Planted Tank

I decided to say out with the plastic decorations and in with the plants. I went to my local fish shop and purchased some low light plants. I got an Amazon Sword, a bunch of Anacharis, and used some old driftwood to give my tank the natural look.

I set up the tank in a couple of steps. First, I rinsed the driftwood. This is very important to get any chemicals, dirt, or natural coloring out of the wood. This process usually takes about fifteen minutes; I simply rotate the driftwood in front of the hot water coming from the shower head until I feel that it is ready. Then I place the driftwood in the filled tank; typically, I secure the driftwood with heavy rocks to keep it from floating. Sometimes the wood can take months to become waterlogged and sink without reinforcement.

- For natural driftwood that isn't treated in a fish store, it is best to treat it with hot or boiling water to kill any microorganisms that may cause complications with the fish.

- Note that the aquarium may turn brown from the leeching of the wood. This is perfectly normal. If regular water changes are performed, the abnormal color will dissipate in a few weeks. The picture of the tank with the Butterfly Koi displays the leeching effect of new driftwood.

Fish Scoliosis

I was at my local fish store when my girlfriend pointed out something interesting. A medium sized community fish was swimming very erratically. It appeared to be deformed, and immediately my interest was captured. At first glance it looked injured, but I couldn't find any marks or abrasions on it. All I could see was almost a 90 degree alteration of its spine. After all the observations, I concluded it was diseased, so we went home empty handed.

About two weeks later we made it up to the fish store again, and the same fish was still swimming around the tank. My girlfriend pleaded with me to buy it to help it with its "handicap", so I went ahead and had an employee bag it for me. The store actually ended up giving the fish to me for free because of its defect. My logic was that if the fish had miraculously made it into its young adult age with its "medical problems" then it could obviously handle it's own in my tank.

I brought it back and floated it in the tank. While waiting to release it, I looked up spine deformations in aquarium fish. Apparently, many fishermen notice the abnormality in salmon and tuna fish. It is not harmful to the other fish and is simply a genetic/developmental problem. While I was surfing the web, the girls crowded around the tank and named the fish "Forest Gump." Around campus the "scoliosis fish" has been a big hit with the other students, and people are constantly asking how he is doing.

I will continue to monitor "Forest" and make sure he gets enough food. His trajectory seems to be a bit off; going for a floating flake, he will often miss the target. I have also noticed that he is a bit aggressive towards the other fish. It is understandable considering how long he survived with such an obvious problem.

New Fish

Keeping with the community theme of the fish tank, I added more fish to the tank. I got an upside down catfish and a mickey mouse platy. I try not to add more than two or three fish at a time, to avoid losing fish to stress.

The upside down catfish provides a great cleaning service for accidental over-feedings. I have seen it cleaning the algae of the plastic plants in the tank. He has taken refuge in a tiny aquarium decoration that he can get inside and will not move from it even at feeding time. Mostly a night time feeder, I have rarely seen it swim around in daylight hours. It is very peaceful and plays very well with the other community fish, to the point of letting the pleco share his little "house". Its a neat little fellow, and it is fun to watch him patrol the tank upside down at night looking for food; I actually drop a couple of sinking pellets in at night. I have had a couple upside downs before, and I feel that they die very easily if the gravel is not vacuumed and the water is not changed on a regular basis.

I was expecting a peaceful personality from the little mickey mouse platy, but I ended up getting a bully. He has taking a liking to "herding" the guppies and pushing them around. I may not exchange him for another fish yet, but I will keep a close eye on him for the following week to be sure he isn't an extreme problem. He eats flake foods like the guppies and swims about mid level in the tank.

I plan on keeping more fish, but I have to remember that the tank can only support one inch of fish per gallon of water. Although that is not an exact rule, I plan on keeping below that number to be sure that all my fish are healthy, have clean water, and have plenty of oxygen.

Algae, Algae, Algae

The only bit of space I had for the tank, was a spot in front of a window facing south. Naturally I was expecting some algae growth. Algae is considered a Photoautotroph (meaning it takes energy from the sunlight to make food), and the direct sunlight the aquarium gets definitely promotes algae growth. I have scrubbed the tank multiple times, and I have limited the amount of natural light the tank has been getting. I decided to bring in the big gun, I went to my local fish shop and purchased a Plecostomus. They had albinos in stock, so I decided to get one.

It has since fit in great with the guppies. Initially the pleco would only clean at night, but recently it comes out in daylight as well. The algae is still present but not to the same degree. I am still considering a second pleco, but I wont purchase another until I have more "hiding spots" in the tank. With my experience keeping plecos, I have observed them to be territorial with other members of the same species. Often times the bigger pleco will inhabit the "better hiding spot" and push the smaller/ weaker one out to seek a new refuge.

