sinibotia
Aquarium Advice Addict
So, back in October I got my fiance a 29 gallon setup for her birthday- it was a long shot, because although she really enjoys my aquariums, she has never been a serious fishkeeper herself. But I had a hunch she might enjoy it, and it turns out I was more right than I ever could have dreamed of. She's gone so head over heels for the hobby that she's already developing MTS- she put a 55 gallon fish tank on our wedding registry (for which my family yelled at ME, of course).
Her first tank was a 29 gallon mixed community of hardy and forgiving fish- 6 platies, 4 kuhli loaches, 4 corydoras paleatus, and a lovely little angelfish. In 5 months that little angelfish has grown like a weed from the size of a nickel to the size of the top of a soda can, and he has also verymuch grown on my fiance. He's a spunky little pig who doesn't seem to care what food is meant for who- he'll eat all of the platies' flakes, scarf down his cichlid pellets and then chase it with a scavenger pellet heartlessly grabbed away from the kuhlis and corys. But he loves the attention from my fiance, always swimming to the end of the tank to greet her when she comes home.
She works at a Walmart, and tells me stories now of giving fish advice (good fish advice!) to coworkers and customers who come through her register; she's given advice on filter choices, stocking compatibility, disease treatment and aquarium maintenance- with rave reviews from the coworker whose algae problem "miraculously" disappeared after my fiance recommended an algae magnet and a siphon and laid out a water change regime for her to follow.
And now she's decided- completely on her own- that she wants to try her hand at breeding angelfish (hence the 55 on the wedding registry). I'd never kept an angelfish until we got Flint, so we decided it would be something perfect for us to work on together once we're married. We're either going to move the fish in the 29 into the 55, up the numbers in all of the schools, and breed a pair in the 29, or we're going to have one or two pairs in the 55, maybe by themselves or maybe with some tankmates. Anyone with experience can chime in with thoughts and advice, we would appreciate it!
I just wanted to share this story because it's the first time I've experienced something like it. I've been keeping fish for 11 years, and I've encouraged people into the hobby before, only for them to be disinterested or dislike it and quit the hobby within a few years. This is the first time I've mentored someone who really took a shine to fishkeeping, enough to take off with it on their own, and it's especially wonderful that it's someone who means so much to me. It's wonderful how this hobby sucks people in and brings them closer together and it's really great to have someone around who is as excited about this stuff as I am!
Her first tank was a 29 gallon mixed community of hardy and forgiving fish- 6 platies, 4 kuhli loaches, 4 corydoras paleatus, and a lovely little angelfish. In 5 months that little angelfish has grown like a weed from the size of a nickel to the size of the top of a soda can, and he has also verymuch grown on my fiance. He's a spunky little pig who doesn't seem to care what food is meant for who- he'll eat all of the platies' flakes, scarf down his cichlid pellets and then chase it with a scavenger pellet heartlessly grabbed away from the kuhlis and corys. But he loves the attention from my fiance, always swimming to the end of the tank to greet her when she comes home.
She works at a Walmart, and tells me stories now of giving fish advice (good fish advice!) to coworkers and customers who come through her register; she's given advice on filter choices, stocking compatibility, disease treatment and aquarium maintenance- with rave reviews from the coworker whose algae problem "miraculously" disappeared after my fiance recommended an algae magnet and a siphon and laid out a water change regime for her to follow.
And now she's decided- completely on her own- that she wants to try her hand at breeding angelfish (hence the 55 on the wedding registry). I'd never kept an angelfish until we got Flint, so we decided it would be something perfect for us to work on together once we're married. We're either going to move the fish in the 29 into the 55, up the numbers in all of the schools, and breed a pair in the 29, or we're going to have one or two pairs in the 55, maybe by themselves or maybe with some tankmates. Anyone with experience can chime in with thoughts and advice, we would appreciate it!
I just wanted to share this story because it's the first time I've experienced something like it. I've been keeping fish for 11 years, and I've encouraged people into the hobby before, only for them to be disinterested or dislike it and quit the hobby within a few years. This is the first time I've mentored someone who really took a shine to fishkeeping, enough to take off with it on their own, and it's especially wonderful that it's someone who means so much to me. It's wonderful how this hobby sucks people in and brings them closer together and it's really great to have someone around who is as excited about this stuff as I am!
