Tank 1 (68L) - my first fish tank which I only got in December. First fish were 10 male guppies, but they all died one by one without any determinable cause, short of giving a vet a shed load of cash to find out. Tank was cycled and all water tests I could run said there’s nothing wrong. Currently has a mix of white cloud mountain minnows and copper harlequins. Originally I had normal random gravel but I found some nice bits of quartz so wanted to try using that to do an Iwagumi style rockery. That’s when I started to have serious algae problems, some of which can be seen on the white gravel. Worst two are black beard and hair algae, the others are minor and easy to control. Nutrient levels should be ok. As it is an integrated tank, the filter water flow isn’t very strong. My next step is to add a small pump to increase the flow internally, and/or add a 2nd internal filter.
Tank 2 (125L) - This is my first ebay tank. Got the tank and a whole load of kit for around £100. Added the decor myself. The plants are growing well. Too well actually, as you can see I need to give them another trim. I did start off with algae problems, but they have got under control since I started using fertilisers. Inhabitants here are all barbs. Mostly tiger and odessa barbs, with a couple of arulius barbs.
Tank 3 (30L) - This was an impulse purchase, as I fancied a small tank for my desk at work. I liked it so much I never did take it in! Originally this was going to be a shrimp tank. I got 4 each of cherry and amano shrimps, but the cherries did the random dying thing so I was left with the amano shrimp who are still going strong. I kinda always wanted a siamese fighter, but most of them look rather dull and uninteresting. Only a couple of weeks ago did I finally see one I really liked, so he got moved in with the shrimp. He’s hiding in the back corner by the heater, a nice blue base colour with red go faster stripes on the fins. Minor trouble is he doesn’t seem interested in fish foods, but goes for the shrimp food. And the shrimp aren’t fast eaters so the snails get to it and they’re getting rather massive now.
Tank 4 (125L) - My second ebay tank. This was an even better bargain than tank 2, as this not only included the tank and kit, it also had a ton of fish in it too for £56. Moving it wasn’t fun as I ended up collecting on a snow day, but managed to get them back safe and sound. I’ve rearranged the stock since then, and currently it has what someone once described as a “tetra pick & mix”. There’s cardinals, black skirt, black phantom, black neons in there, as well as a breeding pair of bristlenose plecos. The male is currently looking after a ton of babies in the recycled reptile cave on the right. Nearly forgot, there’s a single swordtail too.
One of the two external filters leaked after cleaning so I had to take that out until I can fit a new seal. As a temporary measure I’ve put in an internal to help out. Since the 2nd main filter went down I’ve started getting algae. Not sure there’s a correlation but I do want to get the filter back in sooner rather than later.
Tank 5 (60L) - this was bought as an upgrade to the shrimp tank, shown here earlier when I got a new light unit for it, and I was also using it as a plant holder while I rearranged other tanks. One of the theories why the cherry shrimp died is they’re fussier on water conditions which are harder to maintain in a small tank. So I was going to use this and try again. However, since the bristlenoses had babies, I’m now going to remake this as a home to raise them. I moved out the temporary residents earlier today and need to change the gravel over to sand later. Not sure if I’ll complete it today or perhaps tomorrow.
Photos of tanks 1-4 were taken this morning. Tank 5 is an older photo.
. Post more pics as you make progress, it’s rather interesting.