Pregnant Female Guppies

About two weeks after I set up the tank, a female Guppy was lingering near the heater (a telltale sign of pregnancy). Although the gestation period for a guppy is usually between 20 days and a month, this guppy had been pre-hit by another male guppy in the fish store. I wanted to keep the babies alive the cheap way, so I built a little device to prevent her from eating the fry. I simply took a Tupperware bowl and placed two plastic plants into it. The plastic plants will provide a refuge for the fry as they desperately try to escape "mom", (and I thought my folks gave it to me bad). I generally try to keep the female well fed while she is in the breeder to prevent the ravenous case of the munchies she gets after the fry are dropped.

It will float, but If you need a little bit of tape to secure the breeder to the side of the tank, don't be hesitant to use it. I also make sure I replace the water in the breeder every other day with the tank water.

The Initial Stages of the Tank

One of the tanks I currently own is a fifty-five gallon community tank (hence the name of the blog). During the planning phase of the tank I decided to choose relativity peaceful fish. I wanted the tank to display fish with long flowing fins and contain many different colors. Being a college student, the girls seem to enjoy them the most (I can't complain if different girls want to come over to "see the fish.") Semi-aggressive fish tend to be notorious fin-nippers even if they are well fed. If I had decided to mix the two (peaceful and semi-aggressive) I would be sure to keep the fish of comparable size. If a fish in the tank can fit in another's mouth without much effort, don't risk putting the two together.

I went to a local fish store and picked out 55 pounds of fine gravel, basic plastic decorations, and Stress Coat (a tap water conditioner that removes chlorine). I then positioned the tank in a room where I thought it went best, and wiped down the inside with a hot wet rag. Taking a towel and placing it on the shower floor, I laid the gravel on the towel and rinsed it for about 5 minutes. I had to do this in segments to prevent gravel from clogging the drain. The next step was to place the gravel into the tank and fill the tank with water. After arranging the decorations, I added about six teaspoons of Stress Coat (about a teaspoon per gallon). Then I played the waiting game.

Two days later I brought the aquarium water to the fish store and had it tested. Following the previous steps, two days is about average for fish. When starting a new tank, an aquarist has to let it "cycle" in order to build up beneficial bacteria. The bacteria help bring the aquarium into balance to make life possible for the inhabitants. The "cycling" of a new tank sets up something called "the nitrogen cycle". In the nitrogen cycle, fish waste is converted to ammonia, which is then converted into nitrite, which in turn is converted to nitrate. Ammonia is toxic to fish, as is nitrite. The key factor in the nitrogen cycle is bacteria that resides in the filter that you have connected to the tank. Once the bacteria build up as the nitrogen cycle completes, the ammonia and nitrite levels decrease because the bacteria essentially consume them. This means it is safe for more fish to be added to the tank. I started with two Zebra Danios. Why? Because they are tough and can take the abuse of a new aquarium. I did not put any more than two fish in initially. About five days after the first fish are placed in the tank, bring the water to your local pet store to have it tested and have them advise you on putting additional fish in. About a week after, the Zebra Danios were put into my tank I got the pleasure of selecting more fish to put into the tank.

Again, with the thought of my female visitors, I went with a proven long-time favorite: the Guppy. I bought a couple males and a couple females. Generally with Guppies you want the females to outnumber the males. Although they are typically peaceful, Guppies get pretty pugnacious when competing for females. If you decide to take the Guppy route, know they are livebearers and they produce a lot of babies! No need to actively attempt to control their population though; often times they are highly cannibalistic to their young. The rule of thumb with Guppies: if they can find their young, they will eat them. Whoever said there was anything wrong with a little protein anyhow?

My Start to the Hobby

I am a college student with a love of freshwater fish. I have had aquariums for years, and it is always been something enjoyable for me! Not only do I spend days and nights observing fish in my home aquariums, but I also spend time diving down and experiencing natures' own tank with my scuba certification. No matter how busy I may be with my school studies, I always seem to sneak away to my local fish shops to pursue a different kind of study: that of the fish, the plants, and the truly living art of the tank. How do I treat that? Will that fish mix well with this one? How do I grow this? How do I stop the growth of that? These are some of the questions I have answered and I am still trying to answer.

From the first documented cases of fish keeping by the Romans, to the coinage of the word aquarium by Phillip Henry Gosse, there have been many people that have tried and failed at keeping freshwater aquariums. As Sir Isaac Newton one said, "We stand on the shoulders of giants," that is especially true with us Aquarists. We must learn to ask questions and to learn from each others mistakes. If one Aquarist loses a fish because of salt concentration or finds a new way of treating a fish disease , he must provide others with that information. That is my purpose in writing this blog. I hope others follow the progression of my tank and learn from my triumphs, and avoid the mistakes I have made.