Hello, new to forum just wanted to introduce myself and say hello

**birdman1275** · 11-22-2013, 05:54 PM

Hello

Thought id give this forum a shot, im a stay at home dad and i easily get bored and one thing that occupies my time is learning more about the aquarium hobby. i received my first tank for my 8th birthday,a 20 gal long, my parents went to a lfs and trusted the guy there new what he was talking about as my parents had no clue.

as is my first fish were two feeder gold fish a few sword tails a chinese algea eater and a olive nerite snail. A couple days in the sword tails chewed up one of my goldfish named puff. i was a sad 8 year old. we took the sword tails back and my parents reemed out the associate, i've never kept sword tails since. over the next couple of years i had a mix of tropical fish that now i look back and say who the heck let me put these fish together.

i had tiger barbs with neons, mollies, angels, a rainbow shark and a plain pleco that fought over a ceramic log and plastic boat. i couldnt figure out why my little angels always died after hanging out by the heater all day. my tank was always way over stocked and always had the wrong mix of tankmates,but i didnt know any better and apparently either did any of the shop owners that i bought my fish from. as i got a little older i git bored with my tank, turned it into a hermit crab habitat, i think at one time or another i had newts in it, lizards, frogs, snakes whatever we caught or bought.

I have a lot of fond memories of those early fish tank misadventures and as i reached adult hood i reached a tough time in my life and one of the things that kept me sane and probably alive was dragging my old 20 Gallon out of storage buying some gravel and filling it, i actually dropped it while filling it and cracked it so went to pet smart and got a new one, a 29 gal this time. i started with some danios and my favorite rainbow shark it was just like old times except this time seemed people new more and would tell me i couldnt keep certain species with others, and there was this new thing called the internet where a plethora of information was available, 8 years later i havent stopped googling and going to LFS and asking questions, i love the aquarium hobby it in a way saved my life and i'm greatful.

in those 8 years i've had lots of adventures and misadventures, from red lawed crabs, ADF, planted tanks, dwarf cichlids, even a few fancy gold fish. i worked at PETSMART for 3 years, i got reprimanded for not selling a tool customer a pair of angels because her water quality was atrocious and she didnt care, the manager told me it was my job to sell customers fish especially ones like her that routinely dropped a couple hundred dollars every time she visited, suffice to say i dont work there anymore, i appreciate all i learned there though, mostly from stupid customers who thought the nitrogen cycle was something used to make bombs.

Anyway this has gotten lenghty, currently i only have one tank, i had to downsize because my wife is in graduate school and it wasnt practical to move 4 to 5 aquariums every year.

currently i have a 20 long, planted, two out of control crypts, 2 unidentified swords, that were just marked sword at the store, and a java fern. current residents are 2 olive nerites, 3 amano shirim, 1 flower shrimp, 5 neons, 5 glolight tetra, and a bristlenose plec holdover from a 55 tank i had to get rid of, i got rid of all the fish in it except him because i cant bare to part with him, i got him when he was just a 1/2 inch baby about 7 years ago and he's my baby, but he has his wood and his cucumber and run of the tank, maybe some day i can get him a bigger tank.

Anyway thats me, i look forward to learning more and discussing the hobby with all of you.