Introduce Yourself!

As for Mark's fish, it's not cheating it's research, especially if you cite sources by telling us how you found out.
And I've already mentioned that I'm nosy, so wanting to know shouldn't be a huge surprise. I try to tell myself the it's not nosy, it's a need for continued education (yeah, right).
My slight downfall it that whenever I look at other fish I get distracted by said other fish, whether they would be suitable for my water, what size tank would I need, and where would I put another tank. It's a tough life. 

Hello Mascol, and a warm welcome to the forum.

So after months of planning and research the tank arrives tomorrow! 30 years have passed since my last adventure in the tropical fish hobby. So excited! How things have changed. Cannot wait to get started setting up.

Hello, HultonD, and welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum, @marquismirage 

My aquarium story starts with an eight year old girl at a funfair in June who wins a prize at a hook-a-duck stand and looks at me with puppy dog eyes as she selects a 6cm comet goldfish.

As someone with a particular soft spot for goldfish, I do hope there's a happy ending with the comet (eg he's been relocated to and swimming happily round a pond now) but maybe best not tell me if the story had a sad outcome...

Sounds as though you and your wife are really embracing fishkeeping/shrimpkeeping/frogkeeping which is great - quite rare to have two partners both as interested as one another, so well done there. 

Your best investment, if you don't already have one, is a good, liquid-based test kit for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates (eg API Masterkit) - this will ensure that you can measure progress through the new, large tank's fishless cycle as well as be able to monitor water quality in all the tanks. Crystal clear isn't necessarily a good indicator - ammonia, nitrite and high nitrates are toxic but invisible, so the only way to know is to use a test kit. Hope that's helpful.

Looking forward to reading how your developments progress - and seeing some pics too in due course.

Hi @marquismirage and welcome to the forum. 

Great to see the family getting involved with aquatics, and the  way you started appears to be quite a common one.

I always appreciate anyone who gets so invoved that they go from a 70L to a 200L in a matter of months as it makes me look slightly more normal. 

Can I give you a warning about keeping frogs with bettas, something to be aware of. Forewarned is forearmed 
I once had a betta with 2 frogs. As you will know, bettas are greedy little things which will eat anything, and frogs have poor eyesight. Shortly after feeding my tank the betta went to look for food on the tank bottom and one of the frogs mistook him for live food. I caught the betta frantically swimming round the tank trying to dislodge the frog which was clamped onto his tail.
I set up my quarantine tank and moved the frogs into that, and spent the next few weeks trying to cure the finrot that took hold of the damaged part of the betta's tail.

Bettas have very variable personalities. Some will ignore shrimps, others will kill every one they can find. I did once read of a betta that was killed by shrimps - he ate far too many in one sitting and it did him no good at all.

One thing you could try is putting a couple of shrimps in the tank the betta is in now. They will be safe with the other fish in there and the frogs and it will show immediately if he is a shrimp hunter. If he's laid back with them then maybe move him and see what happens.


I have had a series of bettas. Until recently the tank had silk plants which regularly got covered in algae. I would remove the plants every so often and scrub the algae off under the garden tap. On one occasion with my previous betta I managed to get a woodlouse on the plants and it ended up in the tank. The betta went frantic and tried to dismantle the woodlouse. It was only when it played dead that he lost interest. This is the kind of behaviour to watch out for.

Woodlice you say @Sue Well that is very logical because they are close relatives of shrimp and ....my grandmother told me they were used in cooking to add a flavour of prawns. Umm yummy Im off to rummage under some logs,  anybody want to try some?

Ummmm, no thanks, I'm still a bit full from lunch, but I appreciate the offer. Really I do.