New to the forum, a quick intro.

[FishyD]

Old guy here. I recently retired and and had aquariums off and on since I was a child. I have been on a three year break from the hobby. About four years ago I peaked at maybe 11 tanks. For now I will set my 60G and a 20T back up. Probably a QT tank soon as well. If I keep my head I won't have to buy so much gear this time. Probably do mostly livebearers again. My water is extremely hard and soft water species are a struggle. Last episode I got into live plants and fert dosing. Tat worked out well enough to actually sell extra plants so I looking to forward to relearning what I have forgotten. I hope to meet some of you soon. I am pretty chatty.

 

[MattW]

Welcome to TFF!

I can't go without plants now. It is always one of the first things I consider when setting up a tank
There are also some great hard water nano species you could potentially keep if they're available in your area.

Celestichthys erythromicron (Microrasbora erythromicron, Danio erythromicron) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis – Lemon Tetra — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Sawbwa resplendens — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Trigonostigma espei – Lambchop Rasbora — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

 

[FishyD]

Welcome to TFF!

I can't go without plants now. It is always one of the first things I consider when setting up a tank
There are also some great hard water nano species you could potentially keep if they're available in your area.

Celestichthys erythromicron (Microrasbora erythromicron, Danio erythromicron) — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis – Lemon Tetra — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Sawbwa resplendens — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Trigonostigma espei – Lambchop Rasbora — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Thanks for the welcome. Plants for sure now that I have figured out what I can grow without too much hasslle. I intend to dose fert again, but hopefully less QTY and keep the overall maintenance to a lower level than last time. I burned myself out last time. Perhaps not setting up 10 tanks plus outdoor summer tubs in under a year would make it easier. Seriously though, I have a better idea how much work I am creating up front this time. I haven't decided on the stocking yet, but lemon tetras are a strong candidate. I had a school of them last time and they seemed to do well. I liked them a lot. They seemed more docile than some other tetras I have owned in the past, but still extremely active to keep the tank interesting. I should start a new thread for my initial stocking thoughts. I will check the links on the other species you posted.

 

[MattW]

I burned myself out last time. Perhaps not setting up 10 tanks plus outdoor summer tubs in under a year would make it easier.

I found 3 tanks a hassle I Guess I don't have MTS as bad as others

I should start a new thread for my initial stocking thoughts. I will check the links on the other species you posted.

Definitely do that! There are so many members on here with years of experience and expertise that can input
@emeraldking is your guy for livebearers if you have any issues or questions.

I intend to dose fert again, but hopefully less QTY and keep the overall maintenance to a lower level than last time

I found epiphyte plants best for maintenance. Bolbitis, Anubias, Javafern, Buce, etc. My new paludarium plans only include epiphytes

but lemon tetras are a strong candidate. I had a school of them last time and they seemed to do well. I liked them a lot. They seemed more docile than some other tetras I have owned in the past, but still extremely active to keep the tank interesting.

Never kept them before but look like a great overall fish. Perhaps a livebearer may be a more entertaining fish to have. But again I've never kept them either so I can't really comment on that.

 

[FishyD]

I found 3 tanks a hassle I Guess I don't have MTS as bad as others

Definitely do that! There are so many members on here with years of experience and expertise that can input
@emeraldking is your guy for livebearers if you have any issues or questions.

I found epiphyte plants best for maintenance. Bolbitis, Anubias, Javafern, Buce, etc. My new paludarium plans only include epiphytes

Never kept them before but look like a great overall fish. Perhaps a livebearer may be a more entertaining fish to have. But again I've never kept them either so I can't really comment on that.

Livebearers can definitely be a lot of fun, if you don't turn it into a maternity ward and try to save them all because they have a market value. I have purchased very fancy guppy trios through the years. They are sure pretty, but they are ridiculously inbred and way harder to keep alive than a guppy ever was before in all the years I raised them.

 

[FishyD]

I found 3 tanks a hassle I Guess I don't have MTS as bad as others

Definitely do that! There are so many members on here with years of experience and expertise that can input
@emeraldking is your guy for livebearers if you have any issues or questions.

I found epiphyte plants best for maintenance. Bolbitis, Anubias, Javafern, Buce, etc. My new paludarium plans only include epiphytes

Never kept them before but look like a great overall fish. Perhaps a livebearer may be a more entertaining fish to have. But again I've never kept them either so I can't really comment on that.

I will need to learn how to multi-quote soon. I have grown most of the plants you listed successfully, and a half dozen more. Except for java fern. I know it is supposed to be simple but it is the one plant that just lays there after numerous attempts. Perhaps there is something off with my water, but everything else should have been sufficient.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Welcome! Make sure you get in touch with @emeraldking , our resident live-bearer expert.

 

[MattW]

I will need to learn how to multi-quote soon. I have grown most of the plants you listed successfully, and a half dozen more. Except for java fern. I know it is supposed to be simple but it is the one plant that just lays there after numerous attempts. Perhaps there is something off with my water, but everything else should have been sufficient.

weirdly the Trident and Windelov varieties do best in my water. The others grow ok but not as well. It's good to know that the majority grow well in your water though. I've spent a lot on plants in the past 4 years trying to find which do work and which don't

 

[FishyD]

weirdly the Trident and Windelov varieties do best in my water. The others grow ok but not as well. It's good to know that the majority grow well in your water though. I've spent a lot on plants in the past 4 years trying to find which do work and which don't

It's definitely a big science project that requires some trial and error to account for facts we can't reasonably know. You are going to hear me complain some that my water is ridiculously hard as I post threads. I live a 60 second walk from a large limestone quarry. My well is 372ft deep to get water from below the rock. Plenty of other minerals as well that are not all bad overall. What I won't be doing is setting up an Amazon biotope with fish that love 6.0PH. I have raised Dwarf Cichlids in a 20G getting all the water from my smallish RO filter. That isn't particularly convenient, and was mildly effective. I do my best to determine where my fish came from. The S.E. is much better than the PNW if I want fish acclimated to anything halfway near my well water. I just control what I can.

 

[emeraldking]

Welcome to our forum...
I'm a passionate livebearer keeper myself...

 

[FishyD]

Welcome to our forum...
I'm a passionate livebearer keeper myself...

I would love to chat with you as I go along. There is a large club auction near me in 30 days. A lot of semi-pro breeders will attend and they have had always had some nice stock in the past, so I better get busy cycling as only my 60G should be fairly quick.

 

[emeraldking]

I would love to chat with you as I go along. There is a large club auction near me in 30 days. A lot of semi-pro breeders will attend and they have had always had some nice stock in the past, so I better get busy cycling as only my 60G should be fairly quick.

Don't be a stranger and show us some photos once you've purchased your livebearers at the auction.

 

[FishyD]

Don't be a stranger and show us some photos once you've purchased your livebearers at the auction.

I will, and I will post pics of my tanks in the meantime. I will have some questions before I go fish shopping. I do have a fair amount of experience with livebearers, but there are definitely some variants that have appeared since I last raised some of the species. I just assume some of them are probably genetic trouble I should avoid. I am always willing to listen and learn. The past few days I have been paying for my sins of letting some tanks evaporate completely dry. Removing heavy calcium deposits from equipment is sure fun.... not. I bought some 45% cleaning vinegar to loosen it up. Works pretty well, but the fumes will knock you over. Wife kicked me out to the garage after a few hours of that indoors.