Any other fishkeepers out there?

DKLS

Tropheus fish keeper here, very aggressive fish but highly entertaining to watch, more fun than easteners, with just as many family squabbles, cheating and incest!!! and the odd murder thrown in.
Always wanted to try Marine, but always lacked the funds and the knowledge.

pink.1970

I have been trying to put a pic up but it seems it wont work for me

ziffius

DKLS wrote: »

Tropheus fish keeper here, very aggressive fish but highly entertaining to watch, more fun than easteners, with just as many family squabbles, cheating and incest!!! and the odd murder thrown in.
Always wanted to try Marine, but always lacked the funds and the knowledge.

You can normally find cheap Marine tanks on eBay. I brought mine from eBay and I actually found it easier than tropical. The only real expense is the salt which is around £40 for 25kg.

It's worth it just the Clownfish(Nemo) as they have such endearing personalities.

ziffius

pink.1970 wrote: »

I think fish are great to watch. Cant say I have had problems with nitrates and I live in hard water area. I have used those test kits that change colour but they results are always the same so can only assume things are ok in the tank.

What kind of filter system do you use? I have undergravel filter and a out of tank pump.

If you have fish, it's always worth investing in a reverse osmosis water filter. They cost a few bob, but long term they work out at about the same price as the brita water filters, except they remove all nitrates, nitrites, phoesphates and the water tastes much better.

http://www.ro-man.com/shop/product_info.php/cPath/22_89/products_id/30

That comes with filters, and will filter upto fifty gallons per day. The filters need replacing around every six months at a cost of £10 for the pair and the membrane lasts around 3 years and costs around £30 to replace.

doodle-bug_2

I have lots of tanks - didn't really mean to end up this way!

I have a 450 litre Juwel bow fronted tank, with African cichlids.
A 180 litre Juwel tank with young cichlids (feeding them up ready to go to the fish shop).
A 250 litre cube tank with community fish (including a Twig catfish - called Stick - that we know is nearly 10 years old).
A 120 litre Cayman tank that is holding young bristlenose (nearly big enough to go to new homes).
A 100 litre Juwel tank with breeding bristlenoses in (and many, many tinies).
Three 50 litre tanks with: Bronze corys, trilinneatus corys, and Arabesques.
One 50 litre tank with crabs/shrimps.
One 40 litre quarantine tank.
One AquaOne 620T, mercifully empty - ready to sell.

I think that's it!:rotfl:

pink.1970

Doodle-bug,

Where on earth do you keep them all??

madfrenchgirl

Dooble-bug!!!! OMG! Can you post some piccies on here, your tanks sound great!

DKLS, I can understand you are reticent to marines: they cost so much! I mean I am always sad to lose a fish, but usually they are only max 7 pounds a pair in the case of a gourami. A clown loach starts at 20 quid minimum. Lionfishes look very beautiful but they get 60 quid for a didly one! Plus the shops will not guarantee them.

Pink and ziffius, we have an external and very silent external pump (Fluval 305) that costed about 70 quid. We used to have a bulky filter box inside the tank and the pump packed up. We then realised that new pumps would not fit in the bracket so decided to go for external and it is so silent! The only problem is the darn air pump that makes all the noise now!

Coming back to marines, Ziffius, we know a lady that has one and she said the same thing, they ar enot that difficult to take care of. Is it possible to just get a normal tank and convert it into a marine?

Also does anyone have this fluffy brownish/black algae growing on their plants from time to time and is there a way against it?

doodle-bug_2

I didn't mean to have so many tanks, honest - it just ended up that way!

I'm rapidly running out of wall space, and the breeding tanks with the catfish are in my shed! I did have the catfish in a large community tank, but they were trying to breed unsuccessfully (due to the other fish eating the eggs) so I put them in their own tanks - they are now sulking so I may be putting them back in with the others, soon!

I will post pics as soon as I can get some.

I have been seriously thinking of changing my 180 litre Juwel tank into a marine tank - each time I try to do this there is a population explosion in the cichlid tank and I need to get the young out. It's amazing how many young survive when you know how predatory cichlids are!

I really want to lessen the amount of tanks I have - really!

The worst thing about fishkeeping is the amount of different fish available - and the species that you like the best don't really like each other so you MUST have another tank.......

madfrenchgirl

Yeah we know that, some of the most beautiful and interesting one are not community fishes. Unfortunately, with the house getting redone at the moment, it is going to take a long time before we get round to have a marine tank! it is hard enough already moving the quarantine and the 200 litre one around when we need access to certain walls!

tiamai_d

Have in the past kept tropical fish most of my life (well, since I was 8 and I got my own tank in my bedroom and bred swordtails).

I am now giving a LOT of thought into Sea horses. Always wanted to keep them, I'm just trying to decide if they are right for me (or if they will be OK in a house with two kids more like). May have to wait a few more years though.

Will be getting a tank after Christmas, though I have an idea it will have a couple Blue Rams and some Cory cat fish rather that Sea Horses.

Anyway, favourite tropical fish, Blue Rams, Keyhole Ciclids, corydoris catfish, dark angel fish and clown loaches. Some people say boring, but they all have character and are cute! :rotfl: