Dog'ged Juniors

Well, in addition to dogs, it seems I have developed another addicting hobby over the past couple of years (as if I wasn't poor enough already. lol )  This is my 12 gallon tropical tank that I've had up and running for over a year now.  This picture is several months old so I've rearranged the decor a bit, but it's pretty much the same.  I've discovered that fishkeeping is actually really fun, once you learn how to... well... not kill the fish.

It's actually kind of a fluke that I even have fish; I meant to get out of the hobby years ago.  When I was 11 years old, I got a little 5 gallon tank and a bunch of fish (the lady at the store sold me WAY too many fish for a 5g), but had no idea how to properly take care of them.  So, one by one, the fish gradually died off and I decided that once they were all dead, I would never have fish ever again. 

But there was one fish, a female white skirt tetra (kind of looked like a tiny, white pirhanna), who stubbornly refused to die.  And she lived so long that I ended up (by accident) actually finding information on the internet about proper aquarium maintenance.  So, she got to live the rest of her life in a clean aquarium.  She actually just died last February , having reached 7 years of age, even with such a hard life -- that was one amazing fish... O_o  

But of couse, before she died, I had gotten her a couple of buddies, since I thought she looked lonely   And, naturally, I eventually decided they looked a little cramped in the 5 gallon, so I bought them a 12 gallon and made the 5g into a quarantine tank (for isolating new or sick fish).  And, since I read they like to be in groups, I got 2 more tetras.   Now I think they're outgrowing the 12g, so I'm saving up for a 20 gallon.  Honestly, if I could afford a 100 gallon, I would probably buy it.  It's a slippery slope, lemme tell ya   Just be smart and don't start, kids...  The fish people have a name for my problem: MTS -- Multiple Tank Syndrome.  But luckily I'm a college student, so my lack of $$$ is keeping it in check... hehe.  

Here's a few more pictures.  They're all kind of old, but I'm going to wait a bit before I take any new pics... because I've got 3 new fish (gold zebra danios) waiting in the quarantine tank, and I think I'm gonna put them in the main tank this weekend.  Anyway, here are the current inhabitants:

One of my black skirt tetras in the old 5g (they're the natural-colored version of the white skirt tetra, which is a man-made color morph).  I think they're kinda cute   And they're really tough, which makes them even better by my standards.   

My golden Chinese (so-called) Algae Eater-- it looks cute, but don't be fooled by it's pretty appearance OR it's name   I found out AFTER I bought it (stupid me) that when they grow up, they get huge and aggressive and start trying to eat all your other fish!  But... I've grown attached to the little bugger, so it looks like I'm gonna be shopping for another tank sometime in the future... oh well, who needs money anyway  

Oh, and btw, the reason the water has a yellowish-brown tint is because of the driftwood; it leaches tannins into the water, which stains it tea-colored.  Some people don't like it, but it's harmless to the fish; and since my fish all come from jungle rivers, it actually helps mimic their natural habitat. 

Anyway, thanks for looking!  There will probably be more pics in the near future; the danios are SO cute ^_^  (although they're gonna be a PITA to photograph because they never sit still).     

Well here's a few new pics I took the other day.  This first one shows how the tank looks now (sorry it's kinda blurry).  I took out a couple of plants and rearranged it a bit to make it easier to clean: 

And here are the new arrivals.  So far they seem to be settling in alright (knock on wood).  I think I've got 2 girls and one boy.  They mostly stay near the surface and don't bother the other fish, which is what I was aiming for.

Sorry the lighting is so terrible.  The danios are so fast that in order to photograph them, I had to turn the flash on, which created a lot of glare.  And also my camera is rather cheap.

Here's another one of the larger female.  She seems to be kind of a bully; the other two fish tend to hide near the sides of the aquarium while she cruises around in the middle and chases them if they try to come out.  I know that some chasing and nipping is normal for this species, but I wish she would give the others a break.  But at least they're all eating well and moving around within their little 'territories', so I think that means they're healthy. 

And here's a final pic of the tetras.  The danios make them look huge, lol. 

I hope everything goes well.  I haven't lost a fish since I started this tank, so I'm hoping that trend will continue.  Fingers crossed. 

That's cool! I considered getting a tank for college, but decided not to - probably for the best

Thanks Yeah, the only reason it works for me is because I'm able to live at home.  I think it would be kind of a pain to try and keep the tank in a dorm.  Plus, this way I have more room to expand   Although sometimes I do wish that I had just gotten a nice little betta instead of a whole tropical community... that way I could have stopped at the 5 gallon instead of constantly having to 'upgrade' to bigger tanks