Fully Stocked!

[Rynofasho]

I ended up buying what will be my last fish today, which is a male longfin BN plec. So now I have a nice couple in Ike and Tina My total stock is in my signature below, but I just wanted to say that as exciting as it is to buy new fish, it is rather sad to finally be fully stocked! Researching good tank mates and fish is a lot of fun, and it is great to introduce new critters into the tank.

Was anyone else a bit sad once they were totally stocked?

BTW Thanks all for the help and guidance you provided along the way!

 

[OldMan47]

It looks like you have an interesting assortment of compatible fish. I fully understand the thrill of buying a few new fish but you don't want to end up like me with 26 tanks running and still going out to look for interesting new fish. Instead you might want to take on the challenge, it will be a challenge, of breeding your fish. The whole hobby is built around the diversity of fish we keep and the fun of learning how best to care for each species. Once you learn that for a species, they will often breed for you with little added effort.

 

[Uriel]

I haven't hit this point yet but expect i will meet it with mixed feeelings. I've found each part of my fish adventure to have it's own joys and pitfalls. Everything from watching my tank quietly drain out on to the floor through the side of my filter to seeing my plants and fish start to flourish in there new home. I look forward to watching my tank slowly develop and mature and regularly find my self loosing 5-10 mins of my life just staring at the antics of one of my mad corydoras or watching a tetra rocket round the tank like a mad man.

I wouldn't look at it as the end of something but the beginning of something different and you can always start rescaping or finding bit of bogwood you love and curing and preparing them for your tank if you find yourself in need of something manuel to do.

 

[Rynofasho]

I hear you OM -- my biggest obstacle to breeding at this point is cost. It seems that for most all my fish, some of the keys to breeding are a changing of the pH to be more acidic and/or very large water changes to simulate the wet season in their native environment. My tap pH is astoundingly alkaline, thus negating part one, and further to that, I can't change more than about 40% of the water in one go because of the difference in alkalinity from tap to tank (tap is 8.5+ probably close to 9 realistically, and it ends up just over 8.0 in the tank after it is settled).

I've tested the big water change theory three times and all three times it has resulted in shocked / stressed fish, so I'm fairly averse to doing it unless it is an emergency.

That is where the cost part comes in. I could consider an RO unit and a separate breeding tank, but right now I'm still working on this one.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the fish I have and I have had a great time with them and will continue to, however there is something a bit sad about it coming to a close.

 

[AstonN24vantage]

I HATE BEING FULLY STOCKED! YOU'RE BORED TO DEATH UNTIL SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS!!!!

 

[Rynofasho]

What's funny is we also have three male Bettas in three other 1.5 gallons and I'm REALLY having to fight the urge to add one of them to the big tank The only thing I'm a bit worried of is the current, and possible my fat Danios as I wouldn't put it past the biggest one to be a fin nipper. I was looking for a centerpiece fish. . .haha

 

[michaelh]

Really nice stock. I know the feeling though next week i will be starting tank 2 with a frogmouth catfish then 3 african butterfly fish

 

[moochy13]

is that really fully stocked ?

 

[Rynofasho]

It's about 45" of fish in a 36 gallon tank, two of which (the plecs) put off a lot of waste. Yes, I could shove more fish in there I suppose, but I'd like to let everyone have their space.

Like I said above, I'm contemplating throwing one of our Bettas in there, or perhaps a blue or opaline gourami, but no more than 1 more fish.

 

[moochy13]

bristlenose are the cleanest plecs i know of, which is at least some good news

the worst thing about keeping a tank is walking through fish shops looking at all the fish you want but cant have.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

picsss of ur fully stocked tank i wana see how good it looks hehe i love a nose at peoples tanks

 

[Rynofasho]

I'll try to snap some a bit later as I'm at work currently (US based). The scape is sh*t, but mostly cuz I don't care at the moment since it will very soon be rescaped (got a new light last night, just need to shop plants now)!

On a bright note, Ike seems to be much less shy than Tina and was spotted jockeying for a wafer, much to the chagrin of the fat danios