Saying goodbye to my aquarium

[Ellie Potts]

As some of you may have seen in other posts, my move to college has meant abandoning my eight aquariums. Which is heartbreaking, but an inevitable part of fish keeping for many teenagers. The worst part has been selling/giving out the fish and plants in my 55 gallon, the first tank my dad gave me and the one that has lasted me a solid 8 years. The tank got me through COVID and my parents moving away. It was something to play with when I had to move from home a few years ago, saved me from the isolation of southern homophobia and was a distraction from every cruddy thing that happens in high school. It was my absolute pride and joy when I didn't even understand quite how badly it was put together. So grateful for all this hobby has to offer and excited to see what my aquarist future has in store. Saying goodbye to it feels awful, and it's pretty obvious none of my peers can quite relate to that. So I figured the best place to memorialize it would be on a forum full of fish nerds such as myself. One advantage of being a high schooler in this hobby is my phone addiction prompts me to film everything! So here's a quick video (2 minutes) of major moments in this tanks evolution, and a short clip of it its final moments. Many of these 'milestones' feel silly now, but I was so excited about them then-do you remember your first time getting fish to breed? What a cool feeling.
P.S. viewers beware - I'm well aware it's wayyy overgrown in the end; I kept telling myself I would trim it but then couldn't bring myself to, just love the messy look. The stocking is a little weird in this video. All of the fish were of course safe and got along well, but towards the end fish amongst the tanks had been (safely) shuffled around as I found different homes for things.
History of a 55

TL;DR: Have to get rid of my 55 gallon, have had it forever, this video has pictures of the tank over the last few years

 

[Rocky998]

As some of you may have seen in other posts, my move to college has meant abandoning my eight aquariums. Which is heartbreaking, but an inevitable part of fish keeping for many teenagers. The worst part has been selling/giving out the fish and plants in my 55 gallon, the first tank my dad gave me and the one that has lasted me a solid 8 years. The tank got me through COVID and my parents moving away. It was something to play with when I had to move from home a few years ago, saved me from the isolation of southern homophobia and was a distraction from every cruddy thing that happens in high school. It was my absolute pride and joy when I didn't even understand quite how badly it was put together. So grateful for all this hobby has to offer and excited to see what my aquarist future has in store. Saying goodbye to it feels awful, and it's pretty obvious none of my peers can quite relate to that. So I figured the best place to memorialize it would be on a forum full of fish nerds such as myself. One advantage of being a high schooler in this hobby is my phone addiction prompts me to film everything! So here's a quick video (2 minutes) of major moments in this tanks evolution, and a short clip of it its final moments. Many of these 'milestones' feel silly now, but I was so excited about them then-do you remember your first time getting fish to breed? What a cool feeling.
P.S. viewers beware - I'm well aware it's wayyy overgrown in the end; I kept telling myself I would trim it but then couldn't bring myself to, just love the messy look. The stocking is a little weird in this video. All of the fish were of course safe and got along well, but towards the end fish amongst the tanks had been (safely) shuffled around as I found different homes for things.
History of a 55

TL;DR: Have to get rid of my 55 gallon, have had it forever, this video has pictures of the tank over the last few years

Sorry you have to let the hobby go.... But I wish you the best of luck moving forward with your life!
Maybe some time down the line you can get another tank up and running... Who knows.

 

[Ellie Potts]

Sorry you have to let the hobby go.... But I wish you the best of luck moving forward with your life!
Maybe some time down the line you can get another tank up and running... Who knows.

Fortunately my college allows us to keep small tanks. Looking into having a shrimp tank or something of the sorts. College has been great for me for many reasons, and wonderful to get out of the south and live so stably. But giving up these big community tanks was hard. But now I get to study fish! Hopefully down the line I'll be able to build my collection up again with adult money (lol)

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I understand the feeling. Great video--I can just see your growing knowledge and experience.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Do you have a way to store your tanks and equipment anywhere? That’s what I’m doing, in the hopes that I can set up again later down the road. I know it can all be replaced, but it’s expensive!

