Tropical fish keepers, where art thou

[ash59fifty-uk]

Post some pics of your aquascapes please, need some inspiration for a new tank

Sons birthday at the beginning of June, as he likes to follow suit with me after getting an entire railway built for him at Xmas, he'd now like to dip his fingers in the art of tropical fish keeping

I'm thinking a Juwel Rekord 800 should suffice as a starter, I myself had a Rio 240 before moving house a few years back. Tank will be kept at his mums so no doubt I'll have to maintain it, also due to space, the 800 should be alright

Tempted to go for black gravel and plenty of (fake) greenery on this for a modern look, but I'd like to see what everyone else has made

 

[MancMike]

If you'd consider venturing into marine, I own a marine reefkeeping forum you're welcome to peruse.

If you mean freshwater, then enjoy, but I'd still suggest you join a forum.

The type of substrate and decoration should depend on the fish you plan to keep, i.e, if they need soft, acidic water (most likely) or harder, alkaline water. If acidic, then some bog wood really looks nice, and helps with maintaining the ph too.

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

If you'd consider venturing into marine, I own a marine reefkeeping forum you're welcome to peruse. If you mean freshwater, then enjoy, but I'd still suggest you join a forum. The type of substrate and decoration should depend on the fish you plan to keep, i.e, if they need soft, acidic water (most likely) or harder, alkaline water. If acidic, then some bog wood really looks nice, and helps with maintaining the ph too.

I was tempted once to get into Marine but I bought bearded dragons instead and stuck to tropical too much science involved I thought at the time!

+1 on the bog wood, I've found a decent backdrop for the tank consisting of turned over bog and rot wood with black rocks, so I've ordered some wood and rocks together with small plants to continue its depth with the foreground

Fish will most likely be what I know, rainbow/bala/red tail sharks (sometimes aggressive but I had 2x bala, and one of each of the other two and only the rainbow was aggressive)

Tiger barbs, probably x4... might throw a blue lobster in there too. One I had previous was awesome. Should have enough cover to keep them all separate

Will start with the barbs at first, hoping the tank comes early next week so I can start cycling it in time before his birthday when we go to pick up the fish, unless I order them online for the day

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

http://s321.photobucket.com/user/Brengunit/media/Mobile Uploads/20160429_184348.jpg.html

That looks perfect, I like the groupings of the plants in relation to the backdrop too. Looks like it carries on back for a good few feet a look I'm going for

Are they two separate tanks or pictures of one large wide tank?

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

My tank is 48" 18" 18" and I do 40ltrs per weekly water changes and it runs perfectly
Started on colds then trops and temperature zones and then all the way back to cold water fish.
Always loved keeping aqutic pets as apposed to other pets.
But believe me thay are just as hard to look after as another pet you chose to care for.
And that's the thing if you dint have the dedication then don't DON'T

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

My tank is 48" 18" 18" and I do 40ltrs per weekly water changes and it runs perfectly Started on colds then trops and temperature zones and then all the way back to cold water fish. Always loved keeping aqutic pets as apposed to other pets. But believe me thay are just as hard to look after as another pet you chose to care for. And that's the thing if you dint have the dedication then don't DON'T

Christ that's huge. What's the total litre volume of the tank? Are they live plants or plastic?

I sat him down yesterday as he's over mine this weekend, and went through all the ph testing, the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate process, cycling, filters etc and he can't wait to get stuck in. His mum will have to help clean the tank etc, I'm surprised she agreed to an aquarium to be honest, lol. He's not one of those kids that has a phase with things, he's been pretty good with responsibilities and staying interested etc.

He'll want bearded dragons next Only hobbies he hasn't took up is ice hockey and football, which is a slight disappointment- but apart from that he's literally a miniature version of me

 

[vijilants]

Also note that depending where you are in the country you need to test your tapwater before you go about doing the weekly water changes.

I ran a tropical freshwater tank for over 10 years but in London the tap water was very hard and the ph also was all over the place.

So I had to buy in large barrels of RO (Reverse Osmosis) water for the water changes.

Either that or you get an RO system built in to your supply but that tends to be an expensive solution.

If you go tropical, they are sensitive to the state of the water.

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

Christ that's huge. What's the total litre volume of the tank? Are they live plants or plastic?

