our "pets"

[Joker]

Sudz-


I have an Australian Blue Lobster. they cost about $20.

They are carnivores/scavengers mostly, and hunters of opportunity moreso than anything else. You want to have a good gravel base (i have a 20 gallon with 20lbs of gravel. its a bit much, but when he molts his shell he burrows under a rock and does it for protection.)

You also want to avoid live plants with them, as he'll snip the leaves off, which pollutes the tank and causes the levels to go very dangerous for the rest of the fish, and him. Also, they like hiding spots, so big rocks with holes in them are ideal.

I feed him dry shrimp pellets with the occasional frozen bloodworms from time to time, and that does keep him relatively happy.

For fish, the suggestion is to get fish that tend to stay at the top of the tank so they don't become lunch. I keep black skirt tetras (3) that stay relatively high up, the neons (they are small, less than 1" each) and red-tailed sharks. The sharks stay at the bottom of the tank, but he doesn't bother them. I think they are a little too big for him.

Eventually they say that the lobsters get to about 8-10" long, but that would take many many years. If he gets that big I may need to melt some butter.

I also keep a few small snails to reduce algae levels.

As for saltwater, if you are a noob to aquariums like me, don't do it. Those fish are rediculously expensive, and the maintenance is incredibly high. Plus, a 20 gallon is a VERY small salt tank. Many of those salt fish can get huge.

I bought my tank, and fish and lobster at a local Petco. The tank kit was $100, its an All-Glass brand and came with filter, some starter flake food, water treatment, etc to get the tank stabilized. I waited about 5 days before i added fish, and with the exception of the snails they all went in at the same time. I test the water every 2 days or so, add a little salt here and there, and do a 25% water change every two weeks, and change the filter every month. I also keep the bottom gravel clean by stirring it up periodically so the filter can pick up the fish poo.

I give the sharks Tetra brand "baby shrimp" (freeze dried shrimp) 3-4 times a week, and a tubifex worm block twice a week.

All in all, my investment is somewhere in the range of $400 outfitting the tank, but its worth it. Someday if my camera decides to start working again I'll snap a picture.

[kingcrazylegs]

Monsignor thats cool. Does she talk?

[damnrepoman]

now i just have a chocolate lab "bubba" but my friend had a rainbow trout that we caught awhile back (maybe a year??) thats in his fish tank. that things is awsome! its gotton soo big that he has to feed it feeder mice and had to buy a 100 gallon tank for it. i keep threatening to take the lid off and try to cast from the other side of the living room

[SuDz]

Originally posted by damnrepoman@Sep 26 2005, 06:24 PM
now i just have a chocolate lab "bubba" but my friend had a rainbow trout that we caught awhile back (maybe a year??) thats in his fish tank. that things is awsome! its gotton soo big that he has to feed it feeder mice and had to buy a 100 gallon tank for it. i keep threatening to take the lid off and try to cast from the other side of the living room

[snapback]78573[/snapback]

Thats crazy. A 100 gallong tank must be huge though and probably high maintenece, no?


Joker thanks for the info. I will have to look into a tank in the future. I am thinking your right that maybe salt isn't the way to start. Maybe with a smaller tank and take it from there but you got me thinking now.

SuDZ

[Joker]

See, I'd love to do a salt tank, too but I won't do one less than 75-100 gallons since the maintenance for them makes a 20-30g tank not worth it.

Friends of mine have several salt and fresh tanks and they keep 50gallon barrels in their basement with water already treated and growing the right bacteria for water changes. Think of it like this: if you have a 20 gallon tank, you are changing 5 gallons of water every two weeks. If you have a 100 gallon... !

I will be buying a 40 gallon eventually and relocating the lobster and the sharks into it. I'll add some Bala sharks and plectos and use the 20 gallon for schooling fish like Tetras... but thats down the road a ways.

[SuDz]

Originally posted by Joker@Sep 26 2005, 08:18 PM
See, I'd love to do a salt tank, too but I won't do one less than 75-100 gallons since the maintenance for them makes a 20-30g tank not worth it.

Friends of mine have several salt and fresh tanks and they keep 50gallon barrels in their basement with water already treated and growing the right bacteria for water changes. Think of it like this: if you have a 20 gallon tank, you are changing 5 gallons of water every two weeks. If you have a 100 gallon... !

I will be buying a 40 gallon eventually and relocating the lobster and the sharks into it. I'll add some Bala sharks and plectos and use the 20 gallon for schooling fish like Tetras... but thats down the road a ways.

[snapback]78588[/snapback]

Wow, having to keep 50 gallon drums out there for the water is crazy. I mean I have plenty of space for storing something like that but it is still a ton of prep and stuff like that.

I got the perfect spot for a tank too so maybe I will start looking at this more so.

