# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Please introduce yourself



## Guest

Let's make this topic a bit more friendly and less "educational".

Let's compile some individual information about our members. Some will have an option to meet, talk, argue, discuss and have fun at coming up Plant Gatherings. Tom Barr is preparing "Tom Fast" in August in Florida and many of us will probably travel to Dallas for 2003 AGA Convention.

Let's gain knowledge and share some general information about each other. Please share pictures of yourself if you have one. Working around the tank, anything related to water or just any picture would be nice for future reference when looking for someone at the convention.

I will go first.

Started my first 20G guppy/swordtail tank at age of 10. I got some Cabomba from a friend around the initial setup day and since then I was involved with planted tanks one way or the other. At age of 10, with no access to internet and limited literature, I had no clue about N-P-K, CO2 or proper light levels so my tanks were far away from Dutch/Zan looking aquascape. At age of 18 I moved to USA and automatically bought a standard 55G which was a home to Angels which I bred for a while. Soon after, I joined North Jersey Aquarium Society and got involved a bit more with cichlids. There was only one person who had descent amount of knowledge about plants, Dr. Ted Colleti, so my plant-adventure future didn't look bright. I lost interest in plants b/c my LFS had all plastics in his tanks and I still wasn't exposed to Online Bible. Few years later I got my PC hooked up and soon after I had my CO2 pumping into freshly setup old/55G tank; this is when my hi-tech journey started. Recently I got involved a bit more with African cichlids, especially from Malawi Lake but was still able to use my plant knowledge and fantasy to turn African rocky biotope into rocky/plant 75G Hap/Peacock tank. Now at age of 26, I feel like this has been a long journey and I wouldn't be here, knowledge wise, if it wasn't for Forums like this and other online sources.

by Jay Luto

Here is my happy face from my recent vacations with my girlfriend in Dominican Republic in place called Sosua.



















Join as at www.njas.net









[This message was edited by Jay Luto on Sun July 20 2003 at 09:33 AM.]


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## jpmtotoro

michigander forever, got into aquariums in elementary school sometime... mostly because of newts (newts are cool, forget all your cichlids) and i have had tanks of some sort throughout my oh-so-long life (i'm 21 now). a year or so ago i decided to get live plants for my tank... not sure why... just... felt like it. man what a mistake, i was great at keeping normal tanks under control, this was a money pit. kept buying stuff that i thought i would need, but being wrong and redoing it ALL over again. (re-did gravel to flourite in my 50, might change it out again for smaller particulate stuff). somehow i found this forum... watched it for a while, met some people, and finally started understanding everything. still learning myself, but i've had a ball helping the other newbies here get over the early roadbumps. so far so good, i've stopped killing plants, managed to get them to pearl, and all without CO2. also starting to get to know some of the people here, and have a few AIM buddies now from here, so just want to say thanks again, good forum, good people. hope it sticks around for a while, i'd still be killing plants without it!









JP


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## Phil Edwards

I'm a 26 yr old planthead who got his degree in Music Education and is now wishing he had gone to school for Botany. I started seriously keeping aquariums my sophomore year in college when I fell in love with my friends' Oscars. Not long after that I got interested plants by way of biotope re-creation and it's been a long spiral downhill ever since. 

After seeing the dark side of the US public education system and seven years of aquariums (and internet activity) I've decided to try my hand at getting into the industry myself. Now I'm a freelance aquascaper, maker of custom planted tank filters, and the plant guy at one of the LFSs.

Proverbs 3:7-8


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## ekim

My name is Mike, if you didn't know. I'm also 26 yrs old (popular age so far!).
I grew up in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and moved to Ottawa about 4yrs ago with my girlfriend. I've been in manufacturing and R&D of optical amplifiers for the past 4 years.
Since the "high tech" downturn up here I was forced to switch career paths 
and went back to school for Web-design.
I've had fish tanks on and off over the years but just got into plants in the last 2 yrs.

Here is a pic of my girlfriend & I.


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## Roger Miller

Hey, I'm not 26!. In fact, I haven't been 26 since 1980.

I'm 49. I was married at 27 and still have the same wife (now a nurse) plus 3 wonderful daughters. My oldest daughter graduates from highschool next week.

My folks were from western Nebraska and I've spent most of my life on the high plains and Rocky Mountain area. I was educated as a geologist and work as a water resource consultant.

I started keeping my own aquariums in 1967. Before that I took care of my parent's aquarium. I've had one or more tanks most of the time since then, ranging from a 1 1/2 gallon cookie jar to my current 150 gallon tank. I tried keeping plants in all of those tanks, but didn't really succeed until about 1988 when some crypts and anubias in an underlit, unmaintained tank just refused to die. I still have them.

In addition to work and family and aquariums, I spend my time working on the house and gardens, jogging and annoying my big, blue-eyed white tom cat. I have s first degree in TaeKwonDo, and hope some day to return and complete my second degree.

No pictures. I'm always the one behind the camera.


Roger Miller


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## kherman

HI EVERYBODY,

let's see here, where to start. I am 27 years old, born in Lockport, NY (think Niagara Falls). I lived there through college(sp?). As far back as I can remember we had a fish tank mat my house. I believe it had feeder gooldfish and a Pleco. Probably 20 gallons. I don't remember much about it except for that day I fed them (or overfed them, oops). Ever since that day I was occasionally allowed to get a goldfish in one of those round 1 gallon bowls. Then at college, I had two tanks. Both 10 gallons. One as a freshman, one as a sophomore. I was pretty much a moron back then, just getting "random" fish and some plants. Oh, I also went to Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY. I received my electrical engineering degree, got my first job, couldn't stand it and went back for a computer science degree(whcih was to take 4 semesters). After the first two, I did a summer co-op with General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division. After making my name for myself, they hired me after that summer since I already had a degree. I've been here for about three years as a software engineer. After the first year, I bought a house and my first "real" tank. A 35 hex. Granted I did't know much about fish/plant care, I just made up a community tank with random peaceful fish and some Swords. I went through about 5 plant specieis, but only two made it. I think the other is a crypt of some sort. This is about the time I met my fiance (getting married in July). You can find a picture of us on my web site linked in my signature. We are going to be moving into a larger house in the near future, so I am currently planning my next tank. My first real attempt at a true aquascape. It's mostly dutch, but some influence of Tikashi Amano will be evident since I am going to have atleast one large grassy area. Not a true dutch aquarium.

The above was mostly random talk, but that's where I am right now. I am still elarning alot about aquariums and I have alot to learn aobut plant care still, but I am working on that.

http://www.geocities.com/kfh227- go there and see my future fish section to see what I have planned for my next 100+ gallon tank.

*I am probably going to start work on my stand for the 100 gallon tank in about 2 weeks(May 22). Pics coming soon







*


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## Vicki

Sigh....thanks, Roger, I feel a LITTLE better...I have a son who's 26, does that count?







In case anyone's counting, I'm 55, and I have no idea how that happened. Been married to the same guy for almost 33 years, and have two wonderful sons; 23 years ago one of them brought home a water dog from preschool, and I stuck him in a goldfish bowl. Six months later he turned into a tiger salamander, and I was hooked from then on. We were living in Phoenix then, and very shortly I wound up with nine tanks up and running, populated by many species of tetras, angelfish and assorted other cichlids, platies and mollies. I supported my hobby with silver molly, angelfish and krib babies then. I always had live plants, but mostly hornwort that I floated and the occasional bunch of cabomba that would live for about six weeks and then turn to mush. I thought that was what it was supposed to do then. We moved from Phoenix to Kentucky in 1987, and I found homes for all my fish and sold the tanks except for one 10 gallon and a 55 acrylic hex; oh, and Elroy, the salamander who started the whole thing. I couldn't leave him behind, he rode across the country in his bowl in the back seat with the Doberman. He lived to see the boys go away to college, I had him for 16 years. Went through a mercifully brief fancy goldfish period after we settled in Kentucky, and we were so broke then all I kept up for several years was a 10 gallon. About five years ago when the tuition payments slowed down my unsuspecting hubby bought me a 55 gallon for Christmas, and I was off and running again and got serious about planted tanks; I had never stopped reading about them and was always interested in plants, and finally got to do something about it. I'm now back up to eight tanks and have a brand new 30 gallon that I'm going to make into a high nutrient tank. Poor hubby thinks I got it so I can take down some of the smaller ones...

I have a day job that seriously interferes with my hobby--network administrator for a medium sized law firm, and I write economic development documentation too. The instant I win the lottery the day job is history, and I'll start breeding fish again and set up that big oscar tank I've always wanted.

This is me with my two boys, Ben and Willie; Ben's 24, Willie's 26. I'm the short one with no neck.










Not sure this is what Jay meant by a water related activity, but it IS one of my favorites! That's my husband Brian on the left.










http://www.wheelpost.com

P.S. I just HAVE to say this. Mike, never at any point did I figure out that Ekim was Mike spelled backwards. I just assumed you were Korean. So Jay, this was a really good idea! It's nice to know who you're talking to.

[This message was edited by Vicki on Mon May 12 2003 at 01:28 PM.]


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## JaredtheAquamaniac

Hello, hello.

25 year old Michigan native, who grew up with a biology teacher for a father and a backyard that butted up to 15 acres of county properity kept as a "nature preserve" called Dinosaur Hill which borders both sides of a tributary (Paint Creek) of the Clinton River. Every waking moment I was in there roaming around catching frogs, snakes, salamanders, and a host of insects and spiders much to the delight of my father, and my mother's rolling eyes.

Got started in tanks with a 10 gallon at the ripe old age of 10 keeping my father's Red Devil _Cichlasoma citrinellum_ alive through the summer till school let back in and he could put it in the 55 gallon. I was allowed to keep the 10 gallon, and it was all down hill from there.

Started keeping plants as a way to reduce ammonia in my fry tanks where I bred a number of different fish including livebearers, kribs, other dwarfs and a host of cichlid species. Mainly hornwort, java moss and duckweed.

Bought a house, got engaged (weddings Sept 6th) and had to reduce the number of tanks I had from 13 ---> 2. What love will make you do







. Really for me now its quality over quantity. Saw Amano's work (Nature Aquarium) in a bookstore and thought "Hey I can do that" so I tried. Slowly been upgrading my equipment to where Im comfortable with the hobby, and not afraid to try any species; plant, fish or invert.

