Aquariums -- The "New" Hobby That Has Really Helped Me.....

[Jill]

A few months ago, we started a new hobby here (fishkeeping / aquariums). It really, really helped me get through this scary time with the big C. Instead of worrying as much about me, I would read books on the different types of fish we had or were going to get and think about that kind of stuff as much as possible, vs. obsessing about what might be happening to me. Plus, of course, watching the aquariums is hugely relaxing. Maybe it even really worked, because it seems I'm going to be fine after all (had surgery, "it" is gone, no need for chemo) and we have a nifty new hobby to keep enjoying.

Here are pictures and videos of some of our tanks. It is REALLY hard for me to get decent fish pictures. My camera is good for horses, but really not at all good for the fishies... in different tanks, we have fancy goldfish, zebra danios, mbuna cichlids, platies, albino cory catfish, gourami, male bettas, long fin black skirt tetras, tiger barbs and a few glowlight tetras. Here are some of them so far and we're setting up more tanks, too. It's so addictive and I even love the maintenance side of it:




Thanks for looking!!!

 

[Shari]

Its Beautiful Jill and I can see why it is helping you!

 

[Charlene]

jill, your tanks are just beautiful and SO relaxing and peaceful!

so...when ya gonna jump into the saltwater part of the hobby??

 

[Jill]

jill, your tanks are just beautiful and SO relaxing and peaceful!
so...when ya gonna jump into the saltwater part of the hobby??

Well, I ordered some books (fittingly enough the ones I picked were Saltwater Aquariums for Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Saltwater Aquariums!). I'll read up on them but I don't know if I will be "smart" enought to tackle them. Right now, I feel intimidated to take that dive, but I do really, really admire some of the saltwater tanks I have seen... so "maybe". I just feel guilty when the fish die so something more complicated is a little iffy right now.

 

[Frankie]

I admire your patience to work with them so much. A very long time ago I had a few tanks that caused me more stress trying to keep them clean, and it takes a lot to stress me out!

They are beautiful!! I enjoy looking at others I don't have to clean.

 

[Horse Feathers]

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/ has a great forum for learning all about salt tanks. Good Luck and welcome to fish world.

125 saltwater tank

75 fresh

55 fresh

 

[Marty]

They are soooo neat Jill. Your tanks are really nice and pretty. Loved the youtube. Michael was our fish expert and brother we had tanks, a bunch, and all sorts of stuff in the tanks; you can really get carried away and so elaborate with them. My fav of course was my shark tank. We had a piranha also named Captain Ron who met his demise by accident one winter day when I burned dinner so I opened up the windows to air out the house and froze him to death. Anyhow, they are fun and very relaxing. Don't forget now you have to pick out your best and teach him to stand and give his neck and ears!

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

WOW Jill, seems like you have an new addiction! Your tanks are stunning and I'm sure if you try the salt water tanks, they'll be just as stunning too.

 

[Manyspots]

They are calming to watch so enjoy many hours with them. When we had a nice aquarium one winter we had an ice storm and lost our electricity for days. Needless to say we lost our fish. I don't know if you ever have as cold weather your way or incidents like that but if so plan an emergency backup if ya can. We couldn't leave our home as the roads were sheets of ice and fallen trees were over the roads. I wish we had some kind of generator, it would have helped. Lavonne

 

[Sterling]

Jill, your tanks are beautiful! I especially love the blue, pink, purple themed ones. I have to say I went to Pet Smart yesterday and just browsing found this beautiful little aquarium....it's a 3 gallon and before that I had been looking at the fancy guppies, remembering when years ago I used to breed them and had so much fun doing so. My rule of thumb is at least a 10 gallon, as the bigger the tank the easier it is to keep clean and all....BUT I took the plunge and bought the little aquarium, and all the accessories!

Normally I mill things like this over and over but thinking back to my "guppy days" I realized I kinda missed it. I now do most of my fish keeping in my Koi pond outside and in the summer we enjoy it very much. But in the winter, it's also nice to have a piece of your favorite fantasy colors and fish inside the house.

