.

I had 16 tanks when I was in college, living at home. Nice little side business raising angelfish and albino catfish for sale to pet stores. That was over 40 years ago. Now I just put an aerator in my minnow bucket. LOL

My 13 yo son has done great creating a reef tank with live coral

Really enjoy my aquariums. I have 2, 55 gallon and 2, 10 gal tanks. I use the 10 gallon tanks to grow plants for my larger tanks and to grow out fry. Nice relaxing hobbie I've enjoyed since being a youngster.

I used to have a small 30 gallon tank with some fish in it. It had a giant and I mean GIANT algae sucker that literally ruled the tank. I also had a small minnow I had caught from the creek in there. The minnow grew to at least 4". I was amazed by how long it lived. I'm thinking about a tank or very small outside "garden" pond for some bass or bluegill.

I have a 45-gallon Lake Tanganyika tank beside me as I work. Current inhabitants:

3 male X. kilesa, a sand-sifter. Very active with subtle colors. They keep the bottom stirred up.

4 Synodontis lucipinnis. Most active catfish I've ever kept. These little buggers swim all over and will even feed on the surface, upside down.

2 Cyprochromis females.

1- Lamprologus compressiceps. To pick off the brood if any other fish start mating.

1 - Plecostomus catfish, for clean-up.

Jim

I've had Several freshwater tanks over the years, The saltwater tanks take too much time and investment for me.

Any amount of any fish in a tank and a small dogfish = just the dogfish in short time, lol. Anything that can fit thru the mouth disappears, fish, amphibian or turtle! Grew up with, and parents still have, a 8x10 room divider of aquariums that have held anything that lives in fresh water in them over the years(except saltwater, never got into that). Many hours watching fish, great enjoyment.

Today I bought some red tailed sharks, glo tetras, and a couple other neat fish that I don’t know what they are. The glo fish will look good with a black light.


Store had some of those giant algae eaters. I didn’t realize they got so big. These were at least a foot

we've got a pond with koi.

pretty sure they are natural (they were there when we bought the house )

i dont do much with them - other than feed occassionally and make sure the water is moving through.
there's about 6 that are over 15", another 20 between 6" and 15" and hundreds under 6"

I've put a few government trout in there, but don't think they have survived.

During the spring and summer I have a 100 gallon poly tank running, with bluegills and other bait. Have a cheap ebay 100 gallon filter on it , seems to work great the last couple years. Allows myself to have bait to fish for flatheads.

James does your catfish look like this?
I picked these up at Wally World for my 60 hex tank. They were in a cory tank and they sure aren't a cory. Appears they are going to get too big for my tank set up now. Couple bleeding hearts,blood fins and some rummy nose along with a Plecostomus so far. Working on getting plants going as my nitrate level is higher then I like.

Those catfish look like synodontis of some sort. They are from africa.

I raise cories for hobby and resale. Have various tanks going, and always adding more.........

I was up to 5 tanks at one time and decided I needed to cut back LOL. Selection here even going to Memphis or Jackson,MS is slim. I prefer the Australian Rainbows but can't find them here.

Those are a Synodontis catfish, not sure what species. Not the lucipinnis, which stay small and are very active. I'm pretty sure I once owned a fish like the one on the right in that photo, but I don't recall which Synodontis it is.

Synodontis don't get that big. I've seen them up to six inches long or so. They will be predatory at that size.

Jim

Synodontis lucipinnis.

https://www.scotcat.com/factsheets/synodontis_lucipinnis.htm

Think found the closest match. Seems they change color as the age from black and white to brown and black. There are also hybrids as well that will make identification harder. https://www.liveaquaria.com/product/1594/?pcatid=1594 At any rate will need a bigger tank or re-home them in the near future.

A buddy of mine had a couple of pirahnas.

We have a 70 gallon aquarium that is home to about 20 goldfish. Their fun to watch but a lot of work if you want to keep your fish healthy. Every week we wipe down the inside of the glass [I think it's acrylic] with a squeegee to remove any algae that started growing. Then we have an air powered vacuum cleaner we vacuum the bottom of the tank with. We don't have sand or gravel on the bottom of our tank. Goldfish don't have stomachs so when they eat it's right in and right out. They are pretty but they are dirty. The filter doesn't get it all. The little nylon bag that collects the dirt for the vacuum is filthy when we are done cleaning. Then we replace the filter pads in the external filter system. Then we have 2 five gallon buckets and a siphon and we change some of the water. We usually fill each bucket twice. If you don't change your water gasses will eventually build up in the tank and you will have fish floating belly up. After we drain off about 20 gallons, we have to replace that water with fresh but untreated water. No chlorine. Like I said it's a lot of work.

Aix sponsa looks to be a Julii Cory, they stay small. If you were close enough would will you a couple of these cats I have.

