Hallo, nice fish-people!

[Lady JinglyJones]

Hi!

Thought I'd quickly introduce myself - I'm from Canada, and been keeping fish in a minor way since I was a wee sprout in grade five, & me dear ole Mum an Da got me a twenty gallon for Chrismus.

Though I've long since matured past clown puke and plastic plants, I haven't moved on from my seasoned vet of a tank...
...Though as of recently, I'm playing about with RO water (got an RO buddy this summer! Very excited for controlling water parameters for the first time ever - my tap water is crazy hard/buffered), CO2 for plants, and Flourite sand (so much rinsing!) that I'll soon add. Right now it is a very clean, if ugly tank.

There's about 6 rummy noses (I think they may be H. blehiri..?), & a lonely old trilineatus cory in there (don't want to add friends for the cory til after the gravel swap I'm planning) who tries to school with the rummies heart breaks. Oh, and a black nerite, too!

I've also got a 5.5 gallon planted with a crowntail Beta. His name is Gilbert. He will fight you: any time, any place. Pick your weapon.
.
I'm not generally a forum joiner, but in a coupla months, I'm embarking on my first BIG TANK!
(Ha, just a 90 gallon - but bigger than I've ever kept.) So I'm trying to learn a bunch.

I want this new tank to house small plecos (BULLDOGS! So excited!), and maybe smaller cichlids, depending on which species I dig up that are compatible with cooler temps. (I've kept Rams, but without the success I'd like, which is what really decided me on redoing the 20g.) And Tetras. South American stuff.

Any suggestions?

Um, this is long. Oops!
Thanks!

 

[Rbishop]

Welcome to AC!

 

[wesleydnunder]

Hi and welcome!

Mark

 

[Lady JinglyJones]

Thanks, guys!

Emily (<~ Oh yeah, that's my name! Forgot that.)

 

[FreshyFresh]

Welcome! Sounds like some nice tanks and setups you have going. 4ft 75s or 90s are nice. 90s are a bit of a hassle to reach bottom.

 

[Lady JinglyJones]

FreshyFresh- Thanks for the input I hadn't considered that when deciding what I wanted. I'll likely amend my decision, because I like to be able to reach the bottom of my tank without falling in.

And, incidentally, I have learned something already - to be more diligent with testing nitrates & not half-ass it with strips. To my horror, my NO3 was cherry red on three consecutive tests, at a whopping 80ppm! Yowza. Strips did NOT tell me that! Working at bringing it down to saner levels now.

 

[Duckie]

Just do your fish a favour and not go too big on waterchanges. Even though the water is getting better by lowering the nitrates, too much too fast is still a big shock. Do a waterchange every day for a few days and see where you are at. I wouldn't go more than 20% each time.

 

[Lady JinglyJones]

Just do your fish a favour and not go too big on waterchanges. Even though the water is getting better by lowering the nitrates, too much too fast is still a big shock. Do a waterchange every day for a few days and see where you are at. I wouldn't go more than 20% each time.

Yep, that's what I've been doin' since I read me some learnin' on here about the osmoregulatory stipulations of my fishies' little selves.

It is really alarming how long I've been doing this without the necessary facts. But I suppose that is what happens when you give a ten year old a fish tank - the last time I was really into learning about the science of the thing, I was about twelve, and then I forgot whatever I didn't really process - like all the bits involving concepts I hadn't yet learned. Fast forward, and I'm an adult with a twelve year old's knowlegde base, who assumes she knows what she's doing.

Anyhow, really glad I joined. This seems like a good group!