Originally a Fish Geek, been out 15 Years, back with a Vengeance

[Magnum Man]

Hi, I'm Magnum Man... 20 years ago, when I met my wife, I had 40ish aquariums... then over a few years, I trimmed it down to a dozen "bigger" tanks, that included a 220 gallon tank I made... then slowly life got in the way, & I ended up with about 10, that were built into the walls in the basement... & slowly, one by one those went empty, & just sat, waiting for me...

Well, this year I thought, it might be kinda cool to start one up, & put waterlilies in it... then, well maybe just a gold fish or two to swim around in the lilies... now, gold fish are gone, & I'm waist deep, back into the game again... I noticed the hobby ( obsession ) has changed a lot since I've been gone... Lighting all LED, heaters went from glorified light bulbs, to space age digital tech, buying fish locally, is nearly non existent around here... the only thing, in my experience, that has not gotten much better, is the filters... yes, you can get them with lights now, but I really miss my Magnum hang on tank canister filters... so far I've gotten 5 of my old ones, up & running again... I do not like their replacements , that sit in the aquarium, they plug up with loose moss too easily, are ugly to look at in the tanks ( especially now that all my tanks are planted ) ( just got interrupted by FED EX, with a box of fish from Cali )... anyway, Forums are new to fish keeping for me, I'm on several for other hobbies... hoping this one ends up being the kind of place I'll want to hang...

so right now I have an old ( non tempered ) 55 gallon with 5-6 varieties of Rainbow fish... most / all are juvenal, though my Madagascar's are starting to get really nice looking right now ( Rainbows are new to me, never had them before ) next was a 45 Gallon, with Angels, & several Tetras the next was an experiment, where I'm using under gravel plates, with no lift tubes, & a pair of Powerheads in each corner, & mats of Java moss on the bottom, rather than gravel, the next was a traditional 55 gallon, with some Tin Foil Barbs... each tank has cory catfish of differing varieties... a couple more empty tanks still waiting in que... I used my experience to build an aquaculture tank outside for raising Tilapia... the Fingerlings were kinda spendy, so I'll be setting up a 65 & 45 tank set up to try to breed & raise my own fry / fingerlings to grow next year, after they get big enough to begin selecting a breeding trio... I'll post pictures in the future, but I'll leave you with this lil guy, one of my favorites

 

[Geoffrey]

Welcome to the forum! You should definitely start some threads to show off your tanks, and on any future ones you set up. With lots of pictures. We love pictures.

 

[Magnum Man]

I will, they have come a long way, but just remember none of them have been set up for more than 6 months...

this is one of my favorites right now ( maybe because I always had large fish ) this one has one common pleco, 5 Tin Foil Barbs, 5 Black Cory's, 3 Denison Barbs, 2 Kisser Fish, 2 Flying Foxes

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Hello glad to have you back in the hobby! Although a lot has changed over the years, I'm sure you have lots to teach and share with us looking forward to more photos!

 

[Slaphppy7]

Welcome to TFF

 

[Back in the fold]

Excellent ! Welcome back . This will indeed be a place you will want to hang out. We need everybody and their participation. The tropical fish hobby is great and EVERYBODY knows something that somebody else doesn’t. Even the rankest of rank beginners knows something that someone else doesn’t . You have years of practical experience and I will want to pick your brain at some point . Those aquariums built into the walls of your basement intrigue me. I really want to know more about that . Not a lot of do it yourself guys around much these days . So join the fray and check in here often .

 

[Magnum Man]

This one is my biggest challenge... a 45 gallon, with 3 sides exposed, means all service, has to be done from the top of one of the narrow sides... requires lots of specialized "long" tools... BTW... its about 3.5 ft off the floor, so I need a step stool to service it

 

[Back in the fold]

Hey , you know what Man ? You haven’t lost nothin’ in fifteen years . Looks to me like you picked up and took off right where you left off . That’s a cool tank . How’s that bamboo working out ?

 

[Magnum Man]

its "lucky Bamboo" I got chastised on another forum by someone who knew "better" than I... I've got a couple pieces in most tanks... the only ones in the longest set up tank ( my rainbow & water lily tank ) to have problems, did not have a well rooted stalk to start with... the ones in the 45 I posted pictures of have been doing great, but they have the longest thickest stalks, so even if they are just using up energy stored in the stalks, I'd expect those to last the longest... the ones in my rainbow tank were only 4" stalks & I've pulled out 3 of the original 12 in the 6 months those have been in there... even if they are temporary, they give my other plants a chance to cycle, without the aquarium looking like it was just set up... BTW... these are all at least 2 month old pictures, except the one with the lil pleco, that's pretty new

 

[Back in the fold]

its "lucky Bamboo" I got chastised on another forum by someone who knew "better" than I... I've got a couple pieces in most tanks... the only ones in the longest set up tank ( my rainbow & water lily tank ) to have problems, did not have a well rooted stalk... the ones in the 45 I posted pictures of have been doing great, but they have the longest thickest stalks, so even if they are just using up energy stored in the stalks, I'd expect those to last the longest... the ones in my rainbow tank were only 4" stalks & I've pulled out 3 of the original 12 in the 6 months those have been in there... even if they are temporary, they give my other plants a chance to cycle, without the aquarium looking like it was just set up

Oh ,somebody that knew better ? Some all knowing prognosticator of important knowledge no doubt . Something you will find refreshing about The Great TFF Forums is that we have very little to none of that baloney here . I like that bamboo . You seeing this @WhistlingBadger ?

