Greetings From A Returning Icthyologist!

[Hairy_Trev]

Hi folks!
 
As suggested on the front page, I'm introducing myself to you all!!
 
Many years ago (over 35 years) when I was still at school I began keeping tropical fish but alas, the hobby died in the coming years, maybe as I became adult and found other interests in my life...
 
In recent years, my elder brother got into keeping fish, starting with his first aquarium before upgrading to a new tank a few years later. This too has been replaced by a new tank which he designed and built himself.... but this is to introduce me, not him!!!
 
At the end of February this year, I became interested in the hobby, taking it more seriously and enthusiastically, and at the start of the following month I bought his old redundant aquarium set up off him, a 70 litre tank complete with filter system, heater, light and some gravel.
 
At this point, I will confess that I do have a nasty habit of being impatient, cutting corners and finding easy options which are less effective, but I resolved my mind to make this personal waterworld the best and most creative piece of living artwork possible. Instead of the typical photograph stuck to the rear glass, and the exposed man-made equipment for maintaining water temperature and condition,
 
I resolved to follow my brother's example and make my own 3D background, only mine would entirely cover the back and sides of the tank, hiding the filter and heater box and lewaving only the front glass as the viewing area. Careful thought was also given to my choice of substrate, to choose gravel or sand, the colour, size etc... Rocks? Wood? Slates? Extensive research was done into plant varieties, with consideration to the lighting required, their size, ease of keeping and where I planned each item to go in my underwater wonderland.
 
Although I say it myself, I don't care what you lot think... I am proud of what I've managed to do as a beginner. Even the guy at my local aquarium store (who must be sick of my weekly visits now) demanded a photo of the results for the shop display board.
 
Finally, after around 8 weeks, of carving, glueing, sanding, painting, landscaping, planting and cycling, my little world was deemed ready to welcome it's first residents and so on April 24th, 6 Cherry Barbs were gently released into their new home. Apart from the initial shock of being blasted across the tank by the force of the water pump, they settled in nicely, albeit a little boisterously.
 
Being well aware of the need to balance the filtration bacteria and the fish stocks, I knew to add further fish gradually. Water tests showed nother abnormal and the Barbs seemed to have settled in very happily with no sign of stress. The following week, 3 Corydoras Julii (genuine) moved in. I've always found Cories to be totally adorable, cute and always busy as they scuttle around in the soft sand... a delight to watch. Then on May 9th, the next additions... 3 small Ottos and a pair of Red Swordtails. (Although they don't appear in any distress, I have noticed odd and changing behaviour in the Swords, but this will be for another post)
 
Finally today, half a dozen Neons joined the community, bringing the total number up to 20 occupants...
 
Even now I'm surprised at my ability to just sit down in a chair and spend over an hour just watching the fish go about their business, and observing their behaviour 
 
It has been over 2 months of patience in creating my aquatic paradise, but I'm proud of my acheivements... it's what I want, it;s how I want it and I love it...
 
I've tried to attach a pic.. you're welcome to pass your comments
 
Trev

 

[nic1]

Hahaha 'I don't care what you lot think' love it, that's the general attitude of a Fish keeper, we all have our own under world creation that we are proud and overly protective of, we're all in the same boat spending endless hours on the hobby.

The tank looks amazing, wish I actually had the time and skill to create a 3D background- yours is brill, did you take any pictures of the making and set up of it?
Im so glad you did all your research before taking the plunge, it makes life and aquatic life so much easier. Welcome to the forum,

 

[LyraGuppi]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Akasha72]

Hi and 

 to the forum. Not wishing to jump all over you from the off but did you know that the cories will do better with 2 or 3 more of their type? Cories are a shoaling species and we always recommend a minimum of 5-6 of each type. I'm a huge cory fan, and like you, I love watching them snuffling around in the sand too. If you add 2 or 3 more Julii's you'll see them act out their natural playful behaviour too and that's great to watch too

 

[Munroco]

Love the background/sideground? youve made, it looks great. Welcome back to the hobby. I'm in the same boat, returning about 8 months ago after a gap of about 20 years.

