Aquariums

[mixmaster.mewthree]

I've been really interested in aquariums all my life, I've only ever had 10-20 gallon tanks though since my parents would never let me get anything bigger! I've finally decided to live out my dream of being an aquarium manager and designer though and plan on gathering the supplies necessary for one soon. I still have to research the compatibility of things, but I'm interested in live plants, axolotl, crayfish, crabs, AQUATic frogs, turtles, rare and elusive fish (maybe pufferfish or lungfish), and some other things but these mainly!!

Look how cute that is.

My dream is to have an aquarium that looks like this

so yeah if you have an aquarium or something you can post pictures here or if you are very experienced and want to lend me advice on how to start up a successful and awesome aquarium and what I should buy, let me know!!

 

[THE_IRON_...KENYAN?]

I absolutely love aquariums. Ive been a fish junky pretty much all my life, and its not because ive tasted vagina.

Here are some of my newts, but a lot of people confuse them as salamanders. Both female, and both by their favorite log.

This is my clam, affectionately named cloyster ^_^, along with my shrimp Krillowat, and my newt. My newts are named Newt and Pad; I hope you guys get the joke.

My water-snail(non scientific name) shellder, and my shrimp again. Will post more later!

 

[Morm]

crabs are all air breathers and need some pretty good land, unless they are marine, and will rip apart anything they can grab including plants and other animals.

Crayfish will catch and slay anything else in the tank.

aquatic frogs are alright I guess, all you're likely to find is Xenopus.

Axolotl are for ultimate (BAN ME PLEASE)s named Brodie (<3) and will kill anything else in the tank.

Turtles are filthy, filthy animals and kill anything else in the tank.

Pufferfish, inclunding dwarf and pea puffers, are retardedly common and not elusive but prefer brackish.

Lungfish are hard as all fuck to find, expensive and as I understand it, more trouble than they are worth.

There is already a thread about fishtanks it's not like it's a thread exclusive to one poster.

edit: Vanity thy name is TIK, for that is a deer antler not a log

 

[THE_IRON_...KENYAN?]

mixmaster.mewtwo shouldnt feel bad about posting an aquarium thread out of common courtesy.

Face it Morm, you cant handle the fact that your fish tank thread fell to the second page and now you have to go into the competing thread and try to promote it? Give it a rest.

 

[Morm]

it's far more than I can handle, I am desperate for readership my esteem is in the balance

 

[mixmaster.mewthree]

crabs are all air breathers and need some pretty good land, unless they are marine, and will rip apart anything they can grab including plants and other animals.

Crayfish will catch and slay anything else in the tank.

aquatic frogs are alright I guess, all you're likely to find is Xenopus.

Axolotl are for ultimate (BAN ME PLEASE)s named Brodie (<3) and will kill anything else in the tank.

Turtles are filthy, filthy animals and kill anything else in the tank.

Pufferfish, inclunding dwarf and pea puffers, are retardedly common and not elusive but prefer brackish.

Lungfish are hard as all fuck to find, expensive and as I understand it, more trouble than they are worth.

All my dreams have been crushed. :(

What should I get in my aquarium then!?

 

[Morm]

that's really up to you. Tropical communities do well with planted aquairia that you appear to favor. Tetras, Corys etc. Those work really well for a beginner.

 

[RODAN]

get a hagfish

 

[Cooky]

veto that

they look like voldemorts dick

 

[Chubbs]

You should get whatever you want, after all it is your tank. Those glass fish (the ones you can see through) are cool though.

 

[LeviLamprey]

Can I suggest a bristlenose (catfish). They clean the tank for you and NEVER attack other fish (being placid herbivores). they also have high tolerance to different water conditions. And they look a little cute. Don't rely on them for total cleaning, though. It doesn't work.

 

[Lord Jesseus]

Here are some of my newts, but a lot of people confuse them as salamanders.

A newt is an amphibian of the Salamandridae family

Salamandridae is a family of salamanders

Nitpicks aside, we have some Oscars at my house. They're surviving fairly well considering the large amount of other fish which have inhabited the same tank before them, and died within a week or so...

I say you should get all of the things that Morm claims will kill everything else in the tank and see who wins.

 

[Limewire]

Can I suggest a bristlenose (catfish). They clean the tank for you and NEVER attack other fish (being placid herbivores). they also have high tolerance to different water conditions. And they look a little cute. Don't rely on them for total cleaning, though. It doesn't work.

Corydoras catfish work the same way and are, IMO, the better option if you have a small tank (these guys max out at 2-3 inches whereas bristlenose reach 7 inches).

Keep in mind that they prefer to be in groups of 3 or more though.

 

[LeviLamprey]

Corydoras are the better option but have a lower pH tolerance in genral, so bristlenoses may be a better option sometimes. I had both in my South America-themed aquarium. But Corydoras are very CUUUTE!

 

[Morm]

I personally love Loaches as far as hypognathus fish are concerned.

 

[Chou Toshio]

Ho ho my friend . . . You have NO IDEA

Step aside for a second . . . noobs . . . :P

My dream is to have an aquarium that looks like this

So, I see you have found some of the works by the one, the master, Mr. Amano-- the father of modern planted aquarium design and president of Aqua Design Amano.

I have had the fortune of meeting Mr. Amano a few times, living relatively close the HQ, and having attended the last 2 IAPLC Seminars (International Aquatic Plant Layout Contest).

The first tank you showed is the Mr. Amano's house aquarium-- the largest planted tank in the world, at 150 cm x 150 cm x 500 cm (It's 5 feet tall!!!)

Here are some of my personal photos of the tank and from IAPLC:

2009:

The beast in person!

