I've been peering through the glass here for awhile now, and finally decided to properly register. Once upon a time, I kept goldies, dojos, bettas, ADFs and a huge pleco (no, not all in the same tank). About five years ago, after my last fancy goldfish died, I decided I needed a break from the weekly water hauling for six tanks. I sold all of my tanks (stupid!), and that was that. I used to use all that lovely fish tank water for my house and garden plants, and as you might imagine, both suffered once the aquarium water supply shut off.
Last year I got back into plants, and then started thinking about how nice it would be to have a pretty betta on my writing desk (writing is my main hobby), which would also provide nice plant fertilizer. I mentioned to my friend that I'd been thinking about fishkeeping again, and she offered her 38 gallon tank up for free as she was upgrading to a 55. Of course I accepted, got rid of a piece of furniture that was just sitting around doing nothing, and now I have my 6 gallon bookshelf betta tank (starring Fritz, the incredibly spicy "dark blue knight"), a 6 gallon corner tank on the other side of my desk for my foursome of ADFs, and the 38 gallon tank in the living room just finished cycling and is ready to be stocked. All planted tanks, though the 38 needs quite a bit more greenery. Hopefully I can find some vals at the LFS tomorrow.
I wanted to say thank you - as I've said, I've been reading almost daily, threads on various fish, cycling, stocking levels, plants, biotopes, interesting conversations about fishkeeping philosophies and stocking...this forum is an amazing treasure trove of information, and has been very helpful in giving me both information and different perspectives on many aspects of this hobby. You've all given me more help and things to think about than you'll ever realize it and I really appreciate it (I'm quite sure my future fishy pals do as well).
Last year I got back into plants, and then started thinking about how nice it would be to have a pretty betta on my writing desk (writing is my main hobby), which would also provide nice plant fertilizer. I mentioned to my friend that I'd been thinking about fishkeeping again, and she offered her 38 gallon tank up for free as she was upgrading to a 55. Of course I accepted, got rid of a piece of furniture that was just sitting around doing nothing, and now I have my 6 gallon bookshelf betta tank (starring Fritz, the incredibly spicy "dark blue knight"), a 6 gallon corner tank on the other side of my desk for my foursome of ADFs, and the 38 gallon tank in the living room just finished cycling and is ready to be stocked. All planted tanks, though the 38 needs quite a bit more greenery. Hopefully I can find some vals at the LFS tomorrow.
I wanted to say thank you - as I've said, I've been reading almost daily, threads on various fish, cycling, stocking levels, plants, biotopes, interesting conversations about fishkeeping philosophies and stocking...this forum is an amazing treasure trove of information, and has been very helpful in giving me both information and different perspectives on many aspects of this hobby. You've all given me more help and things to think about than you'll ever realize it and I really appreciate it (I'm quite sure my future fishy pals do as well).
to an 'almost' neighbor. 
