callisto9
Aquarium Advice FINatic
< -- OK, first off, that's the cutest emoticon I've seen. LOLWell, I think I finally found an aquarium forum where I'm comfortable! I like it here!
I got my first ever aquarium on a whim a few months ago. Unfortunately, I did everything backwards and lost two of my first four guppies in two days. When my friend asked if I added them to a "cycled" tank, I knew I was doomed since I didn't even know what that meant. Though the lady at the local PetSmart was helpful, she didn't mention a thing about cycling a tank. Just said "add these drops" and you'll be fine.
I walked out with four guppies, a four gallon tank, colored gravel, plastic plants, and a few aquatic plants.
See pic 1.
I was pretty stoked. Then two guppies died and I learned about all the things I did wrong. Then I started reading. A LOT.
My friend very quickly turned me on to planted tanks.
In the meantime, I added a "mystery" snail from PetSmart. He's actually an apple snail, from what I've been reading. I like him A LOT. More than I thought I would, actually.
I then got a 6 gallon "bookshelf" tank from PetCo and moved the family in there. Added two more guppies.
See pic 2.
Ditched all the plastic when I moved to the six gallon tank. Used Eco Complete for the substrate. Got a nice piece of mopani wood. Added some rocks. Added more plants. Read, read, read.
Added a heater.
Lost two more guppies. See thread here. I still don't know what happened, but could have been me rinsing the filter media in tap water. Could have been me rinsing the hornwort in tap water. I'm not sure.
Could be PetSmart's stock.Today, the yellow guppy swam into the filter and then jumped out of it while we were trying to get him back into the tank.
So, this is where I'm at!
Fish: four fancy guppies (added two more today). One apple snail. One ramshorn (freeloader that came with plant) and four Malaysian Trumpet Snails (also freeloaders, who have been moved to a glass jar for the time being).
Plants: Anubias, java fern, three Marimo moss balls, water wisteria, hornwort, amazon sword, possibly an "onion" plant.
Other: rocks, mopani.
No ferts, no CO2.
So, I'm learning! Honestly, fish-keeping is harder than I thought it would be.
