Hello all!

[xstream]

So, I found this site and all searching for answers to questions about our new family aquarium. Google kept sending me here, so I thought I would just join.

I finally talked my wife into an aquarium for our two daughters. My grandfather bought me 55 gallon tank when I was younger. I have very fond memories of watching the fish. I hope my daughters will have a similar experience.

We bought a 10 gallon starter tank. We are currently on a budget, and I wish would could have went with a 20 gallon. But that would have required a stand and right now I couldn't sell my wife on that purchase.

We let my two year old pick our colors and the one ornament in our tank... It is a plink princess castle. She loves it.

Everything has gone pretty good so far. We waited a couple of days before we bought our first fish. We bought a Dalmatian Molly, a Red Wag, and a Sunburst Mickey Mouse. I read they
were all pretty hardy, and we purposefully chose two smaller fish so that we were not using much of the tanks resources for start up.

Everything was fine until we came home to the Wag floating on the bottom. He had an injury to his side and I found some flesh on my filter arm. I guess the poor guy became stuck. Petsmart has a fourteen day replacement and I picked up three small Neon Tetras. My daughters enjoy watching the bright colors school around.

This weekend I bought three mystery snails (Golden, Ivory, and Blue). And today I picked up a Tetra Whisper air pump with a small air stone.

I am really enjoying the new hobby, and my girls love watching the fish and snails. Maybe in the future we will buy a larger tank.

Thanks for all of the info on the forums. See you around the boards.

 

[Convict2161]

Welcome to the community!! That's a VERY colorful tank!!

 

[xstream]

Yes, not the manliest aquarium by any means. Maybe I will have my own aquarium one day... After reading the Craigslist thread I believe I am going to keep an eye out there.

 

[Convict2161]

Yes, not the manliest aquarium by any means. Maybe I will have my own aquarium one day... After reading the Craigslist thread I believe I am going to keep an eye out there.

Always a good idea lol.

 

[Ian086]

Hi and welcome to AA. You might want to have a read of some of the articles on here about cycling.......

 

[xstream]

This is the best picture I could get of our Dalmatian Molly. It is all over the tank right now.





Here are our little Neons.





I did not realize how camera shy our Mickey Mouse Platy was until just now. I had to wait for him.





And somehow I managed a shot of all our fish.





Oh don't forget the snails! They are occupying the castle this evening. You can see the Gold and Ivory Mystery Snails, Blue is hiding.

 

[Convict2161]

Great pictures. Did I mention how colorful your tank is? lol

 

[xstream]

Hi and welcome to AA. You might want to have a read of some of the articles on here about cycling.......

Yeah, unfortunately my intel was not completely accurate. It was recommended to me to cycle with three hardy fish after the first 48 hours of the tank cycling without fish.

My levels have stayed good. I am testing every two days and I have done a 25% water change each week.

I bought the air pump in hopes that it would aid in the cycling and make sure we have adequate surface area for oxygen.

I am still new to this, if there is something that I can still do to make the situation less stressful on the fish, by all means point me in the right direction.

 

[Convict2161]

Yeah, unfortunately my intel was not completely accurate. It was recommended to me to cycle with three hardy fish after the first 48 hours of the tank cycling without fish.

My levels have stayed good. I am testing every two days and I have done a 25% water change each week.

I bought the air pump in hopes that it would aid in the cycling and make sure we have adequate surface area for oxygen.

I am still new to this, if there is something that I can still do to make the situation less stressful on the fish, by all means point me in the right direction.

Tone down the colors! That may be less stressful! lol ok... ok... I'm some busting them. Seriously I'm just joking with ya!

 

[xstream]

Tone down the colors! That may be less stressful! lol ok... ok... I'm some busting them. Seriously I'm just joking with ya!

Believe me, I had a good laugh at the pictures before I posted them. I did ask if the color would be a problem for the fish... They said no. I tried to talk my two year old into a peaceful piece of drift wood... She wanted the princess castle.

With the LED lights the thing is pretty gaudy. But I am still having fun with it. And the girls really do love it.

 

[Convict2161]

Believe me, I had a good laugh at the pictures before I posted them. I did ask if the color would be a problem for the fish... They said no. I tried to talk my two year old into a peaceful piece of drift wood... She wanted the princess castle.

With the LED lights the thing is pretty gaudy. But I am still having fun with it. And the girls really do love it.

And that's all that matters. As long as your little ones are happy!!