Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A Brief History
My parents purchased an aquarium in the mid 80's. It was just a small 20 gallon tall tank. I don't remember much about it except i knew we kept neon tetras, a little cory cat, and a couple of angels. We also had a little spaceship bubbler that would float up and down. We kept it for a couple years and then it went back into storage.
When i was in college in 2001, i decided to resurrect the tank. It had a small crack in the side, but it never leaked. I decided to get a spotted puffer since that was "cool" and it was a carnivore. Well it was a carnivore until my roommates (thanks Jason and Phil) decided to feed it SDR food (cafeteria). Due to the toxic wastes being dumped in the water and poor filtration. The disease known as "Ich" soon took over and I had no idea what it was. After a couple days i believe we sent him to his death in the Chicago sewer system. I sold the tank to another friend down the hall after his tank broke and needed one in a hurry.
In February of 2007, I decided my wife and I needed some pets in the house. I received another 20 gallon tall tank from a friends garage sale for free. I initially stocked it with 2 sunburst platy's, 2 black skirt tetra's, 3 neon tetras, and a common plecostomus. A couple months later we also got Riley and Mattie, our two cockapoo puppies, and the fish tank was still kept up and running, but definitely it wasn't a priority.
In October of 2008, our daughter Rachel was born. She loved watching the fish swim around. Watching the fish calms her down and she loves following them around the tank. After seeing her interest in them, i began to put more time into the hobby.
In July of 2009, I decided we needed to upgrade the 20 gal tank. I purchased a 50 gallon tank from Petsmart and put the 20 gallon into storage. The common pleco was already 12" and was way too big for the 20 gal. I ended up purchasing all the equipment new from Petsmart. I ended up putting around $400-500 into the tank, stand, heater, filter, and gravel. At the time I thought it was a good deal, but I really overspent. I will go into more personal suggestions at a later time.
For Valentines day 2010, my wife decided to get me 4 cichlids. She ended up getting 2 convicts and 2 turquoise cichlids. Both are found native in central america. She put them in my tank without me knowing and had to nudge me in that direction when I was trying to figure out what my present was. This was a pleasant surprise. I was concerned with the Convicts being in the community tank and they soon began to pick and defend territory right away. I cleaned out the 20 gal after work one night and got it up and running. I transferred the fish the next night and that brings us up to date.
Current Stocking:
50 Gallon
1 14" common pleco \___ Going on 3+ years
2 black skirt tetras /
1 sunburst platy
2 red wag platy
4 firemouth cichlids
2 turquoise cichlids
1 albino corydora
1 unknown corydora
20 gallon
2 convict cichlids
When i was in college in 2001, i decided to resurrect the tank. It had a small crack in the side, but it never leaked. I decided to get a spotted puffer since that was "cool" and it was a carnivore. Well it was a carnivore until my roommates (thanks Jason and Phil) decided to feed it SDR food (cafeteria). Due to the toxic wastes being dumped in the water and poor filtration. The disease known as "Ich" soon took over and I had no idea what it was. After a couple days i believe we sent him to his death in the Chicago sewer system. I sold the tank to another friend down the hall after his tank broke and needed one in a hurry.
In February of 2007, I decided my wife and I needed some pets in the house. I received another 20 gallon tall tank from a friends garage sale for free. I initially stocked it with 2 sunburst platy's, 2 black skirt tetra's, 3 neon tetras, and a common plecostomus. A couple months later we also got Riley and Mattie, our two cockapoo puppies, and the fish tank was still kept up and running, but definitely it wasn't a priority.
In October of 2008, our daughter Rachel was born. She loved watching the fish swim around. Watching the fish calms her down and she loves following them around the tank. After seeing her interest in them, i began to put more time into the hobby.
In July of 2009, I decided we needed to upgrade the 20 gal tank. I purchased a 50 gallon tank from Petsmart and put the 20 gallon into storage. The common pleco was already 12" and was way too big for the 20 gal. I ended up purchasing all the equipment new from Petsmart. I ended up putting around $400-500 into the tank, stand, heater, filter, and gravel. At the time I thought it was a good deal, but I really overspent. I will go into more personal suggestions at a later time.
For Valentines day 2010, my wife decided to get me 4 cichlids. She ended up getting 2 convicts and 2 turquoise cichlids. Both are found native in central america. She put them in my tank without me knowing and had to nudge me in that direction when I was trying to figure out what my present was. This was a pleasant surprise. I was concerned with the Convicts being in the community tank and they soon began to pick and defend territory right away. I cleaned out the 20 gal after work one night and got it up and running. I transferred the fish the next night and that brings us up to date.
Current Stocking:
50 Gallon
1 14" common pleco \___ Going on 3+ years
2 black skirt tetras /
1 sunburst platy
2 red wag platy
4 firemouth cichlids
2 turquoise cichlids
1 albino corydora
1 unknown corydora
20 gallon
2 convict cichlids
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