 

[Hairy_Trev]

Hi and 

 to the forum. Not wishing to jump all over you from the off but did you know that the cories will do better with 2 or 3 more of their type? Cories are a shoaling species and we always recommend a minimum of 5-6 of each type. I'm a huge cory fan, and like you, I love watching them snuffling around in the sand too. If you add 2 or 3 more Julii's you'll see them act out their natural playful behaviour too and that's great to watch too

 
Thanks for the comments... they really are probably my favourite fish... I had several options of which cories to get and most sources commented about not buying a single fish, but suggesting three to be a minimal number. Of course it would be nice to have more of them, in a small tank like mine it would have limited the number and variety of other fish.
I'm certainly not going to say "you're information is wrong".... but in my particular case all three of the julii seem very happy, often grouping together, sometimes spreading out. I see no signs of distress or lonliness
 
And thank you for the warm welcome

Love the background/sideground? youve made, it looks great. Welcome back to the hobby. I'm in the same boat, returning about 8 months ago after a gap of about 20 years.

 
Thanks for the comment... it was always going to be important for me to create something very special.. if I'd just left it as a plain background and the ubquitous photograph stuck to the glass, I think I would have quickly found the tank to be dull... I so enjoyed the progress in making the background that I feel lost now and want to do another!
 
The guy down the local aquarium shop instantly asked me if I'd be able to do the same for other people if they wished it... I'm half tempted to ask him to put the word about!!

 

[Hairy_Trev]

Hahaha 'I don't care what you lot think' love it, that's the general attitude of a Fish keeper, we all have our own under world creation that we are proud and overly protective of, we're all in the same boat spending endless hours on the hobby.

The tank looks amazing, wish I actually had the time and skill to create a 3D background- yours is brill, did you take any pictures of the making and set up of it?
Im so glad you did all your research before taking the plunge, it makes life and aquatic life so much easier. Welcome to the forum,

Thanks for the welcome Nic... with reference to your comments about "wish you had the time and skill etc" I was lucky that my brother had done similar creations on his previous tanks so it gave me ideas. Youtube research into various ways of making backgrounds was always useful but more from the point of view of giving encouragement and identifying various points which wouldn't be considered (like 4 days of soaking the finished piece to wash out minerals)
 
The tank in question is only a 70 litre jewel reckord and it has a large unsighly black box in the corner to house the filter and heater. One of the objectives was to hide all of this equipment, but to not hinder it's operation and to have minimal intrusion into the tank reducing the capacity. For the main back, polystyrene ceiling tiles were cut into strips 30-40mm wide and the first strip was marked and cut with a wavy line to be used as a template. Each subsequent strip was marked using the template, but the cut was always made using the line as a guide, instead of an accurate route. Sometimes going inside or sometimes outside the line allowed each layer to be slightly different from the last and to create the visible strata lines.
 
Around the filter box, strips were again cut 40-50mm wide to follow the lines around the side and front edge of the filter and then the side of the glass. Again a template was made and used as a guide, but before cutting, each piece was offered up to try to get a reasonable match blending into the rear panel.When it was finally completed, the entire structure was painted with several coats of mortar in varying consistencies which melped fill the gaps and give the rocky effect
 
Other interesting features which were included:
 
Obviously water needs to flow to the heater, so channels were cut in the back of the rear panel, emerging through the front face (partially hidden by the vallis). This allows water to flow from the main tank area, through the channels and into the lower area of the filter/heater box.
 
A small hole was cut in the right hand side panel and a 35mm film pot was fixed behind this. This has allowed me to push the roots of an Anubius Nana into the area, for a plant to be growing half way up the rock wall.
 
Above this plant I wanted a cave entrance which in fact is there to allow the main body of water to flow in to the top of the filter unit. This was made by carefully adjusting the cuts in these levels of polystyrene and a further small hole was cut at water level, again to allow the filter to remove surface debris, uneaten food etc.
 
Finally, as an added feature, about 1/3rd of the way up the rear panel, I began pulling the layers forward before suddenly returning them to their original position as the height increased. This allowed me to make a 20mm wide ledge at that height. At the right hand end of this ledge it is slightly wider... hidden in this area if the plastic lid of a shaving gel canister. Filled with sand, it makes another unsual planting position for the Stauregyne plant which will ultimately grow up to hide the water pump outlet.
 
I hope these comments may give you some inspriation to have a go yourself... when I find out how to, I'll post some pictures so you can see more of the development.
 
Thanks again for your comments

 

[Ichthys]

Hi, I would also suggest upping the Corys and especially the Otos to at least 6. Otos live in the hundreds in nature, and Corys live in big numbers too. Although these two are not aggressive, there are lots of shoaling fish that do turn aggressive towards each other when kept in 2s and 3s, showing that these low numbers don't work well. Some fish even need ideally more than 6, Tiger Barbs for example. I know there isn't the same protective need to shoal in our predator free tanks, but you will see a "wider range of behaviour" with a bigger group.