I sat him down yesterday as he's over mine this weekend, and went through all the ph testing, the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate process, cycling, filters etc and he can't wait to get stuck in. His mum will have to help clean the tank etc, I'm surprised she agreed to an aquarium to be honest, lol. He's not one of those kids that has a phase with things, he's been pretty good with responsibilities and staying interested etc.

He'll want bearded dragons next Only hobbies he hasn't took up is ice hockey and football, which is a slight disappointment- but apart from that he's literally a miniature version of me

My tank is approximately 180ltrs. Got real and plastic plants as goldfish like to munch on soft leaves plants, the back ground is made from molded foam and gives it that 3D ish look also you can attach plants to it and they soon take root.
Fish keeping is a great hobby and very rewarding and frustrating all at the same time, bit like owning a merc lol
I sourced the back ground off ebay they came in 200mm×200mm squares and cut snuggly to fit so they can't float and hey presto
Cheers
Ben

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

Also note that depending where you are in the country you need to test your tapwater before you go about doing the weekly water changes.

I ran a tropical freshwater tank for over 10 years but in London the tap water was very hard and the ph also was all over the place.

So I had to buy in large barrels of RO (Reverse Osmosis) water for the water changes.

Either that or you get an RO system built in to your supply but that tends to be an expensive solution.

If you go tropical, they are sensitive to the state of the water.

Great advice it's much easier to bye fish that are suited to your tap water, ie the PH and Hardness, I live in the peak district so my water is quite soft with a nutraul PH of around 7
So I have a good choice of fish I can keep with out altering the water as this can be a battle at times.
Regular water changes take care of the nitrate build up.
Cheers
Ben

 

[Stratman]

I used to keep marines in a tank which measured 48" x 24" x 18". The losses were ok when I stuck to the more common hence 'cheaper' (if any marine can be considered cheap) fish, but the novelty soon wore off when I attempted some specimens and I'd come down in the morning to find £100 floating belly up.

I suppose it's because the tropical reefs are so stable in terms of temperature, salinity and chemical balance the fish don't need or have the mechanisms to deal with water even slightly different. They are beautiful though.

 

[neilrr]

Howard is a moderator on a fish forum.

We had fish for a while, I discovered they are much easy to kill than you'd expect.

 

[ExMercTech]

Maidenhead Aquatics Oak Cabinet 200Lts.
50lts water change fortnightly,
Filter Aqua One 1200 Filter Pump.
Filter/Pump Cleaned every 4 weeks.
Air pump 2 outlet.
Fluval Heater and LED Lights.
There's about 60 odd Tropical fish in there.
Feedin time usually brings them all out.

There's some more Plants and Bogwood in there since photo taken.

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

That's a very nicely kept tank, it looks mint even more so when the plants become established

 

[Howard]

My old marine tank , sadly had to pass it all on when my little one was born , no time to look after it properly and if you don't , it's not fair on the creatures.

I miss my fish , once she's grown up I'll definitely have another tank. Probably cold water this time as its a fair bit easier.

 

[Ted]

Sorry to show you all up, guys but I really am into this big time.
I am an acknowledged expert on this, and people come to seek my advice from far and wide. Please feel free to ask if you need any advice.
Here's my latest setup - it wasn't cheap.


View attachment 57793

 

[Felstmiester]

I've always kept marine. Currently have a 6x3x3ft. It's what they call in the business a FOWLR tank ( fish only with live rock ) I've kept corals in the past but due to the fish I like and keep ( predatory fish ) they don't really go together.

I did start off with tropical many years ago tho.

 

[Darrell]

I keep mine in my underpants.

 

[A250 Bennyboy]

Sorry to show you all up, guys but I really am into this big time.
I am an acknowledged expert on this, and people come to seek my advice from far and wide. Please feel free to ask if you need any advice.
Here's my latest setup - it wasn't cheap.


View attachment 57793

I've gone all the way back to cold water, never did dip my toe in the marine environment tank
.
But did go down the discus route and it was great at first but after 50% water changes for near on 7 years I gave up on trops and went back to my roots with colds and live bearers,.
Been keeping fish for 27 years now and it's one hobby I never get board with, still learning now with keeping fish love the challenge and the looking after my little buddy's.
I would not be with out a fish tank in one way or another.
All I can say is it one great hobby to get involved with
Cheers
Ben