OT....... my freshwater tank.

sammystingray

Active Member
That's right, we started our first freshwater tank. It's about two months old now, and I really have no clue how it will end up, but here's what we got so far....two live plants, a brick thingie, and some fish basically.:D
 

sammystingray

Active Member
Here's our new teacup stingray being released into the tank....one of the smallest stingrays in the world. It took over a month to get one ordered around here. This is the boy, and we would like to get a girl eventually, but the store could only come up with two boys.
 

sammystingray

Active Member
Thanks Carole, here's another shot where you can see the rays tail and some body, and the goldfish are a good size reference.....the stingrays just a little guy.:D
 

sammystingray

Active Member
The tank is 75 gallons.
A "baby whale" is on the list to put in......is that what you mean? We planned on one from the start. Thats what we call them around here I guess.
I know they like a tube, but I really don't plan to put one in.....they will have to make due and keep hiding in the plants. The elephant nose doesn't hide, but the knife likes to.
 

sammystingray

Active Member
BTW hahahaha I don't really fish much anymore, but we used to try and catch gar in Tennessee when we were younger..... cherokee lake.....basically they don't take any bait, and we would fling the hook at them.......don't worry, we never caught a single one. :) They used to jump in the early morning, and it was impressive.
 

sammystingray

Active Member

Originally posted by waterfaller1
I know the feeling..I can't seem to find sexy shrimps anywhere :D

I'm pretty short...5'9":D
Seriously, since I am mostly saltwater, I have found a real love for "critters", and so far we just have some ghost shrimp. I am learnig about more and more freshwater creatures so I have some diversity.....I really want things other than fish in this tank.
 

oceanic110

Member
This thread has gottin off topic, not that I'm complaining. So let me ask Melody a question. If waterfaller1 is wearing a red teddy
with a smile, What are you wearing?:p
 

sammystingray

Active Member

Originally posted by Jillian Ayers
What kind of knife fish is that?

Basically I have ni idea......I am a saltwater freak, and I know little about freshwater species. On a side note, the baby whale is in the tank since about a week ago.
jwtrojan44, the substrate was once livesand in my saltwater eel tank. The freshie rays don't seem to bury themselves as much as saltwater.....I'm still learning freshwater....
 
If you could post a better picture, I could tell you what kind of knife it is. I don't think it's a ghost knife, but if it was, that would be a very bad thing to keep with an elephant fish.
 

beaslbob

Well-Known Member
sammy
Looks like an excellent setup and critters. I would have done a leiden setup but that is just me. Again looks good.
Do any of the fish (especially the original goldfish) bother the live plants?
 

scotts

Active Member
You know because you do need as much macro algae in your tank as possible.
Sorry just had to do that.
Scott
 

gollus

Member
Hey nice looking freshwater tank, I have to ask a few questions
1. I thought most "freshwater" rays were acctually brackishwater, is that the case with yours or is that a ray that i didnt know about?
2. I also heard that knife fish are really an aggressive fish, they sleep all day then come out at night to eat the other fish while they sleep.
You should really get some more plants, My tank is so full of them I have to trim them out once a week. But algae growth is almost nill. My secret is injecting CO2, I took a big soda bottle and put a rubber cork/stopper on it then put an air hose through the rubber cork, then added sugar, yeast, and water into the bottle, instant CO2, plus you get a REALLY good alcoholic beverage (im seriouse:p ). After I did that my plants started taking off like crazy, oh and I add iron weekly. Everything loves it and is growing great, well almost everything. My stupid fish will eat any new plants I put in so I am now stuck with the plants I have in the tank. I think if I added more lighting it would probably help, but I really dont care that much. One of the funny things is I have this sword and if you know swords they grow these really big leaves, but my fish always eat the leaf down to nothing so only branches grow no leaves, really funny. I enjoy my freshwater almost as much as I enjoy my saltwater. I also have substrate tips if you want them. Had to learn the hard way, but I have now learned. If you want some of my hardier plants, I could try to get you some for some sort of trade.
 
In answer to one of the questions, depending on what kind of knife fish you have, they may be aggressive or they might be loners that need peaceful tankmates. The clown knife and the brown knife are said to be somewhat aggressive, but, if kept with tankmates that cannot fit into their mouths, they are fine specimens. The black ghost knife I was referring to (my favorite right now), is one of the ones that is peaceful and hides alot. Basically, don't keep anything small in the tank with them. Other than that, they're great fish and I love mine! :) Here is my black ghost knife:
 
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