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The Fish Enthusiast Thread (My fishies are now thousands of miles away, but I finally uploaded pics of a couple of my tanks :-) )

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We have three such things in our living room. One is 112 US gallons, another is 180 gallons, and the other is 300 gallons. Beat that. Oh, and we have over three hundred fish/snails/shrimp. So, does anyone else own an aquarium, or is this thread going to wither and die within hours of my posting it?

Here's a link to my Flickr page in case you want to take a look at some of our fish:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/99262306@N05/sets/72157634767822863/

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Yup, as predicted, this thread is going nowhere.

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What do you expect, it can't drive a car. *Drumstick*

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Two fish in a tank, one of them turns to the other and says: "You drive, I'll man the gun."

Thanks, I'll be here all week. Try the veal.

  

But srsly, nice fishies in your photo album. :)

I've been thinking about keeping a fish lately.

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Leonardo said:

But srsly, nice fishies in your photo album. :)

I've been thinking about keeping a fish lately.

 Thank you. :D

Fish are a lot of fun to have. We have all kinds of them swimming around, so they keep us busy, but it pays off IMO.

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We're getting two new 10 foot tanks (each 430 US gallons) sometime next week! I can't wait!

Right now we have a 15, 20, 112, 180, and 300 gallon tank. We're keeping the 15, 180, and 300 gallon, and selling the 20 and 112 gallon tanks.

Fish are so much fun. :)

I can't believe I'm the only one around here who likes fish (and/or owns them). :\

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I enjoy tuna, salmon, and fried tilapia if that makes you feel better.

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Yes, but I prefer photographing, feeding, and watching the three hundred plus fish living in my living room (see what I did there?).

EDIT: To clarify, I prefer photographing, feeding, and watching said fish more than eating fish sticks, not more than photographing, feeding, and watching them.

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TV's Frink said:

I prefer my fish with chips.

 Same.

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TV's Frink said:

I prefer my fish with chips.

 WRONG THREAD!

My late father was prone to over doing things when it came to presents based on casual remarks.

My niece when she was very, very little said she would like to have a gold fish.

So he got a giant aquarium. I had friends who kept tropical fish (not in their underpants I hasten to mention) so I knew you had to clean the gravel, you had to use filtered water and let the tank oxygenate and warm for a while before introducing the fish.

He was way to keen and did none of these things.

A few days in tepid tap water and they were all dead.

So then we were left with a giant tank of fish soup, then air, then keys and junk mail and finally after a few years, outside weeds.

The bike story and the model railway story at least didn't involve loss of life.

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By giant, I'm guessing you mean big? Giant means 500+ gallons in my house. :P

EDIT: Thanks for sharing though. That is what this thread is about, not fish sticks. :\

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We moved the small (5 foot long) tank downstairs this evening, in preparation for the new tanks, which need to be carried through the spot that the small tank previously occupied. Of course, it wasn't so easy as just carrying it downstairs--we had to empty it of it's water, fish, and decorations, and detach the filter and airstone hoses. Then we had to carry it downstairs and reverse the process.

Once the two 10 foot, 430 gallon tanks are in place downstairs, we'll have to empty everything out of the current ten foot tank (a mere 300 gallons) and put it all in one of those. Then the ten foot tank will have to be brought downstairs and placed perpendicular to the other two. After all this is done, the other 430 gallon tank will be filled with water, the filters will be hooked up, decorations set up, and fish from the small and medium-sized (6 foot long) tank will be put in it. Then the big fish, which are in the small tank, will be moved over to the 300 gallon tank and the small tank will be sold.

That will leave us with 30 feet and 1260 gallons of fish tank occupying two walls downstairs and another 180 gallon tank upstairs. I'll post pictures when this is all done.

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The following is a true story:

Once upon a time, there was a husband/wife duo who managed apartments in Tucson, AZ just off campus from the University of Arizona.  The apartments were almost exclusively rented by students or adjunct faculty.  Some students were mature graduates pursuing degrees in hard sciences.  Others were frat/sorority wannabes.  Two such students lived together in an upstairs apartment, where they kept two massive fish tanks.  Though technically against the rules, the managers did not require that the tenants remove their tanks, since they had owned and used them for some time before the managers had taken over the position.  And besides, the tanks and exotic fish were pretty cool.

