Welcome
Hello my name is Richard and I've been keeping and breeding tropical fish for most of my life.. Welcome to my little spot on the web. I love keeping and breeding tropical fish and have done so off and on since I was a child. I hope you enjoy the photos and information I will be keeping here. I will be adding info and photos to this site as I have time.
Basically I plan to have pictures of my aquariums from days gone by to current and some of my favorite fish here. I'm trying to breed a few species and will try to put journals and some info on them soon. In the past I have breed Dwarf Gourami (Colisa lalia), German Blue Ram (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi), Jack Dempsey (Cichlasoma octofasciatum), Red Fins (Lamprologus Caudopunctatus), Masked Julie aka Black & White Julie (Julidochromis Transcriptus), Many Banded Shell Dweller aka Multies (Neolamprologus multifasciatus), and various Corydoras. Currently I am having a go with chocolate short finned plus brown and albino long finned Bristlenose Plecos (Ancistrus Temminckii), Koi Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare), Agassizii's Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma Agassizii), Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma Cactuoides), Panda Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma Nijsseni), Three Striped Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma Trifasciata), and will be adding Viejita Apisto (Apistogramma Viejita) shortly. Most of these are still juveniles but some are nearing breeding age.
I currenty have 6 tanks going and all are works in progress so to speak. They range from a 20 long to 55 gallon. I also have a 29 gallon that hasn't been set up just yet but will either be used as a breeder for the Angelfish, Apistos, or as a grow out tank for the bristlenose or apistos.
As you all have been told you can only add a couple fish every few weeks to cycle a tank. Well doing fishless cycle is a better option imo. Many of you have heard of fishless cycling and there are more than a few methods. Don't plan on having any fish for 3-5 weeks but no worry as you won't lose any either. The one I have used with success many times is to set your tank up as normal (gravel, water, lighting, filtration, etc.). All you need is pure ammonia, an ammonia test kit, and a nitrite test kit. When I say pure ammonia I mean no added scents or dyes. I prefer to have heavy fish loads in planted community tanks but even on a breeding tank that I only plan to have a couple fish in I stay with this method. The day I set everything up I start putting 2 drops per gallon of water in the tank and continue that everyday until the ammonia test has spiked and fallen back to zero. At that point I cut the ammonia back to 1 drop per gallon per day until the nitrites have peaked and dropped bcak to zero. Continue putting 1 drop per gallon per day until you stock the tank with your choice of fish. This is the best part, you can do a full stockload now without worry. The day you are going to get your fish to stock the tank don't put any more ammonia in it. Do a water change to remove nitrates and your done! For me this whole cycle normally takes about 4 weeks give or take a few days. If you can put some gravel, rocks, wood, other decor, or filter media from an established tank into your new tank which will speed up the whole cycle. Now I know what you're thinking, I don't want to look at an empty tank for a whole month but think about it this way. By using fish to cycle a tank, odds are you will lose some and at the very least the fish themselves can be permanently harmed by the ammonia and nitrites. By fishless cycling no fish will die that you paid your hard earned money for and you can do a full stockload at once. You won't have to go out and buy hardy fish that may not survive the cycle or end up with fish you don't really want. It's a win win for you and the fish you choose to get.
I was sceptical at 1st but have successfully fishless cycled over a dozen tanks now and will never do the old way of using fish ever again!
Tank maintenance is very important if you want healthy fish and plants. I stick to a weekly schedule of water changes of 20-30% using r/o water. On the smaller tanks I do water changes of 10-15% every 3-4 days. About once every 2 weeks, I rinse filter media out in the old tank water every 2 weeks and alternate filters. I prefer 2 filters per tank after having a lone filter go out and lost more than a few fish in a new cycle. If the water flow slows through a filter I run a small brush through the intake tubes to get the build up out.
I use liquid fertliizer as needed and a base layer of laterite or flourite in every tank. I also use fertilizer tablets w/iron under heavy root feeders. Be careful not to overfertilize unless you love battling algae.
I prefer low light plants like Crypts, Anubias, and Java Fern. I also have Asian Ambulia, various Swords, Corkscrew vals, and Najas Grass in my tanks. I use real driftwood in all my planted tanks. I have various caves and tubes made of terracota and rock. Lighting is through compact flourecent bulbss and varies from .75-2 watts per gallon. I've only had a few plants that didn't grow well in any of my tanks. When attempting to get a new plant started I try to put a little in every tank if room permits. By doing that I hope to get a decent crop growing that I can propgate to other tanks if I like. I have also noticed that for whatever reason I could get some plants to grow in a tank that were flourishing in another tank with near identical conditions.
Lastly and most important to me, always research the fish and plants you'd like to keep before you buy them. Make sure they will be fine with your water as well as other tankmates! Many fish are more "needy" than others when talking about food and water parameters. Make sure what you get will be compatible with what you already have. When starting a new tank I always have a particular specie in mind and it's requirements become my parameters. Eeverything else I put in that tank is based on them.
Think of feeding your fish the same way you feed yourself. That may sound a little crazy but not really. You have a varied diet of more than 1 thing and you give yourself treats or snacks if you prefer. Frozen and freeze dried foods should be part of your fishes diet. It will make them healthier and happier. Many species need more than just flake in their diet. It's not hard these days to get your hands on frozen or freeze dried foods. Sure you can have healthy and happy fish most of the time by using quality flake only. I'm simply saying your fish can be healthier and happier with a varied diet. Every time I open the lid on any of my tanks they always come out to see if it's "treat time" lol. I get the chance to see them all and make sure they are healthy and showing good color which as you know is a good indicator of what's going on within your tanks.
