Fish keeping

[justine]

Have asked a few times whether there are any other fish enthusiasts up here in caithness.I have tropical tanks, and oh has cold water,I see it as a hobby when the kids have gone to bd and its quiet to muck about changing my tanks about, for the best of my fish.Is there anyone out there that like me may be called a fish geek..

[Mystical Potato Head]

Well here's a few pics of the marine reef tank i used to have.Had it for about 10 years but unfortunately the system died on me.
Used to keep cichlids and bred firemouths,blue acaras,angels,oscars and also kept and bred the usual guppies,tetras,swordtails etc.



A close up of Emperor Angel,Yellow Tang,Blue Damsel,Common Clowns and various corals.



This one has Flame Angel,Boxer shrimp and 3 Firefish.

[justine]

That really is one impressive set up.I would love to try marine but it is so expensive to get set up and then the equipment for it, but i know it would be worth it in the end.

I only have my tropical tank 180l and a smaller 70l tank for my breeding siamese..

[telfordstar]

What a fantastic tank that is. I have a small 60l tropical tank not much fish in at the moment but hoping to buy more soon got a wee dwarf frog love watching him and his antics.

[justine]

Hope to see some pics telfordstar, we like to see pics. The one above is my 180l tank, as you can see heavily planted and missing fish, they are in there

[telfordstar]

I must try and upload some pics but mine is only a small 60l tank but its hard enough for me.

[stewart4364]

I kept marine fish and invertebrates for about 20 years. I had 2 off 48" long x 18" deep x 15" wide tanks -- the tanks were lit by fluorescent tubes (suitable for marine fish) and metal halide lamps. The metal halide lamps were 300 watts each, tend to replicate the sun and are essential when invertebrates are kept. Keeping marine fish is a lot more difficult than your freshwater tropical fish. The salinity and temperature of the water is fairly critical as is the testing of the water for oxygen levels, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels, too high readings can be fatal to the fish and especially the invertebrates. I always had about 160 litres of water kept at the correct salinity and temperature and aerated by pumps -- this was used weekly when about a 20% water change was undertaken or in case of emergency. I used to get my fish and invertebrates from Merkinch petshop in Inverness but their stock was getting less and less until they finally closed the shop, it is now the Ironworks nightclub.

[Kevin Milkins]

We used to keep a few fish but got to expensive feeding them

[justine]

I kept marine fish and invertebrates for about 20 years. I had 2 off 48" long x 18" deep x 15" wide tanks -- the tanks were lit by fluorescent tubes (suitable for marine fish) and metal halide lamps. The metal halide lamps were 300 watts each, tend to replicate the sun and are essential when invertebrates are kept. Keeping marine fish is a lot more difficult than your freshwater tropical fish. The salinity and temperature of the water is fairly critical as is the testing of the water for oxygen levels, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels, too high readings can be fatal to the fish and especially the invertebrates. I always had about 160 litres of water kept at the correct salinity and temperature and aerated by pumps -- this was used weekly when about a 20% water change was undertaken or in case of emergency. I used to get my fish and invertebrates from Merkinch petshop in Inverness but their stock was getting less and less until they finally closed the shop, it is now the Ironworks nightclub.

Its also a lot more expensive than tropical.Although i am with you that it is a fantastic hobby and the marine fish are stunning to say the least..
Why did you give it up..??

[justine]

We used to keep a few fish but got to expensive feeding them

I did not think fish ate humans..Getting rid of the evidence there are we.

