Meet Nugget:


And GT, the Green Terror:

Nice aquariums. I've tried to start Aquariums 3x but every time the fish died - but it's my own fault. Being a Canadian, I love fresh cold air and love to leave my windows open, even in the winter time. Turns out fish don't like the cold, now they're just sewer fertilizer, ugg whatever. So it looks like you're doing a good job with them, so GL!

very neat aquariums

beautiful aquariums. Nice to know we have cichlid keepers on jsp ^^
i have a 120 gallon turtle tank and a 55g african cichlid

recently got a new peacock


This post was edited by jlazy on Sep 16 2015 06:15pm

http://imgur.com/ady3tg6


hmm img brackets not working x.x

This post was edited by jlazy on Sep 16 2015 06:17pm

That is beautiful mate

When my wife gets home I'll use her nice camera phone to get share some of my peacocks. I have a bunch of OB and zebra peacocks. They're a fun fish.

So far I really like mbuna. They have a lot of personality, they are grateful when you feed them, they are entertaining to watch when they fight over their little territories when you move some things around on them, they recognize certain people more than others...also they get very bright, even with the solidly colored ones. My yellow labs and blue cobalts almost glow they're so bright. I have an orange Red Zebra that was a little buggy eyed runt when I bought him and now he is a top notch alpha badass beefing over turf with the best of them.

It is also fun watching the Jack Dempsey, EBJDs (4 now, one died due to weird intestinal parasite, common for the species), a green terror, and two discus that are big enough for the others not to mess with yet. There is a dwarf frontosa that is moving to the mbuna/peacock pair when he gets about 3.5 inches, reason being he is really aggressive and will attacking a fish big enough to kill him if I put him there now. All the South American cichlids are moving to a huge tank in about a year (>200) except the discus, which I am going to continue to accumulate in the tank they're in now. I have two now, ordered 4 from my LPS a week ago that should be here Friday I hope.

I also have cats and a dog, lol. I had guinea pigs but they're disgusting shit machines and they now live in an elementary school classroom as a donation. Let the kids clean up their shit lol. I'm serious...it is unbelievable how much guinea pigs shit.

I love animals, I belong to a couple preservation societies. I don't belong to PITA, and I eat cows and chickens, because its cultural convention.

Those are really awesome. I love that African fish. I hope to get a tank someday. They're pretty expensive, tho.

just curious how much do you estimate that your whole aquarium costs you? looking to start a few tanks myself and i really like yours

Craigslist friend. The 65 gallon square I got I paid like $150 for. But filling it up with water the first time was nerve wracking



Well there is the cost of the basic equipment. You have the aquarium, filter, heater, air pump and stone at minimum. Then you have to buy chemicals like water conditioner, bacteria to start the nitrogen cycle. And the food isn't expensive if you just stick to flakes and pellets (I mix live blood worms, diced beef hearts, and brine shrimp for my guys alot )

But I would shop around. At PetCo, Pet Supplies Plus, and PetSmart they sometimes have dollar per gallon sales, where you can get a 20 gal for $20, up to 55 gal for $55...those are great deals. A 55 gallon tank is four feet long and can handle most fish unless you want to get the real big central American cichlid or a Frontosa from Tanganyika.

One of the big cost driver for my tanks is lighting, plants, and driftwood. I like the natural look. Driftwood is about $10 for a small, $20 for a medium, and $30-$40 for a large piece. Fish love them.. I have mine arranged into caves and whatnot. Most of my plants are Amazon Swordplants, Anubis, jungle vale, and java fern. Plants are expensive. Anubis are costly but are pretty and tough, survive on little to no light. Amazon swords need lots of light and care. I use CO2 booster chemicals in my tank to facilitate growth.

Altogether I've spend quite a lot. I've spent a lot of money on costly mistakes learning the trade over time. If you set up an aquarium, buy the stuff, set it up, and don't buy the fish yet. Don't get the fish until everything is set up. Then just get one or two tough fish to ride out the ammonia/nitrite cycle. African Mbuna are tough as nails.

I've spent thousands of dollars on this hobby. My South American tank has $200 in amazon sword plants in it