A spin off of my bonsai addiction

[penumbra]

the Clownfish ended up jumping out of the tank and lay on the carpet ( eight years olds )

I am not sure how long clowns live but I had a mated pair of tomato clowns that lived together for 14 years before the tank blew out on the bottom seam and I came home to an empty tank and a salt soaked carpet.

 

[19Mateo83]

I did the reef tank thing years ago also. I had a 75 gal with 30 sump under 500w halides supplemented with t5 actinic. I had a thing for sps and zoanthids. It was my addiction for a while. Bonsai is a less expensive hobby. my quote on the reef forum was “an aquarium is a hole between sheets of glass that you fill with money”

 

[cockroach]

This was and is my longest lasting addiction. In summer bonsai get most of the love. During winter the fishroom gets some TLC and extra attention.

 

[coachspinks]

75 gallon tank plus 22 in the sump. Nothing crazy.

I had a 55 and 20 about 30 years ago when my kids were young. In the next few years, 2-4, we will move to our final home. I'll start a reef tank again once we do that.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

That gold torch is $$$ BVF..I was reefing for about 10 years before I got into bonsai, once im addicted to bonsai I knew I wanted to give up reefing, having 2 hobbies at the same time is too much to handle and I was losing interest in my reef tank anyway. Lemme find some videos of my tank for ya..

Looking forward to seeing your vids. I put a couple on my YouTube channel. It’s wild how many bonsai people also do aquariums of some kind. My daughter talked me into converting the Malawi tank into a SW tank. I went off the deep end into corals. Frightening how time- and cash-consuming it is. I spent the last year learning this new hobby, and really need to get back on the trees.
New York Knicks torch:

 

[KikurageOtomo]

I'd assume normally its the other way around, but bonsai was really the launching point for me having confidence in my ability to keep plants alive. Getting grow lights for my tropical / semi-tropical material was the motivation to fill out that corner with more plant life. I've also spiraled into a crippling ceramics addiction, but that comes with the territory.

 

[vp999]

Looking forward to seeing your vids. I put a couple on my YouTube channel. It’s wild how many bonsai people also do aquariums of some kind. My daughter talked me into converting the Malawi tank into a SW tank. I went off the deep end into corals. Frightening how time- and cash-consuming it is. I spent the last year learning this new hobby, and really need to get back on the trees.
New York Knicks torch:
View attachment 459675

I basically jumping from one expensive hobby to another more expensive hobby in bonsai but less casualties lol. Im trying to figure out to to post videos from my phone, seems like they only let me do pics.

 

[It's Kev]

@Brian Van Fleet @cockroach love fishtanks and been keeping fish on and off since I was in high school, but in the apartment where I am now it gets too hot, and I got no way of keeping the water cooler in summer

 

[vp999]

Anyone knows how to post a video directly from my iPhone to BN ? or do I have to upload it on YouTube first and send the link? Thanks

 

[BobbyLane]

Ive kept a large Central/South American Cichlid tank in the past, ive kept dovii, oscars, jaguars, jack dempsy, arawana, red devil, not all at once though! I did try and the dovii just took over and kept all other fish on the other side of the tank! had to give it back to the shop. Keeping large cichlids is something id love to revisit later on. I also kept a a pair of ram cichlids a few years ago, here's some footage, even this small, young cichlids have character and personality

 

[coachspinks]

Ive kept a large Central/South American Cichlid tank in the past, ive kept dovii, oscars, jaguars, jack dempsy, arawana, red devil, not all at once though! I did try and the dovii just took over and kept all other fish on the other side of the tank! had to give it back to the shop. Keeping large cichlids is something id love to revisit later on. I also kept a a pair of ram cichlids a few years ago, here's some footage, even this small, young cichlids have character and personality

Cichlids are one of my favorites. At various times I had an African tank, general cichlid and a 55 tall discus tank

 

[HorseloverFat]

My buddy/illegitimate brother, @liquid_back_draft LIKES trees a lot .

But LOOOVES cacti, and is more knowledgeable, regarding such plants, than MOST I speak to.

I'm TRYING to "summon" him here, to share.

 

[liquid_back_draft]

My buddy/illegitimate brother, @liquid_back_draft LIKES trees a lot .

But LOOOVES cacti, and is more knowledgeable, regarding such plants, than MOST I speak to.

I'm TRYING to "summon" him here, to share.

Due to my love of bonsai, i have grown to appreciate some of mother natures weirder creations.
Several years ago, i got to see my first mutant cactus and like bonsai, it was love at first sight.
I believe its damage to the apical meristem that creates this mutation in nature.
I find them just as attractive as my trees and enjoy having them sitting between my bonsai (well, potensia) like accent plantings...its one hell of a dose of eye candy!
I only have a few at the moment but heres pics and details (check out some of the botanical names).
First up...here we have a - Myrtillocactus geometrizan cristata "Elite'.
The foam packing is so the plant stays where it is in the pot until it has a stronger root system (purchased bare rooted and root system still developing).
View attachment 459397
Number 2 is a rare - Cereus peruvianus var. monstruosus f. variegatus hort.
Tied into its pot for stability as again, the root system is still developing (purchased bare rooted).
View attachment 459398
Number 3 is a - Cereus monstrose ‘Minima’ crest
Love the contrast of the red spines against the dark green, gnarly cactus skin.
View attachment 459399
And number 4 - Cereus ‘Ming Thing’ (Cereus forbesii f. monstuosus).
View attachment 459400

Besides our love of bonsai, does anyone else have a fascination with the weird and wonderful?

I too have a love for cactus. I have recently gotten into grafting and sometimes weird stuff happens
I cut the top on this seedling trichocereus bridgessi to graft a lophophora williamsii onto it. The tip regrew... the loph stayed positivity grafted. It's tip will probably crest or monstrose

 

[liquid_back_draft]

Here's the whole collection

 

[Mikecheck123]

Succulents are vastly popular among the bonsai crowd. I have a collection of crested cactus as well.

I feel like people just keep giving me them because they're like "oh he loves plants!"

Don't think I've ever purchased one but now have half a dozen.

 

[vp999]

Can’t do videos but here are some pics. I had a Red Sea Reefer 250 and I loved it, very nice and modern looking and quite. I also had a Nuvo 20 in my bedroom. Full of corals also lol. I was a hard core addict for about 10 years.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Very nice!

 

[penumbra]

now have half a dozen.

Barely gotten started.

 

[cockroach]

@Brian Van Fleet @cockroach love fishtanks and been keeping fish on and off since I was in high school, but in the apartment where I am now it gets too hot, and I got no way of keeping the water cooler in summer

My tanks go up to 30C in summer. It can be done. Not ideal but doable.

 

[vp999]

My tanks go up to 30C in summer. It can be done. Not ideal but doable.

Some people use fan above the water surface and they also have chiller too. Are you using LED or T5 ?