New to this. Just my ramblings on what i am doing.
Just some rambling while I couldn't sleep.
Late 2016. Ordered a nice setup. Not big but it had to fit in a particular spot and also had to be a display furniture item, not just a big tank on legs.
Joined a Discus forum and a general aquarium forum. Read everything I could. Watched hundreds of youtube videos. Realised I don't know much. Had not heard of cycling. Didn't know much about water changes and their effect of removing nitrate.
Bought test kits, some plants, driftwood, a good air pump, a foam filter, stones and chemicals and 'designed' a possible layout.
I am attempting to get a 'mini' cycle going. I filled a large plastic storage box with tap water. Potted my small collection of plants in some of the red scoria I use with my orchids. Put some old frozen raw prawns in a milk container with some water. When I got the pump I connected the foam filter and put it in the storage box. Started using the water from the prawn mix - a little pour when ever I thought of it. The prawn water takes your breath away. I guess it is ammonia. Lucky this is all going on outside.
I havn't been overly impatient, christmas and new year in there, but .... It must be 4 weeks now. Told this week but it is Wednesday already.
The urge to get back into the fish hobby was inspired through a visit to a pet shop to get some dogwash. They had some tiny angelfish that were about $7 each. So expensive.
I started reading on youtube. Saw the discus. The ones I had in the past (pre 1990) were brown. You could get variations but they were still brownish.
That's what I want. Some of those beautiful colours new varieties. Thought I would get some of those smaller ones.
Apparently not a good idea according to what I get from my reading and advice from the online community. 'Get bigger ones'. 'The difficult work has been done for you'. Maybe that is why they are so expensive.
Like everybody else I want the best for the lowest price.
Well I searched my LF Shops. The big ones I remembered just don't exist anymore. Nothing much available. Some of the fish I saw were nice but for a beginner no way to justify that price. You get put off a bit when you see even one of the collection that has gone all black and is hiding in a corner.
So now I have been looking at the online stuff. The quality seems very high. As is the price.
I am not settled on what to get and where to get them. The reply from the seller I contacted seemed so friendly and made me feel he is someone I can trust. How can someone do that in just a single contact? I must search and see if he has any reviews.
Next I saw a big display tank (video not in person) that only had one variety. I think they were something like red map pigeons. Stunning. Something I would like but it isn't possible or sensible at this stage. Deciding now do I want an 'all the same small collection' or 'a mixture'.
