For all the aquarists out there

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Here are some photos of my non-tropical freshwater tanks and their inhabitants. Enjoy.
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Thankyou. It’s a lovely set up. What species are the fish you keep?
 
Non-tropical species (no heater in tank) like White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Glow-Fish and Zebra Danios, Rosy Barbs, Crimson Spot Rainbow fish (the only species of Rainbow fish that can tolerate cooler water), Amano shrimp, Red Cherry Shrimp, Weather Loaches, and assorted cold water snails that hitchhike in on the plants.

The angel fish you see in the top photo are part of the original collage I made for the background, as is the large Piranha next to them. They aren’t real.
 
I’ve also noticed the mermaid and seahorse 😂

I’m familiar with the white clouds, Danios, rosy barbs and red cherry shrimp. Snails were always a problem.
 
I know some people dislike snails in their tanks, but I have always viewed them as natural and integral parts of aquatic environments, which somehow seem incomplete without snails. But, to each his own.
 
Here are some more pics.
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If I look at fish all I think is "Yummy’
 
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I’ve had multiple types of aquariums over the years. Freshwater/planted tanks and saltwater. I’m too lazy to continue saltwater…they are dry demanding and expensive! When I finally took down my saltwater and turned off the pumps and lights, my electric bill shrank by $100.

Now, I have a 30gal cube with 8 matching bar tails and one lone plant left. I had a huge algae bloom and the only way I could finally get it under control was to turn off the lights. Only the one plant survived that. It’s now clear as can be again so I about ready to get some more plants into it.

Someday, I’ll finally take down this last of many. As I’ve gotten older, it’s getting harder to do water changes and carrying buckets of water back and forth. For now, it’s still manageable!

I can post some pics of my old planted and salt tanks!
 
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That white flower looks to me like an anthurium, but growing fully submerged, can’t be or is it?
 
I’ve always wanted a salt/marine tank. Yours was georgous. I too long ago kept fish and axolotyls (sp?), and had about 6 tanks. But the water changes killed my back, not to mention white- spot disease and running costs. Sometimes I think I’d like another small tank, but the problem of water changes remains.
 
Did you know they now make mini tanks that are either salt or fresh water? Only the lighting is different between the two. They are a complete package…pumps, lighting, filtration…and usually between 1 to 5 gallon in size. Water changes are in quarts!

What you can keep in them and how many are limited, of course, but you’d be surprised at the variety and cool stuff you can have. If you are anywhere near a city with a true aquarium store…not Pet Smart…they will probably have one set up and experienced staff that can answer questions and guide you. They also have the benefit of being much less expensive.

For samples, google mini salt tanks and mini freshwater tanks. I have a one gallon…not in use at the moment…that I had as a freshwater planted tank with a beta fish. Had it for years until he finally died. Check them out. The little ones are just as mesmerizing as a large one and much easier to maintain.
 
It an Anubia, its flower reminds me of a small, flattened out Calla Lily.
 
That problem can be solved with a hose with a valve, attached directly to your spigot. The hose can be used to siphon out water and also to add the new water, by working the valve.

In my 65-gallon tank, I have a hose that runs water into my tank directly from my faucet. For siphoning out, and vacuuming the substrate, I have a hose attached to a large cylinder, and I start the siphon by sucking water up through the hose, the other end aimed at a bucket.

The only lifting I do is emptying the buckets during the siphoning. But, if you have a floor drain handy, you can siphon the water into that and eliminate the need for buckets, altogether.

I should add that we have a well that contains no chlorine or chloramines. If you water contains chlorine, you would need to first add a neutralizer to the tank’s existing water before adding new water. Seachem’s PRIME is widely used for that purpose.

Everything I’ve mentioned can be purchased at an aquarium shop or online.
 
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No … … really? Oh, that’s so tempting! A mini salt water aquarine 👏 👏 Err … … not sure you should have told me about this … … might just have to check them out now that I know they’re available. The only ones I’ve ever seen were large tanks 40 gallons and above.

I think I will check them out, thanks Patty … … though I once did keep a beautiful beta fish myself, but the tank ended up leaking, so I didn’t have it for long. It was just a simple small tank with built in filter.

I’ve always wanted those clown fish (Nemo) and the beautiful blue and yellow and striped colored fish.

🐠 🐟 🐠 🐠 🐟 🐟 🐟
JanR said:
hat problem can be solved with a hose with a valve, attached directly to your spigot. The hose can be used to siphon out water and also to add the new water, by working the valve.
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That would be handy … … … though I would have it in my lounge/family room so it wouldn’t be close to a spigot. I do remember running a garden hose from the tanks at one point when siphoning/water draining them, but back then I had different windows (and occasionally a fish would fly up the hose and need to be fetched from outside …). That isn’t possible now without punching a hold in the screen.
JanR said:
The only lifting I do is emptying the buckets during the siphoning
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That was the main issue which killed my back. Lifting the buckets, carrying them to the sink in the next room, lifting them up to pour the water out … … over an over again. I had 6 tanks, half which were 36inch long which I think held about 40 gallons, and two smaller ones which I used to put the babies in (I bred various ones too) and the axolotyl tank too, which thankfully didn’t hold much water.

PRIME does ring a bell, and yes I did have to add chlorine neutralizer to the water first when doing water changes.

Thank you both for your help.
 
Google nano saltwater tanks and view images to get an idea of the variety…many of these are around 5 gallons!

If you zoom in on my picture of my saltwater tank and look at the anemone, my clown is in there! I had two for a while and they layer eggs…which wound up feeding the other fish in my tank! 😩. I so wanted them to hatch but no, fish are brutal and love eating anyone’s eggs! Did you know that you don’t have to worry about the sex of clown fish when you get two of them…one of them will turn into a female if they aren’t already one of each sex…they can change their sex! They are all males at birth.

Seriously, on nano tanks a couple of hundred dollars will get you everything you need except the water and food! Take a peek at them!
 
Nano saltwater tanks eh? Ok, that’s it, I’ll definitely google that as 5 gallons sounds ideal! 😀

Yes, I can see him … … oh, so cute!

I always had a smaller tank underneath my main tanks into which I’d scoop up the babies as soon as they were born (think guppies, fantails, swordfish, various tropicals I think too) because the other fish soon ate them! (Little piggies, they were well fed fish too!!).
Pattylt said:
fish are brutal and love eating anyone’s eggs
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Cannibals and scavengers!!
Pattylt said:
Did you know that you don’t have to worry about the sex of clown fish when you get two of them…one of them will turn into a female if they aren’t already one of each sex…they can change their sex! They are all males at birth.
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No, I didn’t know any of that at all. But that’s good to know so I don’t make a fool of myself at the store and ask for male and female pair 😊
Pattylt said:
Take a peek at them!
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Off to google now … …

(Thanks again! ❤️)
 
Odd site problems now and yesterday too … but this is the first double posting by the system for me.

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Double posting by the system again! 🤔

edited to add, that the system now seems to have resolved itself.
 
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CRV, those beautiful blue and yellow marine fish are Damsel Fish.

If you look at Pattylt’s saltwater tank, at the far left side, there’s a solid yellow fish. That is a Tang.

Decades ago, I had saltwater, too. It didn’t work out very well, because I could never get all of the parameters quite right.
 
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