New found hobby. FISHYS!!!

firefighter35 · Oct 15, 2011

Hey guys. With my knee acting up on me i havent been able to do any dirt fishing lately. So my kids n i decided to set up a 55 gallon aquarium. I never knew how much time and $$$ this thing would cost me. Thank god there is a petsmart a few miles away from me, lol Thanks for lookin, let me know wut yall think!!! Greg

timekiller · Oct 15, 2011

Cool Man

Could be 150 gal. though :laughing7:

Which makes it even more fun. :wink:

First thing I had to do when I moved to our new house & every one I've lived in with this tank is go under & block up the floor better to ease my mind being that it weighs more than 3000lbs.I've had mine now for more then 12yrs., and being that I worked on a fish farm I learned quick that the most important thing was other then water temp. change to fast that even freshwater fish need salt to be healthy.It keeps the slim on there skin & helps heal wounds & such.Some of my fish are as old as the aquarium.The sword tails & fish like the mollies you have don't have a very long lifespan as the only live for a couple years or so.But they do breed so much that they will take over the tank before long.I give mine away all the time.Some stores will take them for exchange for others you choose.
Take Care,
Pete, :hello:

firefighter35 · Oct 15, 2011

WOW, very beautiful tank!!! I wanna get a much BIGGER tank but the women wont let me!!! >:(

I learned real quick about aquarium upkeep. I am running 2 HOB filters, Aquatec 30-60 and an Aqueon 75. All for a little 55 gallon tank, lol My son loves the mollys and we can literally pet them. We open the hood and they come right to the top to be petted, lmao

diggemall · Oct 15, 2011

Tanks can have an extremely relaxing & calming effect..........Except for a few years, I have had at least one (sometimes as many as seven) in my house.

Our latest:

Diggem

firefighter35 · Oct 15, 2011

Im not sure which i like more, freshwater or saltwater. They both have there advantages/disadvantages. My next tank will be at least 120+ gallons. The 55 which i have seems small now, lol

diggemall · Oct 15, 2011

firefighter35 said:
Im not sure which i like more, freshwater or saltwater. They both have there advantages/disadvantages. My next tank will be at least 120+ gallons. The 55 which i have seems small now, lol

Agreed 100% - "hardware"-wise, the costs aren't that different except for a protein skimmer & lighting (the tank in the picture is running two 250watt halogens & 4 40 watt flourescents) and possibly a chiller for summer. But, the cost difference of everything else inside the tank is a lot different. When something goes wrong with a salt tank, it seems to go wrong in a hurry and costs a bunch. I actually gave up keeping fish when I moved into this place a number of years ago - fresh water angel fish & discus were my favorites and the water here was too blasted hard to raise those (or any other fw fish for that matter except perhaps African cichlids) But not long after my wife demolished her spine in a fall, her brother offered us his 90G sw tank (he was moving up to a 180) and figuring my wife needed some diversion while she mended, I gave in. Turns out our water is really perfect for the reef critters, so 5 years later we now have 3 of them up and running........go figure........

Diggem'

Tuberale · Oct 15, 2011

Beautiful tanks, guys. They are fascinating. My cat would get as much out of them as I would. That's kind of the problem.

They are mesmerizing and calming though, and watching a tank can lower blood pressure. Which is why a lot of doctor's offices have 'em now, but without the cat<G>.