Feb 26, 2011.

One of the guppies my sis gave me two weeks ago had babies. It is very hard to get an accurate count of the fry, but I think there are 14 or 15. They are doing well. The tank is planted, and the plants are doing very well too. Some plants have grown 3-4 inches in the past week. The fry have tons of places they could hide, if they wanted to. At first they did, now they are in the open, and the other fish are not really bothering them. Another guppy looks like she is ready to have a batch of fry today as well.

Fast Freddy, the apple snail, did not survive. He got stuck in the water stream, and rolled around for a few hours while I was at work. I came home and took him out of the stream, but a few days later after he wasn't moving, and the other fish started munching on him, I figured he was dead. Hard to tell with snails. Everyone else is doing fine. We do have a bit of an algae bloom happening, but I am not too worried as almost all the fish seem to enjoy eating it.

Feb 13, 2001, The first fish have arrived. 11 Guppies, some only 4 days old, some 4 months old, a couple may be pregnant. The tiny ones are hard to see, but I got a couple pics. My twin Jen brought some plants too, and we had fun setting setting them up. Thanks Jen for the fish and plants!
Update: Feb 19,2011. Went to Big Al's today, picked up 16 new fish, and I think the tank is full. Last week I brought home a pleco, an apple snail, and a bunch of neons, but the neons did not survive the water pump. I have encased the pump in sponge, but will not be getting any more neons. Today we picked up 2 pearl gourami, 2 golden gourami, 2 black molly, 2 red molly, 3 albino corydoras, 3 sterbai corydoras, and 2 albino bristlenose catfish/pleco. The fish seem to be adjusting well, and I am a very happy camper! Thank tank now has 28 fish and a couple snails.

The pleco I got last week, was so shy and would just hide in the corner behind the heater. Now that there are a lot more fish, and 2 more plecos, the first one is being all social too. Even though they are different kinds of plecos. One of the gouramis has been having fun trying to squeeze through every crevice it can. It loves the coffee mug handle. The albino corys are also having a hoot. Two of them are playing with the other fish at the top, playing chase games. All the fish are checking each other out. No aggression noticed.

It has been a few years since I have had anaquarium and would like to have one again. My last one was about 60 gallons, and I gave it away as I was frequently moving, which was not an easy thing for the fish. I gave the fish, aquarium and supplies to a more stable friend. It has been about 10 years now, and I have bought a house with my husband and we don't plan on moving, EVER. So, for my birthday, my super-awesome husband got me a wall tank. I am going to briefly display our adventure of our installation and set up (as soon as I figure out how to posts pics on this blog).

The tank arrived, but it would be a long time before it goes into place. The tank is plexiglass, apparently 17% stronger than glass and a bit lighter. Although, still quite heavy as it is large. 2 feet tall x 5 feet length x 8 inches depth. Not sure yet if it is scratch resistant. It was made in Hamilton, by Lantz Enterprizes. Good packaging, delivery, quality, nice to deal with. Here is their website: www.WallTanks.com

. The only thing I could suggest for improvement is that I

would like all the lid components to be removable so I could have more cleaning options, and so that I could fit all my decor in. However, these guys seemed to have thought of everything very carefully, so I imagine there could be some reason they have built it the way it is, like more structural support or something. Enough wining that my castle won't fit in.

Let's back up a bit. So the crate arrives, and I do mean a crate. No cardboard here, it was packaged in a chip-board wood box, all screwed together. Was fun to open. We kept the paper on the sides until all the renovation dust had settled too.

So let's get through the dust of it all. We had to make a huge hole in the wall for the tank to go it. The walls are plaster and lathe. Very dusty stuff. The wall had to be reinforced with many noggins and we went overkill by adding a secondary layer of wall support with metal studs. So our wall became 8 inches thick. We put a frame together to go in the wall, as per instructions that came with the tank. We made the frame was square and level, but when we put it in, we found out our floor wasn't level, and had to readjust for that. A few shims here and there did the trick. Then the electrical had to be redone to accommodate various plug locations above the tank. Of course,