Far as work goes, Im a Paramedic with Detroit Fire Dept. Got hired on this past December and I love my job. I work 14 days, 12hr. shifts a month so I have more time to enjoy my tanks.

Stay Safe....Specs in profile


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## Dev Goddess

Hey everybody!

Man, I'd LOVE to make it to the Dallas Convention... It could happen. Who knows? I'll try like crazy. Ya know, we need to have a convention in Houston. *hint hint*

Anyhoo, here's a URL to a pic of me. It's on GeoCities, so I can't post it here directly. It should open into a new window. If you get that lame message saying it's unavailable or whatever, just copy the URL, paste it back into your address bar again, and then hit Enter. GeoCities is wanting to be stupid about this, but I can assure you it's a valid URL. Click Here.

Consider yourselves priveleged.







I get tons of strangers messaging me on Yahoo! begging to see a pic, but to no avail. *LOL* Just teasing...

About me... I'm 25 at the moment, but 26 is indeed barelling toward me fast. I'm a Cancer with Virgo rising who, quite frankly, doesn't like quiet walks on the beach.







I grew up in Bumpkinville before moving to Pearland around September (unofficially) and then to H-Town in February.

I've got an AAS in Computer Info Systems, and, since becoming thoroughly disgusted with corporate America, I'm a freelance programmer. I had a job for a little while after I graduated, but then I got screwed by my supervisor. Shortly after that, I took up Perl and officially became a free agent. Woo hoo.









Along with the job scene, I was also starting to get disgusted by the dating scene around that time. Then I met Bryan, my other half.







We've been together almost 9 months now. It may not seem like a long time, but it is when you've lived together for the greater part of it. We're not married (yet







), but we have a great relationship and we get along really well.

Our talents and interests as aquarists (and computer geeks... snagged me an MCSE...







) are very complimentary. I'm fresh, he's salt... I'm plants, he's equipment... and so on and so forth. We're both very involved in each other's tanks as well as our own. He does the equipment maintenance in my tanks, and I'm going to be growing macro algae in the refugium for his big 100 gal salt tank. Ain't love grand?

I've always had a fascination with not only aquaria, but with oceanography, marine biology, etc. Anytime the Discovery Channel aired anything about marine life, sharks, etc. (or astronomy







), I was glued to the TV. And, I always wanted to have bettas and goldfish. Still do, actually... Bryan, an experienced salt AND freshwater aquarist, bought me my betta (may he rest in peace) and my dwarf gouramis back in January, and the hobby has just ballooned from there for both of us. I discovered I loved planted tanks and freshwater aquaria, and Bryan decided he wanted a salt aquarium and found his 100 gal tank really cheap. And so on and so on...

So, that's me in a nutshell. Like my buddy, JP, I'm still kind confused (and, coincidentally, not into CO2 injection either) but I'm really trying to learn and really trying NOT to kill stuff. Pray for me.









(JP! Dude! You're 21??? My word, man! You're a baby! For some reason, I thought you were a lot older than that. Go figure.







)

So, that's me in a nutshell. I'm a major computer geek who's just WAY too into science, an obsession that manifests itself in my aquatic hobbies. My boyfriend, Bryan, and I live a fairly quiet existance... just the 2 of us and our tanks.

Yeah, I know... Ya just can't stand the excitement.









HEHEHE...

-------------------------
Dev Goddess
Developer / Analyst / Criminal Mastermind

"Size doesn't matter. It's all about speed and performance."


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## Tenor1

Hello Everyone,

This is a great forum and I would like to thank Robert for hosting us. My brother and I are longtime hobbyists (40 years) returning after a 10-year hiatus. We were born in Macao, China, which was a Portuguese colony, and raised in Switzerland before settling here in the States. My other hobby is playing classical piano and violin. So I tend to practice violin and watch the fish tank, lol. I play in a local orchestra, which just gave a concert including Mahler's 4th Symphony.

The hobby is so scientific now and I am attempting to learn the darn chemistry lingo, lol. I have LOTS of fish experience learned through years of observation, albeit with a somewhat limited number of species. We have used Eheim equipment since almost the very first start of that company. We had Eheim trains and toys BEFORE they went to filters. So it's hard to convince me to try other brands of filters.

My oldest brother (not the one mentioned above) was an ichthyologist and botanist, but is now a practicing physician. He doesn't even have a fish tank as 5 children take all his time, lol. He's still pretty knowledgeable and we attempt to get him back in the hobby.

I have a 36-gallon bow front and 6 gallon planted tanks. The 36-gallon is 1-year-old and the 6 is 2 months old. Both are doing well and tonight the 36 gets a complete make over. Maybe a talk-show host can feature tank makeovers, lol. 

Regards,
Carlos

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


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## Sir Plants-a-lot

Wow Vicki - those are the biggest Amano shrimp I've ever seen!







Hope you don't come prowling around my tank with those tongs in hand&#8230;

I'm 35 and have been keeping fish tanks for about 20 years. Started with a 10 gallon tank with a firemouth cichlid and always wondered why the cabomba looked so ratty&#8230; Then moved up to a 35 with more cabomba and goldfish. Progressed to a 90 gallon, and developed an interest in plants. At the time I still didn't know how much I was doing wrong (everything) and had the typical "looks great for three weeks and then melt-down" problems. So as much as I liked the plants, I thought they were just difficult to keep, like reef tanks, and that you needed the magic touch to keep them growing well.

It wasn't until the last few years that I found The Krib, and learned about micros and dosing and all that, and my plants started doing a LOT better, especially after the DIY CO2 kicked in. Then early this year I found this forum and my learning curve shot up like never before. The krib is great for the theoretical stuff, but this board is the real goldmine for hand-on experience. A big thanks to all of you for sharing your knowledge.

Got the 6-foot bowfront tank I always wanted this past February, and it has settled in nicely after a brief bout of GW and now looks quite nice, although I think it could use more light and a better aquascape. I'm still figuring out how to post pictures (hopefully this one will work), and I'll post some of the tank soon.










I'm married - that's my wonderful wife Phey - and we moved to Singapore (she's Singaporean) nearly 7 years ago. Found out after the fact that Singapore is an aquarists paradise (most things are pretty cheap, and free laterite everywhere you look) but it's a bit warm. My tanks are all right around 30C (85F) and I'm looking for an old fridge or water-cooler to rig up a chilling system.

So that's me. Doubt i'll be able to meet any of you (unless you find yourselves in Singapore) but it was a pleasure to meet you all. Nice topic, Jay.

Regards,
Kevin


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## Stevenl

I am 21 (I am another young person here~ LOL) and currently living in Vanocuver, BC. I immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong about 9 years ago. All I want to say about Vancouver is that I love this city - the living environment here is much better than Hong Kong! I am still in school right now. Trying hard to complete the fourth year of my BBA degree (which I think is really really boring...)

My fishkeeping experience started at my early childhood. Technically, I had a "planted tank" when I was only 7 years old. The "planted tank" is made up of a glass jar, a few feeder fish, and some left over vegetable (uncooked~) from the kitchen







When my little eyes saw the little fish swim around the "plants" in the jar, I thought that it's the most beautiful scenery on Earth. At this moment, I think I got hooked offically. Of course, I didn't really start the hobby until I had my first part time job - everyone knows aquarium fish keeping not a cheap hobby. I bought a 10G tank at my local pet shop as my starter tank. Ack, I still remember what "advises" the store people told me:

"If you plan to grow plants later, buy this bag of Flourite as your substrate. It is good for the plants"

- well I can't grow plants with an INCANDESCENT hood, even I have flourite. Why don't you tell me about the Fluroscent hood?

"When the tank is newly set up, the water inside is not yet ready for growing plants. You might want to get a bottle of liquid fertilizer, add some weekly for several months, then you can start to put some plants in"

- ok by that time, I dont' have to buy plants for my tank. My tank is going to be filled with plants that come at no cost - algae









Not to mention the 10G tank combo was way too expensive for the things included. The verdict is most newbies pay to learn their lessons









Anyway, after the 10G, I moved to a 20G, then a 48G, and now finally the 66. I also keep a 3.5G for quarantine purpose.

I just started my co2 injected, high growth tank for about a month. So far the tank is quite successful (knocking on wood~) and I feel that my childhood dream is fullfilled. This forum provided tons of information and advises I needed to set up my tank. I never thought of setting up a tank like this before I found this forum. The advises I get from people on this forum are always fast and super high quality~~

So, finally, I want to thank Robert for maintaining this forum.....Thanks!!

























66G tank with 2.7 wpg shoplights, DIY Co2 and 50/50 flourite substrate


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## Punchy

I'm kinda new here and don't get to this forum to often. I'm 41 years old. Remember having a couple of tanks as a kid, and as a young adult I had a 10 gallon that I tok everywhere. (THE ONLY PET, you can usaly keep in hotel rooms and appartments







.Then a couple of years with no tank then my sister in law gave me a 20 tall
that led to a 35 octogon wich led to my currant tank a 65 gal. show. I started plants becouse I hate plastic! I don't want plastic furniture I didn't think my fish wanted plastic plants. I've been in it a year now and really just starting to set things up. Sill working at it.
No picture of me but 1 of my tank taken a while ago. It looks quite diffrent now and I'm still not done.
http://www.picturetrail.com/gallery/view?p=999&gid=1282755&uid=653489&members=1


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## Tenor1

Hi Steven L,

I was born in Macau (very close to Hong Kong for those who don't know). This quite an international board.

Regards,
Carlos

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


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## Bert H

Well, Roger, Vicki, I'm in your group! I'm 49. I was born in Cuba and our family came to the states when I was 8. I live in North Florida with my wife of 19 years, our teenage son, and 3 cats. I work as a research lab manager and have a business/passion with my photography (see web site: http://www.hjhfoto.com

I started keeping tanks as a teen - 10gallon tanks with guppies and have had one or two tanks on and off for years. As a kid in S. Florida, I remember having corkscrew vals in the tank with my little rectangular cannister filter and incandescent hood. The thing is, those plants actually grew! Later when I graduated college, I got a 29 gal tank and until late last year have kept various livebearers and tried to grow plants. I would always put in an amazon sword and watch it slowly shrink to a miniature and eventually die. The only thing that ever survived my 20W lit 29 gal tank with ugf filter was hornwort. Late last year I discovered the wealth of info on the web, starting with the krib. And when I cooked up that first batch of diy CO2, I became a believer! I am still learning, and have a lot to go still.

