Aquariums and fish, anyone?

I thought I'd swing by this forum tonight to post this. I'm missing my old job a bit and therefore am asking this question for a selfish reason -- I love aquariums and fish! And, if by chance any of you love aquariums and fish as well, I was thinking maybe you'd share that love here. In this post .

At PetSmart, I worked with freshwater fish quite a bit. And, by all accounts, I hated the manual labor associated with caring for the fish. But, I did love looking at them and learning about them. And, they certainly helped me remain serene and calm in even the most frustrating of situations. Going into my work, I had very little working knowledge of fish or their care. Growing up, I know we had tiger oscars, a black knife, discus, cichlids, and tropical fish (not all at once, mind you ), but I don't remember anything about them. I do have a funny (and kind of sad) story to share about them, though, but I won't do that here unless you all want me to. I also had bettas growing up and loved them, but was never seriously involved with aquariums or fish. So, working in a pet store really opened my eyes about fish and their care. At PetSmart, we had goldish, koi, African cichlids, South American cichlids, semi-aggressives, and tropical fish along with bettas, feeders, and snails. We had some catfish and sharks as well, but nothing too out of the ordinary. And, we were strictly freshwater. I learned a lot and came to love fish -- my interest primarily in semi-aggressives and cichlids just because they interested me so much. But, now that I'm not working there, I'm missing the fish and even the manual labor -- go figure. And, since I am limited by space, time, and finances, having a large tank is completely out of the question for now. So, I'd love to hear from all of you.

Do you have a fish tank or aquarium? If so, how big? Freshwater or saltwater? What kind of fish do you have now or have you had in the past? Any pictures you'd like to share? Everyone can join in -- even those with bettas or ponds! Really, the more the merrier .

My roommate and I presently have a 20 gallon aquarium of goldfish (hers) as well as a 5.5 gallon desktop aquarium with goldfish (mine). It's technically too small for goldfish, but I'll be upgrading my tank to a 40 gallon in a couple of weeks. Thankfully, my fish are still quite small and so space, at this time, is not a tremendous issue -- especially since I perform daily maintenance on my tank. I used to think goldfish were boring, but I've come to realize that they're pretty cool. There are so many different varieties, shapes, colors, and sizes. And, I think they're beautiful despite being rather common. In the 20 gallon (it's my roommate's and is in her den) there are 2 large red ryukins, 1 small red ryukin, a small calico ryukin, a large calico telescope, a large black moor, 2 medium orandas (red caps), and a bunch of fantails. She also has some live plants, but darned if I knew what they were. In my little tank I just have a shubunkin and 2 small fantails (a bronze colored one and a red one). Oh, and I have a small white mystery snail as well. It's not much, but I love them and they just help me so much with my anxiety. And, my cats love watching them as well!

One day, I'd love to have a large goldfish tank (like 75+ gallons) as well as a cichild or semi-aggressive tank. But, for now, I love my desktop aquarium and my three little fishies.

Aren't fish awesome? (Okay, not as awesome as cats, maybe, but still...)

I know that my tank is overstocked. I got the 5.5 gallon, the shubunkin and a fantail from a friend who no longer wanted to do any maintenance on the tank. The other fantail came from my roommate's tank -- it was being beat up in her tank so I put it in mine. I've been doing a 15% water change two days and do have a nice filter running. I also scrub every other day and clean all ornaments and plants weekly. I know what I have now is not ideal and will be moving into a 40 gallon tank within the next couple of weeks. And, in my 5.5 gallon I plan on putting a betta in.

As far as the proper size of a tank of goldfish, the rule of thumb at PetSmart was 2 gallons per inch of fish. Where the larger fancies are concerned, I'd say that is grossly inadequate, but considering how small my goldfish are right now, it would be okay to go by that "rule." Like I said, I know it's not ideal, but I've only had them a short while (about 3 weeks) and am just figuring everything out. But, I do appreciate the concern.

As for my roommate, that's her deal. I've told her that her tank is over-crowded, but she's insistent that it is okay as is. There are some other things going on with her tank, but since it's not my tank, there's not much I can do about it. She has the same filter in her tank that I do for my desktop aquarium and she rarely scrubs or cleans the tank. I've offered to help her, but I think she's ashamed about it and therefore never takes me up on my offer. But, I'll continue to talk to her about it -- especially since I'll be moving up to a larger aquarium shortly.

I can't wait to show pics of my new tank when it's set up. And, I can't wait to see more pics here on this thread!

I was going to come and update this thread, but I see you all have done it for me ! But, still, I do have an update...

In my first post to this thread, I talked about possibly getting a 40 gallon tank. Well, unfortunately, due to my not working and the fact that the tank I was supposed to get was no longer available, I decided it was not a wise decision to upgrade right now. However, that still left the issue that I had a 5.5 gallon desktop tank that was overstocked (with 2 small veil tail goldfish and a shubunkin). My roommate, who has a crazily overstocked 20 gallon, wasn't willing to do anything to help her fish, but I was not going to allow my fish to suffer and so I rehomed them to a friend who had a pond outside (for the shubunkin) as well as an empty 20 gallon (for the veil tails). I can report that I've seen their set-ups and that they appear very happy and healthy. And, that makes me happy.

But, what to do with my desktop tank? Well, I decided to get a betta fish. I guess it was all the talk here on the forum that made me interested in getting a betta again. And, so I cleaned my tank, set it up and let it cycle, and brought home my beautiful male betta yesterday! Unfortunately, I can't get a decent picture of the tank or the new inhabitant due to glare and the little guy moving around so fast, but I think it looks amazing. I didn't plant it, but it's decorated very tastefully with multi-colored gravel (pink, purple, blue, green, and yellow) and some silk plants. I could've gone with a real realistic looking tank, but this seemed much more fun and was more in tune with my personality. And, while I only have my one fish (who has yet to be named), I still find my tank very relaxing and the kitties still find it very entertaining.

My betta is just your regular, run-of-the-mill male betta. No special fins. But, he is beautiful. He's a dark blue, almost indigo color and is just stunning to look at. He looks iridescent and you can see so many layers to his color when he's flaring his fins. He truly is both unique and gorgeous. I don't care whether he has a fancy fin or not, he is special to me and he needs an equally special name to go by from here on out. So, that being said, any suggestions?

I'm loving my new companion and he seems to enjoy his spacious tank. I think 5.5 gallons for a male betta and a mystery snail is more than adequate. Not only does it give him ample space to swim, hide, and show off, but it also is a beautiful space to showcase him. And, coming from having an overstocked goldfish tank, it is a dream to maintain! I'm so thrilled with my decision to get a betta -- I had forgotten how truly amazing they are. And, it's all thanks to this thread that I made the decision to get back into bettas. It doesn't get much better than that...

Thank you all! Hopefully, I'll eventually be able to capture a pic of the tank and my betta. But, in the meantime, can you help me think up some names for him? I'm thinking names that are synonymous with colors? And, as I said, he is almost iridescent -- mostly blue-indigo with even some pale blue and green tinges. He's gorgeous and needs a name worthy of that beauty. So, please, help !