Aquarium Enthusiasts

[golley]

Hey all,
Any of you into aquariums?
I've had one going most of my life.

My latest venture is in natural planted tanks. The 'Walstad' method is a biologically whole approach in which aeration and lighting is the only mechanical input.
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Filtration and nutrient balancing are accomplished via plants and macro/micro biota, and occasional water changes.

I just upsized my setup from a 2 gallon nano to a 20 gallon tank. The plants should take off/over quickly as time progresses.
Now I also have three 2 gallon scuds/daphnia cultures cycling up to provide a natural and free food source.
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What I am really excited about currently is pea clams. I found these at a local reservoir that was being drained.
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These are the ideal aquarium clam IMO as they are small and won't overbalance the tank with nitrates upon dying.
They also do not have a fish parasitic reproductive phase and instead breed hermaphroditically.
They tend to stay close to the surface and are often visible, though seeing them do anything is rare.
My current mini aspiration is to establish a breeding colony. These clams are NOT available in the aquarium trade, and anything novel always fetches top prices until the market is innondated.

I figure you know "Foo the Flowerhorn", but if not search it.
Last tank i had was a 125 with mostly yellow Labidocromus.

 

[Grumpaw]

I always thought people with aquarium's used them to either raise bait or sushi...
Like a cattle ranch...why raise em if your not gonna eat em ?

 

[JessicaCampbell74UWZ]

I want to buy an aquarium, but I don't like that I'll have to clean it. How many times a week do you have to clean it? Perhaps there are some special snails that help clean it? And I know there are service guys who do this, but I've heard that their services are expensive. But I realize that if I want an aquarium, I'll have to allocate extra money to maintain it. By the way, when I was choosing coral reefs for my future aquarium, I found this article https://arcreef.com/bristle-worms/bobbit-worm-eunice-aphroditois/. I am interested to hear your thoughts on this topic. Would you buy such a Bobbit worm?

 

[Dirtman]

I want to buy an aquarium, but I don't like that I'll have to clean it. How many times a week do you have to clean it?

Never

 

[adsm08]

Depends. Bigger tanks with smaller cleaner fish need cleaned less frequently.

I have a 185G African Cichlid tank that needs cleaned every week. I have a 125G Amazon River tank that can go two weeks. I have a 55G tank that has only a single betta in it, it gets cleaned like once a month.

Look into doing peaceful community fish in a heavily planted tank. Some people doing that get away with no filtration or cleaning of any kind, just top-offs.

Check out Fish-Lore. Those guys, collectively, know everything.