http://forum.aqua-fish.net/ A forum devoted to aquarium fish, plants, techniques and fish keeping as a whole. en http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=howdy-all-from-western-montana-#1 Hello I'm Richard and I live in Missoula Montana. I've been an avid aquarist for quite some time. I have always had a green thumb and specializing in planted aquariums has been my forte. I've had many tanks over the years ranging in various sizes from 10gal up to 125gal. Although not new to planted tanks as in times past, I've taken aquatic plants and my current set-up to the next level...something I've always wanted to do. A few months ago I purchased a 38 liter Nano Tank on eBay and things are now beginning to take shape. It's one of the smallest tanks I've owned and the first bow-front, but it's also been one of the most fun to work with. The overall tank design is impressive and completely self contained with the 3-stage filtering and lighting (2.8w/gal) all in one nice (although beit small) package. This freshwater community tank uses DIY diffused CO2 and a heated 'Eco-Complete' substrate that currently contains many of my favorite fish including, Red-Tailed sharks (yes, more than one), several different tetras (Black Neons, Lemons and Jumbo Neons), a couple of Otocinclus (to keep the algae in-check) and a couple of Cherry Shrimp. I'm currently looking for a male German Blue Ram (maybe a female too) to round out the community. But finding fish here in 'The Garden City of MT' is a bit difficult as we only have 3 stores here that carry freshwater fish. My Aquascape (although still growing) is mainly Amazon but I've mixed plants according to shape and size from various parts of the world that prefer the slightly acid water. My fish of choice is the Black Labeo or Black Shark and I've raised them several times, but I've moved to Red-Tailed sharks or Epalzeorhynchos bicolor (formerly Labeo bicolor) and often misspelled as Epalzeorhynchus bicolor because this fish is now on the 'Red List' and extinct in the wild and there are NO plans to re-introduce them (mainly because their native habitat is now gone). They are now mainly farm raised in Singapore and Thailand and the US imports nearly 1 million various freshwater sharks a month. My large Red-Tail female is almost 4" and the male is ~3.5" ~r last modification by jan Onatopa 2008-07-12 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=howdy-all-from-western-montana-#2 welcome to the forum, have you any pics of your tank so we can all see it. mickey 2008-07-13