I have discarded all my ugf's, changed gravel, changed lighting and am happily growing plants! The hardest thing I find is deciding how to 'scape the tanks. But, I'm loving it, and my fish never looked healthier! I hope to get a new tank this summer, either a 50 breeder type or a 75 gal, depending upon how much floor space I can talk the family into letting me have! And someday, I hope to have that fancy CO2 setup, but for now diy is working for me.

Anyway, this is a great resource!

Bert.


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## imported_Buck

Hi all









My name is Glenn , I am 40 years young and I live in the tax-you-to-death state of Connecticut,USA. 
I have been keeping aquariums as long as I have been married which will be 20 years this month!








Some other hobbies I have when I am not pruning my tanks are playing golf, riding my dirt bike and some occasional hunting and fishing. _I just love the great outdoors..._
To support all my hobbies and to keep my wife Kelly happy I work as a Union Pipefitter, I guess somebody has to do it...







LOL

I also spend time on my website featuring some photos of my tanks Buckmans Home and I moderate over at The Planted Tank

*Its a pleasure to meet you all here at AB *









*Buck*


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## Robert Hudson

Wow Ekim, what a lucky guy!
Jay, you look just like the actor that was on Pacific Blue, and in the Steve Martin movie eith Darryl Hanna...you know who I mean?

Ok, My name is Robert, I just turned 43 on the 14th. I started Aqua Botanic in 1999. I was kinda of a newbie myself then and wanted to start a WEB site that was easier to follow and read than the Krib. About a year earlier I started selling my plant clippings to my LFS and to people on the internet via email.

In 2002 I moved from California to Oregon and took my business full time. And here we are today! My Mother lives nearby but the rest of my family is on the east coast. My Dad is 83 years old, and my younger brother is married with one son.

I worked in the computer industry for years until I became totally bored with it and became more obssed with my "hobby". Now I enjoy being my own boss and making a good living from my hobby.

Robert
King admin
www.aquabotanic.com


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## Stevenl

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Tenor1:
> Hi Steven L,
> 
> I was born in Macau (very close to Hong Kong for those who don't know). This quite an international board.
> 
> Regards,
> Carlos
> 
> ==============================
> I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


Yes it is~








Have you ever been back to Macau? I remember I went there once when I was very young.










66G tank with 2.7 wpg shoplights, DIY Co2 and 50/50 flourite substrate


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## ekim

Robert, thanks!
but *we* want to see *the man  * that makes all this possible!
we know you have a camera & webspace... he he


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## Vicki

Yes, come on, Robert! If we can show ourselves, so can you!

Oh, and Kevin--I ALWAYS check my tongs at the door! Do you not have air conditioning where you live in Singapore? Rats--if that's the case I'll NEVER be able to live there, I couldn't even handle Kentucky with no air conditioning. Maybe I could just visit--I've always wanted to see that part of the world.

http://www.wheelpost.com


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## vickie s

Hi All,
I too am very happy to have access to all the information on this site.
I am fast approaching 47. Married for 25 years. Girls 6 and 7 years old (I know, we waited a really long time). I have been a lab scientist (hematology mostly), R&D lab manager (medical devices), R&D and clinical trial manager (peripheral blood stem cells) and am now into regulatory affairs (pancreatic islets). Its been fun and challenging.
I have had tanks in one form or another since college. 3+ years ago a friend gave me her 10 gallon tank. While I was trying to figure out what to do with it, I stumbled onto the wealth of info on the internet, including live plants. I added a 60g cube 3 years ago and a 125g, 6 footer 2 years ago. I have redone the cube recently and have been slowly converting the 125 to more slow growers (crypts mostly). Also fun and challenging.
Much thanks to everyone here, the reading is very informative and interesting.
the other vickie


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## jpmtotoro

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Dev Goddess:
> Like my buddy, JP, I'm still kind confused...


i'm not confused! i'm a poor college kid, BIG difference!











> quote:
> 
> (JP! Dude! You're 21??? My word, man! You're a baby! For some reason, I thought you were a lot older than that. Go figure.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> )


what on earth would give you that impression? look at my posts, i use emoticons all day long. what sort of 26 year old uses emoticons? they are for the young! *ducks* just kidding







i think it is because today's youth butchers the english language online, but i choose not to (most of the time).

i've been too lazy and haven't had my website up for a loooong time, but i feel bad since many other people posted pics and i remembered i have a pic posted elsewhere, so here's the URL

http://www.hotornot.com/r/?eid=SQRRRS&key=PSM

yes, that's hotornot, deal with it. i'm sure i'll get some flame posts for it too









JP

PS ooohhh roooobeeeeert, i posted a pic now you can post YOUR pic. heck, throw it on hotornot if you want


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## fishmommy

I am one of the few people who got into plants first, and fish as a side-effect. A few years ago my husband and I got a pair of kittens. I have always been an avid gardener, both in and outdoors. Our darling pets soon chewed all my houseplants right down to nubs, and I was living a dreary plant-free existence for a couple of New England winters.
So, I decided an aquatic garden in a covered aquarium was my only option if I wanted to keep my sanity. I got the fish just to keep the nitrogen cycle rolling. It's been a few years now and I still am going through the 'gotta have every kind of plant' phase, but it's fun.
I've gotten into higher-tech stuff in the last year or so. Luckily I am a mechanical engineer, and things like solenoids and regulators and power supplies are cheap and readily available through my workplace.

What's weird is now I have gotten into African cichlids...guess the fish part has grown on me









-jen


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## MicNanDec

Hi, I'm Michelle. Originally from New York City and moved to FL about 8 years ago. I'm 22 at the moment but my birthday is fast approaching. I have a BA in English and just started my Master's in Library Science. I love researching information. Still single and I'm working as a temp clerk at the moment. (Job market sucks.) 
What really got the plant thing started was a 10 gallon hex tank that is really hard to decorate. My mom went out and bought a plant (not knowing what kind it was) and stuck it in. Sure enough the plant grew under the most horrendous conditions. The plant by the way turns out to be some sort of AMazon sword, the thing is now a foot tall and growing strong. About a year ago I really got into the finer details of planted tanks. I think I always assumed that only large tanks could be planted, but my little 10 gallon proves that wrong. I've kept fish since I was 13. Really love fish tanks, it just brings a peaceful and entertaining quality to any room.


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## otherguy

Name is Brandon Herbert, I am a 32 year old web offset press manager. Married for 10 years now no kids. Just recently decided on taking a new opportunity with my company in OKC which is kind of freakin us out with all the twisters going on there and the fact the company decided to build the plant in tornado ally about 5 miles from the GM plant that got smashed







We will be moving in the middle of June so things are quite hectic around here right now. I am going to be breaking down my tank after I write this message which is going to be a bummer cause I loved that tank. Anyways I got into fish when I was 18 or so and plants just about a year ago. I probably would have given it up if it was'nt for the help of people like ekim(mike), Rex, Roger, and everyone else on the board, so a big thank you to everyone. The things I like most about this is all the gadgets and the tinkering with all the equipment. I posted some pics of my old tank and me here if you are interested. Hopefully I will be able to go to Dallas for the convention and meet some of you in person. Take care

Brandon

75gallon tank, wetdry filter, pressurized co2 with controller, uv, flourite substrate, 220watts lighting


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## Guest

I'm 35, have one son, 17yo, never married. Grad student/teach.
http://www.sfbaaps.com/Gallery.aspx?galleryid=14
There's a funny one in there also.

I've had fish since I was about 6-7. Plants always were added to all tanks pretty much. Or algae was grown. I got into plants slowly but surely about 14-15 years ago.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Guest

I found Robert right here:

http://www.sfbaaps.com/GalleryPicture.aspx?galleryid=10&title=Jim%20Lockhart's%20Aquaria&sortorder=11

Robert's been "outted"
I'll delete it if you want 
Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Tenor1

Hello Steven,

Yes I've been back to Macau. I left at age 2 and was raised in Switzerland. 

Regards,
Carlos

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


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## djlen

Hello Folks,
My name is Len and I'm D.J. I'm also waaaaay past 26. In fact I've been keeping fish for more than 26 years. This site has enabled me to understand the technical changes that have taken place since I first got involved with the hobby in the 60's. 
Along the way I've bred many different types of fish, but was never really very successful with the planted aquarium. 
It amazes me how knowledgeable many of you are and every visit here helps me realize how much I have to learn.....which is of-course what life is all about. However it was particularly distressing to learn that Tom Barr(my mentor) is 20 years my junior. But Tom, you can teach an old dog new water parameters. Thank you!!
And thank all of you, in advance, for putting up with all the inane questions I plan to ask.
Len

HAVE DISCS - WILL TRAVEL


----------



## MarcinB

As most of you guys I'm 26. I live in eastern Poland, very close to the town where Jay Luto used to live







I was always interested in everything related to water. First fishing, then keeping fish in aquariums (I started my first tank when I was 11) and at least diving. During my studies (biology) I fall in love with hydrobiology. My M.Sc. thesis was about a shallow, polyhumic lake







Unfortunately I had no oportunity to continue my hydrobiological career







so I switched to human physiology and now I'm a Ph.D. student at medical university. After that (2 years ago) I got crazy about planted tanks and finally I joined this great forum. Here is a photo of my girlfriend and me:










150L (40G) planted tank
photo available here:
www.bsk.vectranet.pl/~marcinb/akwa2.jpg


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## tsunami06

Hi,

I'm Carlos. I'm 19 years old. My dad is Cuban, my mom Italian. I was
born in Miami and grew up there. In the summer, I held a position in
a seagrass laboratory where I got to participate in collections out
in Florida Bay and also run hundreds of samples for nitrogen/phosphorous
content in seagrass. Now, I'm at the University of Chicago where I'm an undergraduate and
currently work in a developmental biology lab taking care of mutant
zebra danios. I also put in volunteer hours at the dinosaur lab of
Paul Sereno, where I help make molds for museums and prepare fossils
for study. Hopefully, I'll get a job at the dinosaur lab soon! I plan
to major in biology: ecology/evolution and eventually get my doctorate
degree.

