What Made You Want A Freshwater Aquarium?

[Wowzers]

My dad stored his old aquarium in our shed, and I was rumagging through it one day and found the tank. I decided to set it up. I had a normal community tank for a while, but my personality is one that if I get involved in something, I have to learn more and more about it. So in doing that, I learned of cichlids, and they're now my main focus. I have 3 tanks running right now, two 29 gallons and a 37 gallon, one of which isn't populated at the moment, but I had 8 breeding tanks going about a year ago (I got to busy for that many tanks at that time) . I'm going to set up a couple large tanks soon.

[Murphy]

Hi everyone!, well hear goes. I was introduced to the aquarium hobby by my sisters ex. He had tanks everywhere! I was mezmorized by the beautiful colors of the fish. It was then at the age of fifteen that I was captured by the underwater world. I learned to scuba dive so I could see the underwater world for myself. For those of you who dive, you know what I mean. It's a whole new world down there. Anyway, I have had numerous aquariums. To date, I have kept and bread guppies, and most of the livebearers. i've done the African Cichlid tank, bread Zebras, Danios, Bettas and have successfully kept, bread and raised Discus!. The best of all is that my sister re married a guy who is a major fish importer for most of the fish shops in Southern Ontario. His warehouse has thousands of tanks with every fish you could imagine, a hobbyists dream!, and best of all is that I get my livestock for free!!!!!!

[zephyr]

hello, my name is justin,
I just accidently made the screen go backa nd lost everything i ahad just ritten, BIT GAYEr! oh well i wil just hav to rite it again. I got my 1st aquarium about yr and a hlf ago. It was a 10g. I put sum guppies in it. The males died thru the cycle but the femails din't. I got heps otha fish too, but i cant really rememberwat they were. My favs would hav been the dwarf flame gouramis, simanese sucky and my bronzies. They really had charater. They wer kool. But i had a chronic plaige of brown algaes and i just stopped the aquarium. i dn't know wat 2 do with the danios (2), so i din't feed them 4 a bout a month and one just surnvied! i ut it i nour pond and it just kept living 4 about 2 mor months, shows the hadrinest of sum ifhs. Well now my bros got that tank an dit s got a i think a pair of gupies(had an harmen but one died), one platy and a peppy cory. I set up another tank, 10g coz i'm still a bum coz i just got job. I'm gotting lights 4 it soon, flurestent is wat i want., but i gottat earn more aoney. i got 80 bucks but mum made me bank half it so yeh i gotta earn 60 i think. bout 4 more works coz i spent sum. My 10 has lots of rocks that form caves and stuff and its got sum java l moss and it is nice to lok at. Fine snd bout 3 cms at front and 5 at the back. I dont wunna turn on dads comp to find out how ot change cms to inch coz. I'm gonna get some draf anuibias and put it shadowed by sum rocks and get sum java fern and mybe sum form of cryprotune wen i get lights. i'm gonna get sum bolivian rams! YAH! they r gonna luv my tak i hop coz i want them to survive. I'm gonna feed them cichlid pellets and brin shrimps ocansoinly.
Thats basiclyy my rtank and sorry coz irit this very fats coz i am tryig to cook pancakes and dnt wanna burn them.
I belive i am oright aquaritst for a 14yr old, hail the teenages!
cya from
Justin

[mitche8359]

Saw the thread and since I'm new I figured it would be a good way to let people know some stuff about me.

Can't remember when I got the first tank. We had a couple ten gs growing up, then graduated to a 20 g tall tank. Took the tank with me to college where I physically lost a gold fish as I was moving out for the end of the year. I always kept an angel, red tailed shark and gold fish together. The three fish had survived two years with me in college. I put the three fish in a five gallon bucket, covered it with a pizza box and headed for home. When I got home, with NO stops, the gold fish was missing. Looked in the car but couldn't find it. Now that I think about it, I didn't look in the pizza box that I can recall.

After college, I didn't have a tank for a good number of years as I headed west to make movies and then returned to OH. When I settled back in OH and set up my own apartment, I was sort of shocked at how much the urge caught me to want another tank. I bought a 55 g and started in again. I like the ocean so as my stand, I used treated posts to build a pier structure with a butcher block top. Completed the set up with rope.

That tank has suited me for the last 8 years. Moved it from my apt to the girlfriend's condo, to our house after we got married. I didn't pay as much attention to it as I should have the first couple of years at the house, but since our son was born we've been spending more time in the basement rec room watching tv and videos.

