The Wild Fishing Forum

Quote from: Wildfisher on May 13, 2024, 08:45:14 PMMD has a good eye, but his tanks seem to be short term done for instant YT effect rather than long term fish homes. Don't get me wrong, he plants up some nice tanks, but the density of plants would cost a small fortune. They will be a business expense - he does YT full time. When we had our nursery everything remotely connected to plants and gardens was legit expense.

I wrote a really long reply to this early this morning, but it's disappeared???

So I'll try again.

Plants can be expensive. If I were working with an unlimited budget I'd use mother plants and in vitro plants from the two big posh German companies (Think Bentley). The plants I sent you come from The Oriental Aquarium in Singapore (Think Ford). But if fed and lit correctly in time they'll look great. Your Java fern should grow along the wood naturally as will the moss etc.

Youtubers warrant a huge thread in their own right. There are aquarists making Youtube videos and there are 'Youtubers' using fishkeeping as a subject for their real work which is earning revenue from views and sponsors etc.

Aquarium Co-Op is worth a watch because the owner Corey was / is a fishkeeper and an LFS owner. His advise is sound and you get the feeling he's been there and done it.

George Farmer is a superb aquascaper and plant guy. In fact many others are simply clones of him. But he's heavily focussed on plants as opposed to the fish. He has created a lot of great Biotope aquaria though. And these are wonderful things because they increase the skills and knowledge of more traditional fish keepers. Oliver Knott is also good but he's been quiet for a while.

But some are really only creating content as a job. I'm friends with the owners of a specialist LFS who used to supply quite a famous 'Youtuber'. His videos centered around setting up tanks. But he didn't keep them for long. He lost a lot of fish and accepted replacing them as par for the course from this supplier. The reality was that he was simply setting up tanks parrot fashion but didn't have what it takes to maintain reef setups etc.....

But it's all good if they inspire and educate newbies.

I'm just not a fan of MFK type keepers and the American live feeding videos which have little to no respect for the animals in their care.

My plants in storage until later

This is my supply cupboard

Aye it's not a cheap hobby!   

Hi there,

I'm up near Watten mid June and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for any of the lesser known lochs?
Have fished lochs to the west, forsinard etc but not Dounreay and further east.
Any tips greatly appreciated.

David.

New purchases today £51 

For your Cory's you need a sinking food. These are very good.

https://www.swelluk.com/fishscience-corydoras-tablet-food?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwl4yyBhAgEiwADSEjeC8GnCE1XUnV8FzabViU8nu9RdavRcxp4ARSKaPJ7pmQelHhfmSkGxoCCygQAvD_BwE#corydoras-tablets-150g

Your rams will almost certainly eat them too. Both will also eat these :-

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Fluval-Cichlid-Aquarium-Sinking-Pellets/dp/B071RSV3F5/ref=asc_df_B071RSV3F5/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=255524372546&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=9962774547065171994&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046366&hvtargid=pla-349258974414&mcid=96de0335e921372f968aea3687a4725e&th=1

Avoid cheap flake foods if you want your fish to thrive.

Additional frozen brine shrimp, daphnia and bloodworm will also work well Bloodworm isn't particularly nutritious though.

None of the fish you're planning on keeping are particularly fussy though!

Which general use foods would you recommend?

I tried to make the substrate as non-uniform as possible, Varying depths, random scattered pebbles etc.  Looks a bit more "natural".

Quote from: Wildfisher on May 13, 2024, 08:45:14 PMMD has a good eye, but his tanks seem to be short term done for instant YT effect rather than long term fish homes. Don't get me wrong, he plants up some nice tanks, but the density of plants would cost a small fortune. They will be a business expense - he does YT full time. When we had our nursery everything remotely connected to plants and gardens was legit expense.

I was meaning the hardscape rather than the plants. He wouldn't have the money to do all those plants without being sponsored.