Congratulations on the new forums. I posted a few times on your previous incarnation, some years ago, but have been out of the hobby for the past five or so years. I miss it, though, and am trying to figure out if I have room for this love in my apartment and my budget again.
I have kept aquariums since I was a young teenager in the 70s. My first tank was a chrome-framed 20 or 30-gallon given to me by my father, who found it at a yard sale. We didn't know anything about cycling then, and I remember dutifully scrubbing down every part of my aquarium periodically and then being distraught when my fish became sick afterward. it was probably teenage carelessness and neglect that eventually led to the development of some healthy tanks and my love for the hobby.
I am a fan of freshwater tanks and particularly love social, smart, and adorable fish like bettas, rams, and horseface loaches, as well as colorful/brilliant fish like praecox rainbows and glowlight or neon tetras. I have often had aquariums with a Roman or Greek theme, but I find myself wishing I could do something more natural and planted (I have low-tech aquariums and have never been very successful with plants). I have recently been mesmerized by pictures of blackwater aquariums with vivid blue rainbows and tetras moving through the green plants and dark backgrounds. I have very hard well water, though, so probably that is not in my future.
Anyway, I don't even have a functioning tank again yet, but I stopped in to ask a question so thought I would say hello. I have already received a very helpful answer, so I am delighted to see and feel that this place is as friendy and helpful and interesting as ever. Thanks to all the dedicated and enthusiastic aquarists for being here.
PJ (fearlesssfisch)
Welcome back. I love planted tanks and I'm about the lowest tech person there is. My very easy beginner plants do great in my basic tanks. My philosophy is that I do great with plants with rhizomes,not so much with stem plants. Knowing that I keep my tanks simple and enjoy the heck out of them. You don't have to have all the latest "gadgets" to have an awesome planted tank. Get a new tank, get some plants at the meetings and enjoy the hobby again.
Susan
Hi PJ
Welcome back to the fold! You always know where you can come to pick up some great equipment on the cheap not to mention some absolutely gorgeous fish - our meetings of course. I have no doubt you'll be setting up a tank soon.
There are some great fish that appreciate hard water. JoAnn Schlosser moved to Wisconsin last year and now has very hard water and is embarking on keeping species that thrive in her new water conditions. Also, Aqueon is putting out a number of new styles of small tanks that are great for apartment dwellers. At the last Catfish Convention, they introduced a really neat shrimp tank with a 'beveled' front making it easy to enjoy nanofish from the front of the tank at eye level. Rachel O'Leary featured it in one of her videos. I bought a bunch of the 14g rimless cube tanks and outfitted them with Mattenfilters for keeping and breeding some African nano-barbs.
If you haven't seen Rachel's new video on blackwater tanks, you'll definitely want to check it out. And if you would like to see and meet Scott Fellman, owner of Tannin Aquatics, in person be sure to come to our November meeting. Scott will be giving a short presentation and then setting up a blackwater tank which will then be auctioned off at the meeting.
Best, Patchin