New Aquarium

[Longshot270]

Got a new aquarium that I'm almost finished setting up.

For $50 I was able to get a heated 55 gallon aquarium, wire lid and light.



Added some gravel, starts for live plants, a dozen crayfish, some mosquito fish, 2 sunfish, a rio grande cichlid and a pleco.






You can see one of the sunfish, the big crayfish and the pleco in this picture.

I also built a large canister filter with an aerator exit today. So far it has been working.

[Jackpine]

Looks good! Aquariums are kind of like fires in a fireplace aren't they? Something you can just sit and look at for hours.

- Jack

[Longshot270]

Originally Posted by JackandJanet

Looks good! Aquariums are kind of like fires in a fireplace aren't they? Something you can just sit and look at for hours.

- Jack

Yep, I just added 4 more fish. I hope when they get acclimated they keep the markings as when I caught them.

[Longshot270]

Since my last post the aquarium has seen some major changes.

Had to change the filtration system again. The one I had built worked great until I messed up a seal while cleaning the impeller shaft. During the night water leaked in and shorted out the motor. So Sunday morning I was sitting outside petsmart waiting for them to open while all my fish were glued to an aerator. Luckily there was a sale going on for the Tetra Whisper EX70, a 50-70 gallon aquarium filter that is probably the quietest I've ever had.

I've also replaced all the gravel with sand, a much nicer looking substrate that works better for plants and cleaning.

I also decided it was warm enough to throw my oscar and my two plecos into the tank. Since the lows in the forecast are still around 49 at night I have the built in heater on a photosensor. That way it'll come on automatically at night or I can rotate the dial and keep it on all the time.

I also added some new critters. I added about 20 snails, 6 of which are doing what they are supposed to. The others are having an identity crisis and just burrowed into the sand like the freshwater clams did. I also added an orange throated darter today that is fun to watch. Some of the fish are attracted to the bright color and follow it around.


I finally got this fish to come out for a picture. The cichlid food has definitely been improving the color. The wall of algae is also supposed to be there. It is easy food for the plecos I threw in today.

[CustomTruckGuy24]

Wow that's awesome, quite the hobby

Sent from my ERIS using Tapatalk

[cajunboy2208]

I have a 55gallon tank I took down 2 years ago... still sitting in storage. I've told 2 people to come get and and they could have it... and they never have.

I might have to start it back up. I do miss having some fish to look at

[cleatus12r]

It's cool that you have actually harvested many of these fish yourself!

My friend has an Oscar and it's a jerk. He's probably about 8" long and the only fish that it won't eat are ones that are near his size (or a plecostomus).

Another friend recently purchased a 70 gallon tank and filled it with small fish.

Quote from Ron Camp (Ace Ventura, 1994):
"No matter what is going on in my life, I can always watch them swim."

[Longshot270]

I'll take that extra tank if you don't want it...Too bad you're so far away.

Yeah, I actually like the wild fish more. They are easier to teach. The oscar won't eat anything but live fish most of the time but the blue fish learned to eat cichlid pellets from a floating PVC pipe ring in less than a week. This oscar has actually been relatively well behaved, she'll go through and rip apart the aquarium ever so often but gets along with most fish. During winter I had a male tilapia in with her as a tank mate and they got along. I had to take the tilapia out because it was too aggressive and beating up my other fish.

I think I've got about 4 aquariums going right now. Two are being used in an ecology experiment so they have nothing but plants growing in them, the big one with all the fish, and a 20 gallon that is serving as an emergency tank in case we have another major cold snap that the oscar and plecos can't handle it. Once it fully warms up it'll be used for bait and feeder fish.

[98xlt]

Where did you catch the darter?

[Longshot270]

Originally Posted by 98xlt

Where did you catch the darter?

In the river near where I live.