Photo of me at the Nature Aquarium Gallery at the ADA Headquarters


Here's a video I made with photos from 2009's IAPLC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzTXEFnKCiQ



2010:

There's actually over 3000 new Axelrodis (green neon tetras) in there, but they were scared of all the visitors and ran to the back. What was insane were the huge chunks of stem plants. Growing Stem Plants to that height and perfect health from tip to roots is like-- impossible! But the flawless balance of this super system and the power of Wabi-Kusa prevails (yes, Wabi-Kusa bunches were used to plant the stem plants).

A photo of me with the creator, the man, Mr. Amano. Also

so yeah if you have an aquarium or something you can post pictures here or if you are very experienced and want to lend me advice on how to start up a successful and awesome aquarium and what I should buy, let me know!!

Ok . . . YOU ASKED FOR IT!!!!


Aquariums Design done by the rookie aquarium genius Chou Toshio:

Probably my greatest creation, gaining the rank of 71 (out of 1200 applicants) to place in the top 100 of the 2007 IAPLC:

Hau Coast:

Also, my most recent aquarium in my house, using the "legendary" Hakai-seki:

Eat your heart out guys.

If you want close ups of one of these tanks, just let me know. I have literally thousands of aquarium photos to my profile as an artist.


By the way, I will be at IAPLC 2011 too, so if anyone has plans to come, I'm sure I'll see you there. :P

 

[LeviLamprey]

You're the first person I've ever heard of who makes aquariums for art! Those designs are really something, but as far as the fish go there doesn't seem to be much variety (tetras and guppy/mollie/fighting fish breeds)

 

[Chou Toshio]

I will admit the fish pallet (yes, we call it a pallet . . .) is limited for planted tanks, but after all-- you have to cater to the plants. Nothing that eats plants, nothing violent to its surroundings, and nothing clumsy enough to knock stuff over.

Planted tank fish pallet staples:

Cichlids:
Apistogramma
Rams
(Most small South American cichlids do very well in soft-water planted tanks)
Angel Fish (BIG TANK)
Discus (BIG TANK, need heat)

Livebearers:
Guppies are the bomb. Of course other peaceful livebearers are fine, but most look really awkward.

Tetras and Rasbora species are pretty much the heart and soul staples of planted aquariums. Other small pretty fish come from the groups kilifish, minnows and barbs.

Staple Algae eating critters:
-Caridina / neocaridina sp. (Shrimp), Amano Shrimp are the most common
-Otocinclus
-Siamese Algae Eater


Loaches and Cory cats can also do very well in the planted aquarium, but they are not the most eye-catching in photos, so often get side-stepped by competitive aquascapers. Botia species do come with the nice perk of eating snails . . .

Aquascaping (Fresh Water planted tank design) is for designers, FOR ARTISTS.

Fish-keeper hobbyists best change their outlook on the aquarium before trying to learn our art.

 

[LeviLamprey]

Corydoras are among THE CUTEST FISH EVER in my opinion, but I guess they do kind of blend innto the earthy green/brown colours of many aquascaper tanks. I really think the tanks are spectacular, just wishing that there was a larger range of fish to put into them that don't cause problems so I can look at pretty pictures that also have lots of fish in them. I guess I should just find a public freshwater aquarium somewhere...

 

[Chou Toshio]

Cory cats are adorable . . . in fact, it was the desire to keep some as pets that led me to the pet store that introduced me to aquarium design in the first place. In a perverse way, I owe my inspiration to the art to cory cats.

Pygmy cory cats mid-swim so aside from being the cutest fish IN EXISTANCE, they are also a great decoration fish for small tanks (less than 10 gallons). They kinda get "lost in the shuffle" in anything bigger.

A face . . . anyone . . . would have to love


If you go REALLY BIG, Arowana, Gars and Pirahnas are compatible with Planted aquariums. :P

 

[Nastyjungle]

I don't know if I've ever come right out and said it, but I love your aquarium design, Chou.

That is adorable

 

[Chubbs]

Those Corydoras reminded me that my gran used to have a warm water tank that was rather cool. I was about 8 at the time and I loved it. The were some Clown Loaches in it, which imo are as good as/ slightly better than Corydoras. There were some tetras and some other things (Guppies and the like) too. Unfortunately it all died after we went on holiday to America.

However, when she gets back from Australia she plans on starting again and I will probably have some input, but this time she plans on doing a coral/ anemone type affair and obviously she/I will need some help with working out what types of things to put in as neither of us know much about corals/ anything marine other than fish; so if any of you have much knowledge on the subject, please do provide some information for us.

 

[mixmaster.mewthree]

@ Chou - wow, I'm kind of speechless of how awesome that is.

So, do you have to use a filter on your tank or do all of the live plants take care of oxygenating the water?

 

[mingot]

Chou, that is amazing stuff. I'm blown away.

 

[Morm]

Fact: Guppies and Tetras are for noobs, you are the one that is noob.

Take it as a compliment I guess but I really don't see any difference between that "masters" tanks and yours. How do you even clean them? Like standard suction methods tend to rip up the planted plants and I've noticed that it makes the bottom turn kinda swamped in no time at all with decaying plant matter.

Man, by our powers combined Chou, we could make the best aquaria EVER. It's not typical to fuss about the plants first, the only aquaria where something so non mobile is considered centerpiece is the new wave of salt waters, sans filter but with some bitchin' coral. Most of the time people, such as myself and 99% of freshwater keepers, tend to go "hey yeah why not some plants? SURE some hornwort whatever." I'm still excited for summer when stores will get in Hyacinth. YEAHHHH! I'd honestly have more plants, as background shit, but newts tend to get caught in them and rip the shit out of them.

Have you seen many of those new japanese microhabitats? Those shrimp and fish are fucking small!