Glad to be on board

[Bdonaldson]

Hi, My name is Barbara. I have a tiny toy poodle that is 9 months old and I have two lovebirds. I also love fish and hope to learn a lot more about the fish world and hopefully I will be able to share some of my experience with others. I have a 125 gal. reef ready tank with a glass hood and two double light units sitting on top of the glass. I have a wet/dry filter although I am not sure I want to keep it. I could never get my tank clear with this filter. There was always some kind of little bits of stuff floating around in the water and I hated that. I lost all of my African Cichlids about 1 1/2 years ago due to a big mistake on my part. The water conditioner that I normally bought had changed the formula to a concentrated formula and I didn't notice that and I put what I thought was the normal amount in the water and come to find out later after all me fish died (except two) that I had killed them. I felt so terrible and I cried so hard . I couldn't forgive myself so I emptied the tank and I moved the two survivors to a smaller tank and stopped running my big tank. Now I am thinking about starting it up again and this time I would like to create a planted tank. I bought the reef ready tank because I would eventually like to try keeping saltwater fish but for now I am happy with setting up a planted tank. Any advise you all could share would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

to AA! We hope ya enjoy

 

[Hholly]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

 

[Convict2161]

Welcome to aquariumadvice

 

[Bdonaldson]

Thank you all for the welcome. I look forward to reading your posts.. I forgot to mention in my original post that I used to raise angel fish for a mom and pop local pet store. I really enjoyed doing that.

 

[jmay33]

I creeped your profile hoping for a build thread. I would love to see pictures of your planted tanks! Welcome to AA!

 

[Bdonaldson]

I creeped your profile hoping for a build thread. I would love to see pictures of your planted tanks! Welcome to AA!

Thank you for the welcome. Sorry I didn't see your post earlier. I will try and upload a picture of my 20 gallon tonight.

My 125 gallon is still cycling but I have some plants and wood in it right now. I have been clipping some of the plants from my 20 gallon to put in it and I also bought some potted plants for it.

I am Still trying to get the water to clear up. I have been putting water clarifier in every couple of days and it is slowly coming around. I will post a picture of that one as well.

 

[jmay33]

Thank you for the welcome. Sorry I didn't see your post earlier. I will try and upload a picture of my 20 gallon tonight.

My 125 gallon is still cycling but I have some plants and wood in it right now. I have been clipping some of the plants from my 20 gallon to put in it and I also bought some potted plants for it.

I am Still trying to get the water to clear up. I have been putting water clarifier in every couple of days and it is slowly coming around. I will post a picture of that one as well.

Great! I can't wait to see them! what are you planning on stocking your 125 with?

 

[Bdonaldson]

Great! I can't wait to see them! what are you planning on stocking your 125 with?

I haven't decided yet. I was considering angels with some smaller fish. Or I like the Discus but I hear they are hard to keep.

 

[jmay33]

I haven't decided yet. I was considering angels with some smaller fish. Or I like the Discus but I hear they are hard to keep.

Discus are gorgeous fish. But they do require pristine water conditions and like to have temperatures of 84-87, so there aren't many compatible tank mates for them. They're harder to find, at least. One of these days I think I'll probably try my hand at one. Not any time soon though. Lol. Angels are really pretty too. If you haven't seen Rivercats' 220 gallon planted tank, you should check it out. She does a fantastic job!

 

[Bdonaldson]

Discus are gorgeous fish. But they do require pristine water conditions and like to have temperatures of 84-87, so there aren't many compatible tank mates for them. They're harder to find, at least. One of these days I think I'll probably try my hand at one. Not any time soon though. Lol. Angels are really pretty too. If you haven't seen Rivercats' 220 gallon planted tank, you should check it out. She does a fantastic job!

There is a discus hatchery about an hour away. Thought about going and checking out their discus before I decide on stock.

I used to raise angels (a long tome ago) for a local mom and pop store that was in my community. So I am a little partial to the angels. I will definitely check out Rivercats setup. I love, love, love to look at what others are doing with their tanks.