Hi there,
I've been lurking on fishy forums for a while (like some sinister presence!) but never became a member until very recently. This forum has a great and active feel to it, and lots of very helpful peeps, so it seemed the obvious choice!
In terms of fishy history, my dad always kept tropical fish. For years we had a big five foot long tank that he had siliconed himself and built into a wall unit that separated the kitchen and dining room. We'd have dinner and watch the tiger barbs, plates, swordtails and kissing gouramis swim by. It was great, as well as very peaceful
Fast forward to the mid nineties when I was commuting 2 hours a day to and from a very busy job in London, whilst simultaneously doing a 2-year post graduate university degree. This was all very stressful, so I decided that having some fishes to look at would be wonderfully relaxing and help me unwind. So off I went to this little lfs in Kingston-upon-Thames run by a slightly eccentric lady with large glasses. She obviously loved fishes but she did sell me a small tank (probably no more than 45L) and six (yes six... I know
) goldfish to put in it. The internet not being what it is today, and never having had goldfish (my dad only ever had tropical fish), I was alarmed to find that these goldfish just kept growing! And making a mess!
Eventually I took 4 back to the LFS. Some time after that two very thoughtful friends gave me a larger 90L fish tank as a wedding present and the remaining 2 goldfish moved into that. They were with me for several more years, but then my husband and I decided to have fry of our own, and the aquarium was shelved for several years.... until 3 years ago when son number one all of a sudden asked about having a goldfish.
I started by looking at small tanks that would fit in his room, but soon decided that it was much easier to keep a bigger tank downstairs - the larger the body of water, the more stable the environment, etc. I then remember my old 90L in the garage, so got that out, dusted it off, plugged it all in and hey presto, the old Eheim Classic 2213 was still up to the job :-) My son had asked for a goldfish but, well, I really fancied having tropical fish instead. In short, and you may not be surprised to hear this, the aquarium that was originally was going to be 'for my son' is now and in fact always has been entirely mine, mine, ALL MINE.
The aquarium was cycled without fish, although sadly there were some casualties due to incorrect advice from a large and supposedly reputable LFS not far from us (not the lady with the glasses)
There were still some ups and downs but eventually I established a nice mature tank with generally healthy fish.
Last summer there was a small incident with the aquarium whilst we were away on holiday, involving an open top aquarium, a spray bar that was tilted upwards and water being sprayed out of the tank once the water level dropped below the level of the spray bar... When we arrived home we found the aquarium containing only 20 centimetres of water and the carpet soaked with tank water! Suffice to say the carpet was ruined, but much more importantly all fish survived the ordeal.
However, it did make me think that perhaps it was time to upgrade my tank (of an obscure German make MP Aquarien). After all it was getting on a bit (nearly 15 years old) and the cabinet has the worst design of any cabinet ever designed. And of course it made perfect sense to go for a BIGGER tank :-)
So now I have just set up a lovely Fluval Roma 240 (as well as new carpet in the lounge). Unfortunately I seem to have made a little bit of a hash of the whole tank-move/cycling thing. Also, whilst I have done lots of research on which fish make good community fish, I've only recently realised that our local tap water is a hugely important factor. As a result much of my stock is not really right for my tank :-( Thirdly, I'm hoping to get some rainbow fish soonish and am hoping for some expertise in that area here on ThinkFish. To avoid clogging up this thread, I'll be posting about my many issues (and that's before I've even started on my fish tank....) in the appropriate places.
/wave
Topic: Introduce yourself! (Read 213521 times) 715 replies
August 26, 2018, 09:45:32 PM
