I had 3 tanks at one time, a 55 gallon and two tens. One of the tens was the first tank I bought and one of them was an already existing setup I rescued from my aunts home (she had died recently and the family left the care of her remaining fish to me.) The 55 I also purchased for myself and for some time was my pride and joy. I quickly gained experience in the art and began keeping more advanced species such as Bichirs and botiine loaches. I was living in Reno Nevada at the time and with my friends and suppliers at the small but beloved Sierra Aquatics aquarium and exotic pets store, I gained a reputation for being one of the more knowledgeable small-scale aquarists in the northern Nevada region.
I took a short break between 2014 and now because sadly I had to move and my collection could not come with me. I was quite young and unwise at the time and over-invested heavily even though I grossly overestimated the stability of my life at the time. However recently I'm getting back into my favorite hobby as a college student though on a much smaller scale. at the moment I have only a humble 20 gallon hexagon on my bathroom counter. A bit below my potential as an aquarist perhaps,,, but a decent size for one who is busy and short on cash.
My current stock is as follows; 1 Powder blue dwarf gourami, 1 Bolivian ram cichlid, 10 bloodfin tetras, 3 corydoras sterbai, 3 silver hatchetfish, 3 black skirt tetras and 1 silver lyretail molly. I have plans to bring the small groups up to a more proper number of 5 and perhaps add a few guppies for a splash of color. It may be a bit overstocked but everyone has room so its more a matter of bio-load, which I can manage fairly easily with diligent maintainance, live plants and good filtration. I have several plants as well; Anubias nana, amazon sword, dwarf hairgrass and moss ball. I am also planning on further floral development as well.(I particularly desire a hornwort plant...)
I also want to get a small ( 3-10) gallon desktop aquarium for a beta, micro community, or even a first try at saltwater with a nano-reef setup. (its a bit more expensive but if I find a good job soon Id LOVE to start trying my hand at saltwater tanks). I've dreamed of a huge saltwater predator setup since I started my journey in fishkeeping.
Now for my "style" as an aquarist. I'd have to say I'm a fan of very naturalistic setups. Live or high-quality fake plants, rocks, driftwood and the like. Though I appreciate more art-deco types as well. For me though you'll never find any bubble burping clams or corny "no fishing" signs in my tanks. For substrate I have a MASSIVE preference for sand. Bottom dwellers appreciate the soft substrate on their barbels and bodies when they burrow and root around for food. Its easier to clean since the detritus simply sits atop the sand instead of having ten thousand crevices to hide in as with gravel.
As for the fish themselves, I feel more inclined toward oddities and interest over raw beauty. Though I love pretty little fish such as neon tetras I tend to like things like loaches, bichirs and catfish a bit more.As many albino fish as there are in the trade they just never interested me much. I like to see fish as they were naturally meant to be. Though I will say white skirt tetras. german rams and the like, are not without charms, the albino thing just never really spoke to me, nor did "glo-fish" And I CERTAINLY dont like the practice of artificially colored fish. But I'll save that rant for a other article.
well, thats about all I can think to say right now so welcome to my blog, I hope you enjoy yourself reading what I have to say!
Bloodfin tetra x10
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