SuDZ

[damnrepoman]

yeah my buddies 100 gallon was plexiglass and was for his salt water fish but they died so his tank was just sitting there. figured we'd put it to good use! i have a video of him feeding the rainbow somewhere... if i find it ill put it on here, awsome video!

[Joker]

Figure a 100gallon is a great size considering that you typically want to allow 1 gallon of water per 1" of fish (thats if I remember correctly.) So, if your fish is 3" long, and you want to have six of them, you'd better have 18 gallons ready.


Any animals like starfish, lobsters/crawdads, snails, and shrimp don't figure into this equation


Plus, remember that gravel, rocks, ornaments, etc. displace a little water.

For a 100 gallon, frankly I'd still keep a LARGE trash can (like a 30 gallon heavy duty Rubbermaid) filtered and prepped for fishies at all times. Since 25% of my 20 gallon is 5 gallons, I use a 5 gallon bucket and treat the water with aquarium salt and water conditioner and let it sit a few minutes. If you have a 100 gallon, then you are treating 20 gallons of water at a time, and then having it filtered and ready makes FAR more sense.

[The Monsignor]

Originally posted by kingcrazylegs@Sep 26 2005, 03:00 PM
Monsignor thats cool.* Does she talk?

[snapback]78559[/snapback]

Not much - her name, mostly... (course, it's been a year, she might have picked some up with her surrogate family by now)

[kingcrazylegs]

Originally posted by The Monsignor@Sep 28 2005, 04:16 AM
Not much - her name, mostly...* (course, it's been a year, she might have picked some up with her surrogate family by now)

[snapback]78845[/snapback]

you should teacher to say something funny. my brother had a has a bird and had taught it to say all swear words and then he had a kid, so has tried to teach more approriate language

[The Monsignor]

Originally posted by kingcrazylegs@Oct 5 2005, 02:08 AM
you should teacher to say something funny.* my brother had a has a bird and had taught it to say all swear words and then he had a kid, so has tried to teach more approriate language

[snapback]79945[/snapback]

yeah, the unfortunate part is that you cant "un-teach" them anything.... I can imagine my bird that curses like a sailor meeting my grandmother, for example!

Had a friend that taught his bird to respond to the statement "ooh, look at the pretty birdie" with "ooh, look at the silly human"... I might go that far...

[Joker]

Went to the tropical fish store yesterday. Impulse buyer that I am...


Just set up a 3gallon fresh tank with some rocks and stuff for something. Haven't decided on the fish, yet. May just throw a Betta in there and be done with it. Either that or a small cichlid...

[kingcrazylegs]

Originally posted by The Monsignor@Oct 5 2005, 07:32 AM
Had a friend that taught his bird to respond to the statement "ooh, look at the pretty birdie" with "ooh, look at the silly human"... I might go that far...

[snapback]79969[/snapback]

[SuDz]

Originally posted by Joker@Oct 5 2005, 12:00 PM
Either that or a small cichlid...

[snapback]79990[/snapback]

hehe I read that as a small child at first.

SuDZ

[Joker]

Originally posted by SuDz@Oct 6 2005, 10:06 AM
hehe I read that as a small child at first.

SuDZ

[snapback]80176[/snapback]

Hell no, I'd have a monkey before I'd have a carpet monster! :D Maybe I'll bring a Capuchin back from Costa Rica? :D

[The Monsignor]

Originally posted by Joker@Oct 6 2005, 07:35 PM
Hell no, I'd have a monkey before I'd have a carpet monster! :D Maybe I'll bring a Capuchin back from Costa Rica? :D

[snapback]80255[/snapback]

If you could only keep the crumbsnatchers in a fishtank.... more people would want them then....

[gspina]

I have a Harlequin Great Dane, she is a little smallf or the breed but still a good sized god at 115 pounds. Looks like a tall boney dalmation.

She is funny as hell, and we found a bad combination, one of her favoirte toys is a 2-liter bottle. one of her favorite drinks is cola. She figured out that the cola is in the heavy 2 liters.

She ran up to the counter and grabbed a bottle started shaking it and slammed it on the floor, then pounced it. When she pounced the top broke off and the bottle shot across the kitchen into the living room. She chased after it went through the couch and almost through the front window.

Now as general practice we put the bottles out of sight. If she sees a glass of coke sitting around, she will drink, and she almost always tries to steal pop bottles (especially when they are full)

[The Monsignor]

< Used to have a dog that was 3/4 wolf... he was a beer thief! The beauty was, he only liked Coors Light, so unless there was a party going on (and the cheap beer was flowing) you didn't have to worry bout your beer...

[kingcrazylegs]

^growing up I had a dog that was half fox half terrier (they mix them for hunting, though I don't hunt) - she was always sniffing things out and could find anything. People used to get scared because she didn't bark but huntched down and growled.