Hello From South Florida.

[mattvillas]

Hello all. I would like to introduce myself. My name is Matthew. I live in South Florida and I'm 27. I've never really been a fish person, and haven't had any since I was a little kid. But things have changed recently. My fiance and I had planned a trip to Hawaii for our anniversary and unfortunately we had to cancel; so instead I decided to get a fish tank to serve as our little "oasis". Petsmart was running a great deal on one that caught my eye.

This was all a couple of months ago. I purchased a 4ft wide 60 gallon (227 litre) tank and set up. At first, I really had no idea what I was doing. I asked my friend Google and this site was one of the ones to pop up. And I must say there is a lot of information here. I have posted a couple times in the livebearers section.

Now my tank appears to be doing great. I have 25 fish total. 2 mollies, 7 guppies, and the rest platies. At first, I wanted to collect all the different mickey mouse ones, because I am a Disney nut. Oh, and I was going for a particular color scheme. Red, white, and black; because I'm an Arizona Cardinals NFL football fan. (Notice the football in the middle.)

Since you suffered through my story, here are some pics.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

looks like a lovely tank i love your huge bubble wall at the back hehe... are you looking to put any more fish in there?

 

[mattvillas]

I actually just posted a thread under "Tropical Discussion" about trying to decide on a bottom feeder for my tank. I am approaching my threshold according to the one inch per gallon rule.. although because the fish appear so small in my large tank, I'm wondering if I can get a couple extra. I've decided I want to get as many different colored/patterned platies as possible so if I need room, I'll need to find a new home for my guppies.

 

[elisew]

Hi and welcome to TFF

Nice tank, the air bubbles makes it look like you have a waterfall running down the back, it looks nice in the pic

Regarding the bottom dwellers for your tank, I personally would suggest either a bristlenose plec which doesn`t grow very big or 6 corys. Both are great additions to a community tank, the corys are funny and highly entertaining BUT......


..........Firstly I would however suggest that you be aware of the high probablility of your tank becoming overstocked due to the fact that you already have some of the most prolific breeders in your tank, the platys and guppies. They`re like the rabbits of the fish world for breeding and you`ll soon become over run with fry unless you rehome all of them or just the males. Not only will your fish suffer due to lack of room but your water levels will become a nightmare to keep on top of i.e ammonia and then the resulting nitrites.
It`s something you do need to think hard about because adding corys/plecs/more fish woldn`t be a great idea due to the likely fry adding to your numbers

 

[Lyra0727]

Welcome to the forums!

I find it very funny that we have the exact same tank I knew as soon as you said good deal at pet smart because I got my tank around the same time haha! Love the gravel choices, must have cost a bit knowing the prices down in florida.. I just went with gravel from home depo 2 bags for 4 bucks and it filled the whole tank. But it isnt as colorful as yours, good job! Your tank is beautiful

 

[mattvillas]

Hi and welcome to TFF

Nice tank, the air bubbles makes it look like you have a waterfall running down the back, it looks nice in the pic

Regarding the bottom dwellers for your tank, I personally would suggest either a bristlenose plec which doesn`t grow very big or 6 corys. Both are great additions to a community tank, the corys are funny and highly entertaining BUT......


..........Firstly I would however suggest that you be aware of the high probablility of your tank becoming overstocked due to the fact that you already have some of the most prolific breeders in your tank, the platys and guppies. They`re like the rabbits of the fish world for breeding and you`ll soon become over run with fry unless you rehome all of them or just the males. Not only will your fish suffer due to lack of room but your water levels will become a nightmare to keep on top of i.e ammonia and then the resulting nitrites.
It`s something you do need to think hard about because adding corys/plecs/more fish woldn`t be a great idea due to the likely fry adding to your numbers

This is actually something I've been thinking about for the last week. I am asking all my friends if they already have a fish tank or would be interested in getting one so that the fry would have a new home.
I'm going to let nature take its course and not get any breeder traps or anything. There aren't too many LFS down here and I'm not sure if the few that are here will buy platy fry. As a last resort, I think I might buy a new tank for the waiting room at the place that I work for them to live in. I am interested, however, in what the fry will look like considering I have some many variations of colors and patterns.