One evening, the managers are wakened by a bizarre phone call at around 1:30 am.  The tenants who lived in the apartment just below the fish enthusiasts were complaining of large amounts of water leaking into their apartment.  The brave (not to mention handsome) husband manager raced up to the upstairs apartment and pounded on the door to be let in, but with little success.  He then produced the master key and unlocked the apartment, finding it empty of any human life, but still filled with panicking fish life as the fish in the larger tank realized their water supply was quickly diminishing.  The manager quickly tried to figure out what the problem was, but suddenly the water bagan to empty even faster.  The manager then saw that there was a small, overflowing aquarium with two hoses connected to the large tank, but partially submerged in the small one.  Apparently water had been pumped into the small tank, but was not successfully being pumped out.  The manager quickly pulled the plug on the pump, but far too late for the poor large fish, who could not even swim upright anymore.  He then called and left a message for his idiotic tenants letting them know that their jury-rigged filtration system had failed and that they were in big trouble.  He apologized to the downstairs tenants, who in a cruel bit of irony or Murphy's Law, had aquarium water drip on their laptop and school textbooks.  When the upstairs tenants returned, they received a bit of a tongue lashing.  A short time later, they were asked not to renew their lease by the managers.

A couple of weeks later, the managers wondered if the car difficulties that were so troublesome for the mechanics to figure out, but were finally identified as attributable to water in the gas tank and lines, were caused by the former proud owners of thousands of dollars of exotics marine life.

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darth_ender said:

The following is a true story:

Once upon a time, there was a husband/wife duo who managed apartments in Tucson, AZ just off campus from the University of Arizona.  The apartments were almost exclusively rented by students or adjunct faculty.  Some students were mature graduates pursuing degrees in hard sciences.  Others were frat/sorority wannabes.  Two such students lived together in an upstairs apartment, where they kept two massive fish tanks.  Though technically against the rules, the managers did not require that the tenants remove their tanks, since they had owned and used them for some time before the managers had taken over the position.  And besides, the tanks and exotic fish were pretty cool.

One evening, the managers are wakened by a bizarre phone call at around 1:30 am.  The tenants who lived in the apartment just below the fish enthusiasts were complaining of large amounts of water leaking into their apartment.  The brave (not to mention handsome) husband manager raced up to the upstairs apartment and pounded on the door to be let in, but with little success.  He then produced the master key and unlocked the apartment, finding it empty of any human life, but still filled with panicking fish life as the fish in the larger tank realized their water supply was quickly diminishing.  The manager quickly tried to figure out what the problem was, but suddenly the water bagan to empty even faster.  The manager then saw that there was a small, overflowing aquarium with two hoses connected to the large tank, but partially submerged in the small one.  Apparently water had been pumped into the small tank, but was not successfully being pumped out.  The manager quickly pulled the plug on the pump, but far too late for the poor large fish, who could not even swim upright anymore.  He then called and left a message for his idiotic tenants letting them know that their jury-rigged filtration system had failed and that they were in big trouble.  He apologized to the downstairs tenants, who in a cruel bit of irony or Murphy's Law, had aquarium water drip on their laptop and school textbooks.  When the upstairs tenants returned, they received a bit of a tongue lashing.  A short time later, they were asked not to renew their lease by the managers.

A couple of weeks later, the managers wondered if the car difficulties that were so troublesome for the mechanics to figure out, but were finally identified as attributable to water in the gas tank and lines, were caused by the former proud owners of thousands of dollars of exotics marine life.

 Ouch...

We're moving our tanks downstairs due to possible weight problems. The floor is bowing ever so slightly, and the floorboards are separating around the tanks, which isn't good. So, as nice as the tanks look upstairs, only one is staying. The floor also doesn't like water being poured on it...it just goes right through and makes puddles in the basement, staining walls and stuff as it goes. We have had a small filter pump water out of a tank, but thankfully not for long, as it was dripping on a laptop downstairs (and going through a light fixture). Nothing as bad as what happened in that apartment building has, or ever will happen, if we can help it.