My parents had a ten gallon ever since I was born, and by the time I was seven. They noticed that I liked the tank so much, that they decided to reward me and my good grades at school that year with a new 55 gallon. I've been hooked ever since. In the first few years, I mostly collected gouramis, although I had an angelicus cat and an orange chromide I particularly liked. Then, I made a big leap when I was 13 and started keeping discus, angelfish (still alive today), rummy nose tetras, cardinal
tetras, hatchetfish, and blue rams. I tried growing crypts and swords with only one 40 watt bulb. The plants survived and grew, but they didn't thrive. I always admired the Dutch tanks I use to see in the books, though!

Finally, 3 years ago, I got the "okay" to go ahead and invest money in lights, ferts, and CO2. And so that's why I'm here today.







I now have two tanks, a 55 gallon and a 20g long.

No pics.

Carlos

[This message was edited by tsunami06 on Tue May 20 2003 at 05:37 AM.]


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## gpodio

Well I know this is an older weekly topic, hopefully no one will mind me adding to it. I enjoyed reading the other posts so I thought I'd add mine to the list. Funny what the internet can do when it comes to imagining what someone may look like or even how old they are.

Anyway, my name is Giancarlo, 31 years old, I was born in Florida while my parents, from Italy, were working in the US for a few years. At the age of 1 I moved to Italy, then to Australia at the age of 9. There I started to keep animals, anything I could find I would keep







I started with a 20 gallon tank with gold fish, knew nothing about fishkeeping but somehow managed to keep the goldies alive for many years. I use to change 100% of the water every couple of months, rinse all the gravel and change all the filter media (which was carbon chips and floss in a corner filter plus an UGF). Scary ha?









Then came the guppy days, my second and probably my most missed tank was an oooold square glass cookie jar with a large cork lid, I found a small round UGF to fit inside it, multi colored fluorescent gravel, colorful guppies and there's my first tropical tank. Luckily no heaters required over there









At 22 I left Australia







and moved back to Italy, there I became friends with another fish hobbist who got me into plants. He tought me the basics of low light tanks and the popular (over there at least) open top tanks. It was a rather simple approach but one that is a lot harder to mess up and probably the best to start off with. Simply rich substrate, no liquid ferts, less than 2WPG and DIY CO2 (optional).

Three years ago I moved to the US and of course couldn't live very long without fish and a couple more animals around the house. Had to learn everything from scratch again, hardly any of the products were the same, names were different and hardware was also somewhat different, specially the filters. After joining a few of the online groups I caught the dreaded "fast growing" bug. Up go the lights and out come the algae! OK so it's not just about adding lights I guess?!







It took a little while but thanks to the online groups I learned about "the macros and the micros".

That's about it for me, I still enjoy the low light tank and can only keep up with one fast growing tank at the moment. Working in the computer industry and hoping to one day flip things around and turn a hobby into profession. I also enjoy astronomy, astrophotography and fishing. I'm married with an 11 month old son who looooves watching the fishies go round


















Regards
Giancarlo Podio


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## ScottH.

Well I guess I am the youngest one here. I am 15, goen to be 16 in a month,

My goal is a sea of green.


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## George Willms

I know I've been on here for a while, but thought I would just add a little post here. I'm 25 right now, married, no kids (still time for fun







). I'm into all kinds of stuff, video games, electronics(especially anything to do with music reproduction), music, fish, etc. You guys can feel free to check out my personal page at:
George's Page
It hasn't been updated in a while, but there is a lot of info in there and pictures of me, my ink, and my wife, Monika. No pics of my tanks, but I plan on fixing that the next time I get a chance to work on my page. 
We've always had fish tanks at home since I was a kid, my dad enjoyed fish a lot also. We never had any live plants though. It wasn't until about 4 or 5 years ago that I tried my hand at live plants. I was working at the Mr. Fish stores in Oakland, NJ and in the NY store. I basically added some laterite to the gravel in my 29-gallon and bought a double NO strip light. From there I've steadily been going higher tech and gaining knowledge to the point I'm at now. Which if I know me is still only the beginning. I currently have two tanks, a 29 and 45. My tank specs are in my profile, I won't repeat them here. Guess that's it for now. Later.

George

Tank specs in profile

[This message was edited by George Willms on Thu July 24 2003 at 04:58 PM.]


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## McKee

Let's see, I'm 36, very happily married to the love of my life, and I frequently involve myself with too many hobbies.

Started doing the fish thing way back, when Mom had guppies. That makes it sound like she gave birth to guppies, which she did not. I am not a guppy anyway. I don't think. Anyway, she had some fish, roughly 1974, they died.

Their deaths are still unsolved to this day.

Zoom forward to 1979 or so. Mom and Dad found a tank and some supplies at a garage sale. That was fun for a while until a ragged group of Black Skirt Tetras destroyed all life in that tank. They were given the proverbial "burial at sea."

*cough*

Zoom forward to 1994. My ex bought me a little 3 gallon hex tank thingie. It was only after everyone died that I remembered you weren't supposed to was the gravel with Lemon Fresh Liquid Dish Detergent.

*cough*

Three years ago I got together with the woman I'd been silently in love with for ten years, and she wanted to get a 72 gallon bowfront fish tank. No problem.

Then we bought a 90 gallon tank, because the price was right.

Then we bought a 29 gallon hex tank, because the price was right.

Then we bought a 125 gallon tank, because the price was right.

Then we bought a 44 gallon corner tank, which I had to have, and because the price was right.

The bowfront was planted first, as mostly an amusement. Robert can attest to it's Java moss growing abilities. Amazon swords are regularly eaten up by the clown loaches, but I don't mind. Soon it will be replanted, but for now it's their playground in there, and that tank is mostly for the fish: clowns, botias, glass cats, bala sharks, 2 common pleco's.

The small hex did great with live plants, until my wife's sister won it from us in a strip poker match. Don't ask.

The 90 became the real exploration tank, with kitty litter, peat moss, gravel, nutritional supplements, blah blah blah. Mostly I found an interesting idea and went with it. This is the tank that suffered the Yeast Infection at 10:30 PM on a Sunday night, and all the fish had to be Life-Flighted out to other tanks. Now it has a multitude of plants (one day I will figure out what all is in there) and lots of tetras (NOT black skirts....), 260 watts of CF's under a DIY hood, DIY yeast (that's the next piece to upgrade) and some blue rope light for a nice amibience at night, just because.

I hate the 44 and wish it would go away.

The 125 is home to 2 large pleco's and a 2' long African Clown Knife (or "spotted featherback"). When he outgrows the tank we will probably move him to a 150 and then turn the 125 into a planted tank.

Or we will eat him. We haven't decided.

I'm currently laid off from Weyerhaeuser ("Paper or plastic?"), and don't intend to go back. We intend to move up to Juneau, Alaska at some point, but until then, I'm one of the many Oregonians here on the board.

McKee is my middle name.
























------------------------
Our diary: http://www.deardiary.net/cgi-bin/viewer.cgi?diary=27982&view=welcome&comments=on


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## Guttboy

Hi Everyone!

Well my name is Mike and I grew up in Chelmsford Mass. Graduated from high school in 1986 and ended up at the US Air Force Academy where I started out studying Chemistry and then ended up with a degree in Biology after organic chem kicked my butt! Had a few fish tanks growing up but never any ones with plants.

From there went off to flight school and ended up in Fort Walton Beach FL (Lower alabama...LOL) flying the AC130 Gunship. Stayed there for a long time and met my wife of coming up on 10 years now.

It was in FL where I started keeping marine reef tanks! (also had a 10 gallon fresh which was a green soup disaster). Took an assignment to Okinawa Japan flying the MC130 and had the benefit of being 1 min from the reef. So being an avid diver and reef keeper I was in heaven.

I had my tank manufactured in Okinawa by a local person and made my stand out of Mahogony in the wood shop....was my first attempt at any sort of "construction". Here is the link to the only photos of it now....
http://www.plantedtank.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2112
I got an assignment back to the US here in New Mexico teaching students how to fly the MC130 and now I am learning about planted tanks.

Hey might as well try something new right? I am very very excited about the fresh realm with the fish too!

These forums are invaluable for information and thank you all for all the help so far and in the future!!!!!

Mike









100Gallon/Rena Filstar XP3/Icecap660 with 4x4' Ge Aquarays/Flourite Gravel mix/Malaysian driftwood


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## Paul Higashikawa

Hey, where are my fellow Texans??? 

24-yr old Biology graduate from University of Texas at Austin. Had fish first when I was around 8; busted the heater in the tank while doing some water change. Nearly got electrocuted; got scared outta my wits was more like it Got back into fishkeeping during freshmen year in college when an accidental trip to Bed&Bath(or whatever the entire name is) landed me a small 2-gal Hex tank. Screwed up too many times to remember, but each time proved to be an invaluable lesson on my fishkeeping knowledge. Found this forum, also by accident, albeit an EXCELLENT one! Always learning new things in fishkeeping, and in many things in life, for that matter! Right now in the process of looking for work after college; hopefully a career in dentistry?!(Nemo, anyone?) Currently has a 10-gal, 18-gal, 20-gal, and 29-gal fish tanks plus a 20 long turtle tank. Goal is to make my tanks as good as anyone of yours(too many people in this forum to mention)^^! Yeah, I've become an aquatic plant addict as well~No return!


Paul


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## clay

better late than never. my name is clay and i am from kings mountain, north carolina, which is about 45 minutes from charlotte (home of the carolina panthers). i am now a resident of charlotte and work as a banker for one of the top 5 banks. i am 28 yrs old and been in the hobby for about 18 yrs. worked in a fish store for about a yr. just started keeping planted tanks about 10 months ago and love it. kept africans, the assorted tetra, corydoras, and dwarf cichlids. 

and by the way, great site!


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## imported_yv1

i never ventured into this room before...

HI im yvonne, i just got into planted tanks when i moved to sf from nyc and my landlord told me i cnat have any pets with fur. so scales it is, its been about 2 yrs or so, and now my 1 bedroom apt has 4 tanks which will be a royal pain in the butt to move when i do. 
i currently have killies, chocalate and honey gouramis, false corys, albino corys, moliwe cichlids, fancy guppies, albino neon tetras, julii corys, shrimp, frogs, hillstream loach, sae's, and umm other stuff called plants.

my other hobbies include riding my f4i, snoboarding, flatland bmx, spending 200 bucks at each trip to sephora (cosmetics store), and SHOPPING.

here's a pic.....don't hate on the hairdo's, i used to do the whole 'modelling' thing before i got old and tired. im currently 26.

