The Official Asylum Freshwater Tank Thread

[Old Sailor]

Blue LED'S for night.

[Rabidsquirrel]

Should have the new top finished for the 55 finished by this weekend. I'll take some pictures then.

[Smoking Dragon]

I'm getting so excited now. Next week I am going to order my very 1st 90 gal tank for Fred the eel. Which means my water changes will cost a lill bit more. But Fred is worht it. I think he really loves me, or at least knows I bring the good foor home for him.



Sarge

[shaggy]

bastage....i still dont have the leds in any of my tanks
what did u use for them? the ones u buy at the fish store?

[Old Sailor]

Originally Posted by shaggy

bastage....i still dont have the leds in any of my tanks
what did u use for them? the ones u buy at the fish store?

Ones from Ebay....10 of them in there, but didn't use his wire,too bulky.

[shaggy]

they all love you when either u bring food...or are food

[Rabidsquirrel]

Finally got around to taking a picture. Battling a small algae problem now, I need to get in and do a good cleaning. I build a custom cheapo hood which has four four foot 32watt lamps.

[shaggy]

ok...so i got some more pics...
a 30 gal that i am not quite sure what i am gonna do with. currently home to some guppys, kuhili loaches, oil catfish and a few plecos


a 30 gal tang cichlid tank i am just getting going...home for 4 lemon cichlids


10 gal guppy tank


10 gal tank home to 2 female bettas and some danios and tetras


20 community tank home to all kinds of different stuff

[Old Sailor]

Nice lookin setups Mike

[whogamawut]

well never thought i would see this thread on here...nice tanks...if i ever find my camera cord ill throw my tank on here

[shaggy]

and finally the wifes tank


home to her prize fish.........




elephantnose fish

[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.

[4WheelVFR]

You're definitely not barking up the wrong tree. Many studies have proven that aquariums are very helpful in lowering blood pressure and aiding in relaxation. You're also right that aquariums are like humidors, where a larger environment provides greater stability. A 29 or 30 gallon tank is definitely a great size to start with, although if petco is still doing their sale, a 40g breeder tank is a great size.
As far as equipment goes, here's a simple list.

Hang on the back power filter-very easy to setup and maintain, relatively cheap, usually extremely reliable, and probably the best filtration imo for small to medium tanks.

Heater-Ebo Jaeger makes the best imo, titanium heaters not worth it unless you have very large tanks....i still have glass heaters on my 1000g, albeit connected to a controller.

Air Stone and pump-I used to think these were outdated and unnecessary, but on any tank I've had one on, my fish seem to like it.

Lighting-LED all the way. A cheap led strip is good enough for a small tank and they use hardly any electricity at all. T-5 is next best.

Gravel Vacuum-for siphoning old water from the tank when doing water changes.

Dechlorinator-neutralizes chlorine and chloramines from your tap water. Prime by Seachem is the best, but any will do probably.

Food-New Life Spectrum is what you want. Great food and available in any size.

That is really all the equipment you need. You may also want a top for the tank and then there's all the gravel/sand and decor. It may sound intimidating but is not bad at all. Many petshops have aquarium packages where everything comes together. Craigslist is also an excellent place to find whole setups, often much cheaper.