🐠 TOTM Innesfan - March 2026 Tank of the Month Winner

[connorlindeman]

We have a winner in Tropical Fish Forums'
March Tank of the Month Contest

We had 8 awesome tanks entered in this month's TOTM contest.
It was a close contest, but only one could win...
And the winner is.......

​

@Innesfan​

Let's all congratulate him​

This is my Pemco 15 gallon S/S framed tank that has been in continuous use since 1971. Knock wood, it has never leaked. It sits at the head of my desk and receives more sunlight than any of my tanks. As such it is algae heaven and hence, livebearer heaven. Currently occupied by a growing shoal of the diminutive livebearer, Phalloceros caudimaculatus, aka "The Caudo' who pretty much spend the day feasting on the algae. I let it bloom everywhere but the front glass. The plants are three Echinodorus that have been there...forever, and a few clumps of Java Fern.

 

[connorlindeman]

Congrats @Innesfan for the win. Beautiful aquarium.
In second place is @Munroco. Great job!
In third place is @Ed Pursell.

We are currently accepting entries for our March Pet of the Month contest. Enter here: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/enter-now-march-2026-pet-of-the-month-contest.499227/

 

[MattW]

Congratulations!!

 

[gwand]

Congratulations. Beautiful tank.

 

[Essjay]

Congratulations

 

[Innesfan]

Thanks everyone for the votes and kind words.

To riff on a notorious Oscars acceptance speech of a while back, I'd like to thank all the little fishes that made this possible.

 

[Fishmanic]

@Innesfan congrats
well deserved win!

 

[Ed Pursell]

Congratulations!! Nice showing of all the entries this month!


Ed

 

[Back in the fold]

Excellent ! And a stainless steel framed relic of a bygone day wins it ! I like that .

 

[Innesfan]

Excellent ! And a stainless steel framed relic of a bygone day wins it ! I like that .

Thanks. My main motivation for entering that tank.

For those who are unfamilair with the bygone era of framed aquariums. Metaframe was the dominant player back then. But their smaller rival, Pemco, made a better tank making improvements to framing, sealant and glass. They also eschewed the slate bottom in favor of heavy duty glass and made the tanks in many other sizes not made by Metaframe. Their improvements were patented so Metaframe couldn't co-opt them. Instead they bought out Pemco in the early 70's and added the latter's improvements to their own line.

My 15 gallon was among the last produced under the Pemco brand (and my first post-college aquarium) and that it has never leaked in 55 years speaks to the quality of the construction and the merit of Pemco's improvemnts. If you're interested , there's more about Pemco here:

https://moaph.org/pet-companies-of-yesteryear/the-illustrious-pemco-aquarium/

 

[emeraldking]

Congrats on the win, @Innesfan...

 

[veraderock]

Congratulations @Innesfan !

 

[Whitecloudminnowguy09]

Well deserved @Innesfan , congrats!

 

[MrsShrimp]

Congrats @Innesfan. Amazing that tank has been running so long! I do remember the era of steel-framed tanks. My dad had a few back in the 70s, a 5 ft one and a smaller one. I recall some leakage from time to time! I especially recall getting a nasty electric shock from a small one when I was cleaning the filter and light. Glad to say this risk has stopped with the modern filters, lights and heaters.

 

[raylove]

Yep, heaters with just a rubber bung and air pumps where you could just pop the rubber base off with no tools required, exposing the electrics