LisaTheWulf Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 This time last year, my kids started begging me for a new pet. We already had 4 cats and a yippy little dog so I wasn't having it. Mom-life already feels like I'm constantly cleaning up after a huge house party that I didn't even attend and I wasn't about to sign on for more. I thought I was in the clear till my 8 yo came racing home from a neighborhood friends: "MOM!" He said all wide-eyed, solumn, and breathless. "There is something I need to tell you." I braced myself, a multitude of perilous shenanigans rapidly crossing my mind - none of which prepared me for what he said next which was "There's a frog in my backpack." Quickly shifting mental gears, I thought "Oh no. Please, please let it be a LIVING frog in his backpack!" and with all the courage I could muster, we peeked into the front pocket together. There was this teeny, tiny toad, on the verge of a heart attack, but very much alive. With a deep sigh of relief that I wouldn't be adding clean-smooshed-toad-out-of-backpack to my long list of chores, I thought "Maybe it's time for a fish." We set up a 20 gallon tank with a kit from our locally owned fish store, got some gold mollies, mickey mouse platies, corydoras, and a betta. The kids were thrilled for around 48 hours and then as per usual, promptly lost interest. The tank ended up on my new desk and watching those fish reminded me of how much peace and serenity I get from snorkeling, a hobby which had been tabled during the pandemic. I'd recently left a high stress job and a huge part of my vocation included helping people through moments of crisis. My brain was in the habit of being in a constant low to high key panic at work, and I was extremely burnt out and exhausted. I needed a neurological reset; to retrain my brain and entire way of functioning while working. Over the following weeks and months, anytime I'd notice myself panic-working, I'd take a deep breath and watch the fish for as long as it took to calm my mind and body. Instead of doom scrolling the news or zombie clicking through social media, I shifted my screen time to watching fish keeping and aquascaping vloggers. Before I knew it, I was a billion times more relaxed and head over heels for the fish keeping hobby. Some other time I'll write about how I now have close to 100 fish and two more tanks (it escalated quickly cuz live bearers + love = so. many. FISH.) I'm looking forward to learning more from this community and sharing in this lovely hobby! Here is the first tank and first fish: 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 It really cool watching peoples journeys from starting from their first (100% plastic) tank, and learn how to be master breeders. Do you do live plants? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solstice_Lacer Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 Tanks can be very calming. If you want to try live plants, get an anubius, lightly super glue to a rock and plop it in wherever you like. I'm my experience the co-op's anubius is death proof 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 Wish my anubias were that good @Solstice_Lacer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 This is such a fabulous story. I find my tanks are great therapy and relaxation. I’m looking forward to following along with your journey. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaTheWulf Posted October 2, 2022 Author Share Posted October 2, 2022 On 10/2/2022 at 6:28 AM, TheSwissAquarist said: It really cool watching peoples journeys from starting from their first (100% plastic) tank, and learn how to be master breeders. Do you do live plants? I do! Almost entirely from Aquarium co-op. Two tanks are only live plants; one has a little bit of the plastic left, which I’ll remove once the plants have grown up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaTheWulf Posted October 2, 2022 Author Share Posted October 2, 2022 On 10/2/2022 at 7:41 AM, Solstice_Lacer said: Tanks can be very calming. If you want to try live plants, get an anubius, lightly super glue to a rock and plop it in wherever you like. I'm my experience the co-op's anubius is death proof I love the “best plants for beginners” videos and I think Anubius was one of the first plants I tried. Its done GREAT in one of my tanks, but only so so in the other two, which rotted and idk why 🤷🏻♀️ Took an Anubius pic just now and my loaches photo bombed it. 😀 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 Haha nice loaches 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted October 2, 2022 Share Posted October 2, 2022 On 10/2/2022 at 8:58 AM, TheSwissAquarist said: Wish my anubias were that good @Solstice_Lacer! Right I cannot keep Anubias barteri at all. Gold coin nana and nana petite I do fine with. But idk what it is about barteri that I just cant keep alive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaTheWulf Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 Is there a thread on What The Heck Is This NEW Snail? I got a nerite a while ago (on purpose) and have really delighted in watching the relationship develop between Mucky Nibbles (the nerite) and the prior inhabitant of that tank: Burble The Bumblebee Betta. Just last night I was thinking "Perhaps I need another nerite for my 20 gallon tank," which is currently home to half a dozen mollies and a marble betta named Cuddles (he loves a good snuggle now and then). Lo and behold, this morning I spotted a baby snail in Mucky Nibbles and Burble's tank! I caught it and put it into Cuddles' tank. Here's a picture of Tumble, who I accidentally dropped during relocation. What kind of snail is Tumble? Any thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted October 30, 2022 Share Posted October 30, 2022 On 10/30/2022 at 4:44 PM, LisaTheWulf said: Is there a thread on What The Heck Is This NEW Snail? I got a nerite a while ago (on purpose) and have really delighted in watching the relationship develop between Mucky Nibbles (the nerite) and the prior inhabitant of that tank: Burble The Bumblebee Betta. Just last night I was thinking "Perhaps I need another nerite for my 20 gallon tank," which is currently home to half a dozen mollies and a marble betta named Cuddles (he loves a good snuggle now and then). Lo and behold, this morning I spotted a baby snail in Mucky Nibbles and Burble's tank! I caught it and put it into Cuddles' tank. Here's a picture of Tumble, who I accidentally dropped during relocation. What kind of snail is Tumble? Any thoughts? He’s a pest ( or bladder snail) who can reproduce by itself and colonize you tank within about 1-2 months, keep him or feed him to a larger fish. I think @Guppysnail has some golden variation of them if you’re interested in keeping some more interesting ones😏 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaTheWulf Posted October 30, 2022 Author Share Posted October 30, 2022 Bladder Snail! Well...guess I no longer feel badly that Cuddles keeps trying to eat it. Perhaps Tumble gets yet another relocation to the loach tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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