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Starting to get the "Innsmouth" Look

5K views 27 replies 13 participants last post by  Kathryn 
#1 ·
Greetings and Felicitations one and all.

Returning to the hobby after a 25 year hiatus. Beginning of June, my little girls brought home an eastern painted turtle from my parents' lake, saddled with the ill omened name of "Swirly". I determined that it would not take it's last ride to hades on the procelin express, and so began to accumulate the know-how and equipment to ensure this. Well, one thing has lead to another, as tanks have been outgrown and craigslist plundered, and, at the moment, my tanks are:

75 gallon - The house of Swirly - 1 Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 Bulldog Pleco, 1 Banjo Cat, Many Feeder guppies. Fake plants.

55 gallon - Southeast Asian - 1 Pearl Gourmai, 12 Harlequins, 8 Cherry Barbs, 5 Striped Loaches, 5 Kuhil Loaches, 2 Bristlenosed Plecos (migrant labor). Heavily planted with Crypts, Rotala, Java Fern and Moss, Wisteria, Water Sprite, Anubias Nana (African, I know). (The picture is a couple months old - it's grown out a lot since then.)


20 Gallon - Amazon - 5 Black Neons, 6 Glow Lights, 4 Sterba's Corys, 1 Leopard Cory, 1 Clown Pleco, and 1 Bristlenose Pleco. Heavily Planted with Swords, Pennywort, Cabomba, and dwarf Hairgrass

20 Gallon - Brand New - 12 Pygmy Corys, 7 Otos. Planted with Java Moss, Java Fern, and Swords

10 Gallon - My Little Girl's tank - Fancy Guppies


10 Gallon - hospital - Baby Fancy Guppies

Idle Tanks - 40 gallon Flat Back Hex, 46 Gallon Bow Front.
 
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#6 ·
Hi and welcome aboard, tophat.:wave:

I moved your thread as it is based more on your tank pics apart from the introduction theme.:)

Your tanks are very nice.:D
Good luck with the fishkeeping.:thumbsup:

tophat665 said:
75 gallon - The house of Swirly - 1 Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 Bulldog Pleco, 1 Banjo Cat, Many Feeder guppies. Fake plants.
I'd love to improve this one.:thumbsup:
Instead of feeder guppies, why not try to keep angelfish in there along with several diamond tetras(Moenkhausia pittieri)?:thumbsup:
 
#8 ·
Blue said:
tophat665 said:
75 gallon - The house of Swirly - 1 Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 Bulldog Pleco, 1 Banjo Cat, Many Feeder guppies. Fake plants.
I'd love to improve this one.:thumbsup:
Instead of feeder guppies, why not try to keep angelfish in there along with several diamond tetras(Moenkhausia pittieri)?:thumbsup:
That's nearly my thought, but it's not practicable with a turtle in the tank.

Swirly will take a chunk out of anything he can catch. He's sent a half dozen fancy guppies, 3 corys, and 2 banjo cats to join the invisible choir so far., and I won't risk a fish in there that costs more than 50 cents until he's gone.

Swirly will be sliding into Lake Hayward sometime late next spring. He came out of the nest around May 28 this year, and my little girls interrupted him on his first scamper to the water with yolk still on his shell and brought him home in a cool whip container. Since keeping a turtle is a gigantic pain in the fundament, he is going right back where he came from once he is too big for a largemouth bass to make a snack of. Then this tank becomes Angel Station - a heavily planted Amazon tank - Swords, Cabomba, Pennywort, Red Tiger Lotus, hairgrass, and Vals. The working population is to be: 6 Scalares, 8 Dwarf Red Platies, 8 Emperor Tetras, 8 Silver Hatchets, 5 Albino Cories, a Banjo Cat, a Bulldog Pleco, and 2 Bristlenosed plecos (albino if I can arrange it).

I am thinking hard about Diamond tetras in my livebearer disposal tank. How are they on plants? Would they get along with some African Butterfly Fish and a Bumblebee Cat? Are they fin nippers?
 
