Joined
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54 Posts
Hi everybody,
I've been a lurker since 2006. For some of that time I practically lived on the forums, and you've helped me immeasurably without ever knowing it. I apologize for not thanking you earlier.
After the Crash <moment of silence>, I thought I really should jump in and start participating. I have benefitted so much from the information on this forum and would like to help repopulate that information, even if only by asking the questions.
So here's (the first part of) my story:
With your assistance, I bought and set up my "dream" tank. You saved me a lot of money and a lot of trouble. The tank has been running for a little over four years now, and I've learned something very important:
Big tanks are awesome, but they're just not for me. I'm short, I'm fat, and I mostly live alone. It's frustrating for me to try and manipulate things in my tank because it's too big (deep/high). I can take the canopy off to lose some of the height, but getting it back on (without smacking the lights around/off) is really a two-person job, and taking it off doesn't really help that much anyway. The bottom line is that I don't enjoy puttering around with my big tank. The practical result of this is that I've really let it "go" over the past couple of years. The fish seem to be doing fine, but the tank looks like crap. I've got algae issues and there's really no aquascaping to speak of anymore - it's pretty much overrun with Crypts.
I've finally managed to admit to myself that I don't really want my big tank anymore. I feel like a quitter, but there it is. The last straw was when I started looking into converting the 10 gal in my office to a low-tech planted tank for a couple of DP (*always* wanted some) and noticed that my excitement for aquarium stuff had returned with a vengeance. My frustrations with the big tank have been killing my love for the hobby. That's bad (and sad).
The problem now is what to do with the big tank. I guess I'd like to sell it and use the proceeds to fund my interest in small (30 gal and below) tanks, because I don't have a lot of extra money lying around. However, the logistics seem problematic as I still have fish in there. It's not like I can take it down and clean everything out etc. And some of the fish I have now are too big to be moved into a small tank.
What are your thoughts? To help, here's a general description of what I have now. (Some of the details are fuzzy because I haven't paid close attention in so long, and I'm not at home to try and check model #'s etc.) Any ideas or guidance would be much appreciated.
My "big" tank setup:
90 gal Oceanic bowfront with stand and canopy (black) containing
- a tonne of Cryptocorynes
- three large Clown Loaches (had them since 2004)
- two bristlenose plecos
- a few otos
- one pearl Gourami
- one black Molly
- around 10 neons
- a couple of very elderly zebra danios
- a couple of homemade slate shelters etc.
- algae
around 300w of lighting
heater
Eheim cannister filter
CO2 injection system (tank, regulator, solenoid, pH meter, external diffusion chamber etc.)
I've been a lurker since 2006. For some of that time I practically lived on the forums, and you've helped me immeasurably without ever knowing it. I apologize for not thanking you earlier.
After the Crash <moment of silence>, I thought I really should jump in and start participating. I have benefitted so much from the information on this forum and would like to help repopulate that information, even if only by asking the questions.
So here's (the first part of) my story:
With your assistance, I bought and set up my "dream" tank. You saved me a lot of money and a lot of trouble. The tank has been running for a little over four years now, and I've learned something very important:
Big tanks are awesome, but they're just not for me. I'm short, I'm fat, and I mostly live alone. It's frustrating for me to try and manipulate things in my tank because it's too big (deep/high). I can take the canopy off to lose some of the height, but getting it back on (without smacking the lights around/off) is really a two-person job, and taking it off doesn't really help that much anyway. The bottom line is that I don't enjoy puttering around with my big tank. The practical result of this is that I've really let it "go" over the past couple of years. The fish seem to be doing fine, but the tank looks like crap. I've got algae issues and there's really no aquascaping to speak of anymore - it's pretty much overrun with Crypts.
I've finally managed to admit to myself that I don't really want my big tank anymore. I feel like a quitter, but there it is. The last straw was when I started looking into converting the 10 gal in my office to a low-tech planted tank for a couple of DP (*always* wanted some) and noticed that my excitement for aquarium stuff had returned with a vengeance. My frustrations with the big tank have been killing my love for the hobby. That's bad (and sad).
The problem now is what to do with the big tank. I guess I'd like to sell it and use the proceeds to fund my interest in small (30 gal and below) tanks, because I don't have a lot of extra money lying around. However, the logistics seem problematic as I still have fish in there. It's not like I can take it down and clean everything out etc. And some of the fish I have now are too big to be moved into a small tank.
What are your thoughts? To help, here's a general description of what I have now. (Some of the details are fuzzy because I haven't paid close attention in so long, and I'm not at home to try and check model #'s etc.) Any ideas or guidance would be much appreciated.
My "big" tank setup:
90 gal Oceanic bowfront with stand and canopy (black) containing
- a tonne of Cryptocorynes
- three large Clown Loaches (had them since 2004)
- two bristlenose plecos
- a few otos
- one pearl Gourami
- one black Molly
- around 10 neons
- a couple of very elderly zebra danios
- a couple of homemade slate shelters etc.
- algae
around 300w of lighting
heater
Eheim cannister filter
CO2 injection system (tank, regulator, solenoid, pH meter, external diffusion chamber etc.)