Born again fish keeper! Got my first aquarium 22 years ago at a pet store in my local mall. The aquarium came with everything I needed (hood, lights, filter, heater, net, food etc). Sounded perfect to me! I put my aquarium box up by the cash so I could pick out my fish. I remember picking out every fish that looked pretty...mollies, guppies, platys, neons, otos, goldfish and angels. I had TONS of new fish...sooo excited and they seemed really happy about the amount of $$$ I was spending. Since the internet wasn't available I had no clue, I mean NO clue what was about to happen. Got home, washed my gravel with soapy dish water, did the same for my tank and my filter sponge (you know, to get the dust off). Got my gravel in, water, hooked the rest of my stuff up and threw all my fish in (including the store fish water that came in the bags). Well within days fish were dying, some had white things growing on their bodies, others swimming in odd ways. It was a disaster! I really wished someone would've taken the time to explain fish keeping. It was pretty clear to the sales person I had clue what I was doing. They watched me buy a 20 gal, bagged about 50 fish, charged me and watched me leave knowing I'd probably be back to buy more fish in the very near future due to die off. Well, once the last fish went belly up, I washed everything, got some bedding in the tank and put in 2 gerbils instead. They lived over 4 years. Fast forward 22 years...decided to use the internet to educate myself before getting another tank. I'm pleased to report, I have a fully cycled Fluval Spec 5 which I cycled fishless...planted...with co2, drop checker...and I have the happiest spoiled betta ever! I test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, ph, gh, kh...all things I should've known way back then. I'm already planning 4 more scaped tanks (larger) with 1 tank set aside for quarantine. Multiple tank syndrome coming up!
New member :) Hello!
- Thread starter Jennifer G.
- Start date
Welcome to AC! It sounds like you know what you're doing this time around. We'd love to see pics.
Thank you! It amazes me how much there is to know...and still more to learn (like why and how long I will be looking at diatoms).
Thank you! I'm in Murrells Inlet South Carolina. I have been browsing websites lately. Really interested in tissue cultured plants. No offense to snail lovers...but I really don't want them
I have been trying to figure out what stones are inert and which are not. Same for sand, no silicates pls. Picking lighting for my 20 long (30.5 x13 x13 inches)is a little overwhelming. Current Satellite maybe? Low/medium light plants as I'm a beginner. Ludwigia sp. Mini Super Red tied to dead bonsai, flame moss in shady areas, dwarf baby tears OR micranthemum monte carlo as my groundcover. Still browsing and planning for other additions so far.
Welcome to AC! Thanks for sharing your story. I am so glad to hear the happy ending which makes a perfect beginning for everything else to come.
Check out these lights, Vivagrow 24/7. For $35 I don't think you can beat them. Very customizable with good PAR (got into that yet?). On a 20 long with the auto 24/7 cycle they would give you medium to high light but with how customizable they are you can also make it low light (will take some trial and error though without a PAR meter). I've been using them on my 58g for over a year and love them, check out the link in my signature for more info.
Diatoms, fun! They will pass in time just be patient. Keep up the good work and make a thread about your tank so we can follow along.
Check out these lights, Vivagrow 24/7. For $35 I don't think you can beat them. Very customizable with good PAR (got into that yet?). On a 20 long with the auto 24/7 cycle they would give you medium to high light but with how customizable they are you can also make it low light (will take some trial and error though without a PAR meter). I've been using them on my 58g for over a year and love them, check out the link in my signature for more info.
Diatoms, fun! They will pass in time just be patient. Keep up the good work and make a thread about your tank so we can follow along.
Welcome! Sounds like a nice setup you've got going.
Just the thought of a pet store in the mall... Or even going to a mall in general brings me back. I think at one time I had about 6-7 tropical fish stores in under a 30min drive. Pretty much every one of them would have sold me the same!
Just the thought of a pet store in the mall... Or even going to a mall in general brings me back. I think at one time I had about 6-7 tropical fish stores in under a 30min drive. Pretty much every one of them would have sold me the same!
