something fishy....

[PostmodernProphet]

so from the time I was in law school up until the kids were about ten I was into tropical fish......somewhere along the line I lost interest and the equipment sat in the basement......my son won a goldfish for his girlfriend and he decided to borrow one tank and set it up for that.......my daughter and her roommates got into betta fish and she borrowed another.....after listening to them talk for a year I started to regain interest.....l pulled out my last tank yesterday and checked it out...dang.....a leak......since I bought it in the 70s and had already patched it twice I decided to scrap it......started stalking craig's list.....

found an ad for a 20 gallon tall with all the equipment for $40.....emailed them and scored......picked it up this afternoon.....mentioned it to a friend at coffee and he told me he has a 30 gallon tank in the basement I can have for free.........going to get some blue female bettas and some yellow glow fish tetras and have a UoM fish tank......

[Robert A Whit]

so from the time I was in law school up until the kids were about ten I was into tropical fish......somewhere along the line I lost interest and the equipment sat in the basement......my son won a goldfish for his girlfriend and he decided to borrow one tank and set it up for that.......my daughter and her roommates got into betta fish and she borrowed another.....after listening to them talk for a year I started to regain interest.....l pulled out my last tank yesterday and checked it out...dang.....a leak......since I bought it in the 70s and had already patched it twice I decided to scrap it......started stalking craig's list.....

found an ad for a 20 gallon tall with all the equipment for $40.....emailed them and scored......picked it up this afternoon.....mentioned it to a friend at coffee and he told me he has a 30 gallon tank in the basement I can have for free.........going to get some blue female bettas and some yellow glow fish tetras and have a UoM fish tank......

Years ago, my daughter wanted a tank and fish. She would pick them out and get me to buy them. When she lost interest, I got rid of everything. Fish are pretty but you must know a lot more about them than I do.

She also loved collecting rocks and I would take her to special stores that had a large variety of rocks and gem stones. She got to be quite the expert on that stuff.

[Trinity]

I just bought a tall 55 gallon salt water tank, with everything except a stand for $150.00. Still looking for a stand or I may just build my own not sure yet. But I am dying to get it put together and try my hand with saltwater fish....I have had freshwater tanks before, but the salt water fish are beautiful....... and I miss the ocean.

[jimnyc]

Raising tropical fish is fun, and can be therapeutic. I had so many setups over the years that I can't count them all. My last was a 75 gallon on a wrought iron stand, with a Fluval filter. And while I love all the little colorful buggers, I recommend people to get Oscars from the time they are tiny. If you get one that is like an inch or so, they are a blast to raise. You can enjoy watching them grow and eat pellet food for a few months before you graduate to very small feeder fish. Then in a year you would graduate again to medium, and then larger. If you keep them in a tank large enough, they will grow to be 1-2 feet. Of course, when they get that big, they will eat about 20-40 feeders ever few to 3 days, and it gets to be tiresome forever going to the pet store (and costs). Unless of course, you buy a 20 gallon to keep your feeders in!

[PostmodernProphet]

I just bought a tall 55 gallon salt water tank, with everything except a stand for $150.00. Still looking for a stand or I may just build my own not sure yet. But I am dying to get it put together and try my hand with saltwater fish....I have had freshwater tanks before, but the salt water fish are beautiful....... and I miss the ocean.

that is a huge deal, saltwater gear is expensive....

[jimnyc]

that is a huge deal, saltwater gear is expensive....

And wait till you buy the fish! I've seen plenty of them at the shop near me run over $400 per fish, and some much more expensive. And it's a lot of work to maintain them as well. I was thinking of starting a brackish tank as the store by me has some cool and mean looking cichlids that require that type of water.

[Abbey Marie]

Every once in a while, I look at my old 30 gallon tank and think I should set it up again. Then I remember how it was cleaning it out all the time, and I let the mood go.
They are very relaxing to watch, though. And the trips to the store to pick out fish were always fun.