I don't envy you on cleaning that tank Alexia. I have been doing all my water changes using rain water. Our water here is flat nasty with a gang of Chlorine. I am told I am old fashion as I use an under gravel filter with a powerhead. It works for me so will stick with it. Trying to grow plants now to help with the nitrate nitrite cycle.This is what I use to clean my gravel. Gravel vacuum I only vacuum HALF of the gravel before water change to keep the beneficial bacteria going. I attached it to a water bed fill kit and if you are lucky enough to have good water can use it to fill it back up. I sadly have to do the bucket trick as well but use a bilge pump to add water.

best tank I ever had was an old freezer that the motor went out in. I had it under the barn in the shade. filled it with water and every time I went fishing and did not catch enough for a good mess I would put the fish in there. after a few trips like that we would eat fresh fish never frozen. even put a bunch of crawfish in it once till I had enough for a good boiling. had a big long chest freezer go out last year so will be doing it again this year with the kids.

I added some hatchetfish and more glo tetras tonight. I lost a red tail shark and some Dalmatian Mollies today. They were stressed yesterday and it caught up to them. I added some Stress Coat to the water, and the fish look like they’re doing a whole lot better. Very active and darting all over the tank.

Undergravel filters inevitably clog with the inorganic remains of fish poop. Reverse gravel filters last longer because they push water up through the gravel instead of drawing water down through the gravel.

I don't use gravel filters anymore. Canister filters work good, but are a pain to clean. I'm now relying mainly on a Penguin Emperor 400 hang-on-the-back filter. Changing the filter cartridges is easy, but kind of expensive at $4.00 per change.

Jim

I wouldn't add any more fish if that's a new tank. It takes a while for the nitrogen cycle to get going. Every fishkeeper should have ammonia and nitrite (not nitrate) test kits.

If you've had fish die, I'd immediately stop adding fish and test for ammonia, then nitrite. (Your nitrite level probably won't be high if your ammonia level is high.) If you get high readings, immediately stop feeding and adding fish and change at least 50 percent of the water.

If you still have high readings the next day, do another water change.

And stop feeding. Fish don't need to eat every day or even every week. Don't feed any more until your tank chemistry is in balance.

I don't think Stress Coat does anything about ammonia or nitrite, but you should check the label. Fish are often active for a while when they're stressed.

Jim

I try to change it every six weeks or so.

Regardless of your filter system, you should change 15-20 percent of the water every week or two.

Jim

I have been keeping and breeding killifish for close to 50 years. Currently run about 45 tanks. The synodontus cat to the right looks like eruptus and will get good sized. I get to several fish shows a year and have judged many national conventions and regional shows. It has been a long and enjoyable hobby.

I had that 60 running continuous for 6 years before tore it down to move. Washed the gravel and fired it up again. The vacuum I use will pull a lot of the inorganic remains up and out. It uses the power of the siphon and run about a 5 foot fall. It looks like a rolling boil when done that way. Like said I only do half at a time to not disturb the beneficial bacteria. Seems to work well for me and the fish. I am going to add a box above to house some bio balls to aid in the nitrogen cycle as well as more plants. I tried some hang on filters over the years one with a bio wheel as well as cartridge type. Canisters are a royal pain. The UG does better in my estimation.

I've found plants harder to raise than fish. I have a sixty gallon planted tank, and am now throwing plants away just to give the fish space to swim, but it was hard to get started.

Jim

Running LED now and my tank is 30" tall. I am not sure there is enough light for them. My Amazon sword has started new growth so hope it pans out. Trying to get the miniature hair grass to go now as well. Water sprite always did good for me before but blocks light to the rest of the tank as it floats on top.

I run under gravel and sponge filters in my tanks breeding cories. they bang like teenagers. I do well, w good water tests, but then I dont over populate my tanks.

I like the under gravels. I do my water changes, im not a bad pet owner.

Why not nitrate? It seems nitrate levels are why we cannot keep Cardinal Tetras.....

I think nitrate tests are more used by saltwater hobbyists. Nitrate levels in freshwater are usually controlled by regular water changes.

I didn't' mean that no one should buy a nitrate test. I have one, but have never used it.

What happened with your cardinal tetras? You might try a different source. Some breeders sell strains of various fish that can be inbred and weak.

I myself haven't been able to keep Cyprichromis leptosoma alive, and I think it's due to a weak strain. I only have two females left of the dozen fish I bought two years ago. Next time I'll buy wild fish.

Jim

Shipping on things like that put me out of the market. I am at least 90 mile from the nearest airport they use as well.

I have sold on aqua bid a number of times and will again this spring. Priority mail, only one problem in many years and that was this year on an incoming shipment.

bvrtrpr do you raise the Panda Cory by any chance?

Love my aquaponics tank. I've had close to 40palm sized Bluegill 10 gold fish and 12 bullheads in it at once and they do just fine. Water stayle crystal clear and running the pump 24/7 is barely noticeable on the electric bill



The local lizards and birds love the grass and plants I grow in it

I have a 40, a 65 and a 120.