Howdy! I just joined the forum and thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself. I've been keeping fish for fifteen years and currently have two operating aquariums:
The first is a 27 gallon bowfront with three, 9 year old Lionhead goldfish. I opted to go bare-bottom after one of the fish swallowed a piece of gravel. (I came home to find her sitting on the bottom of the aquarium with her fins clamped, unable to get water through her gills. I used some clove oil to anesthetize her and carefully removed the rock with a pair of tweezers. She recovered just fine, but I didn't want to risk the lives of my fish, so I removed the gravel.) I have an air stone in one corner and the fish seem to enjoy both that and the high water flow emitted by my power filter.
My second aquarium is a 1 1/2 gallon nano tank in which I am raising a betta that I obtained as a fry. I have a clay substrate and am laboring to grow several low-light plants - an endeavor which is meeting with moderate success. I keep a small bubbler buried near the center of the tank, since I have opted to go filter-free. I have a small, high-quality heater in the tank (a risk if it should malfunction, but necessary to maintain an high enough temperature to keep my fish happy).
I don't have the room to add any more tanks, but when I do, I want to try my hand at breeding bettas and set up a reef tank. (I recently won a frag kit in a contest and am excited to learn more.)
I am unaware of any fish clubs in my local area, so my fish-keeping efforts are limited to what I am able to learn on my own. I hope that this forum will expand the resources available to me... and maybe provide a bit of companionship. (Face it, most folks just don't understand how anyone can develop an emotional attachment to a fish or why some of us believe it's worth investing time and money when that fish gets sick!)
Hope to hear from all of you soon!
KeyWing
The first is a 27 gallon bowfront with three, 9 year old Lionhead goldfish. I opted to go bare-bottom after one of the fish swallowed a piece of gravel. (I came home to find her sitting on the bottom of the aquarium with her fins clamped, unable to get water through her gills. I used some clove oil to anesthetize her and carefully removed the rock with a pair of tweezers. She recovered just fine, but I didn't want to risk the lives of my fish, so I removed the gravel.) I have an air stone in one corner and the fish seem to enjoy both that and the high water flow emitted by my power filter.
My second aquarium is a 1 1/2 gallon nano tank in which I am raising a betta that I obtained as a fry. I have a clay substrate and am laboring to grow several low-light plants - an endeavor which is meeting with moderate success. I keep a small bubbler buried near the center of the tank, since I have opted to go filter-free. I have a small, high-quality heater in the tank (a risk if it should malfunction, but necessary to maintain an high enough temperature to keep my fish happy).
I don't have the room to add any more tanks, but when I do, I want to try my hand at breeding bettas and set up a reef tank. (I recently won a frag kit in a contest and am excited to learn more.)
I am unaware of any fish clubs in my local area, so my fish-keeping efforts are limited to what I am able to learn on my own. I hope that this forum will expand the resources available to me... and maybe provide a bit of companionship. (Face it, most folks just don't understand how anyone can develop an emotional attachment to a fish or why some of us believe it's worth investing time and money when that fish gets sick!)
Hope to hear from all of you soon!
KeyWing