[Kathianne]

I guess I'm the only one who truly hates fish tanks. Mind you, I love eating fish, just hate their watching me from tank. My ex had a built into the all huge tank. I hated commercials, that's when I noticed the fish staring at me! Swimming, staring with their unblinking, souless, black eyes. Shivers.

I love the sounds of the ocean. Heck I even love swimming in the ocean, until a fish or sea turtle rubs against me.

[Robert A Whit]

I just bought a tall 55 gallon salt water tank, with everything except a stand for $150.00. Still looking for a stand or I may just build my own not sure yet. But I am dying to get it put together and try my hand with saltwater fish....I have had freshwater tanks before, but the salt water fish are beautiful....... and I miss the ocean.

I know next to nothing about fish, but have you noticed that the prettiest fish come from warmer waters?

I say, hooray global warming. We will get more pretty fish.

[Robert A Whit]

Every once in a while, I look at my old 30 gallon tank and think I should set it up again. Then I remember how it was cleaning it out all the time, and I let the mood go.
They are very relaxing to watch, though. And the trips to the store to pick out fish were always fun.

Yes, there is that problem of cleaning up tanks. That job was not supposed to be my chore since dad was the financier. But kids find a way to escape work, don't they?

[jimnyc]

I guess I'm the only one who truly hates fish tanks. Mind you, I love eating fish, just hate their watching me from tank. My ex had a built into the all huge tank. I hated commercials, that's when I noticed the fish staring at me! Swimming, staring with their unblinking, souless, black eyes. Shivers.

I love the sounds of the ocean. Heck I even love swimming in the ocean, until a fish or sea turtle rubs against me.

Oh, you really need an Oscar then! When they get bigger, I'd swear they could see me! They would sit in the tank at the edge of the glass and just glare at me. Every few seconds their mouths would gape open and *bloop* you would see a bubble of air rise to the surface. Like my dogs, they would just stare and be annoying until I fed them!

[jimnyc]

Yes, there is that problem of cleaning up tanks. That job was not supposed to be my chore since dad was the financier. But kids find a way to escape work, don't they?

Saw about 1/3 of the water every few months. Outside of that, it's mostly all filter. Get a top notch canister ($$$) and the tank will stay cleaner a lot longer!

[Abbey Marie]

Saw about 1/3 of the water every few months. Outside of that, it's mostly all filter. Get a top notch canister ($$$) and the tank will stay cleaner a lot longer!

We had 2 filters in a 30 gallon tank, and an algae eater (Pleco?), and it still got very dirty. My husband said the problem was I was constantly overfeeding the fish. I couldn't help it- they always looked so bored and hungry to me, lol.

[jimnyc]

We had 2 filters in a 30 gallon tank, and an algae eater (Pleco?), and it stil got very dirty. My husband said the problem was I was constantly overfeeding the fish. I couldn't help it- they always looked so bored and hungry to me, lol.

The more they eat the more the waste. Also, the ammonia and PH levels can change the appearance of the water too. Then I suppose there is also uneaten food that builds up, and of course the algae. I still say the filter and PH levels are the most important. I paid like $359 for an awesome Fluval canister filter a long time ago which was used for my 75 gallon tank. And hell, that was Oscar's eating feeders non-stop, lots of waste!! But this filter would go through the whole tank of water much quicker and clean it faster. Too many factors to list here as to why some get much dirtier than others.

Or get a Piranha, even a tiny 1/2 - 1" sucker. Then put in an assortment of other fish. Then look to see how dirty it is in the morning!

[Kathianne]

Oh, you really need an Oscar then! When they get bigger, I'd swear they could see me! They would sit in the tank at the edge of the glass and just glare at me. Every few seconds their mouths would gape open and *bloop* you would see a bubble of air rise to the surface. Like my dogs, they would just stare and be annoying until I fed them!

OMG! This is the stuff of nightmares! Goosebumps!