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Kinda new at this

3K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  bearwithfish 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone!
My name is Sarah and I recently began on the path to becoming an educated and enlightened fish parent. I'm 19 and when I was 14 I started working at a pet store and learning a lot about fish. We had a 90gallon tank which successfully housed South American cichlids and later on, fancy goldfish. This was my mom's tank and sadly, it began to go south. Recently I took over the tank and did a ton of work to it but I was too late and the last of our fish passed on. The tank has been taken down do to a need for some minor construction in that room, but I decided to continue on my journey myself.

Last month I bought myself a 37 gallon tank and decided my goal is Angelfish. I've been cycling with neon tetras, maybe not the best idea I know but I would rather keep any survivors than have to rehome them (as if I used goldfish). So far I've hit a lot of speed bumps for different reasons (some being my own fault that I've learned from) but I am happy to say that the last batch of little guys I added are all still alive and doing well.

I've come here to learn more about the maintenance of my tank. I know some people may not necessarily recommend the fish I've decided that I want to house together (Angels, Rams, Neons, possibly Cardinals and Otocinclus) but I think I can make this work. Our cichlid tank successfully house oscars and angels together in harmony, the angels were actually the bosses of the tank :lol: Mostly, I am here to learn about filter maintenance as I've never dealt with a canister filter before this one and I need some education!

Here is a photo of my tank before I added the new driftwood centerpiece:


and here is a closeup with the driftwood. The ceramic tile is no longer in the tank as it was only there for a few days to make sure the wood stayed in place after it had been soaked for a few days outside the tank:
 
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#2 ·
Welcome to the forum. That's a pretty tank and kudos to you for trying to save your mom's tanks.

The only thing I can say about stocking your tank is to do lots of research on the compatability of the fish you pick. Sounds like you're doing that already tho.

Good luck and post some pics. when you have your fish stocked.
 
#3 ·
Thank you! yes, I have gotten advice from many experienced people at the best fish store in my area. One of them is a very successful discus-keeper and also has angels. He doesn't use neons but has cardinals instead which I prefer, but can't seem to find. The only thing I'm concerned about with the computability as far as I've read is that my angels may decide to eat my neons, but if I get little angels then I could out that off for a while. I plan to have 3 angels eventually, a few rams and a healthy school of tetras for the size of the tank, maybe 12 or so? I don't want to overcrowd it, I think that those numbers would look perfect in this tank.
 
#4 ·
If you're still worried about it, maybe get a few more plants in there so the lil guys have more hiding spaces if your angels turn out to be chasers and nippers (hopefully not destroyers)
 
#5 ·
That's a wonderful idea, thank you! I have a lot of plants right now, but they are babies. The plant guy at the store I go to, instead of selling me the adult plants at $5 a piece, gave me a bag of 22 babies for only $10. I will get some adults, maybe tonight when I head over to the store, to add some extra oomph to that, as it will take a while for my little guys to grow.
 
#6 ·
Hi and welcome to the forum. That's a great piece of driftwood there. It makes a very nice centerpiece. Good luck with the tank!
 
#9 ·
yea it does looks beautiful iv never been succesfull at making tank of art like urs
 
#15 ·
welcome aboard.
that sure is a nice bit of wood you have there for your tank.
i kept angels and neons,never had a problem,i have to say the neons were there first,
and the angels added much later as the tank matured,6mths plus.
i wish you luck with the tank,and look forward to seeing more pictures along the way.
:-D
 
#17 ·
Thank you! Where is the best place to put updates on my tank? I want to post new pictures but I am wondering if there is somewhere I should do that instead of this thread? Is the Freshwater Aquarium Pictures place ok even though it will have text updates as well?
 
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