Tropical Fish Hobby Experience

I have looked after guppies from when I was 12 years old. It was rather easy then back in the Philippines, no need for a heater as its warm 24/7 all year round. I had so much fun breeding them and seeing the older generations replaced with more younger ones. I had to let them go one day as my mum wouldn't have them, she said I was getting too obsessed. Now im in my 40s, so i decided to go back to my old hobby of looking after guppies. Things are quite different here in the UK. you need a heater, the water is different, etc... I now realise that guppies are quite picky when it comes to water, low nitrates, high oxygen, correct ph, etc... These guppies do breed non-stop but they do perish quickly if the water isn't right.

X-ray tetras are quite lovely to look at when you see them in the pet shop. They have pinkish bodies with black marks on the tails and on the sides of their bellies. You can see through their almost transparent body their spines, hence their name X ray tetras. We bought them for my mother-in-law's fish tank, we had thought they would spice the aquarium up a bit. It is a planted aquarium, low tech. Then we dropped them. We found out that they aren't quite showy, unlike their neon tetra cousins. They like to hide in the plants. Any sudden movement near the fish tank they suddenly disappear. To make the story short, they kinda disappoint. Always hiding behind leaves, its as if there's no fish at all. One relation asked 'where's the fish?'. Good question. Maybe we need a new kind of fish for this aquarium.

Cabomba Caroliniana One of the easiest freshwater aquarium plant Cabomba Caroliniana green is very easy to keep. They also look rather nice and unique which adds attraction to the aquarium, the leaves branch out which forms a circular shape.They grow vertically hence they are better suited to being planted at the back of the fishtank. They can grow quite thick and may overrun the fish tank which may affect the oxygen levels of the water, especially at night. They are kept in fish tanks with small fish as their branches and leaves do break easily, which can easily get caught in the filter and clog it. Constant trimming may have to be done to keep the growth in check. In my aquarium, their leaves are kept clean by red cheryy shrimps. There is another Cabomba which you can put in your fish tank, Cabomba Red. It's not as easy to keep as the green one. Enjoy your plant.

Here are the plants that i have come across and found to be easy to look after.  1. Cryptocoryne Undulata - They are best place near the front of the aquarium as they are not like other plants that grow vertical. When you first put them in, i find that they look rather near dying, and i had thought they would be gone a few days later, but new leaves had grown and they are still with me propagating in my fishtanks. They do tend to have reddish leaves which gives it good contrast to the mostly green leaves of other plants.  2. Hygoraphila Difformis - Water Wisteria. This plant needs rich nutrients substrate. The leaves start to turn white if there's not enough iron. So my solution was to put a rusty nail in the fishtank to give it some iron. After a few days green leaves started to come back and the plant still thrives in my aquariums. They tend to attack other plants by overcrowding them and growing thick roots under the substrates where other plants are so a

This was my aquarium before i ever dropped 7 assassin snails. Then I decided to introduce assassin snails a few months later because they kinda look interesting and a bit like proper marine invertebrates you see in saltwater aquariums. They look quite bright as well. But as their name suggests, they do kill other snails in the fishtank. So after they had killed every snail, including the ugly bladder snails, in that once gorgeous aquarium, this is what happened. Overrun by algae on every nook and cranny. absolutely depressing to look at. I cannot even put any nerite snail to get rid of that hard to scrub green algae on the front panel of the aquarium, as they would end up as lunch for these pests. Hence, by experience, if you wish to keep a planted aquarium with less maintenance with the help of algae eating plants, then assassin snails are no go. I may have to ditch them soon.

FishyBizz Youtube Channel Hi there, fishybizz here. Here's my channel featuring my aquarium hobby and my experiences with it. I have been into tropical fish keeping since i was 12, now that was something like 34 years ago, i only got started again last 2015. I hope you enjoy it and also please feel free to correct me on anything, and i hope i would have given you something as well.