Why?

by **beckihrh** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:57 am

I love fish because,
they are fun to watch, they don't talk back, they don't make messes all over the house, and they are only a flush away from getting out of my house. (I have grown kids at home) {:)

BeckiHrh {:)
55 gal. freshwater

by **dizzcat** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 6:57 pm

I have always had animals around me. I have cats, had birds (hand raised a couple cockatiels) rats, all kinds of critters. My fish are amazing! I just love to sit and watch the dynamics that go on in the tank. Its my African tank I love the most because those fish are so full of sh!t and so full of personality. They don't freak out when I go near, but interact with me the way smaller fish like Tetra don't do. I am the dominant fish LOL.
They reward all my hard work with dozens of fry. I love watching my Bolivain Rams take care of their young. It takes work to have healthy tanks, but well worth the time and expence!

I know what Boss is saying. I know too many people that don't take proper care of their fish, do not see them as pets needing the time and care as much as a cat or dog. They just throw any ol fish in any size tank. Then ask why it didn't work and ignore any advice given them! Ugggh! People that go into saltwater know its going to be work. FW is work too, but unfortunately for the fish, easier to start up and easier to ignore.

I spend on average an hour a day enjoying them, watching them, etc. About 3 hours a week with my hand in the tank, cleaning or this and that. It started as a hobby but now is my joy. When I am online I am reading fish stuff LOL.

by **Poetic_Irony2267** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:15 am

WOOOOOOO for the planted tanks, I have to say that having a fresh water planted discus tank is more than likely as tough if not equal to reef tanks, I have to say I absolutely admire reef keepers, and the amount of time and energy that goes into those aquariums, constant water tests, making sure everything is running at peak performance, and the health of the fish along with the corals has to be up there with trying to make sure the co2 levels are just right for the plants and the nutrients are on point and not so high to harm the fish. Trying to keep some of the most difficult plants alive with out having die off, is rather difficult.

I say kudos to all of you who keep fish, not just as a decoration but as a part of the family. I also say kudos to those of you who keep salt water reef aquariums,
I for some reason just don't have it in me to deal with the salt creep and making sure that the gravity stays exact. i must say that there are two kinds of aquarists, either you get the planted and have trouble with the reef, or you completely understand the reef, and have trouble with the planted aquarium. I am by no means knocking any of the people who keep cichlids or salt water fish, or even regular community tanks that are very well maintained. I have had all of those, and found that the challenge of the planted discus tank is most rewarding when things are running completely smooth after much trial and error. Keep on Keeping on.

by **fihsboy** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:41 am

Hey man does your discus eat your plants? just curious. I cant stop algae blooms in planted tanks.....I tried everything but a UV sterlizer.....fish werent the problem.......it was those damn plants.

by **Poetic_Irony2267** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:40 pm

Fishboy, The discus are meat eaters, and will not touch the plants, the angels that i had however, ate everything. A uv sterilizer will work well, in order to keep the algae blooms down, you need to keep your light time down under 8 hours. and make sure that the tank is no where near direct sunlight or even reflective sunlight, and over filtrate the tank, once your plants are growing well and at a good pace they will not allow the algae blooms to take root and cause algae types to grow on surfaces of the plants as well as ornamentation, another key thing is to have proper circulation, if the water is too still it will allow the algae to settle every where and you wont be able to curb it with out drastic measures that could harm your fish, such as blacking out the tank for a week or more, and changing the filtration every single day. once you have a stable tank, the plants will out grow the algae and not let it grow. water changes with r/o water will help.

Brandon

by **breaknrun911** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:12 am

when my wife pisses me off i just sit back and enjoy the show. there isnt any commercials

by **fihsboy** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 5:26 pm

AMEN! When I get mad or had a bad day.......sit in front of the tank. :) Thanks PI I appreciate it. I will have to give a planted tank another try......its so different than a reef tank.......reefs cant get enough light.....and planted can get too much and can also get not enough. CRAZY

by **Tmercier834747** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:44 pm

That doesn't work for me, because our apartment is so small, my girlfriend ends up half yelling/asking me if I'm going to sit there and watch the fish all day. -.-

As far as planted tanks go, do your best to avoid getting cyanobacteria which obliterated the tank pictured left which now looks something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rC_LL3u7 ... annel_page
and you should be fine fishboy. =P

The thought of keeping S/W scares the shit out of me. lol

by **fihsboy** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:05 am

algae isnt really a problem in saltwater......not for me atleast and never has been. I had detritus build up a few times......but more flow was the answer. Do you have a CO2 tank? How do you regulate your CO2? I think that was another problem I had......I just had a two liter with yeast and sugar.....fed through airline straight to the tank......where it sat in a cut up bottle......to saturate the top of the water....yeah...fail. Your tank just has some growing to do, cyno does suck though. in saltwater.....you rid it with ozone or UV.

by **Tmercier834747** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 7:58 pm

you probably knew this, cause I think sw cyano is the same.. its actually bacteria and not algae that photosynthesizes like algae but more rapidly.

The tank had been running well over a year planted and I think there's a number of little events that contributed to seeing cyano..new filter, adding more play sand, removing the giant amazon sword plant...reguardless it was some little $14 bottle of powder that wiped it out finally.

I use diy co2 in a store bought canister (cap seal will never break ;) ) and bubble ladder diffuser. Works well, just considering getting another one for a more steady supply and overlap in co2 supply.. I don't have the money for the nice compressed systems...

Why?

33 posts • Page 3 of 4

Why?

33 posts • Page 3 of 4