Growing up we had the occasional betta. My sister once won two goldfish from the fair and she ended up getting a 10 g that those two lived in for YEARS. One eventually died off and the other got huge. We joked it was big enough to fry up.
Ive always loved going to the marine aquariums and while I felt that owning a SW one would be too much trouble and $$$, I decided to go FW. I bought a 20g a few years back, went with brownish gravel and matching rock decor pieces. This lasted for about a year or 2 until the final fish member died off.
I tore the tank down, replaced the rock with pool filter sand(love this stuff) updated the decor with the greek/rome ruins you find at petco/petsmart, some plants, and restocked. This lasted a few more years until I just lost interest in it and I gave away the few fish that were in there, and tore down the tank and gave it to my dad's GF.
My mom had goldfish in a 30g long for the longest time. She loved those fancy goldfish(i think all goldfish, cept koi, are ugly) and had her tank running for years until all her fish got sick and died over the course of a few months. One survived and stayed by its self for a few months and finally died. She was upset and gave the tank to me since she didnt want to deal with it.
This past month I wanted to do another aquarium and I wanted to put up the 30gal. I found a guy selling a stand off craigslist, and when I got there, he just gave it to me. It was in rough shape, he had stripped it and it had gained surface rust. I took it home, after about 30min of trying to fit it in my car...., and sanded and primed it. Note the rustoleum rust colored primer, soaks up the paint you decide to paint over it
I moved the stand upstairs, and moved the 30g onto it and noticed it was way too small. The stand was made for 40g+. A wooden board fixed the problem, but when I went to get the hood, filters, and heather, I realized the filter and hood were too nasty to be cleaned(I was too lazy) and I was missing the heater since she had goldfish she didnt need one. I went to petco to purchase the stuff I needed. Cost $110. My friend found a 55g kit for $170. It was a no brainer. I bought that instead, it fits great on my stand.
I went back to my favorite substrate and my ruins. I bought a new ruin for it since Im missing my old colleseum, and added more plants. Its not done, because I feel I need some taller plants. I currently have 1 Betta, 3 Orange/Red Platys, 10 neons, 2 Dalmation Mollies, 1 male and 2 female guppies ad 2 mystery snails.
@Jason.... Ive come to believe that if you buy fish at the LFS, you need to be prepared for stuff to die. I typically buy multiples of a fish, just in case one ends up being sick, or doesnt take the transition well. I cant guarentee this is the right way to handle it, or if my beliefs are true, but it works for me. Dont get discouraged
