Hello everyone my name is Mike I'm new on MFK but not to the hobby . I wanted to stop by and talk a little bit about my passion. I have been keeping fish since I was 14 years old . I remember my first tank wich my mom had bought me, a 25gal with 2 angelfish some blue pebbles and cheap plastic plants . I was hooked, I used to look at it more then I would TV LOL. So time passed by I grew a little older and got a job at my local pet store ( nature pet center) BTW I still go there for almost all my suplly ! I worked there in the reptile section for a few months and finally got transfer in the fish section (salt water to be precise ) I learned from a good guy who loved fish . anyways I worked there 3 years . I kept lots of different fish over the years. At some times I had only 1small tank going I didn't really get so many fish until last year or so so lets talk about them.
Before we start I want to say that I do water changes biweekly about 40% and I use a marina master test kit and a pen style ph meter and tds meter from amazon all my parameter are good, some better then others but all is good . I also have a diy drip system in my 80 and my 29
1st setup
80gal predator grow out/show .
Going in a 180 next summer
1 polypterus ornatipinis
1 polypterys senegalus
1 datnoid Siamese tiger fish
1 peacock bass
1 Florida gar
1 tiger shovelnose
2 geophagus jurupari
1 sailfin pleco
Everybody is from 3 1/2 to 6 inch long .
It has a Sandy bottom mixed with small river pebbles some bigger rocks to create crevasses lots of driftwood some good quality silk plants and 3 reptiles caves that were sterilized before used .
For the light I have 2 30w t5 on for 7h
300w fluval heater
Filtration is
1 fluval U4
1 hydor 350 canister
Works very well for me since the extra bioload .
Let's talk feeding for a second
I feed all my fish multiple things
mostly pellets ( I have like 5 types of pellets lol ) variety is key to nice fish .cichlids and tropical fish flakes , frozen blood worms and also dried up , frozen brime shrimps and spirulina , live meal worms, I also give some feeder rosy red minnow because my bass and datnoids still don't eat as much as I would like if its not live food. I even tried some cubed up tilapia filet , the polypterus and the shovelnose went crazyyy . I also hatch some brine shrimp when needed for the convict fry bit I don't grow the brine shrimp I used only newly hatched. I also feed as a treat ghost shrimps
Second setup
29 gal biocubes freshwater conversion
2 males electric blue Jack Dempsey 3"
4 female Jack Dempsey 3" to 4"
Stock lighting
Tricked out filter dry/wet
200w tronic heater
Pool filter sand bottom, 1 large peace of driftwood,5 caves made of rocks and a large java fern on some mopani wood .
This thank is to grow out the jd's and get them to know each other so I can transfer them to my 80 next summer
3rd setup
20gal long convict breeding
1 pair convict almost adults
150+ fry
1 30w t5
300w china brand heater
2x aquaclear 150
Bare bottom some terracotta planters and a volcano fish ornament that they always breed in. I also added some java moss for the fry.
4th setup
25 gal convict grow out tank
40ish convicts about 1/4 to half an inch
1 30w t5
300w china brand heater
1 aquaclear 300
Pool filter bottom with the back full of 2" terracotta planters, around 15 of them and some silk plant hanging on back glass. This tank is also painted on all sides except the front obviously.
5th setup
10 gal tetras kids tank
6 cardinal tetras
2 blue neon tetras
2 black Neon tetras
1 clown pleco
3 peppers corys
2 assasin snails
Custom led lighting
100w Marina heater
1 aquaclear 150
Black sand bottom , 1 large peace of driftwood some sorry looking unnatural sunked boats and cupcakes castle that my kids love so the fish have to live with them also some pink and purple plants to make this a really natural aquarium aquascaping like a Boss.
Please don't judge
6th setup
10 gal hospital tank
1 jaguar cichlids recued fish about 4"
Reptile light with a cfl bulb 13 watts 6000k
100watts tetra heater
Tricked out aquaclear 150 that intakes the water in a 2 gal bowl next to the tank. A water bridge sends the water in the bowl that I use as a fuge with lots of java moss and 2 ghost shrimps . Also I aerate my water there with a diy sponge filter.I also run a stingray elite 10 in the opposite corner of the tank for circulation
Bare bottom with 2 caves for reptiles sterilized before use and also a pretty thick plastic plant .
