Fish Tanks

[chrisw]

It's a bummer the design didn't allow for the equipment in your entry chris, but with a lot of effort re building that stand it would look awesome to see a big healthy tank as you enter the house I had thaught about setting up a temperate marine tank about 15 years ago, but would have needed to run a more expensive (back then) chiller to keep temps down in summer. A marine tank of our local fish and critters would be pretty cool

Yeah I had my heart set on it for years. It was intended as an entrance feature and would have been striking.

On the plus side it's certainly more doable now than it was 20 years ago; costs have fallen drastically and the introduction of good LED lighting makes a significant difference in running costs too (as well as keeping heat down since we don't need halides anymore). Plus the size of equipment generally has shrunk.

Two things bother me though. The original height I intended (which was the full height of the cutout in the wall you see above the stand) isn't really practical from a maintenance point of view unless I lower the top of the stand. As it is with my 240L I find reaching in to clean and scape to be a hassle even for me (I'm over 6'). If I went for the original height (bigger than that) I'd need some sort of platform to get up above it, particularly if I want to re-scape. So I'd either need to lower it or reduce the height (perhaps both).

The other issue is that frankly I don't know if I want the stress of a marine tank . Even keeping a freshwater one has had a few scares here and there and those fish are relatively cheap. Having a tank loaded with $1,000+ of coral and reef fish is a different feeling I think.

That said I'd still love to do it. I think reducing height would be a good idea as it reduces the thickness of the glass and this makes a major difference in price if I go for starphire glass. A braceless and rimless tank would be fantastic.

I installed these ones (as mentioned the 60L was originally in my office) to help me de-stress when I'm around the house (which is all the time since I work from home). Being able to just sit down and stare at the tank does bring my stress level down and mucking around cleaning/fiddling with the plants is a good distraction from time to time.

A live feed from inside a tank to my desktop would be neat

Oh well, I'm off to drool over the CADE gallery again.

[chrisw]

I've been into my aquariums for 15-20 years but in the last year have lost interest. I have 3 4ft aquariums (including one custom built and stack on top of each other). setup to keep African Cichlids.

All 3 of my tanks are now empty and I've been meaning to sell.

Please hit me up if you decide to.

[Fish Grylls]

I am more of a pond man. Got two ponds going. One with two gold fish - Allen and Ellen. I do suspect however that it might be Allen and Allen though as there is not much activity going on as compared to the second pond where the original goldfish trio Inga De Prawn, Peter Van Den Hoogenfish and Marco Van Bass have been busy producing more dutchies, 8, at last count.

Love the low maintenance aspect of outdoor ponds. Once set up properly there is not much you need to do. I don't even aerate them.

I have a three foot aquarium unused in the shed. Would love to set it up as a saltwater tank with a couple of tiny toadies. Has anyone tried this

[happyas]

I think that there are a type of freshwater toadfish that can be kept in an aquarium.

[ratfish]

I've got a 3' setup at the moment that has a murray cod in it, he'll transfer over to a new 6' unit once we move house - only 8cm's at the moment but he's an aggressive bugger, good fun to watch.

[chrisw]

I have a three foot aquarium unused in the shed. Would love to set it up as a saltwater tank with a couple of tiny toadies. Has anyone tried this

I've heard of a few folks who keep nano-reefs with toadfish.

[Tim399]

I've got a 3' setup at the moment that has a murray cod in it, he'll transfer over to a new 6' unit once we move house - only 8cm's at the moment but he's an aggressive bugger, good fun to watch.

At one point I had 3 juvenile Murray cod in a smaller set up (my dad used to own an aquarium servicing business) that one of his customers no longer wanted. I fed them feeder fish regularly and you are right, the little ones are so aggressive! Two grabbed a feeder fish at either end, with the feeder ending up torn in half they're beautiful fish though that do develop character. Mine got to around 35cm but died without warning

[isportfish]

No fishing happening lately so guess will contribute to the fish tank thread instead.

We have 3 tanks on the go trying to get down to 2 keeping mainly South Americans.

Our largest tank a 220L contains 3 x Bristlenose catfish, an adult female & male and a juvenile female. The adult female we've had for 8 years now. Great fish for keeping the algae down and cleaning up left over foods and even dead fish. Really easy to keep, but do poop a lot. Next We have 3 x juvenile firemouth cichlids. Really social, attractive and inquisitive fish to watch. Seem to be really peaceful and get along with other tankmates. Our redtail shark is next. Had him for about 6 years. Has some funny behaviour at times and moments of aggression when tankmates occupy his space. Again a nice fish to watch. And finally we have 2 x convict cichlids both females, the mother and an offspring. Great looking fish with personality. Can be aggressive, but now very settled and get along with the other species.

Next tank is a 90L with just the one solirity convict adult male. Has grown extremely fast in the 9 months since purchase.From 4cm to 10cm and 4+ times the bulk. Stacks of character and playfulness. Is on his own to slow down the population growth and the aggression. Was in the community tank but breeding way too often and bullying other tankmates.

Last tank is a 40L containing the remaining 11 x convict offspring at 2-3cms. Let us know if you want some of these as excess to our requirements.

Will post up some photos once I take some and figure out what to use instead of PB.

[Jacko]

I had a 6 foot tank for years, stocks varied from tropical fish to yabbies to sooty grunters, golden perch & two barra.
I prefered watching the fish in my tank over watching TV.

A mate of mine worked in the water quality industry and used barra as a control fish in one of his scientific experiments.
He gave two to me after he had finished his experiment.
One was called lunch and the other was called dinner.

[happyas]

Not being used at the moment, but I have a four foot tank and system set up in the lounge room. I had an Oscar that ate everything (including large water snails). The grandkids loved watching the yabbies, which grew into big blue monsters. They were not compatable with small fish as they used to catch and eat them. Currently one of my sons is setting up an aquaponics system at his business and has freshwater perch growing in a water cell with the top removed.