Hi Guys 'n gals.
I'm well on in years but have kept fish for around 4 years now. That's a very short time and during the time I have had them I've had many disasters, as no doubt other newbies will have had too.
I started out with a pyrex bowl and 4 sticklebacks for my grandson and now have 1x120ltr, 1x75ltr, 1x60ltr, 1x55ltr and three smaller breeding tanks. And of course the loss of a bedroom.......
During my searches online for various fishkeeping related things I stumbled across a mention of Horizon Aquatics as the absolute best place near me for plants. I must say, the word on the street was very much below what I actually found. They are superb.
So, after buying plants and being amazed at the absolutely gorgeous "proper" aquascaped display tanks, rather than just plain old fish-tanks with a few plants thrown into them, I am excited to be going down the true aquascape route.
Both James and Nicole have been so helpful and I thank them for their patience.
I have also discovered the importance of proper water parameters for the fish and shrimp I keep and realise why so many of my earlier fish died.
In light of my new knowledge, and being in a very hard water area, GH of around 420-450, and having a love for fish that need much lower readings, I have constructed a 100ltr water barrel setup to collect rainwater. I even have an inline filter in the downpipe to catch all the potential detritus coming from the roof.
I bought a lovely tank from Horizon, plus a myriad of things to build it up, wood, soil, plants etc and have put it all together.
This is my first true attempt at aquascaping and I'm pretty pleased with the result so far.
The tank isn't fully "worn in" just yet, even though it's been properly cycled, so some of the plants have come adrift but they'll be getting put back on the next water change this afternoon, as long as I don't get family dropping in.
I have the tank on livestream for a good part of the day but right now the lights are off as the 1st sign of algae on the glass is showing through, hence the water change to do later today. Nevertheless visit the site and it may just be up and running later.
The picture attached is the construction of the tank with bit of sticks holding all the wood together until I finished planting and making any adjustments, so as to avoid knocking things out of kelter.
I'm well on in years but have kept fish for around 4 years now. That's a very short time and during the time I have had them I've had many disasters, as no doubt other newbies will have had too.
I started out with a pyrex bowl and 4 sticklebacks for my grandson and now have 1x120ltr, 1x75ltr, 1x60ltr, 1x55ltr and three smaller breeding tanks. And of course the loss of a bedroom.......
During my searches online for various fishkeeping related things I stumbled across a mention of Horizon Aquatics as the absolute best place near me for plants. I must say, the word on the street was very much below what I actually found. They are superb.
So, after buying plants and being amazed at the absolutely gorgeous "proper" aquascaped display tanks, rather than just plain old fish-tanks with a few plants thrown into them, I am excited to be going down the true aquascape route.
Both James and Nicole have been so helpful and I thank them for their patience.
I have also discovered the importance of proper water parameters for the fish and shrimp I keep and realise why so many of my earlier fish died.
In light of my new knowledge, and being in a very hard water area, GH of around 420-450, and having a love for fish that need much lower readings, I have constructed a 100ltr water barrel setup to collect rainwater. I even have an inline filter in the downpipe to catch all the potential detritus coming from the roof.
I bought a lovely tank from Horizon, plus a myriad of things to build it up, wood, soil, plants etc and have put it all together.
This is my first true attempt at aquascaping and I'm pretty pleased with the result so far.
The tank isn't fully "worn in" just yet, even though it's been properly cycled, so some of the plants have come adrift but they'll be getting put back on the next water change this afternoon, as long as I don't get family dropping in.
I have the tank on livestream for a good part of the day but right now the lights are off as the 1st sign of algae on the glass is showing through, hence the water change to do later today. Nevertheless visit the site and it may just be up and running later.
The picture attached is the construction of the tank with bit of sticks holding all the wood together until I finished planting and making any adjustments, so as to avoid knocking things out of kelter.
