staying interested in the hobby

[otterblue]

Post a picture of your frog. Sounds cool.

Thanks. I don't have my new frogs yet - I've just been setting up their vivarium and I'll be getting them in a few weeks.

 

[Alice B]

I have many hobbies. and I think in 2 or 3 years I'll be moving. Or I might be moving. sewing machines and even bees don't weigh quite as much or take the preparation of aquariums with live fish. So When I restock the 40 (and I think I found a home for the Colombian Tetra), it will be lightly stocked. I'd put my trilineatus in there but they did not do well the last time I did. Of course there were big tetras already occupying the tank, and 48 inches of running room when being pursued..... I need to re-do seals on my other 55, so I can move all my fish into a sealed room when I redo floors in the fall - means all the fish have to get along, because I will shut down pumps on their tanks and cover, and restart with a good water change a couple days later, having moved the sponge filters with the fish to that sealed room. I'm not buying many fish this summer if any. Might get a couple of killifish for the 40 just to keep it going, or a couple of dojo loaches

 

[GaryE]

Killies haven't bothered shrimp here, but probably eat a few shrimplets. By killies, I mean Aphyosemion - there are lots of different Genera in the killie group. Some would try to eat the cat, and most are gentle little things. The group is found in both Americas, Europe, Asia and especially Africa. There is huge diversity.

I doubt we'll ever do it, but the survival of the hobby may end up depending on our creating networks so we can get back to acquiring healthy stock. The networks that were started are shrinking fast, as people no longer want to meet, and generally seemed disposed to dislike each other more than want to work together. Clubs are dying, and national associations like the American Killifish Association have largely collapsed into a shadow of what they could be. It ain't pretty.

 

[Back in the fold]

I get tired of the daily chores of fish keeping at times . Feed the brine shrimp and set up the hatcher again , take care of the worms again , fill the water containers again , do the water changes again . Not all the time just sometimes . I have the opposite problem you have . All my fish are healthy and never die . Gets old looking at the same faces every day . I would like to get something new but there’s no room in my aquariums and I don’t want to set up another one . Scale back for awhile . Do something else for awhile . You will come back again . It’s just a hobby not life itself . Not like the fate of the universe is hanging in the balance .

 

[Endlersendlers]

I have many hobbies. and I think in 2 or 3 years I'll be moving. Or I might be moving. sewing machines and even bees don't weigh quite as much or take the preparation of aquariums with live fish. So When I restock the 40 (and I think I found a home for the Colombian Tetra), it will be lightly stocked. I'd put my trilineatus in there but they did not do well the last time I did. Of course there were big tetras already occupying the tank, and 48 inches of running room when being pursued..... I need to re-do seals on my other 55, so I can move all my fish into a sealed room when I redo floors in the fall - means all the fish have to get along, because I will shut down pumps on their tanks and cover, and restart with a good water change a couple days later, having moved the sponge filters with the fish to that sealed room. I'm not buying many fish this summer if any. Might get a couple of killifish for the 40 just to keep it going, or a couple of dojo loaches

Hi, May I ask- when you say moving then to a sealed room, is that for their health in general and what does that mean, or is that just to protect them from chemicals as you do renovations? I ask only because I’m trying to learn and don’t know what I don’t know. Shutting off the tanks and covering I expect is to prevent picking up chemicals in the air, so maybe that’s my answer. I’ve heard of people doing special stuff as building their walls etc for fish rooms, but didn’t catch what they did or why, so was wondering if this is one of those pearls of wisdom I may have missed before.

 

[Endlersendlers]

Killies haven't bothered shrimp here, but probably eat a few shrimplets. By killies, I mean Aphyosemion - there are lots of different Genera in the killie group. Some would try to eat the cat, and most are gentle little things. The group is found in both Americas, Europe, Asia and especially Africa. There is huge diversity.

I doubt we'll ever do it, but the survival of the hobby may end up depending on our creating networks so we can get back to acquiring healthy stock. The networks that were started are shrinking fast, as people no longer want to meet, and generally seemed disposed to dislike each other more than want to work together. Clubs are dying, and national associations like the American Killifish Association have largely collapsed into a shadow of what they could be. It ain't pretty.

So true, as mass producing has really affected the stock. It’s the dedicated hobbyists that can bring back the vigor of original strains and care about bringing in genetic diversity rather than endless mass inbreeding for numbers only.

