KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Hi everyone! Just wanted to get a thread going to learn all about my new fishy friends here! What countries is everyone from? What's the scene like where you are? From the UK here, Kent in South East England (any locals?). My local scene turned out to be a hidden gem. When I got into the hobby early this year I had no idea, I didn't know anyone that treated it as a hobby, at most people just kept a few fish in non planted tanks without knowing or caring a whole lot (not in a horrible way just not into it in the same way we are). I found YouTube channels and online groups like this one and didn't think many people outside of these would 'get it'. Turns out I was wrong, there's a huge number of hobbyists, breeders, local shops, local Facebook groups, buy and sell or swap groups etc. A big ol' hidden community of Nerms I never knew about and most people don't realise exists (and I've been recommending Aquarium Co-op to any who will listen!). Just the other week I bought a couple of tanks from someone on Facebook a 5 minute drive from my house and it turns out he had a whole amateur Endler Live Bearer line breeding project going in his fish shed with some really lovely fish and he offered me some of the huge number of fry he had for free after we got chatting (isn't it great when you find someone to nerd out with?) unfortunately I didn't have the room for them yet so had to turn his offer down but I thought it was a good sign of a friendly community. What is everyone else's experiences? Anyone from US or elsewhere ever visit the UK or have plans to? Especially if you're visiting Kent. I love the idea of making some international friends! If they ever hold a fishkeeping convention or event nearby I'll happily put someone up. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbie Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 I’m from up in Glasgow, Scotland myself. I was in the same situation as you when I started in the hobby, I didn’t know anyone who kept fish or where to buy stuff but it turns out there’s a bunch of aquatics shops nearby & there’s folk in my neighbourhood who sell fish online - though I’ve not really spoke to many people yet. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 3:29 PM, Bobbie said: I’m from up in Glasgow, Scotland myself. Hi from down South! Never been to Glasgow, got married in Edinburgh but that's the only time I've been to Scotland. What fish do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbie Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 I’ve got zebra danios, albino corydoras and a betta in a community tank, although I’m planning to get cichlids or livebearers to join the gang later this year. What about you? Any fish you’ve got or want? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) I'm from Southeast Texas, near the Louisiana border and the Gulf Coast in an area known as the Big Thicket.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Thicket We actually have a very highly biodiverse ecosystem. In Texan, we'd say: "We got a lot of neat critters and bushes!" As far as fish stores, we're pretty limited. We have Petco and Petsmart within about 45 minutes of our house, with LFS being about an hour or more. Edited to add a pic taken in the Roy E. Larson Sandyland Sanctuary about a mile from my house. Edited July 5, 2021 by GameCzar 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 3:51 PM, Bobbie said: What about you? Any fish you’ve got or want? So far just male Endlers and Panda Cories, adding neon tetras hopefully this week. Planning to add a reticulated hillstream loach eventually. I've also got four 7.5 gallon tanks and a 15 gallon tank waiting to be set up when I get my new shed plus an 8ish gallon BIORB tank coming when I next see my sister (all second hand and mostly free). Planning on having clown killies, possibly pea puffers, possibly scarlet badis and maybe multi's all in species only tanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Minnesota, USA. we have a few decent fish stores, there used to be more, but time drags on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) On 7/5/2021 at 4:01 PM, GameCzar said: I'm from Southeast Texas, near the Louisiana border and the Gulf Coast in an area known as the Big Thicket. Sounds like an interesting place to live then! I'd love to see more of the US including Texas one day. 45/60 mins isn't too bad but then I'm probably spoiled with at least two LFSs and a big chain all under 20 mins drive, a bunch more within 60 minutes. Is it very rural where you live then? I bet it's hot there right? What time is it there? 4.15 pm here. What fish do you keep? Edited to say: wow awesome pic! Edited July 5, 2021 by KentFishFanUK New picture 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 4:13 PM, lefty o said: Minnesota, USA. Hi from Kent UK! (Well technically hi from France because I'm at work but I live in Kent). