Gotch ya No Steve I'm just a member of FHC. Gave up on tropical fish now have a 14 inch albino cat fish in the tank. He will eat two dozen large feeder gold fish at one time. Could not afford that, so now he just gets what I eat. Lunch meat, chicken, hot dogs, etc. He really likes bacon.
I had some large S American cichlids for years, my husband loved to nab moths and insects from the porch lights at night for them.
I tried trout when i was in highschool. They were relly neat. Kept in basement gaming room. They got lethargic around 65* i think. Let them go before it got warmer. I had replumb a saltwater filter and pump so it pick up from one end And dumped in the other to creat some current. More fun was bass, perch, catfish, bluegills. Feeding time was great. They were quite aggressive. I would even feed them strips of deer and squirrel when i was butchering. I will see if i can find some pictures but i dont remember there being many. My thing this year is going to be an observation hive. Its like a fishtank for honey bees. A BTV if you will. Haha
The Freecycle.org tank is finally happening!! The gal does not know how big but said stand and filter, either way that puts me ahead on spending Not sure but I have to wonder if it's like 60 gal with sump............. Probably a 55 with who knows what kind of filtration, but I can work with any of the old systems. My handyman will pick up and deliver sometime this week
It's here! Turns out its a 55. Then again it was FREE..... Tank, stand, hoods and accessories. It came with a penn plax canister, that looks pretty new, rated up to 100gal. (cascade 1000). I will test it in a bucket to see if it works. It will be hard to make space for 48" in my new home.
Years ago I used biozyme and danios, think it took about a month, what do you recommend? Also I have only used canisters to supplement undergravels, a little hesitant if one will support the aquarium?
I always liked Aqua Safe. Some people claim putting some frozen shrimp in for about three days will get your bacteria there. IF you can get aquarium water from someone else you can use that to cut your time as well.
Help with water test kits? What do I need for hardness? Calcium and Ph? I have the basics covered, going liquid as the strips confuzzle me and I already know the liquids. My question is water hardness. Previously I had PRISTINE water straight from the tap, great Ph and soft, here I am seeing white crud on the shower heads and in my humidifiers. I really hope I don't have to adjust the Ph too much here but I worry about the minerals too... Calcium tester? This might determine if I go tropical or african too lol!
Believe it or not, I used to buy big bottles of activated charcoal and made a few resealable pouched from quilt batting and velcro and would refill instead of buying the more expensive premade filters. We had hard water so I decided to put a bit of softener salt into one of those refillable bags. You need to keep a close on the levels if you do it that way.
I know, I need to find the PC. If you have hard water, or in reality, anyone keeping tropical fish should use reverse osmosis water. Ideally deionized ro water, aka rodi. That's the biggest bit of fish advice I can give.
Get some gravel , a cup or so, from an established tank. That will do it. No need to stress the new fish.
PH is the biggest one. Don't worry about calcium for freshwater. That's more for salt reef tanks with coral. Then you need to balance calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity. Also specific gravity of the water, which is the easiest parameter to measure compared to the other ones. Phosphates, nitrates, those happen during cycling, and or a dead critter, typically without getting too far into it. Test strips typically are not good, but for freshwater, they suffice as freshies are easy in comparison to salt, esp reef tanks.
I gave away (donated) my RO filter with the rest of the hatchery... My husband installed it for me under the kitchen sink in our old home, ran tubing up through holes in the counter,so I could collect it in bottles/buckets, it was really slow, in the sink incase I lost track of the many hours it took to fill one and it overflowed. I know the buckets and bottles are beyond my abilities now.... Same for saltwater, I remember mixing, testing constantly, but I am backing off from salt as well, extra maintenance for a gimp = not good for aq LOL. My goal is something to humidify the house and give lil one the opportunity to experience fish. *IF* I have hard water, what do you think about africans? Ever done them?