[M&S]

Hi all,

I've been reading through the forum posts for a week now and thought I should join and say hello :thumb:

I have kept tropical fish on and off since a child, and finally got back into fish keeping 3 years ago. I have a well established planted community tank (3 years) that I am now just deciding to learn/experiment some more with aquascaping. It is already well planted but has a "beginners look" to it, and I want something more professional :lol:

Anyway, as if the above project wasn't enough I was lucky enough to come across another second hand tank that is the same as my current tank (a Fluval Roma 200), but the new one is the Roma 240 :dancing: The two look great next to each other on the same cabinets, same hoods, etc :thumb:

This new tank is going to be home to Cichlids...and I'm looking towards designing a dark, rock based aquarium to show the fish off at their best.

I'm sure I will have lots of questions, but think that is enough of an introduction for now

I will post some photos when the camera is charged.

PS - forgot, I also have a "rainbow" crab in his own tank

 

[prov356]

Welcome to the forum! Looking forward to the tank pics.

 

[fmueller]

Another welcome! Regarding aquascaping, I get a lot of inspiration from the work of Takashi Amano. He has published several books with amazing photos, or you can just google his name and look at images. Few people can achieve what he does - I consider him to be the Michelangelo of aquascapers - but once in a while you get an idea that you can implement in a cichlid tank.

 

[newforestrob]

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Tak ... &FORM=IGRE
I would say quite remarkable :fish:

 

[AZcichlidfreak]

Welcome to the forums!

And all I can say to newforestrob link is WOW!!! :dancing:

 

[M&S]

Thank you for teh welcome. I have added some pics to "My Tanks". As I say, currently undergoing a bit of a make-over but the fish are very happy and healthy and what plants are in there seem to be doing well.

I agree that the work by Takashi Amano is amazing. I fear that perhaps it is a bit too maintenance heavy though, requiring trimming every day to keep it perfect. I like my tanks as "maintenance free" as possible (and believe plants are the biggest factor in this - for water quality purposes).

I have, however, had a rethink on my new tank and after buying some rocks and researching Mbunas for weeks, have decided that I want to create another planted tank

I have always wanted to keep Discus but, liek marines, decided against it for reasons of "difficulty". I am much more confident now though and think that this is something I am ready to try. This will restrict my planting options but that's not a bad thing and could be quite a good challenge.

I shall start a new tank build thread for that though :thumb:

 

[M&S]

I see my tank pics have gone from "My Tanks" section, so here they are, along with my newly aquired Nano Tank (an Arcadia Arc Tank 20 litre).

My community tank, the plane was a recent addition which I liked, but now am not so sure. This tank is getting stripped soon as I am going to use my new 240l tank as a home for the community fish, giving me chance to rearrange the 200l.

This is George, and his home. He's great, shed twice already. I recently changed his home from sand to gravel as sand is a problem to keep clean. Most of it ends up in the water as he "pushes it" in, then clogs/gets filthy. He cleans the gravel himself, always digging and turning it over :thumb:

And this is my newly aquired Nano tank which will house my Betta and some red cherry shrimp :fish: I just planted it today and look forward to seeing it grow. A cheap tank to set-up really, just some of the soil substrate from my 240l, and some pea gravel. Bog wood from my community tank (which was just housed there as a temporary measure anyway) and a free heater that was given to me fits perfectly at the back of the tank.

I can see me getting quite hooked on Nano Tanks and feel a dwarf puffer tank coming on next

Any questions please ask, I'm happy to share what I have learned so far, right or wrong!