Anyone into tropical fish?

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I have had an empty 125gallon tank for quite some time and I decided last night that I am going to set up. I prefer fresh water planted tanks to slat water but other than that I am pretty open to what I am looking to do.

Here are a couple of ideas I found

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/Img2004/600/88.jpg

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/Img2004/600/567.jpg

[Shajen]

I'm into them. But not the really scaly ones. Chafes my sensitive skin.

/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I like the second one better. Plenty of cover and stuff for the fish, less crap to clean for you, plus the added bonus of actually being able to see your fish.

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Here's a 55gallon I have now

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/705/d9ca2wv.jpg

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/4666/57326jd.jpg

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/442/34391dl.jpg

[Sasnak]

Go saltwater. It's amazingly easier now than it ewas years ago. Try your hand at nano-tanks. 30g and smaller. All you need is live rock, good sand and powerheads to move the water around. The live rock and critters growing in them flitrate the water nicely and you just won't believe the types of hard and soft coral you can maintain along with shrimp, crabs and colorful fish. Take a run by www.nano-reef.com (http://www.nano-reef.com) for some good ideas. My chartreuse zooanthids.

http://img186.exs.cx/img186/3934/zoos9lg.png

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You know I do have an extra 29gallon tank I am not using. That's not a bad idea.

[Sasnak]

Nano's are simply put, fantastic. If you're really into fish and underwater environments they are just hard to beat. Especially if you live inland or in the mountains. People FREAK when they see live soft corals under marine lighting, or coral banded shrimp keeping the live rock cleaned. Wait until an Emerald crab scurries out from a hidden crevice to snatch up a piece of food you drop in.

Before you do anything get a catalog from www.LiveAquaria.com (http://www.LiveAquaria.com) sent to you. Incredible stuff and prices for hardware and lighting. Then check out www.TampaBaySaltwater.com (http://www.TampaBaySaltwater.com) for sand and live rock. Typically high quality and good people there.

PM me and keep in touch if you need any tips or advice along the way if you do go salty. Enjoy.

[7ontheline]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v713/lwang7/TroyMclure.jpg

[JPinAZ]

Another really good site for marine tanks is www.reefcentral.com (http://www.reefcentral.com).

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Here is what the tank looks like now

http://img130.exs.cx/img130/4088/125gal2sh.jpg

I am painting the back black tonight instead of a normal background.

[fimbulwinter]

hey,

i funded a good part of my college with money made from selling tropical fish.

as for your idea: stick with the above setup, get a goot lighting, substrate and CO2 system (which will cost a BB or two) at the start and the thing will run itself for a good long time.

also, if you want the glowing fish, there are two species the cardinal tetra and the neon tetra. they look very much alike except that cardinals are somewhat harder to keep but are much more attractive in their schooling behavior and moreover, are not natural food for angelfish, which you wll probably want as well.

if you truly want to go all out, instead of normal P. scalare type angelfish, get P.altum (also called "deep" angelfish). I kept ten successfully (though somewhat challenging) for 4 years and they are by far my favorite angelfish.

remember, javamoss and javafern are no-brainers as seeders.

fim

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[ QUOTE ]
hey,

i funded a good part of my college with money made from selling tropical fish.

as for your idea: stick with the above setup, get a goot lighting, substrate and CO2 system (which will cost a BB or two) at the start and the thing will run itself for a good long time.

also, if you want the glowing fish, there are two species the cardinal tetra and the neon tetra. they look very much alike except that cardinals are somewhat harder to keep but are much more attractive in their schooling behavior and moreover, are not natural food for angelfish, which you wll probably want as well.

if you truly want to go all out, instead of normal P. scalare type angelfish, get P.altum (also called "deep" angelfish). I kept ten successfully (though somewhat challenging) for 4 years and they are by far my favorite angelfish.

remember, javamoss and javafern are no-brainers as seeders.

fim

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Funny you should mention that. The reason I decided to get this tank going is that I finally found a place that carries the Altum Angles which I had been wanting for a year or so. You are 100% correct about them

The plan right now is to do a planted tank featuring the Altum Angels, Cardinals Tetras (once I found these I vowed never to purchase a neon again) and I think Blue Rams.

Thanks

[fimbulwinter]

sounds good, post pics when things are up and running.

as for the altums, they're not much harder than WT scalare (which i had to keep from time to time for outcrosses) but they are a little more spooky and will get stressed if put in high concentration. I probably wouldn't do more than 8 for the whole tank; if it feels empty upping the concentration of dither fish like cardinals and neon rainbows (another very cool fish) will sort things out.

one hint that saved a few of my altums: since they're all wild caught, some have a real real hard time adjusting to non-live food. i had three that just wouldn't eat non-live food and i didn't want to keep brine 24/7 just for them so one day i bought like 3 oz of tubifex worms and dropped them into the portion of the tank with the most detritus/deepest layers of substrate and let them burrow in and establish a colony there. essentially i bough too much for the fish to be able to eat before the wroms could get deep enough to survive long-term. although i never saw some of th fish eat anything, even the best frozen food i bought, i did see all of them eat worms that poked their heads up out of the substrate and i never saw any signs of emaciation in any of the fish (except one with chronic intestinal parasite problems) from then on.

fim

ps- if you get a breeding pair of altums, i know a few guys who will pay you 5K+ for them. mine never got old enough (need at least 5.5 YO fish)

[wacki]

If you are going to have saltwater fish, you should throw in some bioluminescent ctenophores, seahorses, and those glow in the dark fish.

http://www.mongabay.com/external/images/reuters_fishglow_399x450.jpg

Anything less would be uncivilized.

[Michael Davis]

Don't invertebrates like seahorses carry ichwhatever and kill all of the regular fish? I mean, not all the time, but an outbreak is way more likely I think.

-Michael

[wacki]

The main problem with seahorses is that they are timid and tend to have all of their food stollen by other fish before they can eat it. Seahorses like to swim vertically so there are multiple ways around this.

As far as ichwater goes, nothing compares to a homemade biofilter. They are cheap, reliable, very easy to maintain, easy to build, and customized to your home living space/aquarium.

[Sasnak]

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I am painting the back black tonight instead of a normal background.

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Another color option is a deep dark blue. I used a spray can of Ford Blue for my 10g. I have a 90g in storage I'm trying to decide on where to put. My fiance and I bought a freakin' bi-level home and plan on turning it within a year or so. And I don't want to mess with moving a complete SW setup. Plus, room is a factor as well. A 90g just doesn't "fit" anywhere in here.... grrrr

[Crveballin]

If your staying with freshwater check out www.cichlid-forum.com (http://www.cichlid-forum.com) African cichlids carry the best color for freshwater fish.
Here is a link to some I have in my 90 gallon.

http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp?aid=67b0de21b3004ac12506

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[ QUOTE ]
If your staying with freshwater check out www.cichlid-forum.com (http://www.cichlid-forum.com) African cichlids carry the best color for freshwater fish.
Here is a link to some I have in my 90 gallon.

http://www.shutterfly.com/view/pictures.jsp?aid=67b0de21b3004ac12506

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Your link doesn't work. It just goes to an application.

try using imageshack which is free and then post it directly here using the code it gives you.

[Crveballin]

For some reason shutterfly wont display images through this forum but will for others. Here is a link that works to some Fish (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=52478&highlight=) I have in my 90 gallon.

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I painted the back of the tank today which I have never done before. I think it makes for a much better appearance.

Before

http://img130.exs.cx/img130/4088/125gal2sh.jpg

After

http://img195.exs.cx/img195/2120/im0006854go.jpg