Satisfying My Aquarium Addiction!

[plecostomus-mad]

What would you do with all thoes tanks?

thats what im trying to decide.lol i know basicly what i want ie: pleco's, talking catfish, pictus catfish, big shoals, lots of plants, caves etc, white sand substrate.
the problem is finding out what will go with what, if i get stuck with compatibility i might have the tanks as single species tanks with a shoal in there too, to keep it interesting.

 

[JenCliBee]

what about a huuuuuuuuuuuuge shoal of harlequins or some other little shoaling fish. for the bottom, loads of dwarf corries?

sounds good, i was maybe thinking of some peppered catfish /corys as i have some now and quite like there antics.

i was just pondering about the pictus catfish. does anyone keep them, are they predators for sure?

Pictus are beautiful fish, not exactly what i would call predatory but will happily eat anything it can catch which fits in it's mouth lol, watch for small fish at lights out, you may have them start dwindling .

They are a sociable fish so minimum of at least 3 with 5+ been better, can get to 8 inch but im sure the average would be more like 6 inch.

Would be fine with plecs but for the more skittish/none competing plecs it may not be the best of idea's. They might not get enough foods, ive found pictus to be quite ferocious eaters and don't let up till the food is pretty much all gone.

What would you do with all thoes tanks?

thats what im trying to decide.lol i know basicly what i want ie: pleco's, talking catfish, pictus catfish, big shoals, lots of plants, caves etc, white sand substrate.
the problem is finding out what will go with what, if i get stuck with compatibility i might have the tanks as single species tanks with a shoal in there too, to keep it interesting.

White sand may become very unwhite with alot of plecs in there, bare bottom is always a nice easy clean option and despite it sounding quite bland, looks actually quite nice with wood, slate and plenty of caves

 

[didz04]

That is awesome man, i only have a 32" long fish tank and upgrading to a 4ft fish tank which i have the tank but looking for a hood and white sand. I know you think you may be crazy which you seem lol but still not as bad as my relative in Britol, he has already a 7ft marine tank in his wall inbetween his living room and kitchen.
Now he has almost finished his second project where he has extended his house single floor attached to his kitchen and has built a 8ft by 8ft fish tank in there which is sick. I don't know how high it is gonna be but will be a really good marine reef for the fish comming. He has finished fitting all the pipe works and needs to buy the water. There will be a big glass window in the kitchen where you can see inside and even has built in cameras for a peek inside. I don't know if anyone's heard of it but there is a new product out where you can actually control a little camera that can swim around the tank which will be wicked and he said he is going to get one for when he goes to work and on his website he would be able to see a video through the cameras swimming. It would be helpful to see around the deep areas of the tank and under the coral.

I'm sorry i got caught up in the moment with that lol

I have some suggestions for what you can stock, i was thinking you could go to the oddball side and for your really big fish get some oscars and fire eels, and if compatible a huge mbu puffer for the 6ft tank. As different types of fish makes it fun and relaxing with fire eels and other spiny eels and puffers which i think most people love as they are different and cute. I have a small cute green spotted puffer at the moment and hoping to buy one more at the moment.
Another fish would be nice as well in the 6ft for the bigger fish would be a stingray as they are different and really nice, they come up at top of the tank and you can stroke them and even hand feed them, inlcuding the fire eel when they are at around 20"+ which are best.
Hope you send pics and that everything does turn out well

 

[OldMan47]

What you do with "all those tanks" is keep a single species in each one. For me its mostly livebearers and cories. Sometimes I end up with cories in a livebearer tank. I am only up to 25 running and a few that are empty. I just got 2 new light fixtures in the mail yesterday, I also like plants and am trying to learn to do them right so it was time for some intense lighting.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

what about a huuuuuuuuuuuuge shoal of harlequins or some other little shoaling fish. for the bottom, loads of dwarf corries?

sounds good, i was maybe thinking of some peppered catfish /corys as i have some now and quite like there antics.

i was just pondering about the pictus catfish. does anyone keep them, are they predators for sure?

Pictus are beautiful fish, not exactly what i would call predatory but will happily eat anything it can catch which fits in it's mouth lol, watch for small fish at lights out, you may have them start dwindling .

They are a sociable fish so minimum of at least 3 with 5+ been better, can get to 8 inch but im sure the average would be more like 6 inch.

