The Official Asylum Freshwater Tank Thread

[4WheelVFR]

Here's half of my stacked and divided 75 setup. Since this photo, I've taken the dividers out and added crossbracing to them. Still have dividers in one of the 75's for smaller fish and grow outs. Electrical is also a lot cleaner.



This tank is roughly 960 gallons and houses a hodgepodge of fish. The stock and layout of the tank have changed since this photo.
15" Cichla Temensis from Rio Ventuari
15" Cichla Kelberi/Piquiti hybrid from Sao Francisco
8" Cichla piquiti
10-12" Fossorochromis rostratus (tank boss)
10" Amphilophus sagittae
Breeding pair of Paraneetroplus bifasciatus
2 8" Amphilophus lyonsi
3 wild oscars from different collection points
yellow bullhead, longear sunfish, indian sun cat, calico convict, a bunch of misc fancy plecos, including a 20-24" common pleco, salvini cichlid, true parrot cichlid.......i think that's it lol.

Sorry for all the latin names, but it's the best way for me to keep track of and describe what I have.

[ColdCuts]

I'm considering getting into the hobby, but I don't know the first thing about it. Can anyone here recommend one of the many fish-keeping forums?

[4WheelVFR]

Originally Posted by ColdCuts

I'm considering getting into the hobby, but I don't know the first thing about it. Can anyone here recommend one of the many fish-keeping forums?

Monsterfishkeepers.com It's geared towards larger fish, but also has many resources for the beginner fish keeper. It's one of the best fish forums on the web. You can always post questions here for me and I'll be glad to answer them as well.

[ColdCuts]

Well that's awfully nice of you, Ray.

I randomly found http://www.fishlore.com/ and I've begun reading there. Do you have any feelings on that site?

Here's a question:
Where fish-keeping is concerned, I don't know anything. I'm as green as they come. So, on the one hand, it makes sense to start with a small 10-gallon tank, right? Smaller is easier? Smaller commitment? On the other hand, I know from experience that the environment inside of a large humidor fluctuates less than the environment inside of a small humidor. I would think the same rule would apply to an aquarium. Am I right? If so, what would you think if I started up with, say, a 30-gallon, planted, community tank setup?

If that's good, my next question would be -- and perhaps this should actually be my first question: after I'm up and running, and I've read up on all the basics, and I've gone thru the nitrogen cycle, how do I figure out how to stock my community aquarium? By this I mean, how do I know what will live peacefully with what, and how many? I don't want my fish to eat one another or war on each other. This aquarium idea was hatched from the need for a stress-relieving, blood-pressure-lowering pastime. Am I barking up the wrong tree?

[4WheelVFR]

Plantedtank.net - great plant and fishkeeping forum
Reefcentral.com - in case you wanna go salt
Monsterfishkeepers.com is my home forum
Aquabid.com - great for buying anything fish related, just watch feedback
ratings like you would ebay.

Tangledupincichlids.com - absolute best source for very nice fish although small fish stock is kinda limited.

Kensfish.com - great place for food and accessories
Freshwatertropicalfishonline.com - great vendor of live fish
bigalspets.com - equipment
aquatraders.com - equipment
msjinkzd.com - great selection of small fish and inverts
drsfostersmith.com - equipment and live fish
yourfishstuff.com - equipment and very cool 3d backgrounds
wetspottropicalfish.com - another great live fish vendor

not familiar with fishlore.com but fishgeeks is another good one for general fish keeping.

Being a beginner, your B&M is the best bet, but all the cool stuff is usually online lol. As far as equipment goes, you can sometimes score well at local places but online prices are hard to beat.

[OLS]

Originally Posted by 4WheelVFR

.

HAHAHA, I love the way they are all looking at the camera basically. Must be
just got home, gonna be fed time. I miss my fresh tank days, in the USAF dorms
of course everyone had to have one. Quite a lot of competition for coolness in
design and stocking. Then I went to saltwater, and now I am free of all of it.
And thankful most times.....til now. One thing I learned over time was to lose
my fascination with Oscars....what a fun fish, like a dog, really. But too much
growth and too much tank dirtying in keeping them fed. Love em, but left em.
Give me the Lake Malawi Cichlids now.

[ColdCuts]

Holy smokes! Ray, thank you for all your helpful advice and recommended links! I repped ya. OK, I'm gonna keep reading up. Here's one more question: The wife and I will probably be moving in about six or so months. I imagine that'd be a real stressor on both fish and plants -- not to mention husband and wife. Would you recommend waiting until after the move to get started, or would you soldier on?

And for Brad: If you don't mind my asking, why did you get completely out of the hobby?

Thanks, fellas.

[4WheelVFR]

Originally Posted by OLS

Give me the Lake Malawi Cichlids now.

That large fish in the top center is a fish from Malawi. It's a large Fosorochromis rostratus. Kinda wish I had a small group of them, but they would probably go on a killing spree then. That one alone is a bruiser.