Like others, I am returning to the hobby after a "dry spell" <groan>.
When I lived in the Bay area I kept a 20 gallon freshwater bare bottom tank with lots of floating plants to raise flaming neon gouramis. This went great, with my parent pair performing the bubble nest dance
for my friends who had come over for game night. Put the subsequent fry in a breeder tank with infusoria, and was able to eventually introduce the kids to the parent tank -- until Loma Prieta hit
.
One expert tip: avoid aquariums in an active earthquake zone.
Oddly, the fish survived, but most of the water and the plants wound up on the rug. Smelly, yuck. Gave the fish away (and sold the tank to a reptile enthusiast) and stopped, until I moved to my present no-earthquake zone (unless the New Madrid Fault decides to go off: I'll chance it).
Have always wanted a richly planted tank, and a few nano tank vids on YouTube convinced me to re-enter the hobby. Recently I set up an 11.8 x 11.8 x 11.8 Landen cube -- gorgeous glass! -- that is cycling now, with a betta to come. Looked so easy on YT, but planting in substrate is definitely a technique to master! Once you add water, it's like Hydra: when one uprooted plant is put back, two more pop up.
So I'm looking forward to reading others' experiences and learning a lot -- and I'm sure I'll have lots of questions along the way!
(My user name is based on the fact I'm a plant fanatic, yard / house / and now aquarium, and I'm sure my friends are already rolling their eyes when I bring it up ).
hal
[edit: changed "Madrid" to "New Madrid"]
When I lived in the Bay area I kept a 20 gallon freshwater bare bottom tank with lots of floating plants to raise flaming neon gouramis. This went great, with my parent pair performing the bubble nest dance
for my friends who had come over for game night. Put the subsequent fry in a breeder tank with infusoria, and was able to eventually introduce the kids to the parent tank -- until Loma Prieta hit
.One expert tip: avoid aquariums in an active earthquake zone.
Oddly, the fish survived, but most of the water and the plants wound up on the rug. Smelly, yuck. Gave the fish away (and sold the tank to a reptile enthusiast) and stopped, until I moved to my present no-earthquake zone (unless the New Madrid Fault decides to go off: I'll chance it).
Have always wanted a richly planted tank, and a few nano tank vids on YouTube convinced me to re-enter the hobby. Recently I set up an 11.8 x 11.8 x 11.8 Landen cube -- gorgeous glass! -- that is cycling now, with a betta to come. Looked so easy on YT, but planting in substrate is definitely a technique to master! Once you add water, it's like Hydra: when one uprooted plant is put back, two more pop up.
So I'm looking forward to reading others' experiences and learning a lot -- and I'm sure I'll have lots of questions along the way!
(My user name is based on the fact I'm a plant fanatic, yard / house / and now aquarium, and I'm sure my friends are already rolling their eyes when I bring it up
).hal
[edit: changed "Madrid" to "New Madrid"]
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