hello fellow addicts! or at least that's what my family is beginning to call me... aquariums and the lovely beings they house can become quite an addictive hobby, so I have discovered. first of all, I shall tell you about myself. I am a mother to four lovely children. I am also a fill-in dad for those same children until a suitable replacement can be found. but we aren't here to talk about people now, are we?back when I was a bit younger and wiser (or so I thought), I had a 29 gal. aquarium which housed a few unfortunate fish that were sold to me at a local wal-mart store. at that point I believed that to care for fish, all one needed was a tank, chlorine-free water, some type of filter for the back, some brightly painted gravel, a filter, and some food. after some un-success, I sold the aquarium to my sister. recently, she sold it back.the aforementioned aquarium has not been set up for fishlings as of yet. my current goal is to prepare successfuly for cichlids. I am going to attempt (after scouring many diy "tutorials" and techniques) to create a foam background. I would also like to make a diy trickle filter w/ sump. any and all advice/suggestions regarding this tank in ANY way would be most welcome. at this time I do (by my children's persuasion) have a 5 gal. tank with 1 sailfin molly, 2 tattooed mollies, and 1 catfish (i couldn't tell you what kind it is). I also have a 10 gal. with 2 angelfish, a clown loach, another loach (of a different kind of which I'm not sure), a plecostumus, a honey gourami, and a lovely snail. (i do know that this trank is overstocked and most or all of these poor fish will be transferred to a 20 gal. asap)mostly, I joined this forum for information/advice. I am becomming better at caring for my fish, though I still feel that I have a lot to learn. I have found many interesting things already and am eager to know everything I possibly can to become a better care-taker of some wonderful and amazing companions.
Hi Fellow Aquadicts
- Thread starter Achelous
- Start date
Hello and welcome. When I was a kid I got my first fish from Kmart and used to bring them home by riding the bus with them under my jacket. It is funny that since I take better care of my tanks now than when I was a kid I have seen more diseases show up. I don't know if it is because I am more aware of them or if I just had years of blind beginners ignorant luck. 
