Emily in Everett Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 (edited) New to this forum. Returning to fish-keeping after decades away. Quarantine got me started again, and it's quickly exploded into Multiple Tank Syndrome. I had a 50-gallon tank as a kid; but that ended when a mass mortality event [malfunctioning heater] that spooked me from trying again. I don't know why I waited so long - I'm a biologist by profession and get a ton of joy out of observing the fish, trying to grow aquatic plants, and tinkering with every aspect of a little closed ecosystem. It started last fall with upgrading my kids' betta bowl to a 15-gallon tank. That quickly became a planted tank with neon tetras and cories (sodalis and panda), plus a running education in non-stop issues. It felt like every week was a new challenge. Algae! Melting plants! Lethal fish fungus! Stinky driftwood! Bacterial infections? Fin/tail rot. Ich! Snails! Weird blizzards of floating white flakes that I thought were an explosion of worms but turned out to be chunks of plastic the snails were scraping off a disintegrating fake sea anemone (my kids' choice of decoration...yuk, never again!). I was frustrated as hell, but also trying to find Zen in the education aspect of it all. Fast forward 3 months. The 15 gallon finally stabilized, but the original betta died in the process.. So now my kids need TWO bettas (one each) so we got a 5-gallon too. Which of course became a second round of experiments (potting soil for the plants, capped with gravel? Sounds good in theory but WHAT A MESS! Shrimp? Not with this aggressive betta - he chased them all into the filter and I never saw them.) Fast forward 3 months. My neighbor is upgrading and offered me his 90 gallon cube + stand and sump. Oh dear. But I finally felt up to the challenge. Why not? (Well, just look at my bank statement after I outfitted that tank...THAT's why not, LOL.) As of last week I've finally figured out the sump setup and got that tank fully cycled (it took 5 impatient weeks). Plants are growing. I did a fish-in cycle with some starter fish (a dozen leopard danios) and I can't decide if they are awesome fish or really annoying with all their manic scurrying and gluttony. The tank now also houses two 10-year-old clown loaches that outgrew a friends' tank, and a a trio of delightfully quirky reticulated hillstream loaches (who crack me up with their antics and hold their own against the danio swarm). Next up is a school of geophagus eartheaters, who will likely gleefully destroy my current plant setup. I obviously still have SO MUCH to learn. Looking forward to learning from all of you on these forums! Edited June 14, 2021 by Emily in Everett Hit send before I was finished 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily in Everett Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily in Everett Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emily in Everett Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Welcome! That 90 gallon is impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Welcome to the forum beautiful tanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwayne Brown Posted June 15, 2021 Share Posted June 15, 2021 Welcome to the forum, fellow washingtonian😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonourWest Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Welcome! 🙂 Your tanks look reeeeaaallly nice. I'm jealous. 🤩 🥰 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BriannesFishFam Posted June 17, 2021 Share Posted June 17, 2021 Love the fish tank and welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now