elmer
06-22-2007, 02:43 PM
Hi everyone,
Greetings. Very glad to see this forum - I am sure I will spend lots of time here. I am a software engineer, and in my spare time I like to spend time with my baby daughter, do photography, and, sing in community opera productions.
Well, I'm allergic to just about any pet you can name. In a perfect world, I would probably own horses :)
I had a tank that my Dad made me when I was a kid; probably a 10-15 gallon. I remember having swordtails and gouramis. Eventually I neglected it and had some die. I remember really enjoying the fish tank, but then I also remember adding drop after drop of some kind of pH changer and not seeing the change I wanted on the test paper and not knowing what to do next. I remember my main resource being these old encyclopedic fish books from the library.
I'm now thirty years old, and got a gift certificate for Father's day and went and bought a 20 gallon starter kit. I also bought some beautiful crushed coral and only later realized this may affect the water. That's okay, I'm still thinking about what to put in. Three days ago I put in the crushed coral, a small bag of gravel on top here and there, a plastic sunken ship, and some live "money-wort" and cabomba, and some "Cycle" and Aqua-Clear (I think that's the name). Been doing some reading and I think I'll go out and get some ammonia and a master test kit today and see how things are. I hope the bacteria haven't died from lack of ammonia already. I'll be away for a few days next week and see how things are when I get back. Then a week after that I'll be away for a week. After that I hope I'll be ready to put some fish in and start feeding them!
I have a feeling this is going to turn into another one of my hobbies, on top of photography, opera singing, piano, etc. On the other hand as my baby daught er grows up I hope to teach her some things about science, nurturing and nature through the aquarium. On the other hand ;), I am already finding it peaceful to watch my live plants in the current as they start to grow.
I hope my fish tank will succeed better this time, now that I have more money for all the different things I'll need to get, a willingness to ask for help, more patience, less fear of failure, plenty of analytical experience, and all these internet resources.
Greetings. Very glad to see this forum - I am sure I will spend lots of time here. I am a software engineer, and in my spare time I like to spend time with my baby daughter, do photography, and, sing in community opera productions.
Well, I'm allergic to just about any pet you can name. In a perfect world, I would probably own horses :)
I had a tank that my Dad made me when I was a kid; probably a 10-15 gallon. I remember having swordtails and gouramis. Eventually I neglected it and had some die. I remember really enjoying the fish tank, but then I also remember adding drop after drop of some kind of pH changer and not seeing the change I wanted on the test paper and not knowing what to do next. I remember my main resource being these old encyclopedic fish books from the library.
I'm now thirty years old, and got a gift certificate for Father's day and went and bought a 20 gallon starter kit. I also bought some beautiful crushed coral and only later realized this may affect the water. That's okay, I'm still thinking about what to put in. Three days ago I put in the crushed coral, a small bag of gravel on top here and there, a plastic sunken ship, and some live "money-wort" and cabomba, and some "Cycle" and Aqua-Clear (I think that's the name). Been doing some reading and I think I'll go out and get some ammonia and a master test kit today and see how things are. I hope the bacteria haven't died from lack of ammonia already. I'll be away for a few days next week and see how things are when I get back. Then a week after that I'll be away for a week. After that I hope I'll be ready to put some fish in and start feeding them!
I have a feeling this is going to turn into another one of my hobbies, on top of photography, opera singing, piano, etc. On the other hand as my baby daught er grows up I hope to teach her some things about science, nurturing and nature through the aquarium. On the other hand ;), I am already finding it peaceful to watch my live plants in the current as they start to grow.
I hope my fish tank will succeed better this time, now that I have more money for all the different things I'll need to get, a willingness to ask for help, more patience, less fear of failure, plenty of analytical experience, and all these internet resources.