Hi new forum. I'm here because of my desire to take my hobby more seriously. I have an old hexagon 55 gallon. The date stamped into the plastic in the bottom rim is mid eighties and the aquarium has been patched and or had panels replaced a time or two from the looks of it. I've recently upgraded from plastic plants and decorations to all natural decor and my fish look happy when they don't look like they want to eat me.
I have a pleco, a convict cichlid, a clown boita, a striped raphael catfish, and two red bellied pacus. The raphael is about 5 years old and average sized and the pacus are 4 years old and about 9 inches long now. They all eat whatever I throw in there. I try to keep it within reason of what I imagine they would eat naturally but sometimes I can't help but drop in a piece of steak or celery. Craisins are not one of their favorites.
I have a Rena Filstar XP3 in the very very limited space beneath the tank and an appropriately sized Hydor heater. I forget the wattage but it keeps up just fine. It's the newest addition to my equipment because the pacus chewed completely through the power cord on the old heater. The new one sits just at the water line to prevent this from happening again.
The pacus have eaten:
I have most of the parts purchased for a manifold that I can put around the perimeter of the base to facilitate water changes and cleaning but I'm dealing with a really tight space so I'm stalling the project until I have the tank off so I can get to it from the top. One of the best upgrades I've made so far is a single 3/4" PVC pipe running down from the rim to the bottom to keep air lines tidy and safe from the pacus.
I'm budgeting myself $50/mo for maintenance and food and upgrades. It works.
I hope to learn more about live plants, filtration, natural habitat, and species compatibility. Someday, I'd like to have an automated, self regulating system, as I've seen other geeks do on sites like hackaday.
I have a pleco, a convict cichlid, a clown boita, a striped raphael catfish, and two red bellied pacus. The raphael is about 5 years old and average sized and the pacus are 4 years old and about 9 inches long now. They all eat whatever I throw in there. I try to keep it within reason of what I imagine they would eat naturally but sometimes I can't help but drop in a piece of steak or celery. Craisins are not one of their favorites.
I have a Rena Filstar XP3 in the very very limited space beneath the tank and an appropriately sized Hydor heater. I forget the wattage but it keeps up just fine. It's the newest addition to my equipment because the pacus chewed completely through the power cord on the old heater. The new one sits just at the water line to prevent this from happening again.
The pacus have eaten:
- Energized power cord
- Air lines
- Gravel Vac hose
- Filter intake grill
- Plastic plants
- Real plants
- Substrate (1/4" gravel)
- Tank mates that I wanted them to eat (feeders)
- Tank mates that I didn't want them to eat (still considered feeders from their perspective)
- Air stone chunks
- All the sinking wafers I intend for the bottom-feeders
I have most of the parts purchased for a manifold that I can put around the perimeter of the base to facilitate water changes and cleaning but I'm dealing with a really tight space so I'm stalling the project until I have the tank off so I can get to it from the top. One of the best upgrades I've made so far is a single 3/4" PVC pipe running down from the rim to the bottom to keep air lines tidy and safe from the pacus.
I'm budgeting myself $50/mo for maintenance and food and upgrades. It works.
I hope to learn more about live plants, filtration, natural habitat, and species compatibility. Someday, I'd like to have an automated, self regulating system, as I've seen other geeks do on sites like hackaday.