Can you believe I don't have any fish yet?! Will probably wait for a few more days until I get out to a fish aquarium store.

 

[~Lisa~]

NEat! I would love to have one but the problem is so would my cats LOL

We have a rather large cat who has no problem knocking over a 3 gallon auto waterer( like a small sparkletts bottle kinda thing) so I am sure with some thought and effort it would not be long till the fish were on the ground to

 

[Jill]

I just love love love having the aquariums and we're adding some bigger ones soon (H just put together a stand for a 75g one -- it will be for most of our fancy goldfish)... then we're doing another bigger one for the existing cichlids (and increasing their number) and a tank for blood parrots since H loves those.

Even doing the water changes and gravel vacuuming, I look forward to! It's crazy, but I just love it all.

Cheyenne, you'll have so much fun picking out your guppies!!! And I know for me, just a tiny bit ago, it started with a small fishbowl and a betta (who now has his own tank and another and another and..........).

 

[shorthorsemom]

I admire anybody that can do fish tanks and fish well. I love to look at them, but when I tried to have tanks my family called me a "fish murderer". Even the guy at the fish store started mocking me, when I would pick up my fish he would look into the bag and say "Bye guys, it was nice knowing ya"... My kids started saying, "Mom, you aren't very good at this".

Nice photos, thanks for sharing

.

 

[wildoak]

They are beautiful. I've wanted to get aquariums again - only had small simple ones in the distant past - but I have decided that will be my replacement "hobby" if I ever get to the point I can't keep a barn anymore LOL. Too much maintenence to do both for me, and of course what I want is saltwater...

Enjoy, they really are incredibly restful & relaxing to watch.

Jan

 

[Jill]

Thanks, ladies! The aquariums are so much fun and I could watch them for hours on end

 

[Maxi'sMinis]

Wow what is that 6 tanks? All the fish look so happy and the tanks a beautiful. My favorite's are the fancy goldfish, the Oranda's

in particular. Very nice Jill. I used to have a 55 gal, I did fancy goldfish for years and then changed to tropicals, they were easier to take care of for me. So glad you had such a great hobby to keep you busy and your mind occupied. Sending prayers of healing.

 

[user 488]

. My fav is the one I call Barney.. He is a man-made fish (that I did not know till after I purchased him) called a parrot cichlid.. He is such a character.. comes when I call him, jumps for his food.. and getting really BIG!

ML.......do you have a picture? I would love to see him/her.

I had a clown trigger in my salt water tank that would follow me and jump for food too. That is the only fish I ever had that I was really sad when he departed.

 

[Jill]

ML --

I know exactly the kind of fish you're talking about and I love the looks of them (and H does even more than me!). They're called blood parrot cichlids, or parrot cichlids, right? H loved them when he first saw them at the pet store and now he notices them at every pet store we go to. We are going to set up a tank for 3 of them soon. We need an electritian to come out and put in some outlets where we're wanting to do some bigger tanks. I love everything I've read about how personable the parrot cichlids are!!! Plus, they are so cute!!!

Today, we went to a fish store in Richmond and I saw my first "Flowerhorn" fish in person. They are really neat, too!!! There were two really pretty ones at this shop and crazy priced ($2,000!!! that's crazy from what I've seen with online pricing...). Yeah... didn't come home with one of them but they were neat to finally see in person vs. just pictures and videos.

Jill

Parrot Cichlids: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_parrot_cichlid

 

[user 488]

Wow Jill! Those Flowerhorns are really colorful and gorgeous for a freshwater fish! But the price! OY! You could set up a good size saltwater tank for that.......

And thanks for the link to the other fish too!

 

[Marsha Cassada]

[SIZE=10pt]Those are beautiful, and the discussion makes me want to try one again.[/SIZE]

When I was volunteering at a miniature show in June, a woman who worked with me was a tropical fish collector. she said there was a show in Dallas that weekend. People take their fish to the show to compete! I asked how they transported them to the show, and she said they sedate them. Fish must be pretty tough!