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DominicCobb said:

Fish?

 *mutters* Lucky guess...

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RicOlie_2 said:

darth_ender said:

The following is a true story:

Once upon a time, there was a husband/wife duo who managed apartments in Tucson, AZ just off campus from the University of Arizona.  The apartments were almost exclusively rented by students or adjunct faculty.  Some students were mature graduates pursuing degrees in hard sciences.  Others were frat/sorority wannabes.  Two such students lived together in an upstairs apartment, where they kept two massive fish tanks.  Though technically against the rules, the managers did not require that the tenants remove their tanks, since they had owned and used them for some time before the managers had taken over the position.  And besides, the tanks and exotic fish were pretty cool.

One evening, the managers are wakened by a bizarre phone call at around 1:30 am.  The tenants who lived in the apartment just below the fish enthusiasts were complaining of large amounts of water leaking into their apartment.  The brave (not to mention handsome) husband manager raced up to the upstairs apartment and pounded on the door to be let in, but with little success.  He then produced the master key and unlocked the apartment, finding it empty of any human life, but still filled with panicking fish life as the fish in the larger tank realized their water supply was quickly diminishing.  The manager quickly tried to figure out what the problem was, but suddenly the water bagan to empty even faster.  The manager then saw that there was a small, overflowing aquarium with two hoses connected to the large tank, but partially submerged in the small one.  Apparently water had been pumped into the small tank, but was not successfully being pumped out.  The manager quickly pulled the plug on the pump, but far too late for the poor large fish, who could not even swim upright anymore.  He then called and left a message for his idiotic tenants letting them know that their jury-rigged filtration system had failed and that they were in big trouble.  He apologized to the downstairs tenants, who in a cruel bit of irony or Murphy's Law, had aquarium water drip on their laptop and school textbooks.  When the upstairs tenants returned, they received a bit of a tongue lashing.  A short time later, they were asked not to renew their lease by the managers.

A couple of weeks later, the managers wondered if the car difficulties that were so troublesome for the mechanics to figure out, but were finally identified as attributable to water in the gas tank and lines, were caused by the former proud owners of thousands of dollars of exotics marine life.

 Ouch...

We're moving our tanks downstairs due to possible weight problems. The floor is bowing ever so slightly, and the floorboards are separating around the tanks, which isn't good. So, as nice as the tanks look upstairs, only one is staying. The floor also doesn't like water being poured on it...it just goes right through and makes puddles in the basement, staining walls and stuff as it goes. We have had a small filter pump water out of a tank, but thankfully not for long, as it was dripping on a laptop downstairs (and going through a light fixture). Nothing as bad as what happened in that apartment building has, or ever will happen, if we can help it.

 I feel that, based on my experience, you are making a wise move.  You know, those two guys weren't even terrible guys.  They just weren't very thoughtful and were often shortsighted.  From what I remember them telling me, the normal filtration system had broken, so they used the two pumps filtering the water into and out of the small tank as a temporary measure for only a few days till they could get a new one.  Then they went out of town for the weekend.  That's when the second pump in the line stopped working.  It was a foolish thing to do, made worse by a series of unlikely misfortunes.  I'm glad your situation didn't get too bad.  Good luck with the new setup.

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We found some baby Convict Cichlids just a few minutes ago. Those are the first of that species, but we've also had baby Guppies (these are livebearers and we raised about 50 to adulthood), Bronze Corys (a small type of catfish--only one has survived so far, and it isn't quite adult yet. This is the only egg-laying species of fish until the Convict Cichlids that has produced babies for us), Platys (one of which has survived), and Swordtails (all of which died). The Convict Cichlids are unique out of those in that they protect their babies until they're old enough to fend for themselves. I would post pictures, but Flickr was updated again, and I can't figure out how to link to photos yet...

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In case you're interested, here are some links to pictures of some of the fish I mentioned:

an adult Convict Cichlid, a baby guppy, another one, and an adult Cory (not the same species as the babies were).