[stewart4364]

Hi Justine,

I was, in a way, forced into giving up keeping marine fish as Merkinch pet shop in Inverness had less and less marine stock in anytime I was in Inverness. At the time I did not know if there were any supplies available within a reasonable distance (the fish and invertebrates had to be kept at a temperature as close as possible to the normal tank conditions, about 78 degrees Farenhite -- I used to transport them home in double wrapped polythene bags filled with the water from the tank they were in, packed crumpled up newspapers around them in a polystyrene box). When I got them home the bags were floated in the water of a quarantine tank until the temperatures had equaled, the bags were then opened and water from the quarantine tank and the bags were allowed to mix gradually and the fish or invertebrates would then be released. After a time in the quarantine tank they would be put in one of the two tanks I had. As you say it was quite an expensive hobby using special salt, coral sand, rocks, etc suitable for marine environment and all the testing equipment required to keep the tanks in tiptop conditions. It was also an awful lot of work cleaning tanks, changing water, etc which was done every week -- this took about 3 to 4 hours and had to be done to keep the tanks looking good.

[justine]

Thats a pity..I know how much hard work goes into marine, what with sumps,extra filtration, biochemistry and just getting the corals to thrive.
There always seems to be a shortage of good fish suppliers.I get some of mine from PAH now, but i also order on line.

Have you ever thought about getting back into it, maybe just sticking to tropical instead of marine.I know suppliers of good quality tanks, at very fair prices.

[Billy Boy]

Hope to see some pics telfordstar, we like to see pics. The one above is my 180l tank, as you can see heavily planted and missing fish, they are in there

What kind of rainbow fish have you got their lol? how does it get on with the gouramis, i was going to get a couple but wasnt sure they would get on with my golden gouramis as he's a aggresive so and so.

nice tank lol

[justine]

Hi Billyboy.
Its a Boeseman's rainbow, unfortunately he is no longer with us, he passed over a month or so ago, its an old pic, must update it as i have changed the tank abou now.
They are very well suited for a community tank.I have heard so many times that many species dont get on with gouramis but i find mine all peacefull.
They neither bother eachother, nor dot hey bother my Bettas, every now and then the two gold gouramis will have a chase about the tank, as do the colombian tetra.

Go for it and get some, and can we geta pic of your set up on here, im sure it will be impressive to say the least.

[justine]

This is a pic of the tank just 5 mins back. As you can see the high plants are all now situated in the left of the tank. I find that any new fish that i add go into here for cover.
The cave we put together with caithness stone, and covered with java moss.The plec loves it and so do the kuhlis.On the other side is the bog wood, which the plec also love to hang around.I am hoping to go in and do some wet gardening in the next couple of days to trim the height by about 4 in on my ever so blooming plants.
The skull has been a long talking point of my tank. People have adviesd me to remove it as everything else in the tank is natural, but my siamese fighter loves it in their and my tank is set around him.

[Billy Boy]

can we geta pic of your set up on here, im sure it will be impressive to say the least.

My tank is in a bit of a mess just now lol, been doing abit rearranging and sold a few my plants on ebay, but ended up buying more than I sold
One of these day's i'll make a fortune on ebay and i will get my hands on a fluval fx5, failing that i've been dropping a lot of hints at mrs bb so maybe santa will bring one.

[router]

some pics of my 60ltr coldwater tank with a fluval 205 external filter,2 orandas 2 ranchu, black moor ,2 fantails,hillstream loach and a weather loach and a telescope fantail.all soon to be rehomed in a 212ltr tank

[justine]

This is my tank now. Have completely dismantled it and added sand on the bottom, removed some of the big plants and am now just waiting for it to clear properly and waiting for my new fish to arrive, Got Rameirez cichlids, 3 breeding pairs on its way soon.

This is my Gold Gourami, he's nosey and loves to interact with me when cleaning tank.He spits water at me as if he wants my attention.

[millavilla]

heres my 5foot tank Attachment 2526

Attachment 2527 our green severum he died a couple of month ago we had him since a baby he was the size of a 20p piece and see through.The tank has never been the same without him

[justine]

That sure is one impressive set up you have there.Can i ask you, did you construct the cabinet yourself.I like the way it looks around the tank.Nice job

Its crappy when you lose a favoured fish.
I lost one of my male siamese last week, gutted.Tanks empty without him flowing but will replace when i can.