Fish Tank
So I love fish, and the tank experience.
I tried to do a salt water a long time ago; (My favorite of the type of tanks) however to be successful with a salt water you need thousands of dollars for the right equipment, testing supplies, live rock, coral, fish... and once you achieve this one this can destroy the whole thing to ground zero.
I have taken the cheaper route, I am going fresh. Not as nice, but still very relaxing and a fun hobby. I am going to try and make my tank look like a lake near the shore. I used real rocks, not gravel, not live rock, but real stones. And I plan to have a variety of real plants that you might see next to the shore popping their heads out of the water or see if diving underneath the surface.
Day 1:
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Steven,
How big is the tank? Iit looks like a 10 gallon.
Saltwater's are cool but freshwater can be just as rewarding (and yes, much cheaper to have and maintain). I've had freshwater fish for many years since I was in junior high. If you like some of the colors that saltwater fish have - you might want to look at some African cichlids. They tend to have pretty bright colors for freshwater fish and they have a lot of personality.
Thanks for the tip on the African cichlids. I will ask if they have them. No I think the tank is 20- 25 gallons
I remember Kris's aquarium as being beautiful.
Have fun.
I hadn't heard of cichlids before, and I found this site helpful. Nice advice about pH, good tank mates, tank set up, etc. I don't know if the site advice fits Kris's experience, but it looks like it's at least written well.
http://www.africancichlids.net/articles/setup_tips_and_facts/
Jeff: That site is depressing. Part of my tank and I find really enjoyable is live plants. I want the African Cichlids Although I would rather have live plants. That site says they do not like live plants. I will ask store how dire it is that there is no live plants. I am not sure why live plants would affect them any differently than fake. It says they don't like live plants because they like to move things around in tank to make it pleasant to them. I find this very hard to understand because I never knew a fish that could move a rock or a dry up coral or a fake plant.
I just put fish plant food on bottom and also one cheap 4.99 plant that will test if I can go further with the plants. I will take a picture and post more about it once my water clears. I hope to do this in about a half hour.