I finally decided to stop lurking and register. About a year ago my older son (13 at the time) came home with two goldfish in a plastic bag. Welcome to aquarium ownership!
Not that we're strangers to pet ownership, or hadn't thought about having fish, but that made for a frantic few days while we figured out what to do. Fortunately goldfish are tough; we had no place to keep them other than in the new/just-filled aquarium. Once that excitement settled down, little brother wanted his own fish, too. Then my wife, normally opposed to any additions to our household chores, voted for a third tank in the dining area. But so far we're just doing simple tanks with HOB filters and plastic plants.
A neighbor gave the boys a 50 gallon tank with stand, and it's sitting on the back porch while we ponder what to do with it. The only thing I know so far is where it will go--in the family room where we'll see it more and it'll get less sunlight than the other tanks. So I'll be reading and learning, trying to decide if I want to up the ante with, perhaps, some live plants or more challenging species. We like DIY projects, so I'll be interested in maybe building my own filtration system, anything I can do to make cleaning and water changes easier, and building custom lighting.
Not that we're strangers to pet ownership, or hadn't thought about having fish, but that made for a frantic few days while we figured out what to do. Fortunately goldfish are tough; we had no place to keep them other than in the new/just-filled aquarium. Once that excitement settled down, little brother wanted his own fish, too. Then my wife, normally opposed to any additions to our household chores, voted for a third tank in the dining area. But so far we're just doing simple tanks with HOB filters and plastic plants.
A neighbor gave the boys a 50 gallon tank with stand, and it's sitting on the back porch while we ponder what to do with it. The only thing I know so far is where it will go--in the family room where we'll see it more and it'll get less sunlight than the other tanks. So I'll be reading and learning, trying to decide if I want to up the ante with, perhaps, some live plants or more challenging species. We like DIY projects, so I'll be interested in maybe building my own filtration system, anything I can do to make cleaning and water changes easier, and building custom lighting.
