African Cichlid Habitat & Puppy!!!

NEW 20 gallon setup & Additions :P

My sisters 20 Gallon Breeder tank with it's new additions and layout - 3 zebra Danio's, 1 Dalmatian platty, & 3 Ghost Shrimp :P

As Promised, Here is a video of my sister's fish tank!!! I design Props go to me, hehe anyways, feel free to leave a comment on what you liked or didn't like about the tank, and suggestions are always welcome :D

New Hexagon setup & re-vamp of the 20Gallon Breeder tank :D

So I've re-done Laura's and my own tanks. mine is still a work in progress. i need to get the hood, and filter(canister preferred)


So here is what i've done :D


For the hexagon, i took all the sand out of the tank(it was very messy when doing gravel clean-ups) now it is comprised of almost all my Carrot stick gravel(reddish & mixed from petsmart & the guildford mall pet store.)

After long thought & consideration, I've decided to get a dual Hood light for the hexagon, and have a Glow Light & Flora max bulb and get some kick Ass plants for the tank. with a fantastic rock feature in the back(by the under-gravel filter tube). the rock feature is still a work in progress, but it's coming along nicely :D

I'm going to get a cleaning crew of Ghost Shrimp & Dwarf Pleco for the Hexagon as the space restraints make a larger animal slightly disoriented. i don't think it's humane to have a Pleco thats going to grow to 15 inches long in a 1ft Long x 2 ft tall fish tank(aprox)


On top of the Pleco & Ghost shrimp, I'm thinking of having 2 or 3 Angel fish in my hexagon.(FRESHWATER) and including some BLACK neon Tetra's and some obscure tropical fish that are more of a dwarf fish.(The smaller the better) since i don't want to have a 6 inch fish in a hex.(not cool)


For laura's tank i decided to mix the best of both worlds, with a whimsical and biotopic design. we have a penn Plax air stone in a disk shape, for volcano's or rock features.  i decided to stick it in the center of the tank and have the rocks in a pyramid shape over top. with some of the "BAMBOO" and Grassy plants coming from the center. with the bubbles all around. i also bunched the plants up all around the rock feature, put a slight path from the castle on the left hand side going to the middle of the tank where the rocks are, and had a WHISPER rock feature Filter in the far right hand side. for those who are unaware what the whisper rock feature is, it's a hollow plastic rock, usually with a U shape on the bottom so the fish can Swim under it, and it sits flush with the back of the tank. it holds a 10 or 20 gallon filter in it, and the water trickles down the rocks. it also hides your heater inside. VERY NICE. I will for sure upload pictures when i get my camera back up and running. it looks VERY cool.

Over all, both tanks are looking FANTASTIC!!!


For the 2nd hexagon, Laura FINALLY gave in and agreed to do a African clawed foot frog tank. OR dwarf frog tank. not sure which she wants, but their pretty much the same thing.


And i will try to post a video of the tank being set up :D that is if laura will edit the video :P

Pet Solutions Pt II

Petsolutions was a bust. As i sat at my computer desk today, looking at a bird cage & some plants(Aquatic) i was forced into the realization that their products are cheap, but USPS Shipping is NOT. almost 40 $ Shipping for a filter. Pfft. so not impressed. And to top it all off, Pet Solutions can't ship LIVE ANYTHING over the boarder. i tried to see how much Brine Shrimp would cost after tax & shipping and all that, and it aint gonna happen. they can't ship living things. how sad is that? back to the drawing board. Gotta find me some brine shrimp. my fish LOVED live food.

Although pet solutions is a GREAT!!! site, for Canadians looking for Fantastic deals on aquatic related supplies, i suggest big Al's & Pacific Aquatics in surrey. I've also heard good reviews about Rogers on scott road.(surrey again)

Big Al's Pet store(ONLINE) Possible Filter review & HEXAGON HOOD(FINALLY!!!)

In my quest to utilize some PayPal bucks that I've accumulated from Live-person, i decided to give Big Al's Pet store a try.

I found their pricing to be VERY reasonable, as I've mentioned before, i'm a huge fan of petsmart, only because their pet supplies are SO CHEAP. well Big Al's is maybe 50-75 cents either way diffrence, (i'm thinking a 22lb bag of gravel) so there pretty much equal. And really, how much does it cost me to get there, and back,  Plus grabbing a coffee on the way, i end up spending like 10 bucks after I've left the house just on the trip & Food alone. How much easier is it to sit at home, in pj's, and go pet store shopping ? SUPER EASY!!!!


Lets not forget the BEST PART EVER!!!. I found a hexagon hood for my tank :D :D :D :D :D it's a plastic hood, WITH LIGHT. my tank is 17.2inches wide, the hood fits 18inches wide. the width of the panels is 10 inches, my hex is 9.8inches. so it's pretty damn close. I've been looking for a hex hood for MONTHS!!!!!. since Lorne found me my first hexagon.(yay for crappy Tenants who trash an apartment & then leave all their junk behind. *TWO THUMBS UP*) except Lorne & i had to tidy the place up. well mostly Lorne, i helped a lil bit :P


PLUS i found a few new filters i wanna give a shot. REVIEWS coming ASAP soon as i get em. they are called -            
 - Penn plax cascade 200 power filter. i eventually want to give a good review of the CANISTER filters of the same brand name, but that will be for the eventual discus tank. :D
http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp17903/si1319661/cl0/pennplaxcascade200powerfilter

If anyone's had any good/bad experience with this filter, PLEASE Comment about your experience, how it was good/bad, etc. TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT!!! hehe


OR let me know of a good filter to test out. (Please don't say aqueon. Please don't say aqueon. (I CAN"T STAND MINE...


Forgive the choppy nature, i'm just learning how to add photo's to the blog :D

Misadventures in pet-keeping

I'm not new in the world of pets, but I'm not an expert either. I'm a human being. I learn from trial & error just like every one else. I'll admit to having my first fish tank all die from doing a total water change. I sometimes forget to clean out the litter box every day. I'll even cover up the birds if they get too loud. I'm no angel. I decided to share my misadventures with the world, maybe throw in some product reviews, and explore my love of fish keeping with all of you wonderful folks on the net.

In the future, you can expect to see reviews of such things like Aquarium Filters, gadgets, cat&dog toys, Pet foods, Kitty litter, You name it, i'll probably give it a shot. I'll also be sharing my exploration into the more advanced world of fish keeping. Cichlids, Discus & eventually salt water. maybe even explore some aquatic reptiles with you guys&gals. sounds like fun eh? I'm excited!!!

Well hope to cya all soon,

B