Any Aquarium Hobbyists?

[RandyWayne]

I have been keeping tropical fish (both freshwater and marine) for most of my life.  Last Summer, on my birthday, I bought my first BIG tank -a 120 gallon that I set up as a freshwater system with live plants.  The first picture was taken only two weeks after it was set up (July 09) and the second was just a few days ago.

[sunlight]

That is totally awesome! haha!

[RandyWayne]

There are many pics in between as it evolved, but I thought I would post the "beginning" (or nearly so) and current one for most effect.   All of the Jungle Val, which is the thick tall grass like plant you see all over in the 2nd picture is plants that have grown off of the original 6-7 you see in the first pic.  I have also thrown away whole handfuls of the stuff in the past several months!  

Lighting is by three twin-tube T5 strip lights, on timers.  Filtration is by a hang on canister (the HOT Magnum) which is rated for "Up to 55 gallons", but I use it mainly for water circulation since the plants do nearly all of the filtration duties.  There is no CO2 injection (for those fellow hobbyists who were wondering).

[sunlight]

So how does the cleaning go? You are reviving my repressed longing for a huge tank!

[RandyWayne]

 I change 10 gallons of water every two weeks and clean the filter out (with the hose outside) every month and a half to two months.  Oh yes, and occasional scrape the inside glass of algae.  That is it.

[RandyWayne]

For a little bit of scale.  Me and the tank just minutes before I started filling it up.... OK, filling it up AFTER I put 200 lbs of substrate on the bottom.

[sunlight]

cool house... I like the lights at the  top. 
you have pets besides fish? what's with the baby gate? lol

[RandyWayne]

cool house... I like the lights at the  top.  
you have pets besides fish? what's with the baby gate? lol

Yes, we have plenty of pets.  LOL

[sunlight]

haha! Great pictures too! I really like the first one

[RandyWayne]

Hermes comes from a championship herding line.

[EricShane]

Ive had fish for years! (saltwater and fresh) Ill post pictures when I get time!

[RandyWayne]

Ive had fish for years! (saltwater and fresh) Ill post pictures when I get time!

I would love to see some!

[Sis]

I love the shelf behind you, and in the other picture, what's the bird blushing about?

[RandyWayne]

I love the shelf behind you, and in the other picture, what's the bird blushing about?

That is Buz my cockatiel.  I got him when he was only 4 weeks old..... he is turning 21 this Summer.

The shelf behind is all various African paraphernalia that my wife picked up when she spent a month there many years ago.

[sunlight]

how old do they live to be?

[RandyWayne]

how old do they live to be?

You can read 5 different books and get 5 different ranges of expected life spans.  But regardless, he is at the outer limits of the widest.   Most say he should have died a few years ago already.   LOL

[Sis]

He has a few gray feathers but he still looks like he has spunk!

[RandyWayne]

Oh, he does.  Plenty of it!  And still whistles every song I have ever taught him.  Often at 6 in the morning!

[sunlight]

dude... birds go gray too?

[Heather]

i have a betta fish. his name is Ned. he's in a medium-ish bowl.

he's my first fish in 15 years. my previous fish committed mass suicide.

[Sis]

Don't have any pets 'cept my daughter, and she ran away. Preferred to live with her husband instead.

[Chseeads]

Yay, a bird!


And woah, that's a hunormous fish tank!


And Chel, cockatiels are gray to begin with. lol

However, certain birds can change color over time.  There are some kinds of black ducks that will go white eventually with age, for example.

[Sis]

However, certain birds can change color over time.  There are some kinds of black ducks that will go white eventually with age, for example.

Yeah, weird ducks like Cheesebreath! Newsman! World Traveler!

[RandyWayne]

i have a betta fish. his name is Ned. he's in a medium-ish bowl.

he's my first fish in 15 years. my previous fish committed mass suicide.

Have one of those too.  LOL   He is in a 1 gallon bowl along with three small glass shrimp, snails, and of course a ton (for a small bowl) of live plants.