This jag was rescued from my lfs. They got it from a customer who bouth it and dropped it with some rather large Oscars and a jag so you can imagine it got beat . they gave it to me for free about a month ago thinking it wouldn't survive I guess . It looks a lot better now but he still is damaged, thorned finned and tail and he is missing a ridiculous amount of scales on his left side. I keep him in the best possible water and I feed him lots of good food . he hasn't grown a hair since I got him . I know a 10 is way to small for a jag but since I'm not keeping him and I did not know at the time if he would survive I do not feel bad. I do have a 55 gal tank with a fluval 204 ready for him when I need it .
Last but not least
7th setup
5.5 gal unknown cichlid
1 unknown cichlid about 1" 1/2
Custom led lighting
50 watts tetra heater
Fluval 1plus filter tricked out with biomax and filter floss
White sand bottom , black Rock to make caves and a piece of mopani wood .
So this little guy was in a batch of rosy red minnows that I bought about 3 months ago. He was I guess dropped by mistake? or I dunno but he was there so I put him by himself in a 5.5G. I actually thought he was lonely ... Big mistake! I introduced a 1 inch female convict ! How bad could it be ?? Well lets just say sip. No more convict . so I thought maybee its more aggressive then I originally thought . believe it or not I fed him a convict fry around a 1/4" it swallowed it whole just like that . So I dunno what it is and I can't figure it out, it looks like a cichlid its light in color grayish no markings really but I love him. He was suppose to go in the 10g with the fuge but he's still stuck in the 5.5 for now. I got him to eat flakes from my fingers and he now jumps out of the water to grab the flakes its amazing for a small fish like that to be so vicious. I'll post pic of him so we can figure out what he his .
So yeah that's it for now i do have more tanks at home but not currently running 1 55gal and 2 33gal . the 33s will most probably become grow out for jack Dempsey fry .
I have lots of projects in my head and I love diy stuff so all I need is time. I guess we will see what kinda time I can find .
I'm not sure how to upload pics now but I'm trying so I hope this works
Thanks for reading and hope to share some nice pics and infos with all of you guys and girls .
Mike
Before we start I want to say that I do water changes biweekly about 40% and I use a marina master test kit and a pen style ph meter and tds meter from amazon all my parameter are good, some better then others but all is good . I also have a diy drip system in my 80 and my 29
1st setup
80gal predator grow out/show .
Going in a 180 next summer
1 polypterus ornatipinis
1 polypterys senegalus
1 datnoid Siamese tiger fish
1 peacock bass
1 Florida gar
1 tiger shovelnose
2 geophagus jurupari
1 sailfin pleco
Everybody is from 3 1/2 to 6 inch long .
It has a Sandy bottom mixed with small river pebbles some bigger rocks to create crevasses lots of driftwood some good quality silk plants and 3 reptiles caves that were sterilized before used .
For the light I have 2 30w t5 on for 7h
300w fluval heater
Filtration is
1 fluval U4
1 hydor 350 canister
Works very well for me since the extra bioload .
Let's talk feeding for a second
I feed all my fish multiple things
mostly pellets ( I have like 5 types of pellets lol ) variety is key to nice fish .cichlids and tropical fish flakes , frozen blood worms and also dried up , frozen brime shrimps and spirulina , live meal worms, I also give some feeder rosy red minnow because my bass and datnoids still don't eat as much as I would like if its not live food. I even tried some cubed up tilapia filet , the polypterus and the shovelnose went crazyyy . I also hatch some brine shrimp when needed for the convict fry bit I don't grow the brine shrimp I used only newly hatched. I also feed as a treat ghost shrimps
Second setup
29 gal biocubes freshwater conversion
2 males electric blue Jack Dempsey 3"
4 female Jack Dempsey 3" to 4"
Stock lighting
Tricked out filter dry/wet
200w tronic heater
Pool filter sand bottom, 1 large peace of driftwood,5 caves made of rocks and a large java fern on some mopani wood .
