3rd times the charm? (Deborah's really long intro)

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H2Ogal

Betta Be Good to Me
Mar 16, 2010
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Memphis, TN
Real Name
Deborah
Hey, guys, thought it was time to stop in and introduce myself. I've been reading the forums almost non-stop for a week or so and have gotta say, everyone here is great about sharing the info and fish love. A terrific resource, so kudos to all.

Here's the history of my two previous attempts at fish-keeping, during which I made all the usual mistakes ...

As a teen, 30+ years ago, I had a 4.5 gal tank with guppies, a common pleco and a single kuhli loach. Hardly the right stocking, but the guppies did their live-bearing thing, I fell in love with my pleco, and the kuhli decided that living under the UGF was a really good idea. He was HUGE when I finally broke the tank down, and, yes, I still remember how hard he was to catch. Frankly, it's amazing that anything lived, considering those were the days of stocking the tank 24 hours after filling it, and I'm not sure I even did water changes. I had no live plants, but plenty of algae and a load of beginners luck, I suppose. I still miss that little tank and stand. It had been my grandmothers, and went from family member to family member over the years. It's long gone now, and I wish I could find another! (I've also always wanted more kuhlis, but that's a topic for another post. Loach lovers will understand. :) )

Fifteen or so years ago, I fell into the hobby again when a friend gave me a 1-gallon acrylic tank with a feeder goldfish that had survived a couple of weeks in a cichlid tank at the pet store where she worked. She had decided that the goldfish deserved to live, and I ended up with a monster case of BTS (bigger-tank syndrome). Upgraded from the 1g to a 5g to a 30g in about six months. Had the original goldie ("Frankenfish") with a few shubunkins, and a common pleco. (Yeah, I still didn't know better.) Tried live plants, again and again, but they were uprooted and devoured on a regular basis. The first pleco died, and the second-one was a really aggressive slime-sucker so I traded him for another common pleco at the LFS. I'd learned enough to do water changes, and things went along well for awhile, but things spiraled out of control. I didn't really understand the cycle well enough, the fish got stressed, then got ick, and I never did get it under control. When Frank died, I said enough is enough. Took the sad survivors to the LFS and broke down the tank. Ended up dumping all the equipment and swearing off fish forever.

So, what the heck am I doing here? Well, you guys know what it's like ... All the pretty fishes, all the pretty plants, the idea that this time I'll get it right. Anyway, when the urge hit again recently, I hit the Internet looking for info and found AC. Again, thanks for all the great advice, especially those of you in the "cycle your tank" chorus. It's all making much more sense than it did before, and I have high hopes of setting up and maintaining a healthy tank with lots of (but not too many) really happy fish.

-------------

Deborah
 

Rbishop

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 30, 2005
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Real Name
Mr. Normal
Welcome to AC! Maybe start a thread in our FW forums for more input...
 
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