Haven't seen any new posts to this thread in awhile so I thought it was time for a bump . Hopefully some of you other TIG members have some pets too

This is my 55 gallon Freshwater Tropical Fish aquarium . It is not nearly as beautiful as the Salt Water aquarium I saw posted earlier in the thread . I can't remember whos it was without going through the whole thread again but it looked fantastic . I wish I could afford a nice Salt Water aquarium but in Oklahoma it costs a minimum af $30 - $40 per fish

All the plants in my aquarium are real by the way - except the romain floating on top - they likes to eat that ..

Nice setup .

Josh wrote:

Nice setup .

Thanks Josh - I really appreciate it

I really love a natural looking aquarium but , believe it or not , my wife talked me into putting something skull related into it . Took me awhile to find something that wasn't real cheesey but the idea was to create a castle moat setting to go with the painting that is hanging (crookedly:oops:) above . The skull and vase worked out cool for hideing places for the fish - if you look close at the closeup pic of the skull you can see my Red Tailed Black Shark in his lair .

at last count I have:

1 Red Tail Black Shark , 2 Angel Fish , 5 Neon Tetras , 5 Cherry Barbs , 3 Painted Swordtails , 4 Hatchet Fish , 5 Thread Fin Rainbowfish , 2 Black Skirt Tetras , 3 Cori Catfish and 3 White Skirt Tetras that have been genetically modified to be Yellow .

Making me want to go buy some fish
Have a tank here I could setup that has pump etc already. Use it for shells usually...but nothing has been it for a year or so.

Do you live in Australia ? I bet you can get some beautiful Salt Water fish there for alot more reasonable prices then I can here . I'm too cheap to spend $30 + for the most basic saltys - I think the most expensive ones I have bought are my angels and they were only $14 each .

ourchickenshack wrote:

Do you live in Australia ? I bet you can get some beautiful Salt Water fish there for alot more reasonable prices then I can here . I'm too cheap to spend $30 + for the most basic saltys - I think the most expensive ones I have bought are my angels and they were only $14 each .

I could just go walk on the reef and get all the saltwater fish I need. Lots of nice ones that would go well in a tank. Clown fish, butterfly fish etc etc etc. See loads of different ones when I go look for shells.

you are a lucky man - I would shit myself if I had that kind of access to a reef !

I guess I wouldn't need a aquarium then though - I would be out snorkeling every chance I got .

Ment to ask - is that snake your pet ? What kind is he ?

Stimsons python. There is two in there. Can just see the other one under the rock.

Nice looking fish James. I've kept & bred a wide variety of tropical fresh water & marine fish most of my adult life, but stopped about 3 years ago.
When we get a bigger place I'd like to get back into it again.

@Josh nice snakes, & great to see them in a set up that reflects their natural habitat.
Do you keep any other reptiles?

Nah, mate. Just those two

Josh wrote:

Nah, mate. Just those two

If only I could be so disciplined.

Josh wrote:

Nah, mate. Just those two

If only I could be so disciplined.

Ha ha. We have Blue tongues here that cruise around the house all the time also...if that makes you feel better.

My Central-American cichlid tank. (260+ gallons / 235*65*65cm)

I've recently changed my fish and am now keeping Mexican / Guatemala cichlids in this tank (Pearsei and Octofaciatus and Spilurus).



Will upload a short film some day, am totally into fish, but natural and matching habitats only.

But can still appreciate a cool setup like the ones above

Great looking display. Are they Cichlosoma synspilum by any chance?

cantina_patron wrote:

Great looking display. Are they Cichlosoma synspilum by any chance?

Until last year they were indeed called Synspilum but in the family Vieja.
Before that they were classified as Cichlasoma.

But recently, i believe in 2009 after new DNA investigations and comparison reclassified to Paratheraps Melanurus. :scratch:
This is how they are called now but everybody still knows them under the old name.
thx for the compliment

Thargoil wrote:

cantina_patron wrote:

Great looking display. Are they Cichlosoma synspilum by any chance?

Until last year they were indeed called Synspilum but in the family Vieja.
Before that they were classified as Cichlasoma.

But recently, i believe in 2009 after new DNA investigations and comparison reclassified to Paratheraps Melanurus. :scratch:
This is how they are called now but everybody still knows them under the old name.
thx for the compliment

You clearly know your stuff (it's not very often that I encounter an educated aquarist these days).
The last time I had dealings with that species was in 2002, so I hadn't realised the name had changed.
Having said that, there are a number of species I've previously kept/worked with that have been re-classified.

Beautiful aquarium set up Thargoil !!

I have a decent aquarium setup but yours puts mine to shame

At 260 gallons your tank must be enormous - any chance of you posting more pics to show off more of your setup

Pretty fishies. That's the extent of my knowledge right there.

ourchickenshack wrote:

Beautiful aquarium set up Thargoil !!

I have a decent aquarium setup but yours puts mine to shame

At 260 gallons your tank must be enormous - any chance of you posting more pics to show off more of your setup

Well thanks for a start. I've also began with tropical fish and also had my share of 'sunken boats', treasure chests' and 'colored marbles' until i actually started reading into cichlid. Now i want everything as close to nature as i can get, but i still like tropical tanks like yours! My babies sometimes make me a little mad due to their territorial nature. (2'nd movie in the middle or end you see what i mean).






I now have gone a little over the top having 7 tanks, electric bill going through the roof
The largest is 92,5inch in length and both the height and depth are 25,5 inch (according google calculator, i typically use metric which is 235*65*65cm) My 2nd largest is 200*50*50cm. I filter externally on E-heim filters (3* tankvolume/hr).

Another tank with African 'Frontosa' (


One of my favorites (Parachromis Loisellei)



And i think that's enough on my fish before i bore you to death. I can go on and on like some ppl i know can go on and on over some details on vintage toys

Beautifull fishes in impressing environments!!

Thanks for sharing, TG!

Thank you for posting more pics and the videos of your aquariums

All I can say is WOW ! I am exstreamly impressed

Love the Buckethead reference in your avatar.


Tried to post pics of my dogs and horses but have to wait a week according to the rules