My obligatory Intro post!

[ChasingFish]

Hello fellow fish freaks,

My name is Vickie and I live in Council Bluffs, Iowa (United States). I have kept fish on and off for 25 years. Mostly freshwater, although I did have an awesome reef tank about 20 years ago....it died when moving across country despite my best efforts to keep everything stable during transport, and I didn't have the heart to get back into it. Currently I have a 75 gallon community freshwater tank (stocked with 5 dwarf gourami, 9 diamond tetra, 4 female bettas, 1 baby angelfish, 1 full grown and surprisingly peaceful red tail shark, 2 vampire shrimp, and 6 amano shrimp AND lots of live plants), a 50 gallon tall (will be a community tank...still cycling...still deciding what to put in it), and TEN 10 gallon tanks (9 of which are in a wall unit) I am using for various set-ups (guppy breeding projects, quarantine tank, brackish tank for pea puffers, other species specific / nano fish & shrimp tanks, and growing out plants). Fish store owner Justin is kinda my inspiration:

(his/my philosophy - deep substrate, lots of plants, almost no water change necessary after tank is established). Will try to remember to come back and add pictures later, I'm currently at work. My level of experience is not new, not an expert, but somewhere in between...

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

The Importance of Water Changes in Aquariums

Water is the basis for life, which is why the quality of the water hosting life is undeniably important. This is especially true when it comes to your aquarium.

www.cermedia.com

 

[Fishboy_Max]

Welcome!!!
I recently dwelled upon the fact of no water changes and found out some things:

Any real reason for water changes in well planted tank?

I know this sounds dumb, but is there really a reason to do a water change once you have a established tank that is well planted? My 30gallon square has been running for 4months with fish being introduced 3months ago. My ammonia is 0 my nitrate is 0 my nitrite is 0.1, and this is after 3 weeks...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Fishmanic]

Welcome to TFF. You have a great assortment of tanks. Hope you enter some of your tanks in the contest. Upcoming contests:
October: tanks sized at 17 to 30 US gallons
November: tanks sized at 31 US gallons and larger
December: tanks sized at 16 US gallons and smaller

Our Fish of the Month in mid October will feature catfish (except Plecos
Our Fish of the Month in mid December will feature any fish but we are expecially seeking "oddballs"

Please vote in the poll for Pet of the Month..click banner toward top of forum to view entries.

 

[ChasingFish]

Okay I hear ya! But this shop owner says he hasn't been changing water for over 20 years, and his tanks are beautiful and his fish look very healthy...just saying, deep substrate + lots of plants, watch the video with open mind and let me know what ya think. As far as I go, I am testing water frequently and I hope it eases minds to know that I am still doing water changes - but VERY interested in achieving this perfect balance that he has in his tanks with my own tanks. My thinking is, if you have enough plants they are eating up those extra nitrates and they are not rising. As for the other chemicals/minerals/hormones in the water, that's a legitimate point and maybe it differs from fish species to species.

 

[connorlindeman]

Welcome!

 

[foxgirl158]

Yoo another fish freak from Iowa!! I'm in the Des Moines area. Is the Justin you're talking about from Adams/Crowned Aquatics by chance?

 

[jaylach]

Welcome. I do water changes but not to the frequency or amounts that many here do. I run a built in sponge filter pushing 93 gallons/hour and dual under gravel plates with each driven by a Whisper 20. Also quite heavily planted. The tank is a 20 gallon cube.

 

[ChasingFish]

Yoo another fish freak from Iowa!! I'm in the Des Moines area. Is the Justin you're talking about from Adams/Crowned Aquatics by chance?

No, I don't think so...if you watch the video (it's been a while since I have) I believe they say the store is in San Fransisco CA and I think it's called Ocean something....which is funny because he transitioned to only freshwater at some point, but he didn't change the name of the store. And Hello fellow Iowan!

 

[FishandBirdLover]

Hello fellow fish freaks,

My name is Vickie and I live in Council Bluffs, Iowa (United States). I have kept fish on and off for 25 years. Mostly freshwater, although I did have an awesome reef tank about 20 years ago....it died when moving across country despite my best efforts to keep everything stable during transport, and I didn't have the heart to get back into it. Currently I have a 75 gallon community freshwater tank (stocked with 5 dwarf gourami, 9 diamond tetra, 4 female bettas, 1 baby angelfish, 1 full grown and surprisingly peaceful red tail shark, 2 vampire shrimp, and 6 amano shrimp AND lots of live plants), a 50 gallon tall (will be a community tank...still cycling...still deciding what to put in it), and TEN 10 gallon tanks (9 of which are in a wall unit) I am using for various set-ups (guppy breeding projects, quarantine tank, brackish tank for pea puffers, other species specific / nano fish & shrimp tanks, and growing out plants). Fish store owner Justin is kinda my inspiration:

(his/my philosophy - deep substrate, lots of plants, almost no water change necessary after tank is established). Will try to remember to come back and add pictures later, I'm currently at work. My level of experience is not new, not an expert, but somewhere in between...

Welcome to the forum! You have quite the variety of finned pets.

 

[emeraldking]

Hi and welcome to TFF...

 

[ChasingFish]

Welcome to the forum! You have quite the variety of finned pets.

Welcome to the forum! You have quite the variety of finned pets.

 

[ChasingFish]

 

[ChasingFish]

 

[ChasingFish]