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Introduction
Hello All,
I have been lurking here for about a month now and thought I should introduce
myself. Ive been keeping aquariums almost my entire life. I received my first
at 6 years old in 1970. I havent been without fish since. Currently I have
several aquariums with almost no technology. A 30 gal. Salt water with lots of
macroalgaes. This has two 20 watt fl. and a bubble wall. Two 20 gal. one is
brackish and planted with Java moss, Java ferns, giant hygro, hornwort, and
(gasp) some plastic ludwiga. As soon as the weather cools (Im in blistering hot
AZ) Im ordering some C. ciliata to replace it with. Ive finally found a source
for it after looking for the last couple years. This has two 15 watt fl. and a
small airstone. I didnt have air in this tank until this summer but Ive had
two bacterial type blooms, most likely brought in with tubifex worms for my
gobies. One bloom killed most of my hygros and turned the Java ferns black. The
ferns recovered. The other 20 is more like a 10, as the top is planted like a
paladarium.
I have 4 ten gallon tanks. My nicest has H. difformis, Rotala indica, V.
gigantea, A. ulvaceus, A. madagascariensis, Java moss, and recently thanks to
Karens recommendations, two Anubias nana which are doing quite well. This tank
has one 15 watt fl. My other 10s include; an Amazon tank with Amazon swords,
Sagittaria, and pygmy chain swords, a wild X. variatus tank that includes
anachris, hornwort, a Myriophyllum sp., several Aponogeton sp., Java moss, and
V. americana, and a pond tank with Eichornia crassipes (bloomed twice this week)
and Pistia stratiotes (failing). These and all my other tanks get natural
sunlight. The other tanks are all small mostly hexes and bowls Ive picked up at
garage sales. I have a number of different plants in these that were taken from
the plants in the other tanks.
None of my tanks have filters or CO2. I have picked up all the things to make
some DIY CO2s but I havent done it yet as Im afraid Ill kill my fish which
Im quite fond of. I was going to try one on an empty tank but it is now full of
baby guppies. Im considering using them on the nicest 10 and the Amazon 10 as
Ive been having trouble keeping the pH down on these despite using distilled
water. All my other tanks use tap water which is hard (GH 16 degrees) and
alkaline (pH 8.0).
Well, thats my aquarium keeping history in a nutshell. Otherwise, I got tired
of working real jobs and am now a housewife and student (started last year
part-time in aquatic biology).
Rhonda