Hey all, my name is Chris and I am currently living in Portland Oregon. I am a bit new to aquatic plants and aquariums in general. My girlfriend is the reason that I was introduced to the hobby and I bet she is regretting it now. She moved in with me August of last year and over the course of the next few months she decided that she wanted some pets of her own. I had 2 dogs (pembroke welsh corgi and Westie/Beagle mix) and a green cheek conure already so a pug was out of the question and cats were just not an option right then. She remembered seeing "Pea Puffers" a few years back and wanted to get some. I wasn't really keen on the idea but I wanted her to be happy. So after a lot of searching and footwork we finally called this place called "The Wet Spot". They didn't know what a pea puffer was but they had something called a dwarf puffer, which was about the right size. I think I should go back and say that I always thought aquariums were lame. In my mind they were boxes with dumb fish and neon rocks with a treasure chest that blew bubbles and more often than not were dirty and covered in algae. So we drove up to "The Wet Spot"(which is hard to google at work... think about it 
) and entered their east door where they had a bunch of empty aquariums and everything seemed kind of scattered, I wasn't impressed. So we start to look around and I became impressed with the amount of stocked tanks they have (easily 100+). Then I rounded the corner into the next room and there they were, 4 beautiful green tanks that were covered in plants... I was quite taken aback, now I was very impressed. So I told my gf right then that fake plants were not an option. So we purchased a 10 gallon and they told us that we should wait a week to buy fish. I have heard of aging water before so this seemed to make sense.
We setup our aquarium with our real plants and gravel substrate mix and I was very pleased... I thought it was cool without fish. So 6 days later we go in and get our dwarf puffers and brought them home. We lost one in a bout a week, but she wasn't quite right from the beginning. I did use Cycle in the tank all that previous week but never had any ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, I assumed the plants were consuming the little that was being made in our fishless tank.
About 8 months later and what I would liken to a full associates degree worth of learning about fish/inverts/tankmates/substrates/plants/maintenance/water chemistry, I am really in full aquaria awe. The 10 gallon is now a red cherry shrimp breeding tank and grow out tank for my upcoming aqua gardens(no point in paying for a bunch individual plants when I can grow my own), and the puffers have a new home in a mostly planted 25 gallon tank with a couple Amano shrimp and a few ottos. We are currently dosing Seachem products but we will be migrating to pressurized CO2 and PPS fertilizing. My girlfriend likes to feed the fish but I have taken over nearly every other aspect of the hobby, she does provide quite a bit of financial support though :hug:. I have no desire to do saltwater or reef tanks, being from Oregon that is just to fake to me (if I lived in Cali or Florida maybe). I need it to be green and wet just like everything else here (except my lawn... go figure) I have discovered something that transcends pets or a hobby. To me it is very much about creating a balanced and natural piece of art. I must admit that creating an almost full fledged eco-system satisfies some underlying God complex. I am getting ready to start my transition into full fledged aquascaping. My girlfriend has more or less ok'd 3 new tanks. 2 will be small Amano/Iwagumi style aqua gardens and one will be a larger 70+ Gallon living room fixture. This is the plan anyway as with anything they are prone to change.
I am a big time DIY kind of guy, so expect to see some cool things come from me in the future. I hope I can give back a fraction of the knowledge I have received from this and the many other aquatic communities online.
) and entered their east door where they had a bunch of empty aquariums and everything seemed kind of scattered, I wasn't impressed. So we start to look around and I became impressed with the amount of stocked tanks they have (easily 100+). Then I rounded the corner into the next room and there they were, 4 beautiful green tanks that were covered in plants... I was quite taken aback, now I was very impressed. So I told my gf right then that fake plants were not an option. So we purchased a 10 gallon and they told us that we should wait a week to buy fish. I have heard of aging water before so this seemed to make sense.We setup our aquarium with our real plants and gravel substrate mix and I was very pleased... I thought it was cool without fish. So 6 days later we go in and get our dwarf puffers and brought them home. We lost one in a bout a week, but she wasn't quite right from the beginning. I did use Cycle in the tank all that previous week but never had any ammonia/nitrites/nitrates, I assumed the plants were consuming the little that was being made in our fishless tank.
About 8 months later and what I would liken to a full associates degree worth of learning about fish/inverts/tankmates/substrates/plants/maintenance/water chemistry, I am really in full aquaria awe. The 10 gallon is now a red cherry shrimp breeding tank and grow out tank for my upcoming aqua gardens(no point in paying for a bunch individual plants when I can grow my own), and the puffers have a new home in a mostly planted 25 gallon tank with a couple Amano shrimp and a few ottos. We are currently dosing Seachem products but we will be migrating to pressurized CO2 and PPS fertilizing. My girlfriend likes to feed the fish but I have taken over nearly every other aspect of the hobby, she does provide quite a bit of financial support though :hug:. I have no desire to do saltwater or reef tanks, being from Oregon that is just to fake to me (if I lived in Cali or Florida maybe). I need it to be green and wet just like everything else here (except my lawn... go figure) I have discovered something that transcends pets or a hobby. To me it is very much about creating a balanced and natural piece of art. I must admit that creating an almost full fledged eco-system satisfies some underlying God complex. I am getting ready to start my transition into full fledged aquascaping. My girlfriend has more or less ok'd 3 new tanks. 2 will be small Amano/Iwagumi style aqua gardens and one will be a larger 70+ Gallon living room fixture. This is the plan anyway as with anything they are prone to change.
I am a big time DIY kind of guy, so expect to see some cool things come from me in the future. I hope I can give back a fraction of the knowledge I have received from this and the many other aquatic communities online.
