My Current Tank Setups (Last edited Sept 11 2007)

All of my tanks are salted with the standard "freshwater" levels of aquarium salt. This might be why I have yet to have any disease outbreaks yet. I recommend using aquarium salt for freshwater fish...it enhances gill function and is toxic to parasites like Ick.

10 Gallon (Home Tank) - This one sits on my desk at home, and was the first tank I bought. It houses my favorite fish...four exotic goldfish (an orange Lionhead, Two mottled orange bubble-eyes, and a black bubble-eye). It is a terraced planted tank with an undergravel filter and a powerfilter (witha bio-wheel). It has a glass hood with a flourescent lamp (upgraded the bulb to an "Aqua glo" blue shifted one, which has defenitely helped the plants and makes the fish look better). Almost all the plants are hornwort...it seems to be pretty hardy, grows fast, and has a lush look to it that provides a great backdrop for the fish. I have been told hornwort is excellent for oxygenating the water as well, which may be why the fish seem so active. Snails in the tank keep the glass pretty clean. This is definitely the lowest maintenance of all the tanks I have.

5.5 Gallon (Home Tank) - This was my first Guppy aquarium. It sits on an end table next to my bed. Has a glass hood (no lamp yet....it gets light from a table lamp next to it) and a sponge filter. It is well stocked with a variety of plants, including Java fern and Java moss. It has some minor terracing as well. There are currently four male guppies in it...originally there were seven, but I had a die off recently due to water problems. Before dying one of the females gave birth to about 15 fry, which I "rescued" and put into the nursery tank.

2 Gallon Hex (Home Tank...Fry Nursery) - This is a 2 gallon acrylic hex kit. The only purpose for this tank is as a nursery for fry born in my other tanks, to keep them from being eaten by the adults. Finding a decen florescent light for these things has been impossible, so I just repalced the buld with a blue-shifted one (same vendor..."aquaglo"), and the plants have responded well. I use only the embedded undergravel filter in it, and have added a carbon filter on the outlet as well.

I have a supplementary brine shrimp hatchery I keep next to it.

6.6 Gallon (Work Tank) - I bought this as a desktop-package so I have something to look at at work. It is an acrylic tank and is long...longer than a 10 gallon. It has a bow front and came with a plastic "glass" hood and a florescent lamp (which I havnt upgraded yet), as well as a small power filter. It is fully planted. It currently houses seven guppies (all male except two), two medium size apple snails, about a hundred smaller snails, and three ghost shrimp. One of the females gave birth before dying, and added about six or seven fry to my nursery tank at home.