Would be fine with plecs but for the more skittish/none competing plecs it may not be the best of idea's. They might not get enough foods, ive found pictus to be quite ferocious eaters and don't let up till the food is pretty much all gone.

What would you do with all thoes tanks?

thats what im trying to decide.lol i know basicly what i want ie: pleco's, talking catfish, pictus catfish, big shoals, lots of plants, caves etc, white sand substrate.
the problem is finding out what will go with what, if i get stuck with compatibility i might have the tanks as single species tanks with a shoal in there too, to keep it interesting.

White sand may become very unwhite with alot of plecs in there, bare bottom is always a nice easy clean option and despite it sounding quite bland, looks actually quite nice with wood, slate and plenty of caves

i agree with the white sand getting dirty but my 2 plecos and 3 peppered catfish are tryng to dig down in the gravel to no avail.i chose white because it looks very nice and when it discolors it would look authentic substrate cleans will be more often granted, but like with anything, to achieve something, work is involved.

 

[plecostomus-mad]

That is awesome man, i only have a 32" long fish tank and upgrading to a 4ft fish tank which i have the tank but looking for a hood and white sand. I know you think you may be crazy which you seem lol but still not as bad as my relative in Britol, he has already a 7ft marine tank in his wall inbetween his living room and kitchen.
Now he has almost finished his second project where he has extended his house single floor attached to his kitchen and has built a 8ft by 8ft fish tank in there which is sick. I don't know how high it is gonna be but will be a really good marine reef for the fish comming. He has finished fitting all the pipe works and needs to buy the water. There will be a big glass window in the kitchen where you can see inside and even has built in cameras for a peek inside. I don't know if anyone's heard of it but there is a new product out where you can actually control a little camera that can swim around the tank which will be wicked and he said he is going to get one for when he goes to work and on his website he would be able to see a video through the cameras swimming. It would be helpful to see around the deep areas of the tank and under the coral.

I'm sorry i got caught up in the moment with that lol

I have some suggestions for what you can stock, i was thinking you could go to the oddball side and for your really big fish get some oscars and fire eels, and if compatible a huge mbu puffer for the 6ft tank. As different types of fish makes it fun and relaxing with fire eels and other spiny eels and puffers which i think most people love as they are different and cute. I have a small cute green spotted puffer at the moment and hoping to buy one more at the moment.
Another fish would be nice as well in the 6ft for the bigger fish would be a stingray as they are different and really nice, they come up at top of the tank and you can stroke them and even hand feed them, inlcuding the fire eel when they are at around 20"+ which are best.
Hope you send pics and that everything does turn out well

that marine tank sounds wicked! any chance of some pics?

are puffers brackish/marine? and the stingray?

as for bigger centre piece fish, im not really into oscars etc, im more into my ground feeders, they fascinate me like a toddler with some bubble
wrap

i sopose if i did go that route id have to say maybe a jack dempsey as the focal point, some Salvin's cichlid's,Yellow labs

im undecided in shoals of Leopard corys,Kribensis (kribs) , Cardinal,black neon and black widow tetra's <---- small shoals of all of them maybe??

bottom feeders consist of some / either.... , Cuckoo catfish, pictus catfish, talking/striped catfish, and various plecos, para, bn's and clown plecos to name a few.

** compatibility allowing **

 

[plecostomus-mad]

What you do with "all those tanks" is keep a single species in each one. For me its mostly livebearers and cories. Sometimes I end up with cories in a livebearer tank. I am only up to 25 running and a few that are empty. I just got 2 new light fixtures in the mail yesterday, I also like plants and am trying to learn to do them right so it was time for some intense lighting.

did you say single species on its own, like with nothing else?

when i come to buying plants i was going to put up a post asking what lights are best, wattage, spectrum etc. also what plants are suitable with various fish.

im going to build a big 2-3 part hood to cover all the tanks at the same time. initially i was thinking of using the strip florescent lights like those commonly found in kitchens, any good for this type of application?

 

[theshadowinc]

Reading this and thinking of my next project, I already have MTS haha 9 tanks going in my house soon to have a betta drip system so all kinds of mini ones, plus my basement project in my room downstairs looking at insulating one of the rooms and heating the room to 78 degrees would be cheaper than using lots of heaters. Looking at 10-14 55 gal tanks I think I will end up selling my tv and computer lol well need computer for research haha. This will keep me busy already now I am busy but still have free time soon I won't have any free time. Already ordered 5 55gal tanks lol didn't tell the wife yet but got them for 200 bucks hehe for all of them. There is a fish nut near me and he is crazy a total of 75 tanks plus and he even has a 220gal made of wood man is huge. Some of us get this MTS and all are free time is change water. With this fish nut, after kids go to school the wife being a stay at home mom the first place is to the fish room.