I completely understand your grief of it though, I felt that when I tore down all mine last year. (Amazingly I was able to keep one set up at my boyfriends house, which has been such a blessing)

 

[Rocky998]

Fortunately my college allows us to keep small tanks. Looking into having a shrimp tank or something of the sorts. College has been great for me for many reasons, and wonderful to get out of the south and live so stably. But giving up these big community tanks was hard. But now I get to study fish! Hopefully down the line I'll be able to build my collection up again with adult money (lol)

Yup! (I can't wait till I have my "adult money" as well to spend on aquariums LOL. Of course after I know I can keep my life stable with the income I'd have )

And I just saw the video! It truly is a beautiful tank and you did a great job with it!
Keep us updated with that smaller tank as well!

 

[Ellie Potts]

Do you have a way to store your tanks and equipment anywhere? That’s what I’m doing, in the hopes that I can set up again later down the road. I know it can all be replaced, but it’s expensive!

I completely understand your grief of it though, I felt that when I tore down all mine last year. (Amazingly I was able to keep one set up at my boyfriends house, which has been such a blessing)

I have a few that I've been able to keep in friends garages. But for the most part, it has to go. I can't afford a storage locker for four years and my home situation is not at the place where I could just leave them. My dad would take them if he weren't living in England, lol. As I progress in college, I'll be able to move to off-campus housing and get back into it. Since many of the tanks were hand-me-downs I turned a small profit selling them (also from selling a few groups of triple red cockatoo apisto fry). Putting the money aside for when I can get back into the hobby.
Plus I got to give away a lot of the supplies to one of my friends who is struggling financially but in love with her one aquarium that could use the repairs. And that always feels nice

I understand the feeling. Great video--I can just see your growing knowledge and experience.

It's very satisfying knowing that I've grown, and more so knowing that I have so much more growth on the way

Yup! (I can't wait till I have my "adult money" as well to spend on aquariums LOL. Of course after I know I can keep my life stable with the income I'd have )

And I just saw the video! It truly is a beautiful tank and you did a great job with it!
Keep us updated with that smaller tank as well!

Thank you!! I will - I already started a thread on it (named Making the best of a 5 gallon Tank). I'll post pictures there as I figure out what to do.

 

[Rocky998]

Thank you!! I will - I already started a thread on it (named Making the best of a 5 gallon Tank). I'll post pictures there as I figure out what to do.

Yah! I saw that thread! In fact I replied in it I believe lol.
Can't wait to see updates and I wish ya the best of luck!

 

[Ellie Potts]

Lol! Now I remember. Yes! You all were really helpful in that one. Thanks!

Yah! I saw that thread! In fact I replied in it I believe lol.
Can't wait to see updates and I wish ya the best of luck!

 

[Fishmanic]

and once you get the tank set up, you can enter it in our March Tank of the Month contest which will be for 16 gallon and smaller nano tanks

 

[Ellie Potts]

and once you get the tank set up, you can enter it in our March Tank of the Month contest which will be for 16 gallon and smaller nano tanks

Maybe I'll give it a go!

 

[WhistlingBadger]

and once you get the tank set up, you can enter it in our March Tank of the Month contest which will be for 16 gallon and smaller nano tanks

It's not a real thread until FM works in a pitch for TOTM.

 

[Rocky998]

Lol! Now I remember. Yes! You all were really helpful in that one. Thanks!

I'm glad we all were able to help you a bit
And apparently you wanted to add some TASTEY micro crabs (still cant believe someone asked if they were edible LOL)

It's not a real thread until FM works in a pitch for TOTM.

YUP! Always has to promote...

 

[JuiceBox52]

It's not a real thread until FM works in a pitch for TOTM.

He conscripted me to help him too

 

[Rocky998]

He conscripted me to help him too

Yah... He promotes your art WORLDWIDE if you help promote the contests, right?