#9 ·
tophat66 said:
I am thinking hard about Diamond tetras in my livebearer disposal tank. How are they on plants? Would they get along with some African Butterfly Fish and a Bumblebee Cat? Are they fin nippers?
Diamonds will get along with any fish you put with them. Stunning fish.:love:
I'd avoid Serpae Tetras if I might add. They are the most renowned fin nippers in the characins group. Neither will I be surprised that even long-finned strains would rip each other's fins.:roll:
 
#10 ·
Updated Pix of the rest of the tanks, apologies for crappy camera work:

Angkor Wat (55 gal Asian Planted - first pic above) as it looks today.

Note: I have deliberately let the algae go wild on the back glass, and my plecos keep the front totally clean and have doubled in length since August.

The Amazon - My first planted tank (well, it started out in a 10 and moved to a 20)


The House of Swirly - 75 gallons of turtle outhouse, with a homemade wet dry sump filter.


My guppy nursery (a 10 gallon shot narrow side on)


And finally, the tank that is holding my bottom feeders until I can get the tank set up in Mrs. Hat's classroom:

That's an Oto on the front glass. I really need to get a second filter running in there.
 
#11 ·
tophat665 said:
Angkor Wat (55 gal Asian Planted - first pic above) as it looks today.

Note: I have deliberately let the algae go wild on the back glass, and my plecos keep the front totally clean and have doubled in length since August.
I like this one.:thumbsup: Would look beautiful if it has altum angelfish sans the slim-bodied tetras or any fish small enough to be eaten.:checkedout:

What is the height of that tank?
 
#12 ·
Great tanks how bout some close ups of the plecos :D:D:D
 
#14 ·
tophat665 said:
20", I think. Not tall enough for Altums, and I think they'd probably do a number on my Harlequins too. I'll set up the 75 for Scalares when the turtle is released.
Can't wait for you to ditch Swirly.:devil: And replace him with scalares.:love: I love to see angels.:love:
 
#15 ·
flattrack23, Couldn't get the Plecos to pose, but, as long as I had the camera out, I got these pix. (Pardon the cruddy glass - did water changes today and haven't windexed yet.)


One of my two male cherry barbs


My school of Harlequins and a couple of cherry barbs


Janis - Female Pearl Gourami


Buck - Male.

I'll get pix of the plecos and Striped Loaches up when the opportunity presents itself.
 
#16 ·
Hi Tophat.:wave:

Nice pics.:thumbsup: I simply can't wait to get another tank and stock with fish that are not commonly available.:crazy:

I like your cherry barbs.:love: I used to have them but nowadays, they're not available.:blueworry:
I'm getting too indecisive to which fish I'll get..lol..:crazy:
Maybe diamond tetras..cherries..harlies.. Oh my aching head!:blink:
 
#18 ·
joeshmoe said:
i want to make my 20 gal into a lil wild place . i have this creek and pond near me. i want to stock it with some wilding bitterlings
Hoping the conditions you give them in the tank is the same in the wild, yanno.:brow:
 
#20 ·
Nice pics there, Tophat.:thumbsup:

Your loaches look like Botia striata.:)
 
#21 ·
They are indeed! They are pure hell on pond snails. I throw a couple dozen in there a couple days before I gravel vacuum, and they are mostly just shells on the beach when I suck them up. (And the occasional 1 cm long one that managed to escape long enough to grow too big to eat.)
 
#22 ·
tophat665 said:
They are indeed! They are pure hell on pond snails. I throw a couple dozen in there a couple days before I gravel vacuum, and they are mostly just shells on the beach when I suck them up. (And the occasional 1 cm long one that managed to escape long enough to grow too big to eat.)
Did that 1 cm snail survive?:mrgreen: Because if not, I can borrow you a mallet to squish it.:mrgreen:
 
#23 ·
I love the Harlequins. Gorgeous aquariums you have, great aquascaping! Yes, I know that Swirly the turtle will eat you fish. but turtles are great, aren't they? (at least you can pick them up!) lol, I love all 35+ of my fish, but there is nothing that can compare to a pet (even a turtle) that you can hold and give your affection to.
 
#26 ·
I love the tanks there beautiful and have a nice taste. I love the guramis i've allways wanted a choco one. :blueyay: :redyay: :greenyay: (i love these things.)
 
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