This thank is to grow out the jd's and get them to know each other so I can transfer them to my 80 next summer
3rd setup
20gal long convict breeding
1 pair convict almost adults
150+ fry
1 30w t5
300w china brand heater
2x aquaclear 150
Bare bottom some terracotta planters and a volcano fish ornament that they always breed in. I also added some java moss for the fry.
4th setup
25 gal convict grow out tank
40ish convicts about 1/4 to half an inch
1 30w t5
300w china brand heater
1 aquaclear 300
Pool filter bottom with the back full of 2" terracotta planters, around 15 of them and some silk plant hanging on back glass. This tank is also painted on all sides except the front obviously.
5th setup
10 gal tetras kids tank
6 cardinal tetras
2 blue neon tetras
2 black Neon tetras
1 clown pleco
3 peppers corys
2 assasin snails
Custom led lighting
100w Marina heater
1 aquaclear 150
Black sand bottom , 1 large peace of driftwood some sorry looking unnatural sunked boats and cupcakes castle that my kids love so the fish have to live with them also some pink and purple plants to make this a really natural aquarium aquascaping like a Boss.
Please don't judge
6th setup
10 gal hospital tank
1 jaguar cichlids recued fish about 4"
Reptile light with a cfl bulb 13 watts 6000k
100watts tetra heater
Tricked out aquaclear 150 that intakes the water in a 2 gal bowl next to the tank. A water bridge sends the water in the bowl that I use as a fuge with lots of java moss and 2 ghost shrimps . Also I aerate my water there with a diy sponge filter.I also run a stingray elite 10 in the opposite corner of the tank for circulation
Bare bottom with 2 caves for reptiles sterilized before use and also a pretty thick plastic plant .
This jag was rescued from my lfs. They got it from a customer who bouth it and dropped it with some rather large Oscars and a jag so you can imagine it got beat . they gave it to me for free about a month ago thinking it wouldn't survive I guess . It looks a lot better now but he still is damaged, thorned finned and tail and he is missing a ridiculous amount of scales on his left side. I keep him in the best possible water and I feed him lots of good food . he hasn't grown a hair since I got him . I know a 10 is way to small for a jag but since I'm not keeping him and I did not know at the time if he would survive I do not feel bad. I do have a 55 gal tank with a fluval 204 ready for him when I need it .
Last but not least
7th setup
5.5 gal unknown cichlid
1 unknown cichlid about 1" 1/2
Custom led lighting
50 watts tetra heater
Fluval 1plus filter tricked out with biomax and filter floss
White sand bottom , black Rock to make caves and a piece of mopani wood .
So this little guy was in a batch of rosy red minnows that I bought about 3 months ago. He was I guess dropped by mistake? or I dunno but he was there so I put him by himself in a 5.5G. I actually thought he was lonely ... Big mistake! I introduced a 1 inch female convict ! How bad could it be ?? Well lets just say sip. No more convict . so I thought maybee its more aggressive then I originally thought . believe it or not I fed him a convict fry around a 1/4" it swallowed it whole just like that . So I dunno what it is and I can't figure it out, it looks like a cichlid its light in color grayish no markings really but I love him. He was suppose to go in the 10g with the fuge but he's still stuck in the 5.5 for now. I got him to eat flakes from my fingers and he now jumps out of the water to grab the flakes its amazing for a small fish like that to be so vicious. I'll post pic of him so we can figure out what he his .
So yeah that's it for now i do have more tanks at home but not currently running 1 55gal and 2 33gal . the 33s will most probably become grow out for jack Dempsey fry .
I have lots of projects in my head and I love diy stuff so all I need is time. I guess we will see what kinda time I can find .
I'm not sure how to upload pics now but I'm trying so I hope this works
Thanks for reading and hope to share some nice pics and infos with all of you guys and girls .
Mike