 

[mattvillas]

Welcome to the forums!

I find it very funny that we have the exact same tank I knew as soon as you said good deal at pet smart because I got my tank around the same time haha! Love the gravel choices, must have cost a bit knowing the prices down in florida.. I just went with gravel from home depo 2 bags for 4 bucks and it filled the whole tank. But it isnt as colorful as yours, good job! Your tank is beautiful

Great choice in your tank! I'm trying to remember how much gravel I had purchased... I think one 25 lb bag of both white and black and two 10 lb bags of red. Think I spent like $30 total. The bad part is I only used a little over half of it. But I do have a backup 37 tank I can use it in. I am keeping that tank in case I need an emergency hospital tank or a place for overstocked fish. It was given to me by a coworker; he used it before for salt water fish. So when I cleaned it up, it still had some dried salt on the cover that was an eye sore. I didn't like the way it looked and that's when I decided to just get a new bigger one.

 

[Lyra0727]

Welcome to the forums!

I find it very funny that we have the exact same tank I knew as soon as you said good deal at pet smart because I got my tank around the same time haha! Love the gravel choices, must have cost a bit knowing the prices down in florida.. I just went with gravel from home depo 2 bags for 4 bucks and it filled the whole tank. But it isnt as colorful as yours, good job! Your tank is beautiful

Great choice in your tank! I'm trying to remember how much gravel I had purchased... I think one 25 lb bag of both white and black and two 10 lb bags of red. Think I spent like $30 total. The bad part is I only used a little over half of it. But I do have a backup 37 tank I can use it in. I am keeping that tank in case I need an emergency hospital tank or a place for overstocked fish. It was given to me by a coworker; he used it before for salt water fish. So when I cleaned it up, it still had some dried salt on the cover that was an eye sore. I didn't like the way it looked and that's when I decided to just get a new bigger one.

Wow! I've never spent that much on gravel lol. But I guess it was well worth it for you since you have extra for your other tank. I had a back up for my tank.. but I ended up having to put goldfish in it. Now that I might have a little extra cash on hand this summer I am thinking about getting a 75 gallon and switching out the fish in my 60 into the 75 then putting mollys platys sword tails and guppies in my 60. Choices choices.. fish keeping is very addicting after you get the hang of it LOL

 

[mattvillas]

I know what you mean about it being addictive. I have no way of affording it, but I already want a bigger tank, like at least 120 gallons. I'm always going to pet stores looking for different looking platies.

 

[Lyra0727]

I know what you mean about it being addictive. I have no way of affording it, but I already want a bigger tank, like at least 120 gallons. I'm always going to pet stores looking for different looking platies.

Haha I'm at petsmart at least every 5 days now. I always find some reason to go.. then end up going back and forth looking at the fish thinking.."hmm what can I add this time" LOL

If you got your 120 gallon what fish would you go for?

 

[mattvillas]

Haha I'm at petsmart at least every 5 days now. I always find some reason to go.. then end up going back and forth looking at the fish thinking.."hmm what can I add this time" LOL

If you got your 120 gallon what fish would you go for?

Well, if I were able to get a tank that big I would probably try a reef tank. The saltwater fish are just so much more colorful. Although it'll be a lot more money, I think it'd be worth it in the long run.

 

[Lyra0727]

Haha I'm at petsmart at least every 5 days now. I always find some reason to go.. then end up going back and forth looking at the fish thinking.."hmm what can I add this time" LOL

If you got your 120 gallon what fish would you go for?

Well, if I were able to get a tank that big I would probably try a reef tank. The saltwater fish are just so much more colorful. Although it'll be a lot more money, I think it'd be worth it in the long run.

It would be worth it, but its also a lot more work. You always have to make sure you have the saltwater perpaird days sometimes weeks before doing water changes.. I tried doing it once but it didnt work out well. Of course I was 8 then and it was mostly my mother careing for them.. But even today I still think its a bit more of a hassle.

But then again, if you have lots of room for the extra water that will need to be stored then it probably isnt that much of a hassle and the fish really are beautiful

 

[CrazyAirborne]

nice looking tank!