Ahoy Mates!

[Talz]

Greetings fellow aquarium enthusiasts,

To give a bit of back story, I spent most of my childhood with at least one aquarium in my life. When I was probably about eighteen or nineteen I had some ich break out amongst my cardinal tetras. I was totally absent minded and one day drastically over medicated, wiping out almost my entire stalk.

I don't know what the [moderator edit] I was thinking, since I was always so careful and passionate about my aquarium. I guess one slip-up is all it takes sometimes...

Anyway, I was never really the same after that and totally dropped the hobby completely. I think guilt had a lot to do with it.

I'm now twenty-two and haven't kept a single tank since then. I feel like I might finally be ready to get back on that horse, so I decided to drop by and freshen up.

I probably won't be able to get a tank up and running immediately as I'll be moving soon, but I'd like to at least clear the rust and get a plan going. I look forward to learning with and from you all.

 

[WendiDell]

Greetings fellow aquarium enthusiasts,

To give a bit of back story, I spent most of my childhood with at least one aquarium in my life. When I was probably about eighteen or nineteen I had some ich break out amongst my cardinal tetras. I was totally absent minded and one day drastically over medicated, wiping out almost my entire stalk.

I don't know what the **** I was thinking, since I was always so careful and passionate about my aquarium. I guess one slip-up is all it takes sometimes...

Anyway, I was never really the same after that and totally dropped the hobby completely. I think guilt had a lot to do with it.

I'm now twenty-two and haven't kept a single tank since then. I feel like I might finally be ready to get back on that horse, so I decided to drop by and freshen up.

I probably won't be able to get a tank up and running immediately as I'll be moving soon, but I'd like to at least clear the rust and get a plan going. I look forward to learning with and from you all.

Welcome to AA.
I'm sorry that the loss of your tetras broke your spirit. It's hard when you feel like it's your fault. Chances are they were already so weak that their death had very little to do with you, just really bad timing.
But, I'm glad your giving it another shot.
Try to remember, that even the most conscientious aquarist have fish die now and then.
Enough with the sad.
So, what size tank do you want? Are you going for FW or SW or Plants? If your trying fish again, what kind would you like this time?

 

[Talz]

Welcome to AA.
I'm sorry that the loss of your tetras broke your spirit. It's hard when you feel like it's your fault. Chances are they were already so weak that their death had very little to do with you, just really bad timing.
But, I'm glad your giving it another shot.
Try to remember, that even the most conscientious aquarist have fish die now and then.
Enough with the sad.
So, what size tank do you want? Are you going for FW or SW or Plants? If your trying fish again, what kind would you like this time?

Thanks Wendi. A lot of seemingly healthy fish died too though...

I've always wanted something around the 200 Gal mark or bigger, but we'll have to see how much space I end up with. I have a 77 Gal sitting underneath the stairs as we speak, so I may just have to settle for that. Guess it all depends on what the future brings...

I was thinking of starting with a planted amazon themed tank for freshwater, and setting up a coral reef themed tank as well for saltwater.

I have vastly more experience with freshwater, so I think I'll work on that one first. There are so many differnt types of fish I want to keep it's hard to say what my desired stalking would look like, but most of my favorites seem to hail from soft, acidic, warm water, which is why I think an amazon theme might be suitable.

I've been thinking about trying a setup with discus and/or angels as the centerpiece fish, and building around that.

 

[cmor1701d]

 

[WendiDell]

Thanks Wendi. A lot of seemingly healthy fish died too though...

I've always wanted something around the 200 Gal mark or bigger, but we'll have to see how much space I end up with. I have a 77 Gal sitting underneath the stairs as we speak, so I may just have to settle for that. Guess it all depends on what the future brings...

I was thinking of starting with a planted amazon themed tank for freshwater, and setting up a coral reef themed tank as well for saltwater.

I have vastly more experience with freshwater, so I think I'll work on that one first. There are so many different types of fish I want to keep it's hard to say what my desired stalking would look like, but most of my favorites seem to hail from soft, acidic, warm water, which is why I think an amazon theme might be suitable.

I've been thinking about trying a setup with discus and/or angels as the centerpiece fish, and building around that.

I love Discus, they are beautiful. Some are very expensive, to expensive for me.
So we just finished stocking the last 2 Angels on April 18. They are dime sized Platinum Veil-tail. They are really cute at this size, but I worry like crazy something will happen to them. They are in a 10g QT by themselves, but you never know what will happen when a fish is that tiny.
This is the first time we have had Angelfish and we are very happy with them. They are beautiful, elegant, and incredibly peaceful to watch. I highly recommend them.
Our other tank has Mbunas and they are so different from the Angelfish. They are jumpy,zippy nothing peaceful about them. But they are certainly entertaining.

We started with a community tank, that we had for five and a half years. Then one day I added a small school of Neon Tetras, two days later everyone in the tank was covered with ick. Eight hours later my entire stock were dead. After that I learned about QT, but it was to late.

So we've had a few different type of fish. But I'm definitely partial to the Cichlids. Discus, Mbunas, Angels, Oscars I love em all.
If you get your 200g tank a pair of Oscars would be wonderful for center piece fish, IMO, for what that's worth

 

[Talz]

My only concern with oscars is them eating some of the smaller fish I like!

There sure seem to be a lot of discus strains, having a hard time deciding which is my favorite! Then again, I'm not the biggest fan of man made strains, but the wild fish look so dull in comparison...

There's also altum angels, which I've been turning my attention to of late.

 

[WendiDell]

My only concern with oscars is them eating some of the smaller fish I like!

There sure seem to be a lot of discus strains, having a hard time deciding which is my favorite! Then again, I'm not the biggest fan of man made strains, but the wild fish look so dull in comparison...

There's also altum angels, which I've been turning my attention to of late.

They have a mated pair in a show tank at the FS I go to for all my livestock. They are HUGE and absolutely stunning. They would be an awesome choice. My FS fish person, Matt, says they are a little more fragile than the tank bred type of Angels. But that they are more than worth it. I would have gotten a pair of them, but I decided that for my first Angel tank I should stick with the hardy ones.
Later when I upgrade to a 90g tank for my Angels, I would love to add a few of those. I have 2 of the Scalare and they are really nice looking but they don't have the colors that the Altum do.
I don't have a problem with hybrids as long as the fish made the choice to mate. But some of the genetic alterations that are done are horrific. Along with dying and tattooing fish to personalize them. It's barbaric and it should be more than just illegal, it should be criminalized with mandatory jail time. started to get on my .

 

[Talz]

They sure look nice in the videos I've seen, and I definitely agree with the dyed and tattooed fish, it's beyond me why anyone would carry those...

 

[WendiDell]

They sure look nice in the videos I've seen, and I definitely agree with the dyed and tattooed fish, it's beyond me why anyone would carry those...

The laws are different from state to state and other countries. I'm glad I live in a state where both are illegal.
Besides, Mother Nature has so many naturally beautiful FW and SW , that dying and tattooing is an unnecessary cruelty.

This is way off topic but I just noticed this. I know it's supposed to be funny, but I think it's tacky what do you think?

 

[Talz]

Seems a bit excessive. xD

 

[WendiDell]

As a horse lover, I thought it was too.

 

[Talz]

I assume it pertains to the classic expression "beating a dead horse". I never got into the horse thing, not very good at riding them.

 

[WendiDell]

I assume it pertains to the classic expression "beating a dead horse". I never got into the horse thing, not very good at riding them.

Ya, that is what it means, but the visuals are a bit much.

I used to ride a lot before I got hurt, I can't anymore. I miss it.
But my Mom and Dad still have 3 horses.

 

[Talz]

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that.