Hi everybody.
New member, sometime lurker, longtime enthusiast.
Although I've never taken the hobby to the extreme I love the technical nature of the art and science of keeping fish.
I have a modest but well kept 420L (~110Gallon) 5'x18"x2' filtered by a fluval fx5 and an otto for mechanical cleaning.
I swear by purigen, prime, siporax and fluval.
I keep very careful control of my 7.2pH soft fresh water (kH 2', gH3') and have a sparsely planted river bed layout for 7 Silver Dollars, 2 Oscars and 2 Plecs.
I have never had marine, any kind of CO2 system, sumps or chillers, never had any significant mortality rates or need for permanent quarantine or hospital tank - I have a couple of 2"s on standby...
I keep live crickets and otherwise use frozen foods and Hikari Bio-Gold mixed with Gold as a staple + algae wafers and fresh vegetables.
I like to trade the plecs before they get too big and lazy and have always found the dollars a very compatible tank mate for Oscars.
I have my 100L/fortnight water changes down to a fine art (fortunately I have tiles and a door to the exterior right next to my aquarium so that helps
and am currently working on a rainwater harvesting and conditioning system for my fish that I thought I'd use for Discus but just can't bear to part with my Os - and another large setup is currently out of the question.
I want to build a PVC U Bend/StandPipe based overflow to a 20Gallon (my 2' or 60L) spare tank and have been so very impressed with the DIY and community content on this site that I had to sign up and contribute my journey - mistakes and all!
I kind of think of OscarFish as my home forum but in reality I generally prefer to read widely and listen a lot before diving in and learning by experience.
The most interesting combination I have had in my aquaria was a large tiger Oscar (who turned out to be a she - doesn't that always wreak havoc when its the opposite of the sex quite unreasonably assigned from the beginning ;-) 5 magnificent silver dollars and a spectacular blue claw crayfish which my daughter was enthralled with.
Amazingly enough all these characters played well together - so well in fact that when I relocated interstate the lfs agreed to move them into a single holding tank when I traded them in. (yep it was sad and just too hard a move to keep them without risk)
Anyway, G'day from downunder - I see plenty of aussies around here - and I hope I can contribute something as well as learning everything I can.
Cheers, and thanks for such a magnificent resource and community!
Will
New member, sometime lurker, longtime enthusiast.
Although I've never taken the hobby to the extreme I love the technical nature of the art and science of keeping fish.
I have a modest but well kept 420L (~110Gallon) 5'x18"x2' filtered by a fluval fx5 and an otto for mechanical cleaning.
I swear by purigen, prime, siporax and fluval.
I keep very careful control of my 7.2pH soft fresh water (kH 2', gH3') and have a sparsely planted river bed layout for 7 Silver Dollars, 2 Oscars and 2 Plecs.
I have never had marine, any kind of CO2 system, sumps or chillers, never had any significant mortality rates or need for permanent quarantine or hospital tank - I have a couple of 2"s on standby...
I keep live crickets and otherwise use frozen foods and Hikari Bio-Gold mixed with Gold as a staple + algae wafers and fresh vegetables.
I like to trade the plecs before they get too big and lazy and have always found the dollars a very compatible tank mate for Oscars.
I have my 100L/fortnight water changes down to a fine art (fortunately I have tiles and a door to the exterior right next to my aquarium so that helps
and am currently working on a rainwater harvesting and conditioning system for my fish that I thought I'd use for Discus but just can't bear to part with my Os - and another large setup is currently out of the question.I want to build a PVC U Bend/StandPipe based overflow to a 20Gallon (my 2' or 60L) spare tank and have been so very impressed with the DIY and community content on this site that I had to sign up and contribute my journey - mistakes and all!
I kind of think of OscarFish as my home forum but in reality I generally prefer to read widely and listen a lot before diving in and learning by experience.
The most interesting combination I have had in my aquaria was a large tiger Oscar (who turned out to be a she - doesn't that always wreak havoc when its the opposite of the sex quite unreasonably assigned from the beginning ;-) 5 magnificent silver dollars and a spectacular blue claw crayfish which my daughter was enthralled with.
Amazingly enough all these characters played well together - so well in fact that when I relocated interstate the lfs agreed to move them into a single holding tank when I traded them in. (yep it was sad and just too hard a move to keep them without risk)
Anyway, G'day from downunder - I see plenty of aussies around here - and I hope I can contribute something as well as learning everything I can.
Cheers, and thanks for such a magnificent resource and community!
Will
