I currently have 4 tanks up and running. a 2.5g with a betta, a 20g with Endlers and red cherry shrimp, another 20g with 2 male dwarf puffers (a mistake), red cherry shrimp (also a mistake) and an albino bristlenose pleco and a 55g with cichlids (yellow labs and yellow tail acei) and another albino bristlenose pleco. And I'm hoping one day to convince my husband I need that 90 gallon so that I can keep bichirs!
Anyone else or am I the only fish crazy person here?
Oooh, very nice! I haven't kept bettas in several years, but I love checking them out whenever I'm in the pet store, they're such lovely little guys. What color/type is yours? How do you like your red cherry shrimp? I've only ever been able to find ghost shrimp in my area and they are such fun to watch.
I've downsized a lot of my tanks so I'm currently just running two. One is a 55 gallon community tank with some livebearers, corydoras, and a blue ram. The other is a 29 gallon for my geriatric fancy goldfish, Mr. Wiggles. I also have a 90 gallon I inherited last year, but it's sitting empty in the basement at this point.
I like the idea of adding bichirs to a 90 and have considered that myself (also ropefish/reedfish). I tried keeping a baby senegal bichir last year, but he died very suddenly a couple months after I got him without any indication he had been unwell. Anyway, nice to see another aquarium enthusiast here!
I love betta's also, this is the frirst one I've kept in a while. He's a half moon and a silvery purple colour. Very pretty and has the typical betta personality... flares at everything and eats like a little piggy.
What kind of livebearers do you have in the 55? I really like that you have a 29 for the goldfish, too many people keep them in bowls or little tanks I LOVE my little cherry shrimp, I sell them off every once in a while, the tanks just get to be overflowing. I originally added what I thought were males to the puffer tank as live food (I had more puffers then), but the darn things wouldn't eat them! And some of them turned out to be young females.... so now I have 2 tanks full of shrimp.
A 90 wouldn't stay empty in my house for long! LoL. I've had as many as 6 tanks at one time, it drove my husband nuts since he thinks their ornaments you have to feed. He doesn't get it. I would really love a senegal, I'm sorry to hear yours died suddenly I had a beautiful male BN that did the same thing. Will you consider keeping more bichirs in the future? I bet that 90 would look really good with a pair of senegals in it.......
LoL Ian I eat fish too... I also fish actually, caught a few nice walleye last weekend (and a bunch of jacks). I always point my finger at my tanks and laugh... "I ate your cousins!" whenever I eat fish and seafood.
I agree Aunty Jam. I eat fresh fish at the weekends. I bought porgy and Spanish mackeral today. I ask the fishmonger to leave them whole so I can gut and fillet them myself. I am practicing so that I can fish one day and eat my catch! I also like Portugese sardines. I have found a supplier that sells them whole and frozen.
I am also a fishy lady (mostly known as a froglady to my friends)
I have kept several species of fish and amphibians and am currently in the process of giving my stock a make over
Currently in my 72 g bow I have a young senegal bichir, african bushfish, german rams, a bristlenose plec and pearl gourami (bit of a mishmash now from another system upheaval but am working on figuring out what I want keep again. A 20 gallon long houses my firebelly toads (used to have them in a paludarium set up in the 72 g before converting back to fish when I had to condense some tanks.
A 75 gallon is currently taking up real estate in our garage and a 26 gallon bow is sitting around downstairs.
I used to keep/bred three species of african clawed frogs, african dwarf frogs, and axolotls. I am considering setting up a system again for one of those species again, just trying to decide which one.
Ian - eeewwww.... good for you for practicing but yuck! LoL I make my husband do that part. That's the price he has to pay for a wife who will fish LoL! I could probably do it but I would really much rather not.
Nibog - have you had any problems having that mixture of fish with your bichir? I've always heard they were quite predatory and the only really safe fish to keep with them was a knife fish. Then again yours is young so probably pretty small still. I LOVE BN's... I had hoped one of my two albino ones was a boy but no such luck I've never tried keeping frogs... how did you like it? Axolotls is another species I'd love to keep... so many options, limited funds and tank space! What do you plan on doing with the tanks now?
There's a 65g with all the fixings for sale now in my area for a pretty good price...... I've been trying to come up with a way to convince my husband I need it. The seller is pretty motivated, could probably get a really good deal... hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmmm..........
Sounds like a snazzy looking fella, very nice! It's amazing to see all of the different betta varieties available in pet stores now compared to 10+ years ago. If you wanted a half moon back then, you often had to have one shipped from a breeder.
I just keep some platies and swordtails. I used to keep more delicate fish, but these days I'm busy with a lot of other things so I like having sturdier fish I don't need to worry about so much. They're active little guys and most of the resulting fry are naturally culled so I hardly ever have to mess with population adjustments myself.
The cherry shrimp sound great and I love that they can readily reproduce, unlike ghost shrimp. Too bad that your puffers aren't fans though! Do puffers have any personality? Never kept one.
Not everyone appreciates aquariums, that's for sure. I'm really on the fence about the 90 gallon- I have other interests that take up a lot of my $$ right now *points to username* so I'm not sure about committing to the expense of a bigger tank at this point. Bichirs would be a possibility if I did though! Are any of your tanks planted? That's something I've always been intrigued by too- I have a book of planted tanks designed by Takashi Amano...utterly beautiful.
LTT - He is very nice thanks My last betta was an amazing silver and black half moon, so beautiful. Unfortunately he developed a very sudden and sever infection that I wasn't able to save him from. His loss hurt deeply... it's amazing how attached you can get to a fish
I first got into the hobby with platies, they also reproduce rapidly! LoL I can dip my net into my tank and easily come up with 5-6 shrimp each time... it's just crazy. I also have a few amano shrimp that I estimate to be around 7 years old, it blows my mind. I was initially told they lived an average of 2 years. They don't reproduce without full salt water for the babies so I know it's the original shrimp.
The puffers have a ton of personality! My girls were so outgoing... when it was feeding time they would come up to the top of the tank and poke their little noses out of the water. They would make this little clicking sound... I miss them too. And dwarf puffers are 100% fresh water so as long as you can get them eating their care is easy. I haven't added any girls to the tank now because the two boys are getting along fairly well... I think if I added girls they would become more territorial and potentially fight.
And all of my tanks are planted except for my cichlid tank, I've tried to plant that one about 4 times and they keep bashing them up and eating them. I love Takashi Amano also... he has amazing talent. There are several low light easy plants you could use for your aquariums! They are very beneficial for the for the tank and fish. Let me know if you would like some ideas
Does anyone else keep fish?
What color/type is yours? How do you like your red cherry shrimp? I've only ever been able to find ghost shrimp in my area and they are such fun to watch.
Anyway, nice to see another aquarium enthusiast here!
I LOVE my little cherry shrimp, I sell them off every once in a while, the tanks just get to be overflowing. I originally added what I thought were males to the puffer tank as live food (I had more puffers then), but the darn things wouldn't eat them! And some of them turned out to be young females.... so now I have 2 tanks full of shrimp.
I eat fish too... I also fish actually, caught a few nice walleye last weekend (and a bunch of jacks). I always point my finger at my tanks and laugh... "I ate your cousins!" whenever I eat fish and seafood.