18 and naive.









26 and much smarter..









oh and i HAVE to show off my weak ass wheelie, im damned proud of it.


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## superjohnny

Hi guys,
For those who couldn't tell by my username my name is Johnny, I'm 29 and I live in West Portland near Beavertron. I have been enjoying working with Oracle & SAP at Nike for about 4 1/2 years now. I got into fish-keeping about 3 years ago when a buddy gave me his 45 show (36x12x24) and have been trying to make plants grow in it for about a year now.

Other hobbies are working on PC's for friends & doing tech support, tinkering with the soldering iron, music & equipment, long walks on the beach, horseback riding at sunset, cribbage & swimming.

Why does this kinda feel like a singles ad? Anyway, here's me after I learned the *right* way to make a Pina Colada...
http://www.johnnyanddana.com/images/wedding_pics/honeymoon/IMG_0461b.jpg
<edit> i'm going to link it instead of post it for the 56k'ers.


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## imported_pineapple

Hello all,

My name's Andrew. I live in Brooklyn Heights at the end of the Brooklyn Bridge with my wife, Lilia, and two lovely daughters, 3 and 9 years old. We have been in New York for a long time, but not forever. I was born in Tasmania, moved around Australia in the late 50s (last century), Kalgoorlie, Bendigo, Perth, Fremantle... before my family moved to England, Great Britain. We had fish tanks in Australia, averies, fish ponds, snakes in the garden, red back spiders and more. We moved to England in the mid 1960s just before the Suez Canal was bombed closed and I lived there until I moved to China to work in the mid 1980s after studying mining engineering, working in tin mines, and then studying geology at London University. I traveled all over China and Hong Kong before moving to Taiwan. I worked in Taiwan, visited Thailand for a while, and then moved back to London for a few months before coming to New York City in 1988. In New York, my love of fish tanks revived and I like to share the fun with my daughters. It's a long story.... My wife, Lilia, is Chinese and was born in Mexico City. Her parents left China around 1949. We have much fun and spend some part of each summer in Vermont or... splashing around finding feral fish and interesting weed. Currently, we looking after 7 tanks and a bourbon barrel mini pond..... My business is in China and Taiwan. Here are some mug shots... hope they make you smile...









All hands man the pumps...









Yours truly suitable decorated by the girls...









Last but not least with her small tank....


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## kzr750r1

Well you all have been such a help lately with my plans for the new tank that it is only appropriate I introduce myself. My name is Sean Smith otherwise known as kzr750r1. I just turned 37 on the 26th of June. I have a lot to look forward to lately since my other half is now six months pregnant with my first child. She has two boys already ages 12 and 8. 

The user name is a made up model number for a Motorcycle I built. It is a ’82 Kawasaki Gpz 750 with a ’91 ZR750 motor and all kinds of other modifications. So I combined the two model numbers to get what you see here.

My beginnings in the fish tank hobby began as a boy in Meadow Vista, Ca when my grandfather gave us tanks he found at garage sales or a flea market. We were into breeding Guppies and enjoyed learning about the cycle of life at an early age. Before a family move to the mid west we gave the tanks away and didn't keep anything While out of California. After our return I had an urge to do it again but with live plants.

While in Jr. College I picked up a 40 long and attempted to raise Discus. Big mistake, since this was before the Web and I didn’t have a clue how difficult these species were to keep. During this phase I attempted to keep plants and the entire thing was not too sucessful. The fish died (probably 18 months) and I had no idea what the plants or fish needed to survive, so, the tank was sold soon to a friend when I moved, again. 

After a few years with out a tank the same fiend needed a room mate. Things are great since he had some large fish to watch in my old tank. Six months later he was injured in a work accident and had to move out. I received the tank back as a parting gift, much to my surprise. During this time I kept the fish but quickly realized keeping large species meant feeding them large amounts of minnows, the hobby, lost it’s appeal due to cost. I moved several times, fish given away and the tank was completely dismantled for several years. Around 1999 I set it up again with plants and fresh water barracuda. Big mistake number two. The plants went ok with low light but the fish were challenging and lasted about two years. After they succumbed to parasites, the only thing left in the tank was my striped rafael. He was the sole inhabitant for more than three years till my girlfriend and I bought our house in Tracy, Ca.

So for the move I picked up a 10 gallon tank at Wal-Mart and placed it in the kitchen with live plants. Of the plants that survived and after learning more here about plant care it is a stocked low light setup with the following.
1)	One Striped Rafael
2)	Eight Neons
3)	Male and Female Swordtail
4)	Three Cory
5)	One Otto (I need to get more I know)
6)	Four Java Ferns attached to some wood
7)	One petite nana (I think) 

After having some success with this low light setup I began setting up the old 40 long tank again. At this point I have all of the parts for a High Tech tank with low (in my opinion) light. I plan on an open top this time since water changes are a normal part of keeping a planted tank the water level will be adjusted during dosing and regular changes. Equipment includes:
Eheim 2026
55 Gallon Tank 48x13.5x18 (I ditched the old tank since it was scratched and beat up)
Sunlight Supply Tek Light w/2x54 T5 at 6000K
JBJ all in one regulator
DIY Reactor

I’m looking forward to the new setup. Since finding AB I have been hooked again on plants and look forward to future discussions with you all.

Well here is an update. She's here. Amaya Isabel Smith. 8lb 20" born on 9/28/04.

Mom and baby are just fine and were back home resting.


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## mizzoumed02

Hello, I'm Scott, 24y/o from Central Missouri, I have been keeping fish now for 14years. I currently have a 45 Corner planted with discus in it, 2 29 gal planted tanks with Angels, 75gal with Africans, 55gal with Frontoas, and I am in the proccess of starting up a 135gal that is going to be planted with discus. I currently work full time as a Paramedic for the University of Missouri.


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## Robert Hudson

I am restarting this in the main forum because there are many people here who have not made an intro...so please do! Tell us a little about yourself!


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## daveedka

O.K. I can take the hint Robert. 
I am pretty much a plant newbie, but I guess an old hand at fish tanks in many ways. I've been keeping and/or involved in aquariums for a little over 20 years. (had a few years when my tanks were dry but still helped with other folks tanks). I've pretty much stayed away from live plants mostly due to lack of knowledge, but recently have started into them and love it so far. I am 34 and live in Columbus Ohio. I am married and have two step children ages 20 and 21 and a son in law. My wife was a cradle robber, but I think I got the better end of the deal. I will be a granfather in Febuary (before my 35 birthday). Currently I have a 115g planted, a 15g and 10g utility both planted, and have an empty 67g in the garage which will be a heavily planted community tank this winter when my basement is finished. I will also be stting up 4 more utility tanks this winter, 2 20g's and 2 29g's. My fish preferences lean towards SA cichlids Primarily Oscars (one of the reasons I've not kept plants)and my tanks are and probably always will be fish tanks with plants, not water gardens with fish in them. I really appreciate the knowledge and information shared here, and do a lot more lurking than posting. I love to experiment, and gain knowledge and will hopefully be able to contribute back as mush as I have gained someday.
dave


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## FISA

Hi There... Im Asif... I live in Minneapolis Minnesota...
25 years old...got married last June to my beautiful wife Sarah...

While in highschool I was a strict Science student throught the O and A Levels ( British Board)...So I have a love and pretty good understanding in science. When I joined college...I went for MIS ( Management Info System ) Degree ...a lil bit of business and computer mixed.....I currently work for Sodexho as a Retail Manager/Safety Co-ordinator...and a heck of a whole lot not in my job description







...also currently doing my Masters Program in CIS (Computer Info. Systems)...

I am just sold to aquascaping ...I just started the hobby about 3-4 months ago...and have come a long long ways...

take care you all....and lets see more intros here


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## Paul Higashikawa

Dude, you are married? Now I gotta get serious with my life! We're the same age, but I'm still in school>< Got no $, no job, and no woman.........yet







Nothing serious. Need to change that!


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## FISA

Hey SurWrathful...

Yeah Sarah and I have been together since 99...
so just thought get it over with and tie the knot ...so I proposed to her in June 2003 at a twins baseball game







...

When I started with my 29 gallon planted...she didnt have much interest for the plants...just for her silver hatchets and zebra danios...
but now..she is also getting into this....

Now when Im setting up the 75 gallon..she is all there...helping me make the stand etc etc..

So I finally succeeded...Im taking her to the Minnesota Aquarium Soceity meeting on thursday and the topic is about planted aquariums..so that should be interesting...

Anyways...take care all


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## Sockfish

Hi,

I'm Figgy. I live on a little lake in Michigan with 5 Terriers, 1 Canary, 1 Lovebird, and 2 Clownfish. I've had every kind of aquarium except an honest-to-gosh planted one. That's this year's project!

Since I have to take time out for work, I'm a lab rat. I do clinical and forensic toxicology. Right now I'm on medical leave for the rest of the year and loving it! So now I can study up on aquatic plants...

Figs


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## imported_russell

hi, 
my name is russell. i live is weatherford oklahoma where i am currently going to school to become a physical therapist assistant. i will be graduating this summer.







i am 20 years old. i have been dating my girlfriend laurie for the last 3 and a half years. i had an aquarium in the second grade, and i kept it until i was a sophomore in high school. i then sold it. it wasn't until last may that i got back into the hobby. i plopped some of those walmart lillies into my tank, and from that moment i was hooked. My aquarium i got was actually a birthday gift from my girlfriend laurie. little did she know what she was getting into.

other than aquariums i enjoy hunting, fishing, hiking (usually scoping out local plant species), long distance biking, and the usual "other" college stuff.


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## imported_locus

Better late than never...

I'm Paul aka Locus, I'm 26 years old. I've lived here in Western Australia for most of my life and work in the IT sector.

I have studied fine arts, photography and have a degree in Interactive Multimedia Technologies, which I completed earlier this year.

First got into the whole fish thing a couple of years back when I got a Betta... then upgraded his bowl to a tank... then upgraded my lighting for plants etc. (you get the idea!)

My interest at the moment is starting to tip towards Australian native aquatic plants and I hope to set up a native species tank very soon.


