Aquatic Realm

This is my fish page and I hope you decide to linger awhile.
It will be constantly changing and I hope improving as our fish tanks go along.

All the brilliant successes and the dismal failures we have will be reported here.

You can learn from our mistakes and profit from our good guesses!
I just hope you stick around as the saga unfolds!
By the way, we’re from south Florida so there’s a lot of fish stores around here and my husband, Dean dives so getting the fish shouldn't be a problem.

Don't believe that for a moment!

That's what he said in the beginning, but he ended up buying them from the aquarium store just like me!

Well, to start with, I gave my husband a fish tank for Christmas this year.
It was a standard 10 gl setup, just to see if he really liked it.
I wasn't really into fish, I mean they're so boring - all they do is swim around and around, after all!
but it was what he wanted soooo.................
1/30 - Friday

Well, after Christmas he set it up as a tropical saltwater tank and by now it has gone through the new tank cycle (see my Fish FAQ below for more on cycling a tank).
He had stocked it with 2 Domino Damsels and 2 Whitetail Striped Damsels.
They all died by the second week, and he didn't have much left except the rock.
His birthday is 2/4 and the following Saturday we're going to get his tank restocked as his birthday gift.

Now I did say this whole fish thing was his idea, didn't I?
Well, guess what? I've got the fish fever too!

My tank is a 10gl tropical freshwater setup and on it's 3rd week of the cycle.

I'm testing in the deadly range. All my fish are fine despite the fact that I overstocked my tank (nobody told me about that until after I got all these fish!).

But it seems that freshwater fish are hardier than saltwater ones so they're doing OK (so far!).

We are both learning as we go along

and are making the usual mistakes.
Both our tanks are 10 gallon.

We thought starting out small would be best - WRONG!
For anyone out there who is thinking of "doing fish",

the bigger tanks (20 gl & up) are better to start.
I'd really recommend a 40+ gl to start.
Especially for the saltwater setup.

2/13 - Thursday
Dean and I happened to stumble on an acquaintance that we never even knew was into fish and low & behold, it turns out that he tried to breed fish in a big way at one time and now had tons of fish tanks he wanted to get rid of. We bought (at a ridiculously low price) 2 - 55 gl tanks in cabinets, 1 - 55 gl on it's own and 2 - 10 gl tanks to use as hospital/quarantine tanks.

Current Update (04/05/02):

Well, a lot has changed since I first started these fish pages!

I have moved from West Palm Beach, FL to Hedgesville, WV. At the time of the move we had 12 fish tanks and there was no way to move them that far. We gave away all the fish & live rock, but kept all the tanks and equipment to start over. I just couldn't part with some of the Angelfish and Discus I had raised from fry so we rigged up a 10gl tank in the back of the pick-up truck we'd be driving. We had a complete set-up; tank, original water from the larger tank, heater & filter. We were running the heater & filter off a small battery powered generator. Since we were moving in May and driving straight through it seemed like a good idea. We hadn't counted on how cold it could get at night with the wind in the back of the truck. I had covered them with blankets and a comforter to keep the sun from beating down on the glass and heating it up too much and I thought that would help at night too.

We arrived, dead tired, 26 hours later and had to set up a tank for them right away. I had started out with 3 Angels, 3 Discus and 1 freshwater Goby. By the time we finished the set-up and went to get the fish there was only the Goby left alive. The water felt like ice water. During the last leg of the trip the heater had gone out. So my first act in my new home was to burry my beautiful fish and wish I hadn't tried to keep them. The water up here is way off from the PH it was in FL. In doing water changes I tried to do as little as possible to minimize the shock to the poor remaining Goby. He lasted several weeks, but then it all got to be too much for him and he joined his buddies in the garden.

June 06, 2002 ~

At this time the all the tanks are still in storage and after next fall when our new house is built we will be setting them up again. I don't think we'll be setting up all 12, maybe only a few at first and see how it goes. When that happens I will be updating this journal and letting you know what's going on with the "Fish Lady" as I was called in FL.

I read something about people and fish

that seems all too true;

There are two kinds of people;

The ones who have never had fish

and the ones who are obsessed with fish.
Too True!!

I learned most of what I now know about fish

right here on the net,

so I'd like to share some links

to sites that are invaluable to the novice fish person.

These are the best fish keeping sites I've found (so far).

May the source be with you

Internet Directory of Quality Aquarium Sites
A great site, lots of information and links!

The World-Wide Web Virtual Library: Fish
A great site, lots of information and links!

The Web Fish Catalog

Your gateway to the best fish sites on line.

A little bit of everything.

1	*Enchanted Discus* Expensive ~ But check out their Discussions
2	*Discus Breeders Listings*
3	AquaWorld Discus Zone
4	Discus Fantasy
5	The Discus-L Homepage

Discus breeders and Discus info

Only 5 sites so far...

AquaScape OnLine Magazine
An online aquarist magazine.
Complete with informative and entertaining articles, expanded directories and useful and interesting information on all things fishy. As well as some great articles on fish.

Angelfish Breeding FAQ
Everything you always wanted to know about Angelfish and couldn't find anywhere else!

Handy Link to Fish Books
Lots of fish books.
Here you will find information on fish that are kept in captivity.

Acme Pets - The Whole Story
Your Guide to Pets on the Internet -
For all pet lovers, visit the Libraries, Civic Centers, Marketplaces, Chat Rooms, Bulletin Boards, Pet Times New, and more. Continually updated and new features monthly.