Just typed this whole thing and lost it. Suck. Here we go again. 
Hey everyone. I'm new to the aquarium "game". Had a buddy get a goldfish and my wife informed me that her parents had an aquarium they were no longer using. I decided to look into it. I've always wanted one and aside from a fishbowl with just rocks in the bottom and later on a 1 gallon "starter kit", both of which I thought were fine when I was younger, I've never owned fish.
So we got the tank. I'll give a run down of everything. I redid the tank last night and am going with an OSU them since I'm a HUGE Buckeyes fan (save the snide comments/hatred please). I know most people prefer a good, clean, natural looking habitat but it was just too mundande/done for me.
For the natural look (not necessarily for FW fish) we started with white/light gray gravel and a little plastic plant along with a BUNCH of shells we have collected from various beaches over the years. We had some large puka and conk shells, some medium to small clam shells and other sorts, some kind of larger natural sponge looking rocks, etc. We lined the bottom and it just looked too busy for me and too bland.
So here's what I ended up with.
Aquarium:
- 20g regular with black trim (free)
- Air line (free)
- Over the side filter (free)
- 15" air wand
- Full hood w/ light
Substrate/Decor:
- 5 pounds gray gravel, 10 pounds red (or 'scarlet' as I like to call it) gravel. Will get 5 more pounds soon.
- 1 small, 2 medium, 1 large various plastic plants.
- 1 large conk shell
- 1 large mason jar with an air bubble, Ohio State golf balls, and some gravel.
Fish and such:
- 2 common gold fish, Bill & Ted (yes they're on an excellent adventure.)
- 1 Pleco, Bono (because he 'sucks'. Yes this is a personal opinion. Yes I have heard ALL of their music. Yes I grew up playing all kinds of music. Yes I still play. Yes I can respect U2. No I don't like them.)
- 1 Fiddler Crab, Charlie (Daniels. Plays a mean fiddle. Found out with further research that Charlie is in fact female. Keeping the name anyways.) The mason jar with air bubbles and golf balls to climb on should make sense now. I actually got the idea from someone else (on here I believe) who used a common fishbowl and had pics of his crabs using it. A way to get air underwater. I thought it was ingenious.
Future Plans:
- 1 small/medium all plastic OSU replica helmet.
- 1 or 2 OSU "players" or figurines.
I don't know if I'll add any fish yet. These 4 seem to coexist with absolutely no conflict. If I do add it will be probably be 2 black moors or something similar.
I would also like live plants in the future but I haven't had time to read up on the care of them. I don't want to just toss something in without researching and this past week I have spent all my free 'aquarium' time (almost 2-3 hours daily actually) reading about FW aquariums, FW fish and compatibility, fiddler crabs, maintenance, health care, etc. Plants will have to wait.
Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will get pics to post when I get home tonight.
Nice meeting you all.
EDIT: Pics here!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/my-20g-blurry-ish-pics-128130.html#post1093484
Hey everyone. I'm new to the aquarium "game". Had a buddy get a goldfish and my wife informed me that her parents had an aquarium they were no longer using. I decided to look into it. I've always wanted one and aside from a fishbowl with just rocks in the bottom and later on a 1 gallon "starter kit", both of which I thought were fine when I was younger, I've never owned fish.
So we got the tank. I'll give a run down of everything. I redid the tank last night and am going with an OSU them since I'm a HUGE Buckeyes fan (save the snide comments/hatred please
). I know most people prefer a good, clean, natural looking habitat but it was just too mundande/done for me.For the natural look (not necessarily for FW fish) we started with white/light gray gravel and a little plastic plant along with a BUNCH of shells we have collected from various beaches over the years. We had some large puka and conk shells, some medium to small clam shells and other sorts, some kind of larger natural sponge looking rocks, etc. We lined the bottom and it just looked too busy for me and too bland.
So here's what I ended up with.
Aquarium:
- 20g regular with black trim (free)
- Air line (free)
- Over the side filter (free)
- 15" air wand
- Full hood w/ light
Substrate/Decor:
- 5 pounds gray gravel, 10 pounds red (or 'scarlet' as I like to call it) gravel. Will get 5 more pounds soon.
- 1 small, 2 medium, 1 large various plastic plants.
- 1 large conk shell
- 1 large mason jar with an air bubble, Ohio State golf balls, and some gravel.
Fish and such:
- 2 common gold fish, Bill & Ted (yes they're on an excellent adventure.
)- 1 Pleco, Bono (because he 'sucks'. Yes this is a personal opinion. Yes I have heard ALL of their music. Yes I grew up playing all kinds of music. Yes I still play. Yes I can respect U2. No I don't like them.
)- 1 Fiddler Crab, Charlie (Daniels. Plays a mean fiddle. Found out with further research that Charlie is in fact female. Keeping the name anyways.
) The mason jar with air bubbles and golf balls to climb on should make sense now. I actually got the idea from someone else (on here I believe) who used a common fishbowl and had pics of his crabs using it. A way to get air underwater. I thought it was ingenious.Future Plans:
- 1 small/medium all plastic OSU replica helmet.
- 1 or 2 OSU "players" or figurines.
I don't know if I'll add any fish yet. These 4 seem to coexist with absolutely no conflict. If I do add it will be probably be 2 black moors or something similar.
I would also like live plants in the future but I haven't had time to read up on the care of them. I don't want to just toss something in without researching and this past week I have spent all my free 'aquarium' time (almost 2-3 hours daily actually) reading about FW aquariums, FW fish and compatibility, fiddler crabs, maintenance, health care, etc. Plants will have to wait.
Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I will get pics to post when I get home tonight.
Nice meeting you all.
EDIT: Pics here!
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f70/my-20g-blurry-ish-pics-128130.html#post1093484
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even though you an Ohio State fan. Go Blue 