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## Ben C

Hey,

My name is Ben and i'm originally from england. I have lived in Japan for the last three and a bit years. I'm 25 and got married to a japanese girl in the summer. I studied molecular biology and genetics at university. 
I've had fish since i was a kid, and always had plants, but nothing serious. One day, bored at work, i decided to see if i could find out why my new cabomba was dying and stumbled across this site. As soon as i got home that night, i ripped out my bubble wall







!!
I have only one 13g tank and a tiny little one that is so small, i've never bothered calculating its capacity!! i have big plans fot this little tank. Unfortunately, my wife does not think too highly of my tanks, and the chances of buying anything bigger are out for the foreseeable future.. and after that as well! have decided to make the most of the two i have. Other than that.. that's pretty much me. 
thanks for your help thus far, and here's to all my stupid questions in the future!

BEN


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## imported_marian

Hi,
I'm from Roamnia 41 old







and I'm work as a Service Administrator in a IT company. I have aquarium since I have 15 y now I have three
1 15g with guppy
2 40g with xifo,molly,platy,colisa,neons
3 100g with 10 discus witch I grown up from 2,5 weeks
That's it for the begining


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## Robert Hudson

Welcome everyone! Nice to hear from you all. It is so interesting to hear about all these folks from around the world, with different backgrounds, and all the young people starting a new life! I feel so old...


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## AquaLung

Hello, everyone. I'm 52 years old, married with one child, a son, 15. I was born in Queens and now live in the Hudson river valley (that's New York state, USA). I'm a computer programmer (I'm at work right now ;-)). I had a 10-gallon guppy tank when I was a kid. I own the Walstad book and just got the Hiscock book for Christmas. I'm learning. I'm new to the whole forum thing, too. Great fun.


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## Hawkeye

Hey Aqualung!! Welcome I am sure we can help you get started. I'm 51 and I bet I know where you got your name!!! I lived through the olden days too!!









Hawk


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## lf11

Hi everyone. My name Casey and I live in Tennessee. I'm 26 years old. I have a dog, 3 cats and a 5 gallon mini bow tank.
I have always had a fish tank of some sort for as far back as I can remember. I like all types of plants, both land and aquatic.
Recently I have become interested in having a planted tank.Before I found this forum I had just put a couple plants in my tank and guess what, they croaked. But since adding better light and co2 I have managed to keep a few plants alive.
Well tommorrow or the day after I am going to be getting a 10 gallon tank so I will start new in that.I will of be keeping track with photos of this tank so I can share with you guys my progress


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## travis

Hi, my name is Travis and I think I've finally managed to get my browser working with the WetThumb forum software. I've been lurking for a while but haven't been able to post until now. Great forum guys. I recognize a lot of you from other plant forums. Good to be here


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## Robert Hudson

Welcome Travis! Aqualung....Jethro tull! Welcome Marion and IF11


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## imported_Piscesgirl

I thought I introduced myself, but maybe I haven't (or maybe it's buried in here and I missed it). I'm 37 (yikes!) and currently live in the sticks in North Carolina, although I was raised in sunny, Torrance California (and I sure miss the weather). I kept fish when I was young, although left the hobby until only a couple of years ago -- now I have a 55 gallon with loaches (150 gallon tub being worked on, a sort of indoor pond, for the clowns), ottos and corys, and a 29 gallon with shrimp. I have a 10 gallon and a 20 long with only plants and pest snails, although I keep toying with the idea of killifish. Trouble is, with two jobs, I just don't have much time for all the upkeep. My internet time is my "chill out time," and I enjoy posting on many forums. 
I think I quickly passed through my 'collecteritis' stage (or so I think), and am thinking of simplifying things to java ferns, anubias, cypts...but then again..my thoughts change daily on this. I do sometimes think we've made things too complicated, and if I can simplify something, that's what I do








I really enjoy all the fish and planted tank folks that I have met on all these forums, and I think it goes to show the world is a smaller place then we think. Now, if we could get all the world leaders to get into "fish," we might just have some peace around here


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## travis

Hey PG


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## CherylH

I love these type of threads. It's great to get to know a little about the people I interact with on line.

I'm 44 years old and have been keeping fish off and on since I was 10 years old. I started sticking the odd plant here and there into my tanks in my teens, but didn't get seriously interested in planted aquaria until the early 90's. It was pre-internet (for me) and the town I live in is pretty small. This meant limited access to good plants and all my info came from books. My first big plant order was mail order from the back of a magazine. I made lots of mistakes.

For the last several years my interest in the hobby had been fading (cut back from 7 tanks to 1) then last Spring I started getting interested in my tank again. I just knew I needed a watersprite (I know it's a dumb choice but I love that plant) and asked my husband to get me one (he runs a pet store). I waited months and he kept saying he couldn't get it. So I decided to shop online. There was no way I was paying more for shipping than plants, so I ordered a bunch of plants figuring I'd see what would make it in my (low tech) tank. I wound up with more plants than I had tank and my husband brought home an extra tank with power compact lighting. The difference blew me away and the planted aquaria bug has a firm grip on me once again.

It is a big thrill for me to be able to grow species that I couldn't before and I'm stuck in the collectoritis stage. My new year's resolution is to make some choices about which species to keep so I can actually focus on creating an aquascape rather than a mishmash of plants (which I'm thrilled with anyway because they are growing).


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## imported_Piscesgirl

Hi Travis


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## imported_BSS

Hey all! I'm Brian, and I'm a 43 year old computer nerd. More officially, I'm an Infrastructure Design Engineer specializing in disk subsystems and client/server architectures. I've been in the same employment since leaving the University of Michigan back in '83. I'm now down in sunny, hurricane-free







, central Florida, and I don't miss the snow.

About 2 years ago, I decided I needed to do something for myself. I'd always wanted to have a fish tank, and after reading half a dozen books, all of which stated plants were good for the fish, I had to have a planted tank. As I tend towards perfectionism (something I'm trying to battle a bit against!), the forums have been an invaluable resource...even leading me to a Kasselmann book.

I'm still in that 'what can I grow next phase'. We spent Christmas down near Miami, and I collected a few stems (a Bacopa variety I believe). No real good place to grow it, but I made a slot and we'll see how it does.

I love to learn, so I'm really attracted to the challenges posed by a planted tank. Good stuff!!


----------



## Shae

Hi, I'm Shae. I'm 30 years old, married with 3 3/4 kids. I am in North Dakota now going to med school for the next 4 years. I had fish, gold fish and guppys, as a child. As usual, they didn't live very long. In college, I started back into the hobby making a cichlid tank. I tried growing plants for the first time then and of course they all died. I went to Russia for a couple of years and my tanks were again torn down. 
After I married I started up again, this time I had the internet to help me learn how to grow plants and what I need. Now I have a low tech crypt. tank that gets negeleted because of school. Everything is growing well though. 

Someday I'll be able to make the tank I dream about. I like biotope tanks and hope I'll have the room and supplies to do so in the next few years.


----------



## Jason Baliban

Hello,
My name is Jason Baliban. I currently reside in the subs of Philadelphia PA. I have been into aquariums since I was 3 years old. Let it be known that I would hardly say that I have 25 years of experience. I have just recently started devoting more time and energy into planted tanks. My personal website is www.baliban.com Most of the info on the site is a little formal....but you will get the idea. So far this forum has been so useful. I have learned so much in such a short time. 
Jason Baliban


----------



## Tonka

Hi!

My name is Steve. I am married, 50, and have been retired for five years. I was an expat in Japan and Singapore through the 90's. I have a background in chemistry, but my career was on the business side of things. I recently went to law school and passed the California Bar, but I have no intention to practice.

I kept tanks when I was a child, mostly to aggravate my parents. My wife finally agreed to one tank, so I got the biggest that would fit in my house. I was sorely misinformed about planted tanks when I started and I ended up spending hundreds of dollars needlessly on such things as a phosphate eliminator, gravel heater etc. I have found that once the tank is stable and CO2 is maintained at 20 ppm there is very little algae.

My thanks to Roger Miller for his science-based advice and also to Rex Grigg for his unambiguous directions in how to keep a planted tank. But my special thanks to Robert who makes this forum possible.


----------



## Ted Bell

Hello I'm Ted,

I'm 36, and am new to the aquarium hobby. I never really considered keeping an aquarium over the years as I thought they were a hassle. I liked looking at them, but I felt they were probably a lot of work.

A friend of mine keeps fish and was having fish disease issues and was telling me about it. It seemed interesting science, I briefly looked over one of his books and got hooked. Within 2 weeks I bought 2 books on fishkeeping and read them through. It was just a matter of time and I'd have my own tank.

I was especially interested in Dutch aquariums. So, here I am. 

I'm enjoying all the information on this site and am grateful for all the tips.

Looking foreward to many years of successful "tanking".


----------



## Chiad

Well, I'm currently in Northern BC (Canada), and I've been bouncing back and forth between here and Alberta over the last three years (much to the disgust of the fish in my three aquariums).

I just stumbled onto this site today, during a search for help with some swordplants.

Mmm... three planted tanks (all 33gal) and a fourth (15gal) being planned (soon as I can figure out where to put it!). I started my aquariums by just focusing on fish, but luckly the person I was pestering the most for help was a fan of planted aquariums (plus the fact that flourescent-plastic-plants make me shudder). So now I'm trying to figure out how to encourage my plants and find a balance between fish and plants.

One of my favorite past times is finding people to give my fry to (I'm breeding guppies and glo-light tetras) and thereby encouraging my neighbors/friends/family/victims to get into aquariums too!

Sadly, I live in a small town with a very minimalist LFS (no plants to speak of), so whenever I discover something new and really cool (ie. Wow! NEAT! Iwantit! *laughs*) I either have to sigh and forget it or wait for one of the family's once-every-four-months trips into a city.


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## Kyle V

Well, no one's posted on this thread in a while, but, I've been here so much recently that I might as well jump on board...I'm Kyle, I'm 28, I'm married to a beautiful woman named Tracy, and we've got a bulldog named Jezebel. We live in Boston, I work to pay the bills and live my life through my travels and my hobbies. I studied Political Science in College, was a volunteer in Ghana, West Africa for 2 years, have traveled all over, have worked as a commercial fisherman, and have been keeping fish tanks on and off just about all my life. I love to hike, bike, ski, climb, boat, and be with my family. 

I got my first real tank about 3 years ago, struggled with low light plants until about a month ago, and started my dream hi-tech tank today...just finished planting everything about an hour ago, and am already here asking questions...thanks for the enducation so far!


