Woo hoo!!! I have my aquarium in and set up (sort of)!

[Rabrrrrrr]

So exciting! I can't wait to get fish in it - I had a fish expert come and help me get it all set up and show me how all the stuff works, and now I have the ph to 6.7, the chlorine should be out, the plants are in, the filter has been processing three+ tankfulls an hour and the water is clear and NICE, and the temperature is up to 78 degrees.

WOO HOO!!!!!!

I get to get fish on Wednesday! YAY!!!!!!!!!

(sorry and apologies to anyone who's getting tired of my aquarium threads)

For anyone who hasn't caught my other threads, it's a 125 gallon tropical tank on a solid oak frame, with an oak topper, and oak trim on the side corners. Looks really sharp!

Gonna be really nice when it has fish.

[Spinzonner]

1. Why ruin it with those polluters ?

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Hey - good point!

All fish do is poop.

[Bronco69]

2. I'll be over Thursday

with some tartar sauce. :-)

[Vanje]

4. Neat!

Neat neat neat!

What sort of fishes will you get?

A friend has a 20 gal tank with African lake cichlids. They are beautiful!

[Imalittleteapot]

5. Don't get Platies or any live bearers.

We started out with 5 a year ago and now have forty. Finally, though, the fry are being eaten I guess because we haven't seen babies in a while.

[Placebo]

6. Post some pics once it gets filled with fishies!

It sounds reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeal nice. :P

[Deja Q]

7. 125 gallons? I'd wait at least a month to stockpile it with critters...

throw in some feeder fish first to start the nitrogen cycle. Or else you'll be very sad when you see a bunch of upturned fishsticks floating at the top. The Mall of America made that mistake. As did I 18 months ago when I got my 37 gal.

Too many fish early on will kill 'em off too. Definitely go slow. (you'll also notice the water MAY become cloudy. That's okay as that's part of the nitrogen process starting up. Don't change any water at this point!)

Also better to wait for the plants as the water and soil lack the nutrients, though fertilizer chemicals can overcome this (just keep an eye for nitrate levels.)

As for those chemicals that 'speed up' the process? Rubbish for a new tank. The system needs to start naturally, IMHO.

Which fish are you contemplating, BTW? I adore African cichlids... her's my fave:

[Rabrrrrrr]

12. Of course, I'll be starting with just a couple of fish to get the

system going. Will be tossing in 3 or 4 black tetras.

Eventually, want to add some kissing gouramis, a few algae eaters, maybe a humpback.

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. and p.s. - I love the African cichlids, too!

Saw some at the store a couple weeks ago, about 5 or 6 inches long, and they seemed PERFECT!

Wonderful fish!

[Cush]

8. thats a big tank

[MuseRider]

9. I have long lusted for one

of those. Salt water? That is what I would like since I am a diver and in Kansas I miss the beautiful fish and coral. I had hoped to build a big one in a wall at our new house (if we ever get that built) but financially I doubt we do it. Pictures! I demand pictures! Somehow I have missed the other threads so I am newly impressed. Have fun.

[Cerridwen]

10. I've enjoyed your threads about your new aquarium.

I look forward to seeing the pictures.

:hi:

[bigwillq]

11. I love fish threads!

What kind of fish are you going to get?

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Gouramis, I think

I also love angel fish. And the black tetras out with which I will start the tank. (how's that for convoluted working with prepositions? :-))

And, of course, some algae eaters. And some catfish.

I like the smaller fish - not really in the mood for giant ass fish. I like the ones that school together - fun to watch - and also the solo slower ones, like the cichlids and gouramis, etc.

I would really like some kissing gouramis.

[jmowreader]

20. Be careful with algae eaters!

The Chinese algae eater, which is what most stores sell under the name "algae eater," should be called the Chinese Fish Killer because that's all it's good for. Once it gets six months old it won't eat algae anyway.

The Siamese algae eater will eat algae, but it's hard to find and expensive as well as being delicate. Don't get this fish either.

The best algae eater going is the Otocinclus catfish. It looks like someone took a Chinese algae eater and sewed a Plecostomus mouth on it. Otocinclus is a loricariid catfish (which is a vegetarian), and is exceptional at eating algae--it will even clean the algae off your plants without eating the plants themselves. You need at least a dozen--these are shoaling fish.

Another fun shoaling cat is the Upside-Down Catfish Synodontis nigriventis. It is so called because it swims upside down. Once again, you need about a dozen of them--not just because they need the company, but because they're more fun that way.

[Rabrrrrrr]

21. Ooh, I like the upside down ones!

And I was going to get plecos as the algae eaters. I didn't realize there was a fish actually called "Algae Eater".

But you think the Otocinclus Catfish is better than some plecos?

[jmowreader]

22. If you don't like big-ass fish, it is

The most common pleco in the marketplace is the Sailfin Pleco. Mine is about the size of my forearm.

Smaller plecos are a little trickier. All loricariids are riverine fish. The Sailfins, Panaques (those are really hard to find in local fish stores and expensive too--as in $35-$40 expensive) and Hypostomus (another fish that's expensive because they won't breed in captivity) get big quick. And Panaques require wood in their tanks; Panaques eat wood. (If you had an acrylic aquarium, which you don't, there's another caveat with Panaques: they can gnaw their way out of an acrylic aquarium. Yes, I mean right through the side.) Any fish with Ancistrus in its name requires water currents in the tank--Hypancistrus is the worst; it likes to see 20mph water because it lives in the rapids but will be happy if you turn over your tank 10 times per hour.

This brings us to the other two divisions of Loricariidae: whiptails and otocinclus. Whiptails suck at eating algae and they're big fish too. Otos stay small--one to two inches--and they love to eat algae.

The only real problem with otocinclus is if you start keeping piscivorous (fish eating) cichlids. Otocinclus and the most common feeders look very much alike. Throw a Jack Dempsey or Red Devil in your Otocinclus tank, wait till morning, and you'll find more Cichlid and fewer Otos.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

14. Can I go fishing when it is done?

[Rabrrrrrr]

15. Absolutely not!

Ya bastard.

:P

[fluffernutter]

16. awesome. can't wait til Wednesday when you're really excited!

*wink* ;)

what color rocks did you end up getting?

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. I went for the natural stone look - so it's shades of brown

I really liked the blue, but the blue just didn't look natural, no matter what shade of blue I looked at. I'm a naturalist when it comes to nature, so brown it was. Also makes the room brighter - they reflect more light than the blue stuff would have, I think.

;)

[fluffernutter]

18. i bet that looks really nice!

good choice :)