Hi! My parents always had an aquarium while I was growing up, so had a little experience with helping with water changes and things, but never wanted my own tank. Mainly because of moving around, but also because I knew it was more complex than putting pretty fish in a box, and I already had a lot of other pets.
Now in my 30s, my folks are elderly and have health issues, I needed to move into their house last year to help care for them. One chore I took over was maintaining my dads 55 gallon community tank, which had been pretty neglected. I started researching more about fish keeping so I could get it looking good again, and make sure the fish were healthy. Sparked my interest and passion, and now have two 60 litre tanks of my own, and really love having the tanks, getting to grips with aquascaping, and managing the many livebearers that are breeding! Luckily for me, my LFS is happy to take the fry once they're a good size, so overstocking isn't a problem! (I bet experienced people here winced when they saw a newbie had livebearers, haha! Sorry
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Hopefully I can include a photo of my first personal tank; it's a 60 litre, with nine adult guppies, seven otocinclus, and around 50 red cherry shrimp... I only had two shrimp left a few months ago... it's been hard to get a colony established, but luckily those two were male and female! I'm entranced by seeing these guys everywhere in the tank now, they're growing fast and thriving, and the guppies haven't appeared to bother them at all. Tank is pretty planted, so that helps. The adults don't appear to eat fry either, so the other 60 litre tank is a grow out/quarantine tank. Tank has been set up for around a year now. Please don't judge the algae too hard! I encourage some algae growth for the otos and shrimp, but it's a little out of control right now. Have started dosing some excel to cut that back a little. I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for what you would do with this tank!
Now in my 30s, my folks are elderly and have health issues, I needed to move into their house last year to help care for them. One chore I took over was maintaining my dads 55 gallon community tank, which had been pretty neglected. I started researching more about fish keeping so I could get it looking good again, and make sure the fish were healthy. Sparked my interest and passion, and now have two 60 litre tanks of my own, and really love having the tanks, getting to grips with aquascaping, and managing the many livebearers that are breeding! Luckily for me, my LFS is happy to take the fry once they're a good size, so overstocking isn't a problem! (I bet experienced people here winced when they saw a newbie had livebearers, haha! Sorry
) Hopefully I can include a photo of my first personal tank; it's a 60 litre, with nine adult guppies, seven otocinclus, and around 50 red cherry shrimp... I only had two shrimp left a few months ago... it's been hard to get a colony established, but luckily those two were male and female! I'm entranced by seeing these guys everywhere in the tank now, they're growing fast and thriving, and the guppies haven't appeared to bother them at all. Tank is pretty planted, so that helps. The adults don't appear to eat fry either, so the other 60 litre tank is a grow out/quarantine tank. Tank has been set up for around a year now. Please don't judge the algae too hard! I encourage some algae growth for the otos and shrimp, but it's a little out of control right now. Have started dosing some excel to cut that back a little. I'd love to hear any suggestions you have for what you would do with this tank!