 

[Alice B]

Hi, May I ask- when you say moving then to a sealed room, is that for their health in general and what does that mean, or is that just to protect them from chemicals as you do renovations? I ask only because I’m trying to learn and don’t know what I don’t know. Shutting off the tanks and covering I expect is to prevent picking up chemicals in the air, so maybe that’s my answer. I’ve heard of people doing special stuff as building their walls etc for fish rooms, but didn’t catch what they did or why, so was wondering if this is one of those pearls of wisdom I may have missed before.

I have original hardwood floors in most of my house, and oil based polyurethane is the correct tough coating for them. It also gives off very toxic fumes while curing. So moving all fish, sponge filters and air pumps in to the room without hardwoods, and with windows, shutting down the central air, and covering tanks. The whole floor doesn't need redone, tanks are against the wall on flooring that was sealed in October 2020. The whole living room was done then but the traffic areas are really beat up, kids dragged furniture across not fully cured floor in 2020, love grandkids, they are banished when I refinish this year. And fish go in the old fish room which has edging at top and bottom of door to prevent fumes seeping in. will have to be when I can shut the AC off without dying of heat and well before I light the wood stove - fumes are also flammable.

 

[GaryE]

Doing floors is a big job. I imagine in Texas, AC is a must. Having the tanks together in a room helps if you have one room AC, but if it's whole house, then all bets are off.

We all live in such different conditions, and we often don't realize it. We still haven't had 3 days in a row above 21c (70f) as we're having a very strange, very cool early summer/late Spring. We had a drought this winter, with Spring wildfires as a result, and now we are downright soggy, with 3 weeks of rain with only very short breaks. We have very sandy soil on the tiny peninsula we're on, and even with that, it is pooling a bit today.

A sealed off, or dedicated fishroom can save a lot of money (and working time) if you have multiple tanks. It's convenient.

 

[Endlersendlers]

I have original hardwood floors in most of my house, and oil based polyurethane is the correct tough coating for them. It also gives off very toxic fumes while curing. So moving all fish, sponge filters and air pumps in to the room without hardwoods, and with windows, shutting down the central air, and covering tanks. The whole floor doesn't need redone, tanks are against the wall on flooring that was sealed in October 2020. The whole living room was done then but the traffic areas are really beat up, kids dragged furniture across not fully cured floor in 2020, love grandkids, they are banished when I refinish this year. And fish go in the old fish room which has edging at top and bottom of door to prevent fumes seeping in. will have to be when I can shut the AC off without dying of heat and well before I light the wood stove - fumes are also flammable.

Thanks for the explanation. We are thinking of redoing our floors at some point, from bamboo to tile, and I am thinking in advance what I will do when the time comes. The fumes probably won’t be as bad but still an issue, I suspect. I’ll probably move the inside tank to the Florida room with the others, run the a/c out there longer than I do now. Right now I run it during the heat of the day and it keeps the tanks no more than 82F. The inside fish are used to a consistent 78-79, not the day-night swings of 75-82 that I have out there. (I don’t use heaters out there because it would just be that much higher in the day and out of their comfort range.) Maybe that’s not a big shock though and I don’t need to worry (for the indoor fish to go out there with that temp variation).

 

[Essjay]

@10 Tanks @Endlersendlers I have moved the posts about using Chinese evergreen to create a new thread as they had taken this thread off topic.

The new thread is here

Using Chinese evergreen in a fish tank

Hello Alice. Your post reads like you're in need of a change. If you're willing to do something that's completely different, I have a project for you and your 55 gallon tank. The idea is completely crazy, but not horribly expensive. It's something unique and will create a tank that no one...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Endlersendlers]

@10 Tanks @Endlersendlers I have moved the posts about using Chinese evergreen to create a new thread as they had taken this thread off topic.

The new thread is here

Using Chinese evergreen in a fish tank

Hello Alice. Your post reads like you're in need of a change. If you're willing to do something that's completely different, I have a project for you and your 55 gallon tank. The idea is completely crazy, but not horribly expensive. It's something unique and will create a tank that no one...

www.fishforums.net

You are right and thank you.

 

[Alice B]

My prettiest female guppy has been in with the cories and around no males, and my aging but beautiful male guppy and she now have the entire 40 gallon tank with only an albino bristle nose for company.

 

[Endlersendlers]

My prettiest female guppy has been in with the cories and around no males, and my aging but beautiful male guppy and she now have the entire 40 gallon tank with only an albino bristle nose for company.

Think they’ll fill it?

 

[Alice B]

Think they’ll fill it?

Don't care. in 4 months I have to move everyone to a different tank while I do floors, but if they do fill it those will be pretty babies. I added 2 young females as well.