First community tank doing well

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NorCalAl

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
May 6, 2006
Messages
41
Location
Paradise, CA
I've been pretty amazed. I started my first tank just two months ago and with the sole exception of a pleco that I introduced way too early, everything has gone pretty well. Ok, the pleco and the algae problem I still have! My clown loaches have increased in size and seem so happy! My golden nugget pleco is all over the place. Today, I added a (single for now) discus and a couple golden rams.
Some of the fish I've aquired have a reputation for being difficult to keep, yet they all seem happy and healthy. I've done fewer water changes than it seems some do, yet everything tests wonderfully. Although perhaps it's the plants that help.
So here's my question... Is it really that difficult to keep these guys? Am I just too new here to have experienced all the problems that folks keep mentioning? Or is our group base here just so large that every possible problem has been experienced? I hate to jinx myself by asking/saying this, but I have had way more fun than problems!
Are there others out there like me? Usually we only report and ask about our problems, so are there really good success stories? Just wondering....
 
Well, first of all, some of those fish do require much better water conditions than the average fish. Like the Rams. They pretty much need pristine conditions. And yes, the plants help out tremendously. My Rams are doing very awsome, both the Bolivians and the GBR's. But yes, they are tougher to keep than normal. So it sound like you have an environment that is to their liking. (y)
 
I've always enjoyed success with my comets with no problem. The one thing you might not have had yet is the nitrates getting high. Do you test your water? Once the nitrates kick in you'll be doing more water changes. Plants will help that. How big is your tank? Too much light will get the algae growing, but light is needed for live plants. That's a main reason I never opted for plants: light=algae. I don't think fish really appreciate living a few inches from their light source all day anyway. Who lives a foot from the sun?
 
Yeah, I'm planning on increasing water changes with the rams and the discus in there now. But plants help a great deal.
As far as lights go, even 93 million miles away, the sun seems mighty close up here in NorCal. 90 degrees today and it's the beginning of June.
 
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