Intro
My first introduction to fish keeping is similar to most. One day, dad came home and he brought with him a bowl and two goldfish.
For most that’s the extend of their experience with fish. I’m not special but was lucky to have a grand father that was talented with gardening and past fish keeping, and he lent me an old book. This book was really old, I think printed in the late 70s and had black and white photos and illustrations, and was a handy guide to keeping goldfish in tanks and ponds. It had diagrams and illustrations on how to set up ideal goldfish habitats, set water parameters, feeding, breeding, etc. // I'll try to remember the name and link it...
First Tank and Fish
Despite the bowl being the first, I don’t count it as a tank. My first was a ~120L tank that was squared hexagon, the front tapered off and was 3 panels joining the sides, it was 40+ cm tall and I kept 4-6 goldfish in it with a hanging filter and some plants. I learned a lot from it, mainly by making mistakes…
I had the tank on a solid nightstand by my bed, it was therapeutic and I loved falling asleep to the fish swimming around and the water trickling down.
Peak
Eventually my obsession with aquariums grew more and more, I moved the tank to this rectangular hole in the wall that was oddly shaped perfectly for it, almost as if my dad knew what he was doing… Got a stronger filter and nicer LED lights, added plants, and stocked it with four fancy goldfish. I now know that was too small for four GFs, with each needing about 30L.
Along with the main dining room tank, I had another 150L tank for small tropic fish like guppies, mollies, gourami, etc with a neighboring nano tank for a Betta fish (Siamese fighter) This one also resided in my room (most my tanks did) but now I had an Ikea book case on its side with the 2 tanks on it, and another nano on my “desk” table with another Betta fish.
Ponds? Built them too. Two of them, one was a success and saw many generations of GF and Koi, the other was poorly planned and decommissioned.
I’ve had catfish, mini puffers, three species of gourami, countless guppy varieties, fancy goldfish, dragon koi, I tried (and failed) to raise a Bichir (RIP ma Abu-Bashir, I’m sorry), Angel fish, plecostomus, Golden Algae Eaters, apple snails, and more I don’t even remember. At one point the tally was four tanks, two ponds, and various temporary/quarantine vessels and tubs.
The End?
When I finally realized I’d be moving away from home to study abroad, I started selling off, and giving away some of my fish, and began to downsize. I knew that for all the instructions, workflows, and “training” I can give my family, they simply wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demanding attention the tanks would require.
I left them with the pond in a somewhat self-sustaining state, grown in with plants and algae, it had reached a sort of equilibrium and established nitrogen cycle by then and the fish loved it! Tanks, I left them one full of guppies and mollies, low maintenance and self-replicating at a pace that whatever dies will feed the upcoming generation before they even notice.
Future Plans
Since I’m now based in Vancouver, BC, I figure the aquarium scene here is strong with many fish imports and gear coming straight off the boats from East Asia. I am tempted to boot up the the old passions with a nano tank…
The only hurdles I foresee, would be renter’s restrictions and building-guidelines, as most landlords aren’t cool with volumes of water sitting in their properties. Fortunately, I think my res-building is cool with anything under 100L, and anything above needing inspection and written approval and a damages deposit. Honestly? That’s probably for the best, it sets a hard limit for my…ambitions, shall we say. With the bureaucracy to circumvent and grow being too much of headache