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## imported_russell

well kyle, you came to the right place







you sound like you have a very exciting live. i dont think i've ever even traveled further north than kansas or further south than texas







dang i need to go somewhere....


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## Kyle V

Funny you should mention Texas and Kansas...OK too for that matter. We got our dog from a breeder in OK, and my last job sent me to TX and KS regularly...of all places. Ever since I was a kid I have had a passion for travel. As I grew up and had the opportunity to do more of it, I got addicted. Now we try to get away at least a few times a year...that's probably a discussion for a different forum though...so, thanks again for making me feel so welcome. I'm not much of a hang around message boards and chat kind of guy (I usually just poach the information I'm looking for and move on). This place is just different though...so many of the other planted tank related forums are full of pretentious know-it-alls who barely even listen to the newbie questions, and just spend all day preaching, lecturing, and trying to out do each other. Since my first post here, everyone's been eager to assist, humble, and informative. I like that!


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## imported_russell

same here. it's a more humble atmisphere.


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## imported_chrismisc

Hello Everyone,

I'm a frequent listener, first-time caller sort. I've done a fair amount of lurking and posted occasionally (very, though I make up for that with my verbosity ), but having belatedly just finished reading this entire thread, I thought I'd attempt an introduction.

I'm going to be 28 end of this month. I have a BFA in Industrial Design, and I design exhibits all day (auto show, museum, convention, etc). I'm an army brat, was born in Germany, but don’t remember much, except the Munich Zoo. I've been interested in aquatic environments since I was very little and my grandparents had a 1 acre pond, so I spent at least one weekend a month up to my hips in pond scum. I grew up watching my dad set up a fish tank in any of 23 different rented houses we lived in every few years, only to have everything in it die soon after, but I loved watching and helping with it. 

My first tank was a 15 gallon guppy tank containing all manner of critters caught in my grandparents' pond-- baby turtles, crawfish, dragonfly nymphs, etc. The only plant besides algae in it was sold to me as cabomba, but was probably hornwort, come to think of it. I think I had that tank set up about a year and half before we moved, and I gave about 200 guppies away after starting with five. Guess the turtles & crawfish didn’t make much of a dent. I adopted a Wal-Mart pictus cat from a dorm neighbor in college, put him in a vacant coffee carafe, and named him Maxwell (House), but didn't have a real tank ‘til graduating, and moving out west (I grew up in Ohio, went to college in Michigan), and getting married to my fiance of five years, Jean-Paul.

My 38 tall has been set-up for about 2 and a half years now, and it’s in a limbo between being planted with what was on sale/survived, and what I researched & planned for aesthetic reasons (about 75/25). My future plans include a fish room with a 100+gallon amazon tank (soon as we move to the next house, some day, so I can really dial it in), and a dreamt-of variety of biotopes.

I’d like to thank Robert for making these forums available, and for responding positively to their users’ input. Especially thank you for El Natural, Biotopes, and Planted Discus Tank forums! And thanks to all who have responded (or will) to my doofy questions.

By the way, I actually cut about half of what I wrote after seeing how much space it finally took up. Captain Run-On strikes again!


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## sarahbobarah

Hi everyone! My name is Sarah and I'm a Fishaholic.

I guess for me it started when I was a kid. I grew up on my grandparent's farm surrounded by animals. When I moved to the U.S, there wasn't much room for pets so I started keeping a goldfish I won at the fair, which mys sister adopted when I moved to college (she named it Ducky for some reason) In college, I started a 10 gallon tank with some two angels and three guppies and an oldschool UG filter. Good ole days. 
That tank moved up and down the coast with me from UCSB to the Bay Area several times while going to college. Finally had to leave it (with some geriatric fish and several generations of guppies later) at the house I stayed in Senior year. 
Didn't have a tank for about 3 years, but then got a job at a pet store. And you know how those things go. Now I've got a zoo and 11 fish tanks, but just recently started experimenting with planted tanks.

Then I found this forum, and so far it's been pretty cool. Learning a lot of things, trying some things out. Coming from a science background, a lot of things seem counterintuitive, but hey, that's nature.

Right now, I'm just stuffing my tanks full of plants. I get a lot of them for free, so I'm having trouble fitting them all in









Hope to see you around!

Sarah bo barah


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## Robert Hudson

Sarah, glad to have you here! Where in the bay area are you? I used to live in San Jose.


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## Phillyfishclub

My Name is Schuyler (Mr. Sky- trust me it's easier) I am a 28.99 years old. I am the founder and president of the Northeast Philadelphia Aquarium Society here in philly. I started out with 1 aquarium with fake plants. Got some live plants at an auction once and never bought another fake plant again. 
I am always looking to meet people in the hobby. Right now I am working on my first book on how to start an aquarium society and will soon be employeed in a local pet shop.

O.K. I am done rambling on.


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## sarahbobarah

Hey Robert








I'm on the cusp of Sunnyvale and Mountain View.

Lovely weather all year long.

Sarah

P.S. Welcome Mr. Sky!


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## Phillyfishclub

Thank you.
I used to live in oregon too.
In Springfield, actually. Only a couple seconds from the Gateway mall.


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## imported_russell

nice to meet you chris, sarah and sky. i think that if you hang around, you will learn lots, but you will probably end up teaching us a lot in exchange







i hope to be seeing you around.


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## Phillyfishclub

Nice to meet you too!


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## imported_chrismisc

Thanks everyone, & nice to meet you!


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## phishluvr

Hello all! I'm 33, and live in Boulder Colorado. It's absolutely gorgeous this time of year and it's about the time of year that I always want to add an outdoor pond. My husband of 11 years is still getting use to my 75g, so it will be some time. We have two girls, 6 and 10 who share my love of aquariums. My oldest just set up a 6g eclipse tank with a betta, two African dwarf frogs, three neons and a large anubia trained on a piece of African root. We're both kinda of proud of it.







For being small it has a lot of life.

I began with a 10g in college after a friend's aquarium peaked my interest. Over the years, I've experimented with various 10 and 30g tanks, even tried a salt water in the 30g (which was not very successful). Two years ago we finally splurged on a larger aquarium. The big guy... though it's probably small to many of you =) ...is a 75g planted aquarium with 6 gouramis, two shy clowns, two khuli loaches, 4 raspbora tetras and a lone scissor tail that was given to me when a friend took down her aquarium.

Here's a few pics:


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## imported_russell

i like your tank phishluvr. i hope that you will hang around and learn with us.


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## rrguymon

Hello everyone.

I am Rick I am 51, married and live in Albuquere NM. I have three daughters. We are emtpy nesters as our youngest daughter just moved out on her own. 

I work at Intel. Prior to that I was in the USAF. I retired from the military after 27 years.

I have not kept fish for several years. I use to keep some cichlids in a 55. I just set the tank back up and intend to make it a fresh water planted tank. I have ordered the lighting and I am doing some research on CO2 and differant plants that will go with my lights. I think I will buy a pressurized system.

I look forward to browsing the fourms and learning as much as I can from all you experts.


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## imported_russell

welcome rrguymon! it sounds like you will have plenty of time to work on a tank now. and please don't just browse around. post some things and get your questions answered.


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## imported_russell

well, i finally have a picture of me and my wife.


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## imported_BSS

Great shot, Russell. Ah, the happy times!!


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## Robert Hudson

Sarah, sorry I am late in responding...I know the area very well! Welcome to everybody. We need more people from NM, I think Roger gets lonely.


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## The Big Tuna

Hi yall!
My name is Joshua and I am 33 years old and live in the swamps of coastal NE North Carolina.
I am married and have 3 boys- all under the age of 6!! I have been keeping tanks since I was 6 years old, started off fresh- then bred African cichlids- then started collecting marine fish from the Chesapeake Bay for aquariums- then progressed to reef tanks. I am a landscape junkie and am getting way into ponds as well. I would like to set up a native plant species tank and am looking forward to talking to all of you and learning as much as possible...
Joshua


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## imported_chrismisc

Welcome Joshua!

I'm sure lots of us (inluding me) will look forward to your posts as your projects progress.


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## Thiago Tyska

Hi all!
I'm Thiago Bonatto Tyska or only Tyska if you all wish.
I started with planted aquariuns this year and I'm searching for knowledge on planted aquariuns.
Here is a photo of my tank in june of this year, after that I'd bought some plants and changed a lot this visual.

















OK! That's It!
I'm introduced now!








I hope that I can learn lots of things here with all the folks in here. (one point is improving my english because it's very poor now!!! hahahahaha).
See ya!


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## imported_russell

welcome tyska! it's good to have you with us. how hard is it to find plants and equipment in brazil?

your tank looks really nice, and i am very happy to get to know you. if you hang around, you will learn all you need to know


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## Thiago Tyska

> Originally posted by russell:
> welcome tyska! it's good to have you with us. how hard is it to find plants and equipment in brazil?
> 
> your tank looks really nice, and i am very happy to get to know you. if you hang around, you will learn all you need to know


Hi Russel!
Thanks!
Some plants are found easy here on Brazil and some are just a dream for some of us like some kinds of aponogetons, some small ones like hemianthus callitrichoids that we have to pay R$50 (reais, not dollar! in dollars it may be like U$18 - U$25 for a little portion!







).
The equipment that we have here are really expensive (a fluval 404 have the price of R$550 that in dollars are U$230 - U$250, and the earnings here sometimes are the price if that fluval that's one thing that make most of people here to desist the hobby), what most brazilians do is some DIY projects this is our "jeitinho brasileiro", I don't know if it interests you, but here we have lots of DIY projects, the top of mind here is the inspection T canister! hehehe It worths a a lot for us! I have one working on my tank! That's a huge filter, the final price is like a whisper price, but you know that a whisper compared with a canister is nothing at all... hehehe






















Fishes are sometimes easy to find, what we find easily here are some serpae tetras, neons (that they sell for beginners...







), some ramirezis (easily found here in Brazil), but the dwarfs cichlids are incredibly hard to find! Sometimes appears some apistograma cacatuoides but at exorbitant prices.
But the champions here are the jumbos! Oscar is the easier to find! And people here like them a lot, but I don't.
Thanks by the tank, I have changed a little since this photo, but it's not what I want yet. One day I'll have a good tank! hehehe
I wish to learn many things with you all!


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## thebluejackal

Greetings!

