Hello all!
As a child I had a decent sized fish tank, and I loved every one of my fish. But I was, as I stated, a child, and I, in reality, had no idea what it meant to properly take care of fish or how to properly maintain a fish tank. That has probably been about 20 years now, and I have decided to start back at it.
Almost five months ago I started off with a Betta in a small goldfish bowl. Realizing quickly that this was a cruel punishment, I upgraded my little guy, Cayetano, to a 2.6 gallon tank. This was fine, but after a couple of weeks I realized I wanted to have a couple different fish that would work well with a Betta; I bought myself a five gallon tank. Knowing nothing about the cycling process, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, or anything really on how to properly take care of a fish tank and the beautiful inhabitants, I went ahead a jumped on a great deal at PetSmart for a 36 gallon bow window tank with the filter, heater, and light, all for 107 dollars.
After I got my new tank home, I set it up, allowed it to run through for about an hour after putting in a conditioner and then transferred my fish over to their new home. I watched them for quite a while, and then went to sleep. In the middle of the night my boyfriend woke me up saying that he thought one of my guppies had died. I looked over and sure enough, one of them was floating in the water. After going back to sleep and waking up for the day, when I looked at my tank again, I realized I had definitely made a mistake. All of my fish had died with the exception of my Betta, and the two loaches that I had left in the other tank for the time being for some reason.
Since then, I have informed myself much more on the cycle of a tank, the care of the tank and the fish within it, and I have learned so much about the different tropical fish and their needs. I now have a decent tank with some beautiful fish thriving, and I am already looking at my next tank and my next challenges. I have fallen in love with this hobby and am looking forward to learning so much more from everyone on this forum.
As a child I had a decent sized fish tank, and I loved every one of my fish. But I was, as I stated, a child, and I, in reality, had no idea what it meant to properly take care of fish or how to properly maintain a fish tank. That has probably been about 20 years now, and I have decided to start back at it.
Almost five months ago I started off with a Betta in a small goldfish bowl. Realizing quickly that this was a cruel punishment, I upgraded my little guy, Cayetano, to a 2.6 gallon tank. This was fine, but after a couple of weeks I realized I wanted to have a couple different fish that would work well with a Betta; I bought myself a five gallon tank. Knowing nothing about the cycling process, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, or anything really on how to properly take care of a fish tank and the beautiful inhabitants, I went ahead a jumped on a great deal at PetSmart for a 36 gallon bow window tank with the filter, heater, and light, all for 107 dollars.
After I got my new tank home, I set it up, allowed it to run through for about an hour after putting in a conditioner and then transferred my fish over to their new home. I watched them for quite a while, and then went to sleep. In the middle of the night my boyfriend woke me up saying that he thought one of my guppies had died. I looked over and sure enough, one of them was floating in the water. After going back to sleep and waking up for the day, when I looked at my tank again, I realized I had definitely made a mistake. All of my fish had died with the exception of my Betta, and the two loaches that I had left in the other tank for the time being for some reason.
Since then, I have informed myself much more on the cycle of a tank, the care of the tank and the fish within it, and I have learned so much about the different tropical fish and their needs. I now have a decent tank with some beautiful fish thriving, and I am already looking at my next tank and my next challenges. I have fallen in love with this hobby and am looking forward to learning so much more from everyone on this forum.