I am just imagining your hydro bill and water bill going up ouchy, I already know what mine are so far and adding these 55 gal tanks is going to be a huge jump and a ouchy maybe.

 

[JenCliBee]

i agree with the white sand getting dirty but my 2 plecos and 3 peppered catfish are tryng to dig down in the gravel to no avail.i chose white because it looks very nice and when it discolors it would look authentic substrate cleans will be more often granted, but like with anything, to achieve something, work is involved.

I can see where your coming from, bare bottom would be fine full stop but the cory's would prefer sand lol.

I'm afraid the authentic look when it disclosures isn't quite right, it really does just look a mess, far from authentic im afraid, you would be better off with a coloured sand if you want authentic. It wouldn't be white sand where the fish came from, probably more like dirty silt than anything.

Anyways good luck, i would try one tank out with white sand for a couple months before doing it to all. im sure you will see what im trying to say and think twice about having it in all the tanks, especially with plecs in the tank lol .

 

[GAB99]

55#1 plecos for you and dithers

55#2 tire track eel with dithers

55#3 discus with dithers

55#4 chocolate chiclid with dithers

6footer freshwater community

8 footer saltwater reef community.



for the 8 footer may i recoomend 1-4 mandarin gobys, BEAUTIFULLEST fish i have ever seen. since im already showing symptoms ill be making my 3rd tank a 30-55 gallon reef community most likely and see how it goes.




when i get heavily infected with MTS i will have either a large fish room split between fresh water at the right. brackish in the middle, and salt at the end. or 2 large indoor pool/ponds to swim with the fishes!!

 

[Tolak]

If you plan on adding a lot of tanks to one room pre-think the electrical requirements. Generally the amount of outlets sufficient for a room used for everyday living are not enough for rows of tanks. Running more outlets is much easier before the tanks are in place. You also have to consider the amount of electric you plan on using, and upgrade circuits if needed.

Another concern is humidity, water evaporates. It will condense on colder surfaces, such as walls that are lacking in insulation, and windows. You can reduce evaporation, vent out humidity, or both if need be.

Be aware that there is no cure for MTS. Consider joining a local aquarium society, it's a sort of support group for MTS sufferers.

 

[OldMan47]

Unfortunately it is as Tolak said, my local club is not exactly getting me off the MTS. They help me learn more so that I can have fun while doing it. This support group provides things like auctions where I can find fish that are just not available elsewhere and lets me pick up some of my tanks much cheaper than wholesale would be. I ran into Tolak at a sale like that just a couple of weeks ago. He and I are not exactly neighbors. We each lived about 3 hours from the auction but it was a nice day for a drive and we ran into each other there. I was buying hard to find fish as usual and I'm not sure what he was up to, maybe selling some surplus like I was also doing. Does a fish auction really need a purpose? There are always lots of fishy people to talk with there.

 

[theshadowinc]

If you plan on adding a lot of tanks to one room pre-think the electrical requirements. Generally the amount of outlets sufficient for a room used for everyday living are not enough for rows of tanks. Running more outlets is much easier before the tanks are in place. You also have to consider the amount of electric you plan on using, and upgrade circuits if needed.

Another concern is humidity, water evaporates. It will condense on colder surfaces, such as walls that are lacking in insulation, and windows. You can reduce evaporation, vent out humidity, or both if need be.

Be aware that there is no cure for MTS. Consider joining a local aquarium society, it's a sort of support group for MTS sufferers.

I don't want to hear that there is not cure for MTS, mainly its all about breeding to me but doing bettas and getting into discus definitly doesn't help the MTS at all! More you breed the more tanks you need, this means a complete overhaul of my basement room i am retrofitting to put tanks in a 10x10 room that will end up filled with tanks I know it will sigh....

I did find away to get rid of the MTS , I moved into an apartment.... then into a house and now its back maybe worse than before oh no!

 

[plecostomus-mad]

just got another 4ft tank today, its slightly smaller than the other 2, nether the less it comes with the original clearseal mahogany stand and both are in amazing condition, no hood tho i got both the tank and unit for £20!!