Hello everyone,
I am from Oxford, England and have a 500 Litre tank in the wall of my living room. I never considered fishkeeping before but got into it because the tank was left by the previous owner of my house and instead of bricking over it (as discussed with the wife) I decided to give it a go, and now I am hooked.
The previous owner left a few fish in their to get me going (good opportunity for him to purge his collection too). This included a 50cm Polypterus Ornatipinnis, a 40cm Pleco, 2 Pangasius Catfish, a Red-Tailed Black Shark, 2 Clown Loaches, a Convict Cychlid (badly injured) and 5 Malawi Cychlids. (Can't tell you how long it took to identify this lot).
This was a year ago.
Regrettably, all the Cychlids have gone (eaten by the Polypterus), and one of the Pangasius Catfish (no suspicious circumstances). But the rest are thriving.
I have also introduced a 30cm Red Oscar (my absolute favourite fish which I rescued from someones very small tank), 2 Synodontis Catfish, a Yellow Discus and a Silver shark.
Now, I have become so attached to my fish tank, it is one of the best things a home can have, but I have had to refrain from any emotional attachment towards the fish as I know that fish die or disappear, on a more regular level than say my cats will. So my outlook is that it is the tank that I love and care for. It is the tank that looks after its fish.
However, this does not mean that I am indifferent to losing fish, it just means that if I do lose one, that I don't cry my eyes out.
The Silver Shark was severely beaten up by the Polypterus (we call him Evo) who tried to eat it whole (He'll eat anything if he thinks it will fit in his mouth). We saw it happening and ran over to the tank. We think this startled Evo who loosened its grip on the Shark, and out limped this descaled, half eaten silver shark. Not a pretty site.
I decided that I would try to fix the shark as best I could, so I bought a 70 litre hospital tank and for the next 7 weeks I brought the Silver Shark back from the Dead. I fed it on Bloodworms which seemed to fatten it up. Treated it with Melafix. Gave it the perfect water balances. And last week I reintroduced it to the tank - bigger, faster, stronger than before.
Happy to report that "Steve Austin" is doing great.
Anyway, that was the final confirmation that I really am hooked on fish keeping now. Having dreams of owning bigger tanks and bigger fish, which is why I came online and found you lovely people.
Thanks for reading my fish story so far. Look forward to talking to you all in future.
I am from Oxford, England and have a 500 Litre tank in the wall of my living room. I never considered fishkeeping before but got into it because the tank was left by the previous owner of my house and instead of bricking over it (as discussed with the wife) I decided to give it a go, and now I am hooked.
The previous owner left a few fish in their to get me going (good opportunity for him to purge his collection too). This included a 50cm Polypterus Ornatipinnis, a 40cm Pleco, 2 Pangasius Catfish, a Red-Tailed Black Shark, 2 Clown Loaches, a Convict Cychlid (badly injured) and 5 Malawi Cychlids. (Can't tell you how long it took to identify this lot).
This was a year ago.
Regrettably, all the Cychlids have gone (eaten by the Polypterus), and one of the Pangasius Catfish (no suspicious circumstances). But the rest are thriving.
I have also introduced a 30cm Red Oscar (my absolute favourite fish which I rescued from someones very small tank), 2 Synodontis Catfish, a Yellow Discus and a Silver shark.
Now, I have become so attached to my fish tank, it is one of the best things a home can have, but I have had to refrain from any emotional attachment towards the fish as I know that fish die or disappear, on a more regular level than say my cats will. So my outlook is that it is the tank that I love and care for. It is the tank that looks after its fish.
However, this does not mean that I am indifferent to losing fish, it just means that if I do lose one, that I don't cry my eyes out.
The Silver Shark was severely beaten up by the Polypterus (we call him Evo) who tried to eat it whole (He'll eat anything if he thinks it will fit in his mouth). We saw it happening and ran over to the tank. We think this startled Evo who loosened its grip on the Shark, and out limped this descaled, half eaten silver shark. Not a pretty site.
I decided that I would try to fix the shark as best I could, so I bought a 70 litre hospital tank and for the next 7 weeks I brought the Silver Shark back from the Dead. I fed it on Bloodworms which seemed to fatten it up. Treated it with Melafix. Gave it the perfect water balances. And last week I reintroduced it to the tank - bigger, faster, stronger than before.
Happy to report that "Steve Austin" is doing great.
Anyway, that was the final confirmation that I really am hooked on fish keeping now. Having dreams of owning bigger tanks and bigger fish, which is why I came online and found you lovely people.
Thanks for reading my fish story so far. Look forward to talking to you all in future.