My name is Carol and I'm currently residing in Oklahoma City, OK. Right now, I only have an 18 gallon tall tank, but I'll be upgrading to a 47 gallon column next month. Unfortunately I don't currently have the wall or floor space for your good ol' usual 55. Ahahaha. Wish I did . . . Alas. I plan on planting this tall tank anyway and have been researching aquarium plants for at least a month now. Lord knows what sort of weird lighting I'll have to rig up to reach the depths.

My present tank contains a five-year-old algae eater (sometimes called the Chinese Algae Eater or the Algae Eating Loach) named "The Great Ancestral Spirit", a five-year-old veiled angel named "Pandora", three long-finned blue danios, three zebra danios, one red zebra danio (The whole school is named "The Seven Deadly Sins--the red one being "Pride"), a pale red male veil-tailed betta (the usual sort) with spotted fins named "Akito", a four-year-old albino rainbow shark named "Alec", a golden wonder killi named "Roy", and a young violet goby named "Kano". Violet gobies are also called "South American Dragon Fish" at PetSmart . . . although you can find them in the wild in Texas. Whatever.

Other residents in my apartment are, of course, my partner Avery, three cats (Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru), three mice (Tori, Toboe, and Midas), two ferrets (Lazarus and Sariel), and fifteen rats (Plague, Famine, Mika, Hitomi, Baby, Cassiel, Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel, Seth, Ch'kir, Haibane, Rhadavic, Slash, and Twoflower). The cages are the reasons why I don't have the wall space for a bigger tank, ahahaha. Not to mention the bookshelves. And my drafting desk. And. Blargh.

I'm really getting this tank more for the entertainment of my cats than anything else, you see . . . 

Right.


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## imported_russell

it's nice to meet you jackal. i live in weatherford, oklahoma. it's about an hour west of okc on I-40. if you ever need anything, just send me a p.m.!


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## thebluejackal

Really? Heh. Ever go to that PetSmart off of I-40 in OKC?

I, uh. Kinda work there.


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## flagg

Well well, I never even knew this part of the forums was here! I never really scrolled all the way to the bottom before!! Ok, well, I suppose belated introductions are necessary...

I'm Ricardo and I live in Valley Cottage, NY. I have 6 tanks: 3 2.5G w/ bettas, java fern and salivinia, a 20G grow out tank for some N. brichardis, and two low tech planted tanks: a 10G and a 30G. I've been visiting the forums for a while now and I'm quite embarrassed that I didn't make it this far "down" before.

Well, that's me! What else can I say? Oh, I have the greatest job in the world: I'm a teacher! To quote/paraphrase a bumper sticker I recently saw: "It's too bad that the people who could best run the country are busy teaching in schools." Touche! My hat's off to whoever came up with that one!

I look forward to many more months of participating in the forums. 

-ricardo


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## imported_russell

jackal: yes actually have gone there several times to get start right/fish/ sometimes plants. i'm guessing you work there? it's a neat little store. a lot better than anything in weatherford


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## John N.

Ricardo you're like me. Hehe, I just saw this thread down in the boonies too. I'm not one for introduction forums, but I said what the heck. Not even sure what to say...

Hello..My name is John. I got into fish tanks over the summer. I've been lurking around abit, and recently found this site. I've learned alot reading people's experiences. Glad to meed everyone here! 

WOW I just realized I've only been a member for about a week and I already have nearly 100 posts. More than people who've been here for months and years...dang I ask too many questions.

-John N.


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## Roan Art

Merry Christmas!

My name is Eileen and I'm an artist. I'm originally from Ontario, Canada, but am married to an American and live in Herndon, VA.

I started keeping in August of this year and have 7 tanks running (largest is 36 gallons). The 36 is planted:










I've 3x75 gallon tanks that I am picking up today and 1x65 gallon that will be in next week, all will be planted and I'm focusing on PNG biotopes. I'm very big into rainbowfish









Hrm, I have two kids -- Connor is 4 and Deirdre is 9 -- three rough coated collies, 2 cats, 3 ball pythons and a Kenyan Sand boa.

I found this forum while searching for rare PNG plants. Robert has one for sale on his site and I bought a few. Hoping he gets more of the ones I'm looking for in









I can also be found on AquariaCentral.com under the same user name.

Dunno what else to say









Roan


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## Robert Hudson

Welcome Roan! Nice looking tank. Oh I remember you from Aquaria central! Glad things worked out.

I love Rainbows. I used to have a Rainbow tank a few years ago. I had to tear it down and give away the fish when I moved to Oregon. Let me know what else you are looking for and I will do my best. In the coming months I may have several new plants.


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## Roan Art

> Originally posted by Robert H:
> Welcome Roan! Nice looking tank. Oh I remember you from Aquaria central! Glad things worked out.


Thanks for the welcome, Robert







As of this morning that tank has been ripped to shreds and most of the plants are in the first 75g along with the Boes.



> I love Rainbows. I used to have a Rainbow tank a few years ago. I had to tear it down and give away the fish when I moved to Oregon. Let me know what else you are looking for and I will do my best. In the coming months I may have several new plants.


You betcha! I have a list I'll post -- soon as I find out what my son who-is-supposed-to-be-asleep wants.

Roan


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## Roan Art

Please forgive me if you already carry any of these plants. I couldn't find them (please add a search engine to the online store)

My list:

Cyperus helferi
Eriocaulon cinereum
Monosolenium tenerum
Pogostemon stellata
Myriophyllum tuberculatum (oops, you have this one)
Cryptocoryne blassii
Limnophila aromatica

Roan Art


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## Robert Hudson

I have Cyperus helferi and C. blassi

Oh, and I have lots and lots of P stellatus broad leaf, otherwise known as Eusteralis stellata


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## azn_fishy55

errrrrg...I didn't see this part of the forum before so I need to introduce my self.Just click on the link to learn some stuff about me.I started fish keeping in first grade,my first fish was a betta.After that I had a larger aquarium and kept some fish.Only recently I learned of the beauty of planted aquariums and started one last year.I started a 30 gallon recently and its not doing too good and I am restarting it.Well....this is my intro.
http://www.myspace.com/azn_fishy55


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## ShadowElite951

Hey! I'm new here. I'm 15 years of age and female. I have running a 55 Gallon with NW Cichlids and a 29 Gallon planted. I'm new with plants and after a month or so...kill them off. >< I hope to get some good info here and meet new friends.









P.S. I LOVE the site!!


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## imported_Ponderous

Hello y'all. I guess I should introduce myself.

I don't have a real planted aquarium yet, I found this place researching and planning for my first one, which for me is half the fun. 

I'm hoping to build a 90 Gal. biotope paludarium or some such, though I probably won't actually start construction 'til this summer.

I'm sure you'll see me popping in every now and then with a glut of questions.

'Til then!


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## John N.

Welcome ShadowElite and Ponderous!

You'll enjoy this place. Feel free to ask as many questions as you want.









-John N.


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## Tankman

Hi, I just stumbled on this part of the forum today. Had a long holiday last week so I took some pics of my 15G and 50G tanks...

Crazy about this hobby since I got my smaller tank in Feb. 2004 as a result of being inspired by the aquascapes of my lfs. I've had tanks when I was a kid but the plants used to always die on me (in those days, CO2 setups were non-existant). Just bought and setup up my bigger tank at the end of Oct 2005.

Forums like these help fuel my passion for this hobby as they are a gr8 source of information. The hobby's been a good diversion for me too, in addition of being an outlet to express my creativity... The best thing is that plants are always growing so the aquascape keeps evolving and the artist/aquascaper has to keep in step.

Hope to get an additional larger tank in the near future as I really love freshwater aquatic plants a lot. They are definely a sight for sore eyes and help me relax after a stressful day.

~ Keep up good work with this forum!


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## gupp

Just thought I should say hi before I posted too much on the rest of the site. Oh and Robert, please ignore my email last night I was able to register and got in fine this morning.









Anyway my name is Rhonda Wilson. I have a fish room full of low tech planted aquariums. Some of you may already know me, I've been around the aquarium world on the internet for quite a few years. Just thought I'd say hi.


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## imported_chrismisc

Hi Rhonda,

I just read your article on making your own fish room in TFH last week. Hope you weren't trying to keep a low profile! Welcome!


----------



## gupp

Hi Chris thanks, Great screen name.


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## Robert Hudson

Rhonda, nice to hear from you. Stick around a while! We seem to attract a lot of low tech people here, and it is nice to have a new perpesctive from someone as accomplished in the hobby as you!


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## Miss Fishy

I have gradually been reading through this thread and finally finished it, so here is my introduction:

I got my first fish from a small pond in the gardens at the front of a sewage farm! I was five years old, and had just been on a tour of the sewage farm (it was very interesting from what I remember). Some of the other children who were on the tour had noticed there were fish in the pond and were trying to catch them, so I took the lid off our empty thermos flask and my father managed to cath three tiny fish with it. We brought them home and they lived in a small aquarium for a whole year, which seemed a very long time to me. Looking back on it, I'm amazed the poor things survived that long since we didn't know how to care for them - we changed all the water every week and washed the tank out with soap. About a year later, at a "pet expo" I discovered that you shouldn't change all the water at once and that soap is not good for fish, and things progressed from there. Soon I had a wading pool with some goldfish and some small tanks with White Clouds and Zebra Danios. My wading pool with goldfish evolved into a "real" pond with soil on the bottom and live plants, and I set up my first proper aquarium with a filter, lighting, live plants and a carefully thought out selection of fish.

Ever since seeing those first live plants waving around in my pond, I have loved aquatic gardening. The pond and aquarium were soon joined by others and I started collecting different species of plants. After purchasing a pair of Wester Pygmy Perches (_Edelia vittata_) I became interested in Australain native fish and then native plants. The plants in the ponds always did well but apart from that first tank where the plants thrived, I had varying degrees of success with planted tanks. Then I read _Ecology of the Planted Aquarium_. I abandoned my semi high-tech approach, started keeping my tanks like I keep my ponds and have not looked back.

Now, seventeen years after those first tiny fish, I am running five (soon to be seven) aquaria, and have slowly acquired over 20 small ponds. Two of the tanks and one pond have fish; the rest are home to plants and a range of small water creatures.

Thanks to Robert and everyone else for providing such a great forum, especially the "El Natural" section. It's wonderful to be able to learn about planted aquaria and hear about other people's experiences with the hobby in such a friendly and relaxed environment. Keep up the good work!

From Alex.


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