Hello, I'm a new member...

Hi All,

I'm Silas, I'm from Melbourne, Australia. I am a 20 year old single male who has been involved in fish-keeping for 9 months. My mother bought me a 40L aquarium along with my red betta and some a really nice anubias nana for my 20th Birthday, in November 2008. I've still got the betta of course, but I've added a few tank mates to keep him (and me) entertained since then. I named the betta Chen Kenichi after the Iron Chef Chinese from that crazy TV show!

Firstly I added 5 neon tetras once the initial cycle was complete. I didn't use any additives to the tank to help cycle, just ran the filter and heater and had the betta in there by himself feeding very small amounts for the first two weeks, but he looked a bit bored with all that space to himself, the tank was completely bare bar the anubias nana on driftwood. So the tetras took up home in the tank.

I now have 35 neon tetras, 6 guppies, two siamese algae eaters OR flying fox (I can't tell) and Chen Kenichi in the same tank, and its going great! The fish are all active and healthy, (and hungry) and get along very well, except for when the tank lights are on, and the room lights are off when the the betta can get a bit crazy, but its fun to watch! In terms of tank maintenance I do a 10L water change (25%) once per week. When I do the water change I siphon and vaccume the gravel and use a bit of extra prime in the incoming water as my area tends to be quite heavily chlorinated. I also regularly change the filter media (around every 4-6 weeks) I have a Elite Hush 10 filter, but I'm going to start making my own filter inserts, meaning I can have more space for a biological filter, and less carbon, which I don't really need.

Around April this year I also bought a second 40L tank, my intention being to keep and raise guppy fry in it, as well as to use it as a hospital and quarantine tank. Three or four litters of guppy fry later and its beginning to get a bit crowded! I've stopped worrying that the fry get eaten in the main community tank. The other tank was initially set up in my living room, right next to the community tank, but i've since moved it up to my bedroom. One day I saw the MOST beautiful betta in a fish shop, a BEAUTIFUL cambodian half moon with blue body and long white flowing fins! I had to have it, so now it lives in the guppy fry tank too, but the fry are too big to be eaten easily now, (4 months old). The filter in this tank is a fluval 1 internal filter. As a filter its not the most versatile, I've hidden it down in the tank behind driftwood but one day the betta swam past and got stuck to the intake, and it tore up its fins a bit. They're growing back, I just hope to find a good solution to keep the betta away.

Anyway such is life. I'm currently thinking about moving my first 40L tank elsewhere and starting a large discus/neon tetra amazonian biotope, around 350L. I'm currently in the research stages, looking at the right equipment for the job etc.

Anyway, that's me!

 

Thanks for the kind welcomes guys. Yes, I thought about doing cardinals with discus, but the supplies of cardinals I've seen recently are not up to my standards, they're also not plentiful enough to do what I want with them and they're pretty pricy to boot. I'm not planning to get the large tank set up till October/November as I think my Mother, brother and sister and extended family (more than 50 in total!) want to do the whole "large shared 21st birthday present"...

I don't plan to keep the discus at 30°C like some purists seem to believe is required, I'm shooting for an initial temperature of 29 to be dropped slowly to 28°C which I think is a nice compromise for both species. It can get pretty hot here in the summer, I actually had water temperatures of 30°C plus over the summer with everything in the tank switched off (the temperature in the shade outside was a record-breaking 49°C. I don't have any air-conditioning at all in my house either!

As I said before, I also already have quite a few neon tetras which I will use to cycle the large tank before putting any discus in. I'm shooting for 7-9 discus eventually in a 1.2mx500x500 aprox. tank along with the tetras. I bought a brand new Fluval 405 off eBay last night as an impulse purchase, (I paid $120, I saw it in my LFS for more than $400 the other day). So that should be here soon, of course I won't be able to use it till I get a larger tank, but I might put it in some big buckets in the garage with feeder goldfish and get a good cycle going! (And also just to have a good play )

Sad news though, I found a dead fish on the bottom of the tank today, it was a male guppy, one with an extra special tail with really cool markings. The poor thing was ripped to shreds with bits of its insides hanging out so I'm going to blame this on aggression from the Beta. Water conditions were unaffected, no Ammonia of Nitrites present when tested, and normal Nitrate levels.

This is the first fish to die on me in 9 months so I'm pretty pleased overall!

I have to trim the plants in one of my tanks then I'll be more than glad to post some pictures!

Until then,

Silas

 

I've posted a thread over in the photos section with some pictures!