 

[Sgooosh]

Hi, I'm Magnum Man... 20 years ago, when I met my wife, I had 40ish aquariums... then over a few years, I trimmed it down to a dozen "bigger" tanks, that included a 220 gallon tank I made... then slowly life got in the way, & I ended up with about 10, that were built into the walls in the basement... & slowly, one by one those went empty, & just sat, waiting for me...

Well, this year I thought, it might be kinda cool to start one up, & put waterlilies in it... then, well maybe just a gold fish or two to swim around in the lilies... now, gold fish are gone, & I'm waist deep, back into the game again... I noticed the hobby ( obsession ) has changed a lot since I've been gone... Lighting all LED, heaters went from glorified light bulbs, to space age digital tech, buying fish locally, is nearly non existent around here... the only thing, in my experience, that has not gotten much better, is the filters... yes, you can get them with lights now, but I really miss my Magnum hang on tank canister filters... so far I've gotten 5 of my old ones, up & running again... I do not like their replacements , that sit in the aquarium, they plug up with loose moss too easily, are ugly to look at in the tanks ( especially now that all my tanks are planted ) ( just got interrupted by FED EX, with a box of fish from Cali )... anyway, Forums are new to fish keeping for me, I'm on several for other hobbies... hoping this one ends up being the kind of place I'll want to hang...

so right now I have an old ( non tempered ) 55 gallon with 5-6 varieties of Rainbow fish... most / all are juvenal, though my Madagascar's are starting to get really nice looking right now ( Rainbows are new to me, never had them before ) next was a 45 Gallon, with Angels, & several Tetras the next was an experiment, where I'm using under gravel plates, with no lift tubes, & a pair of Powerheads in each corner, & mats of Java moss on the bottom, rather than gravel, the next was a traditional 55 gallon, with some Tin Foil Barbs... each tank has cory catfish of differing varieties... a couple more empty tanks still waiting in que... I used my experience to build an aquaculture tank outside for raising Tilapia... the Fingerlings were kinda spendy, so I'll be setting up a 65 & 45 tank set up to try to breed & raise my own fry / fingerlings to grow next year, after they get big enough to begin selecting a breeding trio... I'll post pictures in the future, but I'll leave you with this lil guy, one of my favorites

i love this baby pleco! it is so cute! I've never seen anything like it!

its "lucky Bamboo" I got chastised on another forum by someone who knew "better" than I... I've got a couple pieces in most tanks... the only ones in the longest set up tank ( my rainbow & water lily tank ) to have problems, did not have a well rooted stalk to start with... the ones in the 45 I posted pictures of have been doing great, but they have the longest thickest stalks, so even if they are just using up energy stored in the stalks, I'd expect those to last the longest... the ones in my rainbow tank were only 4" stalks & I've pulled out 3 of the original 12 in the 6 months those have been in there... even if they are temporary, they give my other plants a chance to cycle, without the aquarium looking like it was just set up... BTW... these are all at least 2 month old pictures, except the one with the lil pleco, that's pretty new

Lucky bamboo cannot be submersed for more than a few months since the top will rot... But you can just take it out after it doesn't seem so well and let it "breathe" for another month or so with the leaves out of the water, and then it can go back into the water...

as you can see in this photo here, it will really only "grow" if the tops are out of water.

 

[Magnum Man]

The tops on the stalks in my 45 pictured above, have doubled in size, fully submerged, in the last 3-4 months

and thank you... I love that pleco, also...

BTW... love the look of your tank

 

[Magnum Man]

I had to look where I got him... it's a King Tiger Pleco L-333 they were tank raised, I bought a few, but this is the only one I've seen lately ( seems to be doing good in this tank ) they were pretty cheap, when I got them, but they were tiny ( only about 3/4" long )

 

[Sgooosh]

The tops on the stalks in my 45 pictured above, have doubled in size, fully submerged, in the last 3-4 months

and thank you... I love that pleco, also

i see, Just in my experience, they grow way slower underwater since they naturally have a flooding season, and eventually get out-competed. but some other people have been doing it for years and I think under the right circumstances it might work.

How big will the pleco get? I've been wanting a pleco for a while, and only something that could fit in a 75g

 

[Magnum Man]

I'd have to double check on the www. but thinking this variety gets between 5-6 inches
"the King Tiger Pleco grows to a size of only 5.5 to 6.3 inches" this from one of the places that sells them... I have more technical sites I use for more in depth info...