Newbie in Richmond, Va

I've been out of the hobby for over 30 years. Sold everything (30 or so tanks) for pennies on the dollar. Tried my hand at Discus 1/2 dozen times to no avail. Did everything under the sun except the Discus. So, got the itch once again, searched CL and ended up with the following:
35 gal.
2 heaters,
air pump,
1 external filter.
assorted rocks (landscape),
2 live plants
and about 100 freaking fancy tailed guppies with about 8 or 10 ready to pop some more!
oh.. about a quart size container of tetra-min food.. 2 other smaller jars of food, aqua-clear, two vacumns.. 4 nets... All for $55.00.. Is that a deal or what? Bill in Va.

Looks like you are the path of MTS again. Welcome to the club!

Don't 4get to check out the Chapter Meets in VA. Big group of fish freaks!

Hello :)

Julie

Great new beginnings, your on your way....again

Welcome to

Again.. umm.. What does MTS stand for? Bill

Welcome!
If you feel the itch to try Discus again go for it. IMO they are easier to keep than they were back in the day. So many breeders/strains and they seem to do better in a wider variety of PH and other water parameters for this reason.

williemcd wrote:

Again.. umm.. What does MTS stand for? Bill

Multiple Tank Syndrome

Great deal, Bill! to USAfishbox and back into the hobby!
We have a great USA chapter going here in the Richmond area, for all the Virginia fish freaks that want to join.
Check us out at:

https://usafishbox.forumotion.com/t6270-va-chapter-march-6th-meeting
Go VA Chapter!

Welcome Bill. Hope to see you at our meeting.

Bill, amazing deal! What kind of guppies? Like, what colors? I'm always looking for fresh new females for my tanks!

Welcome! glad to have you back in the hobby :)

Welcome to the BOX.

KiKi.. 8 or 10 of them are orangish in color with a pearl-blue side belly... a few are like a "mother of pearl" ? coloration.. some have these dense yellow tails separated by vertacle black bands. (Stinks trying to communicate with a newbie hey?). Plus about 2 dozen fry that are at this point unidentifiable. Bill

Newbie update! Well.. first off there was way too many fancy tailed guppies in the tank to start off.. Found a guppy fan local here in RIchmond so offered her all she wanted... She came by last night and I got to off-load about 50-60 of the pesky lil guys. Also read a post from a lady here that had just set up a 50 G for her foray into Discus. At first we agreed on me buying one of her 4.5 inch black angel then I offered a swap. I had a 1st edition of Jack Wattley's "Handbook of Discus" published in 1985 in mint condition (why I held on to it for 25 years.. don't ask)...I ended up swapping the book for the Angel plus another proven male Marble Angel, 4 cardinal tet's and a bunch of plants. (I had to stop her from offering more! Way too generous I think)

Still left are about 6 adult guppies and maybe 10 or so small fry that I'll off-load at the march 6 meeting. I couldn't stand watching the tank with all that frantic swimming the guppies were giving!.. Much more sedate now...
So now the tank is all planted (could use some variety of plants still) 6 black tets, 4 neon card tets, two cory's, 1 placost, the two angels..
One gripe I have is that the set-up I bought included a Second Nature Challenger II air pump w/ 2 outlets. One didn't work after I set up a 2nd air stone.. took it apart and yep.. the rubber "cup" had a crack. Searched 4 stores and none stock the replacement part! Whisper or any other brand! I mean, that rubber cup is the most fragile component in that piece of frequently needs replacement... But nooooooo.. lets sell another pump versus a .50 cent part...... Bill in Va.

Sounds like you're really getting the itch for the hobby again! Sorry on the discus post I suggested you check craigslist for another tank, but I see now you already knew that lol

Bill glad your happy. I needed to make room so you got loaded. Believe me the plants I gave you will reproduce in my tanks in less than a month. I LOVE the book. I found that waisting gas looking for parts is more expensive than just getting another pump.

FV.. I didn't give our your identity nor the guppy recipient cuz I didn't want ya accused of not "spreading the wealth"!.. Oddly enough was just about to PM you to see if I could share your ID!.. Ya did it for me! Bill in Richmond

Oh.. I hear ya about the waste of gas but it's the principal of the thing that pisses me off.. I can understand Walmart not stocking parts to stuff they sell... but PET STORES not offering parts? Unbelievable... That part is probably 99.99% of the point of failure in an air pump... stocking that part would take 2" X 4" of wall space.. Look at the cr@p they do stock! Bill (hot under the collar) in RIchmond, Va.

Welcome.

{I remember when...} as a kid going to the the pet shops I remember seeing those rubber diaphrams being sold on a cardboard display. I remember replacing one in an air pump I had. We're in a disposable society; the whole "Reduce, Recycle, Reuse" seems to be losing it's foothold.

FF.. I'm with ya there! Could not for the life of me come up the the term "diaphragm"... (Old age sinking in).. but.. I do tend to lay the blame on the fish shops 90% and 10% on the manufacturer. Rather than sell you that .50 cent part and SERVE their customer, they'd rather sell the $20.00 pump! I've owned my own business and firmly believed that "treat the customer right, and they'll keep coming back"...... Today it seems like "get what ya can, while ya can"...... Bill in Richmond, Va.

yeah I think a lot of LFS are that way now, in keeping with the big box chain pet stores. Somehow the stores are stocked to cater to the first time hobbyist mentality. Maybe the serious hobbyists in their research have shown greater internet sales? I know if a place in my town that has filter parts, impellers, Eheim suction cups, and possibly rubber diaphragms too. It ain't cheap though; I wanted some suction cups and they wanted $7 for a set of 4. Internet sources are the way to go nowadays!

Or scavenge on CL! LOL.. .As I was leaving yesterday from a fellow hobbiest on my exchange, an incredible thought hit me regarding LFS's.... Each store should/could offer 100% credit towards the upgrade on a 10 gallon set up.... Sorta like offering a free hit of heroin knowing full well you've just made a potential steady/addicted customer! Bill in Richmond, Va.

Bill you have a good suggestion there.