WARNING! This is not a professional website! I am NOT an expert. Do NOT believe everything on this site.

Last Updated: 7/12/10

Photos
Current Fish
Equipment

Note, this tank was set up on 3/18/07 and torn down on 3/20/07 due to a crack. The fish finally went into a new 65 gallon tank on 3/31/07. See these pages for more information:

Tank renovation - 40 gallon to 65 gallon
Tank defect

A lot of this page is a bit convoluted because it entails combining information about the animals when they were in the 40 gallon tank as well as in the 65 gallon tank. It confuses me!

65 Gallon Tank Photos

65 gallon glass tank setup 3/18/07, torn down 3/20/07 due to a crack (fish went back to the 40 gallon), and set up again in another 65 gallon tank on 3/31/07.

Photos are listed from newest to oldest.

65 gallon tank on 7/3/10. Aragorn (bottom) and Legolas can be seen.

65 gallon tank on 11/10/07. I had just finished the weekly cleaning but also had bleach soaked and dechlorinator soaked the fake plants so they look more new.

65 gallon tank - set up the second time, 3/31/07.
65 gallon tank - set up the second time, 3/31/07. Plecy was taking a gulp just as this photo was done! This caught him the moment he came down from hitting the surface so he has a bubble in his mouth.

Photo - 65 gallon tank all done!! This was the defective tank on 3/18/07.

Photo - 65 gallon tank with just the gravel in it. This is the defective tank on 3/18/07.
To see photos of the crack that the first 65 gallon tank that I got had, go to the 65 gallon tank defect page.

To see photos of the animals when they were in the 40 gallon tank, go to the old 40 gallon tank page. Some of the information on these two pages is redundant.

For photos of the individual fish in the tank, see the pages about that specific species.

65 Gallon Current Tank Fish

Common plecostomus named Plecy - one, sex unknown (male?), age unknown, bought on 1/28/95, 12.75 inches long as of 7/00, moved from 50 gallon to 10 gallon for one year and then to the 40 gallon tank until 2007 when the 65 gallon was set up. He may have killed a pair of gorgeous longfin rosy barbs (6/98) with him after a year of co-habitation in 10 gallon tank!! I measured Plecy on 1/13/07. He was 15 inches long!

2 Fantail Goldfish named Aragorn and Legolas. Those two along with Frodo were added on 1/22/06 (to the 40 gallon tank back then). See below for the details. They are all males.

I bought three fantails back in the fall of 2004 with the intention of putting them into my 1800 gallon pond in the fall of 2005 to replace some of the many (~20?) goldfish I had lost to the herons and a mystery illness with no symptoms that killed 14 goldfish. When the time came, the fantails were still about an inch long, and I knew they did not have a chance, so I kept them inside. My plan was to put them with Plecy when the danios were all deceased and hope they did not catch the fish tuberculosis. I planned to try putting the goldfish in, who were then a few inches long, on 1/22/06. Here are the pros and cons.

Cons of putting three small fantails with Plecy in the 40 gallon tank:

• They could catch fish tuberculosis. I now see signs of this infection in my 1800 gallon pond too though.
  
• Plecy could suck on them or their fins while they sleep or rest on the bottom. Due to Plecy's huge size and their small size, this is less apt to happen than if the pleco were tiny and the goldfish huge.
  
• The water quality for the goldfish will not be as good as it is now in the 20 gallon basement pond.
  
• Plecy slams things around the tank. He could squish a goldfish. This worries me the most.

Pros of putting three small fantails with Plecy in the 40 gallon tank:

• The goldfish will have twice the room.
  
• The goldfish will warm up about 10 degrees F from about 63 in the basement to 73 in the tank. They have not grown or eaten much in the cold water.
  
• The goldfish will have more to see and do and explore.
  
• The goldfish will have more food variety (including Plecy's leftovers). I have only been feeding them plain flakes because the basement pond is far from my stash of fish foods. This is laziness on my part though.
  
• I will be able to actually see the goldfish aside from the few seconds of seeing them come to eat in the pond. In the tank, I will get to see them from the side for the first time.
  
• The tropical water lilies overwintering in the basement pond are dying from the goldfish nibbling on them. This might allow them to recover.
  
• I would be able to use the basement pond to quarantine some new orfe I really want for my pond.
  
• In the summer, I would be able to finally put up the basement pond. I never used to run it year-round. This means more time for me and less electricity to run the lighting.

So, I am going to take the risk. The goldfish are very healthy so it is just a risk for them and not Plecy.

On 1/22/06 around 9:30 am, I put the fantails in with Plecy. As of 1/28/06, every thing has gone better than I could have imagined. Plecy has been behaving himself. The fantails are very active, and the two larger ones (less than 3" long mind you) sprouted tubercles so they are male. The goldfish are eating like pigs, and everyone seems happy! See my my indoor goldfish section for more information and lots of photos of the cutey pies! Update 1/22/07: So far, so good! The fantails and Plecy moved to the 65 gallon tank on 3/18/07, back to the 40 gallon on 3/20/07 due to a defective tank, and back to a new 65 gallon tank on 3/31/07. They love the new tank! Plecy has not harmed the goldfish at all. Well, he did sort of harm the goldfish indirectly. He gave them fish tuberculosis. Plecy carries it but is somehow immune himself. Frodo died from it on 10/17/09. Aragorn and Legolas have symptoms but could live for another year.

65 Gallon Tank Equipment

Filter - Emperor 400 with 2 Biowheels (400 gph) - new one on this tank (old one was used on the 40 gallon)
Heater - 200 W Visitherm Stealth heater set around 72 degrees F. I added this new heater which is supposed to be less apt to break than traditional glass heaters (good with a 14" fish slamming things around) on 1/21/06.
Lid and Lighting - Glass lid with double strip light holding two 3' 30W fluorescent plant bulbs
Gravel - 30 pounds of natural colored gravel on top of a one inch layer of Flourite (about 20 pounds); the gravel got mixed up when I rinsed it out to redo the 40 gallon tank into the 65 gallon tank so it is no longer layered
Aeration - Two air bars run by an Airpod (which has battery backup when the power goes off) - added 4/30/09.
A large piece of driftwood for Plecy held down by 2 large pieces of slate and his cucumber holder
A smaller piece of driftwood
Two resin fake rock turtle basking things that put together made Plecy a nice hiding place, and he likes it!!
One thermometer, some petrified wood, a plastic fake wood thing, 5 large fake plants, and 5? small fake plants
One 9 W JBJ Submariner UV sterilizer added on 10/31/09. I added the UV sterilizer because of the high bacterial load in the tank from fish tuberculosis, fish waste, and cucumbers.

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