I really want to know what the deal is with plecos. I really don't like the look of them, especially when large. A friend decided to take down their tank and asked if I would take their pleco. It was HUGE! I agreed. My sister tore down her tank next and asked if I'd take my neices pleco. My neice used to check on it every time she visited. After she stopped checking on her fish, I decided that it was time for them to find a happier home since they had outgrown the 55g tank. I traded them for some other fish. With that said I have some plecos because the LFS said they were one of the best algea eaters. My tank sides do look clean.

My current theme to the tank is South American river, with angels, some cats and tetras. The tetras are more for the wife and son, though the son is still a little young to really find interest in the fish.

I'd like to set up a breeding tank for angels and try to get some cross breeding going to get long finned golds or black angels. My wife would freak if she heard me say another tank since I'm having problems with a recent rebuild of the 55 g.

[zephyr]

I really want to know what the deal is with plecos

Think abut the fish in the whole world that you adore the most, that is how much i like plecos. they are very quirky, which is wat i find best in all bottom dwellers.
and they have larg fins and great colours.
but its everyone to their own opinion, so yeh.

[mitche8359]

its everyone to their own opinion, so yeh.

Yes I agree.

The thing with plecos to me is that it looks sort of prehistoric, especially the sailfin variety. Until recently I didn't know that plecos came in various colors, so my recourse was with the plain brown variety. My wife saw a polka dot pleco at the lfs last week and I'm sure one will end up in the tank.

[zephyr]

The thing with plecos to me is that it looks sort of prehistoric

Thats a great way of explaining them! I am a little dinosaur fanatic, (or used to be) so that appeals to me.

[jeffd902]

I guess I have allways been facinated with fish. Everytime we went to a store that sold fish, I would allways stare at the display tanks. One time last summer we were at Mejer, My wife finally said that were getting a tank because maybe if I had my own fish, we can move past the fish in the store without me staring forever. Needless to say, It didnt work. Not only do I look more, but now I drag her to pet stores, looking at 55 gal setups, Drooling over African Ciclids, going back and forth over the food to give my current crop of Tetras and Corys. I also talked her into letting me subscribe to a magizine. Now im waiting to get that 29 gal I got from a buddy set up.
WOW 7 months in and I'm truley addicted

[jollyone11]

How I got started ,Hummm. Well at 13 we had a 29 gallon tank with oscars . Both got to big for the tank . One day the one broke the heater . I guess you all know what happens next , Boiled oscar! Next it was a commuity tank for a bit then one day then guy at work gave me convicts . Well me 17 at the time and still not knowing much about fish put them in . Needless to say in weeks to was now a convict tank . They were fun to watch, but I then went off to college . I had no interest in fish for long time . In 2000 I got married 27 at the time . One day i say to my wife that I would not mind having a tank. Two
years latter while she was a yard sale bought me a 10 gal.tank. Well , at this point i still didn't know a whole lot about fish . We went to wal-mart and got 4 gold fish 1 beta and a placko . Well did not take long till the placko and the beta was dead A.K.A ammonia . This made me get a book (what should have done in the first place )and read . Boy did I have a lot to learn (still do lol )
Next we got a fish bowl for the gold fish . I really don't care about goldfish that much ,I wanted better fish. Next we got glo light tetras kinda cool looking .Still have both . I next knew I needed a bigger tank . One day in the paper a 30 gal was in there $50 latter a new tank. This tank did not take long to fill . Bought 2 more 10's at a yard sale . Put a blue lobster in one and a pair of endlers in the other in hopes of breeding them . both of the died The blue lobster lived for a while , it is not that great of a fish to watch . It died too not sure why still? Well next I found a 55 gallon for $20 at a yard sale this what I was looking for . It was not all there and it took me a few months to come up with what i needed ,but I got it done .
Well I knew what I wanted next CICHLIDS .I was first thinking of oscars which are cool ,but I have friends who all have them and I had them at one time . I wanted something different . Well I found it the green terror .
I love the sound of that named . Got one of those and a Jack and a firemouth .
Well the fish got sick (thats when i ended up here thank god i did)
I saved the jack and the green terror ,but the firemouth died
Now they are doing great . The terror eats so much I call him gulp. The Jack is tiny because he is the smallest .

[BlowFish]

Always had one.
Guess it was the first thing my family gave me after I was born.
Or maybe they already had one started for me even before I was born...