A Goldfish aquarium entered into our lives last winter. I never planned to have an aquarium. Having a home aquarium didn't interest me in the least. When I used to visit family or friends with an aquarium, it never seemed very interesting. I watched fish swim around in a tank, what's the big deal. Sometimes they will come up and want food or something. Mostly the fish just hid when they saw people.
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So how did I end up having a home aquarium? Things just fell into place - the kids wanted a pet and we did not want to train a cat or dog in our small apartment. I did some research into what kind of fish are "hardy" and a good start for the first time fishkeeper. I decided on Goldfish, they are very hardy and can live up to ten or more years if well taken care of. They've survived a year with me so far, so I must be doing something right.
One of the things I found in my research before getting fish is to do water changes often. Keeping the water clean will help keep the fish alive longer. Makes perfect sense, they swim and breathe in the water, just like we want clean air. Another very important thing I read is Don't overstock - basically don't have more fish than your tank can keep alive. I read all these stories of people keeping fish in a bowl and they would be gone within days. I'm still reading up on the Nitrogen cycle, which basically can keep your fish alive and well or you could watch them all float.
I'll write more about my experience and some lessons learned in some future posts. For now, my 20 gallon fish tank is doing very well with 2 fancy goldfish (the ones we started with), 2 common goldfish (don't think they are comets), and 8 Rosy Red/ Fathead minnows (started with 10, I lost 2). They are very happy and come up to me when I feed them. I do partial water changes usually twice a week because I feel I am overstocked. I may have to give some of the bigger fish away in the near future. For now, they are all happy.
Now that I'm a fish owner, I am much more interested in having pet fish and keeping them happy. I'd love to hear your home aquarium stories or just let me know your thoughts on what I'm doing right or wrong.
For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.
So how did I end up having a home aquarium? Things just fell into place - the kids wanted a pet and we did not want to train a cat or dog in our small apartment. I did some research into what kind of fish are "hardy" and a good start for the first time fishkeeper. I decided on Goldfish, they are very hardy and can live up to ten or more years if well taken care of. They've survived a year with me so far, so I must be doing something right.
One of the things I found in my research before getting fish is to do water changes often. Keeping the water clean will help keep the fish alive longer. Makes perfect sense, they swim and breathe in the water, just like we want clean air. Another very important thing I read is Don't overstock - basically don't have more fish than your tank can keep alive. I read all these stories of people keeping fish in a bowl and they would be gone within days. I'm still reading up on the Nitrogen cycle, which basically can keep your fish alive and well or you could watch them all float.
I'll write more about my experience and some lessons learned in some future posts. For now, my 20 gallon fish tank is doing very well with 2 fancy goldfish (the ones we started with), 2 common goldfish (don't think they are comets), and 8 Rosy Red/ Fathead minnows (started with 10, I lost 2). They are very happy and come up to me when I feed them. I do partial water changes usually twice a week because I feel I am overstocked. I may have to give some of the bigger fish away in the near future. For now, they are all happy.
Now that I'm a fish owner, I am much more interested in having pet fish and keeping them happy. I'd love to hear your home aquarium stories or just let me know your thoughts on what I'm doing right or wrong.
For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC in any way feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add FrugalNYC to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalNYC by Email.
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