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 10:16 AM, KentFishFanUK said: Sounds like an interesting place to live then! I'd love to see more of the US including Texas one day. 45/60 mins isn't too bad but then I'm probably spoiled with at least two LFSs and a big chain all under 20 mins drive, a bunch more within 60 minutes. Is it very rural where you live then? I bet it's hot there right? What time is it there? 4.15 pm here. What fish do you keep? Edited to say: wow awesome pic! Quite rural, as our town is about 6k population. We have very hot and humid summers with today's high being about 32c. (10:30am right now) We have 3 nano-tanks. A betta bachelor pad, a 5 gallon with some green neons and snails, and a 3 gallon with 5 Celestial Peral Danios. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sudofish Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) I'm in the Charleston, West Virginia area in the USA. The kanawha valley as locals call it, named after the kanawha river that runs through it. My mom would be super jealous of you folks in the UK/Scotland as she loves everything to do with that part of the world. She pretty much only watches british tv, the yorkshire vet being one of her favorites. She wants to visit yorkshire some day. Edited July 5, 2021 by sudofish 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 4:25 PM, GameCzar said: Quite rural, as our town is about 6k population. We have very hot and humid summers with today's high being about 32c. (10:30am right now) We have 3 nano-tanks. A betta bachelor pad, a 5 gallon with some green neons and snails, and a 3 gallon with 5 Celestial Peral Danios. That's pretty hot! I like the heat but not so much the humidity. Does it make it difficult keeping the tanks cool? Do winters get cold or stay mild? Nice nano tank options! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 10:46 AM, KentFishFanUK said: That's pretty hot! I like the heat but not so much the humidity. Does it make it difficult keeping the tanks cool? Do winters get cold or stay mild? Nice nano tank options! Recently our AC went out and we had a day or two when we were running fans on the tanks, but usually its not a big deal because I keep my AC set to arctic freeze inside 😉 We get maybe a month of what most would consider winter, so its quite mild. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Hello from SW Ohio USA. It's 11:53 am. here, 30 C and jungle humid. I keep Tin Foil Barbs, and an assortment of tetras, angels, gourami, danios, ...whatever needs a home. Most of my fish are rescues now living in a low tech DIY world. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 4:49 PM, GameCzar said: Recently our AC went out and we had a day or two when we were running fans on the tanks, but usually its not a big deal because I keep my AC set to arctic freeze inside 😉 We get maybe a month of what most would consider winter, so its quite mild. Mild winters is nice, ever thought about keeping a tub/patio pond or anything? You'd be able to keep it all year round I'd guess. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 11:11 AM, KentFishFanUK said: Mild winters is nice, ever thought about keeping a tub/patio pond or anything? You'd be able to keep it all year round I'd guess. I'm seriously considering a porch pond so I can keep it shaded. On a hot summer day I'm afraid I'd have fish soup! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 4:54 PM, Tanked said: Hello from SW Ohio USA. It's 11:53 am. here, 30 C and jungle humid. I keep Tin Foil Barbs, and an assortment of tetras, angels, gourami, danios, ...whatever needs a home. Most of my fish are rescues now living in a low tech DIY world. Hi from UK! Low tech DIY 'world'?? Like in one big tank or a collection? Nice that you rescue them, where do you rescue them from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max G Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Essex, England. Quite a few lfs around me however I'm not sure about clubs. I probs could find some if I were on Facebook however I'm not. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 4:43 PM, sudofish said: I'm in the Charleston, West Virginia area in the USA. The kanawha valley as locals call it, named after the kanawha river that runs through it. My mom would be super jealous of you folks in the UK/Scotland as she loves everything to do with that part of the world. She pretty much only watches british tv, the yorkshire vet being one of her favorites. She wants to visit yorkshire some day. Well say hi to mum for me! Yorkshire is supposed to be lovely but I've never been. I pretty much feel the same way as her about the US/Canada, unfortunately it's a big place and so far away! Not sure where to even start. One day! It's a dream of mine to do a big 6+ month tour in a motorhome or something, visiting friends I've made along the way and attending conventions and living it up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 I’m on a little Island not to far south of Aquarium Coop. The Cory effect is pretty strong, especially North of Seattle where the Coop store is located. I think that’s the reason we have quite a few planted tank stores within a morning’s drive and the local buy, sell, trade scene is active. If I didn’t have to take a ferry to get off island I’d probably have twice as many tanks! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 5:30 PM, Max G said: Essex, England. Quite a few lfs around me however I'm not sure about clubs. I probs could find some if I were on Facebook however I'm not. Hi neighbour! I haven't found any very local clubs either but there are some around apparently, can't remember where I found them but it wasn't Facebook. Most of them were themed to a particular type of fish though, vaguely remember a Killifish club and I think a pleco club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentFishFanUK Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 5:32 PM, Patrick_G said: I’m on a little Island not to far south of Aquarium Coop. The Cory effect is pretty strong, especially North of Seattle where the Coop store is located. I think that’s the reason we have quite a few planted tank stores within a morning’s drive and the local buy, sell, trade scene is active. If I didn’t have to take a ferry to get off island I’d probably have twice as many tanks! Awesome to be so close! Do you visit the store much? I'd love to visit and meet Cory and the team one day. I hope they branch out and open a franchise or at very least an online store in the UK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 York PA USA. Guppies, snails (mystery, bladder, nerite) neo shrimp,long fin lemon blue eyed plecos, celestial pearl danios….with that combo I don’t need more 😁. Hard core plant hoarder! nice to meet you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Also from Texas, but part of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex in north central Texas, about 290 miles from @GameCzar. Until I was looking at moving to Texas I had no idea just how big it was. I knew it was big, but it’s hours and hours and hours to drive across, even without accounting for traffic. Population of the metroplex is around 7.5 million, almost 4 times the population of the entire state of Nebraska where I grew up. It runs hot here, but that’s what AC is for. I know some people run tubs outdoors here, but I don’t. I already have too many tanks from 2 to 100 gallons and I just set up number 20 on Friday. I do have a big ceramic pot with a fountain and dwarf hardy water lilies outdoors. We have lots of lfs around, everything from excellent to lousy. I’m very lucky because my closest is really very good. I have pea puffers, a rescued pair of Jack Dempsey cichlids, bronze cories, 3 bristle nose plecos (2 lemon drops and 1 blue eyed lemons so far, want a couple more blue eyes), a gold nugget pleco, a clown pleco, otos, ember tetras, Kubotai rasboras, dwarf and Amano shrimp, and lots of snails - magenta and ivory mysteries, red, pink, and brown ramshorns, assorted nerites, chopsticks, Japanese trapdoors, and a few bladder snails that snuck in but they make good puffer food. Planning a bunch more nano fish to go in the 100 gallon, but I’ve been letting it develop and get over the initial algae. I don’t want to add too many, too fast, and fight algae again. I’m also waiting for driftwood to start sinking better, but I think I’m going to need to attach some slate to the bottoms of a couple pieces. I also want to get a couple plakat bettas for my 6G cubes if I don’t end up with my geriatric singleton pea puffer in one. Planning a single school of nano fish plus cleaners in a 14G cube that needs its driftwood attached to slate. I have a weak spot for Crypts, swords, unusual mosses, and almost any kind of aquatic epiphyte. And apparently diarrhea of the keyboard today. 😆 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanked Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 On 7/5/2021 at 12:21 PM, KentFishFanUK said: Hi from UK! Low tech DIY 'world'?? Like in one big tank or a collection? Nice that you rescue them, where do you rescue them from? It's a collection. The TFBs would likely eat the tetras. I'm currently running 75, 65, 29, and 10 gallon setups with others in storage. I take in the fish that "need to be gone" for health, financial, or whatever reason. Some have come from really expensive setups but had no problem adapting to a new home with DIY lights and filters 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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