all this work, which for some could be done in a weekend, for us took about two months, as we had to wait for our kid to be out of the house, for the loud pounding, sawing, dust settling, drilling, etc. Then I took a trip to Big Al's and picked up tons of aquarium related products, such as gravel, fishnet, food, sponge on a long stick.... A few days ago I added the gravel, and the last few days we added a bit of water, then a bit more. Yesterday I had to go to a hardware store and get a part to hook up the vacuum hose to my sink and today, we filled it! The trim is a bit tricky, as it is meant to only open at the top, but then you wouldn't be able to get at the pump to do regular maintenance, so we made all southern sides removable with velcro and left the northern side as it was meant to, with opening hinges on top trim only. Now we are just waiting for the water to settle. A few more days it will be ready for those baby fish that Jen's fish had!!!!

We are in the middle of a water change here. Last time I kept fish, I used the PMDD method of dosing nutrients. I am going to test my levels before and after the water change, for curiosity. Then add some fertilizers and try to figure out what my plants daily/weekly uptake is. I'm told the test kits aren't all that accurate, so I will dose a bit every other day, then test at the end of the week. I have 2 different kits; one with strips you dip in the water, and the other uses test tubes.

I have added some fish this week, so I am also expecting to see a bit of an ammonia spike. I know there are a lot of fish, which is why I have 2 filters running: an AquaClear 30, and a Penguin Bio-wheel 100. I'm also giving away some guppies. I got the loaches, as I was told they would eat the babies and keep the population in check. Not so. I have to give babies away every other month. I have to admit, they are interesting to watch, and I love that they explore through the plants.

Beginner's Inventory

I wish there were an awesome website where you could virtually build your fish tank with inventory of fish species, plants, lighting etc. I have found one or two that let you put some fish in, but that's about it.

I used to keep a fish log with weekly water changes, etc. in it, but wanting to go paperless, this seems the way to go.

I'm inviting my sister to join me in this project, as she will be starting a tank from scratch next month. She will be installing an in-wall tank, and has already begun demolition of their wall. It's cool to see the update emails I get, and hear her talking and planning what will go in it.

My tank has been up and running for a year and a half now, which started unexpectedly. I was telling my friend how before moving to our current residence, I used to have about 5 tanks ranging from 2 gallons to 35 gallons. I started with mollies, then ended up getting a larger breeder tank when I was surprised with a batch of 89 fry on Mother's Day from one beautiful silver molly. I raised them and gave them away, even sold a few. Once I discovered that fish actually had personalities, I went online to learn more. I found the coolest fish site ever, and learned much about keeping fish and plants. They have a huge database with articles about all aspects of fish keeping, even the DIY stuff like CO2 and PMDD for plants. What I really appreciated though, was how they were able to explain the why's of things like New Tank Syndrome and were very helpful. They have a great forum that would help each other diagnose a fish in trouble with signs of disease, or newcomers asking about compatible fish. I remember several nights staying up till all hours of the night reading more and more. Ok, I'll admit it. I wanted to know as much as those people did. Of course, I have forgotten much of the finer details of things since I've been out of fish-keeping for years. What happened? Well, to make it short, we moved. The movers did not end up moving our fish. My husband and I agreed that I could keep one tank. So I made arrangements for all the other fish, and got my last tank prepped for the move. Only there was some mix up. The movers apparently thought my carefully packed equipment was to go to the curb. That's what I was told when we had arrived at almost midnight and I was searching for the tank. I was very upset.

Fast forward to last spring, when I volunteered as photographer for a soccer tournament. The team coach (who is my friend) thanked me by giving me a 10 gallon tank. She knew. I put it on my the wooden stand that I had somehow kept. It looked a little small. I knew somehow I would find an excuse to upgrade it to a larger tank. I didn't have to wait long. Later I had soemone offer me their used 30 gallon lizard tank and stand. I cleaned it up as best as possible, and noticed a small crack in the corner. Not being able to trust it, but having the larger stand it came with, I went out to buy a 30 gallon tank. It's not my dream tank, but large enough to be content with.

One day, when my basement is finished, I would love to have a larger tank; over 50 gallons anyway. Something with enough room to keep all the fish and plants I would like to keep, without overcrowding.