Revisiting the hobby. Boy have things changed.

[Jeepman99]

Hi,

My name is Rob. I had fish at age 10 in my room with a 10 gallon tank. Not long after I had a 20 long, 55, and another 10. I usually raised live breeding fish. I wasn't very knowledgeable but tried my best and was getting to be decent at it with maybe losing a fish once or twice in a 6 month period. Once I was 16 my focus turned to the opposite sex and my tanks were disassembled and sold. Well fast forward to now and I have a teenager, a toddler, and one that is half way to one.

I now own a 29 gallon planted tank and a 10 gallon planted tank. The 29 is in the dining room with 4 black mollies, 5 platys, 3 glow tetras (don't like them personally little daughter wanted them), a plecostomus, 3 masked cory cats. I currently use pool filter sand as substrate and it seems to be working well. My plants look a bit scraggly but since I have been adding fertilizer they are starting to green up and grow. I just added a new LED light and give the tank 13 hours of light The 29 is filtered by a bio wheel 330 with a sponge over the intake tube. I have been trying my hand at driftwood and seem to keep turning the water a nice tea color. I have boiled the Mopani wood three times and prior to that I had it soak for 5 days changing the water twice a day. Still looks like the Boston Tea Party.

The 10 gallon has 4 platys, 2 pepper cory cats, and a small plecostomus. I have not put driftwood in this tank..... yet. It is filtered by a Biowheel 170 with a sponge over the intake tube. It has a fluorescent fixture.

I always liked watching my fish but knowing my little ones get to watch them and assist feeding them makes it nice. Since starting my tanks in 2015 I lost 2 mollies and 2 platys. I believe they were sick. They were skinny with wobbling swimming and died in less than 24 hours.

[acewiza]

Hi Jeepman - sounds like you have nice aqua-eco system in your home there. I wouldn't worry about the brown wood water. It took over a year for the wood in one of my tanks to stop tinting the water. Just depends on how sappy it still is by the time you get it.

[flchamp89]

Welcome to the forum. Glad your here. If you dont want the tanins. Purigen is very effective at removing it.

[Jeepman99]

Ty for the welcomes.

Please what is purigen?

[flchamp89]

Seachem purigen is a filter media. It can be bought in its own bag or in bulk and you buy/make a bag. It can be recharged with 1:1 bleach solution. So you get decent mileage out of it. A decade ago I started using it in place of carbon. If you think your waters clear....add purigen. People come over and ask if I have frogs or lizards....no that an aquarium. Lol theres water in there...yes lol

[AnimalKrazed]

Welcome back into the pond Jeepman99. I'm have a similar background in regards to fishkeeping, with the exception that I never actually got into breeding livebearers and what drew me away was more focusing on highschool studies than anything else. :P Even when I am not being a fish nerd, I'm still a nerd.

I apologize I can't really advise you on what to do with your driftwood problem. I cannot really recall ever using anything beyond fake decorations, lava rock, or slate rock. I'd honestly just listen to what the others say, they have crazy good advice. Better than any input you'll get at the Local Fish Store (LFS).

[SherLar]

Welcome, Jeepman. I started my first tank, a 20g, which was starting big, back then, as a teenager. The military ended my short fishkeeping sojourn, and after the military, my 1st marriage and having kids got in the way of starting up again. My current wife has had tanks her entire life, and I rediscovered my love for fish with her. Glad to have you with us.