to work with, so that shouldnt be too bad!)

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hoop
Red 86 GT 5 speed
Black 86 SE Automatic

A little sparce in the fish department so I took the liberty of getting you some.

[This message has been edited by 84Bill (edited 10-08-2001).]

Cliff....try some albino corys for bottom feeders. they are active and do a pretty good job of keeping the tank clean and they don't get too big !!!

My brother had quite the freshwater collection. My favorites for the bottom feeders were clown loaches. He mostly collected African Cichlids which can be extremely beautiful and entertaining to watch. Some of them rival saltwater fish for coloration.

Now, if you want to get just one big fish to rule the tank, silver arawana's from South America are amazing fish. My brother had one that grew to 20" before he sold it to a pet store. Oh, turtle's are cool too.

quote You've got to be careful when you put lobster type thingies in with fish. You may end up with a fat lobster thingie.

LOL!!! True, but still, reading it made me laugh!

[This message has been edited by LZeitgeist (edited 10-09-2001).]

Having a aqarium hobby can be addicting too.
I started out with a couple of 10 Gal. fish tanks years ago and now I have worked my way up to having a 180 Gal. tank, a 150 Gal., and a 55 gal. tank I just set up last weekend. The 180 is where I have my Pacus. I got them about six years ago when they were about 2 1/2 in. they have grown to 18 inches long now! I cant have any plants in the tank because they just tear them up with one swish of their tail. But they are still my favorite of freshwater fish.

180 gal.

The pacus (bigger than BIG MOUTH BILLY BASS!)

The new 55 gal.

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...i used to have a black moore named "Pokey" in a fish bowl until my dad flushed him down the toilet...he said he was sick of the fish "lookin' at him funny".

..i tried to explain it to him that all black moores had them "buggy eyes".

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"it's too bad he had to run out of talent half way through the corner..."

Amoung other things, I am currently working on a custom-installed, cylindrical, 6-foot high, (8 on the integral pedistals) 900 gallon Lexan acquarium...

No pictures (per request) but it's really really bloody cool (and quite a bit more expensive than my Formula :S)

An expert is handling the actual (and extensive) fish selection/environmental maintinence. It should be a totally closed, maintinence free system when done!

I still wanna do the open cylinder (or sphereoid...) where you are on the INSIDE

Best!
Ben.

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Ben Cannon
88 Formula, T-top Metalic Red
88 Formula, Silver
87 Coupe, Metalic Red
"Every Man Dies, not every man really Lives"
-Mel Gibson, "Braveheart"

I have a 135 gallon aquarium stocked with
Autralian Rainbowfish that I mail ordered. A guy can mail order just about anything these days!!

Will post some pics soon

This would be a lot of fun in any big tank:
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p.pgm?Q=1&I=LXWB68&P=7

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http://www.geocities.com/fiero_24
1987 GT