Fish Lore Aquarium Forum Member Spotlight on Alessa

The day I was sitting in the sofa, watching TV with my boyfriend, he told me those three words that would change my life. No, it wasn't "wanna marry me" it was "I want fishes". I first looked at him with incredulity, and I reminded him that it was a commitment, and a huge responsibility, and that if he was willing to assume them then I would help him. He said yes, and the fish adventure started.

I remembered that both my mom and my grandfather had fishes before, when I was a very little girl. I remembered my grandfathers hand guiding mine while feeding the Koi at the indoor, waterfall-pond he had, and I remembered my mom showing me "little Mermaid" and "little Dewdrop" our favorite goldfish. After all of those memories came to me I felt excited about the idea, and I started the research. It was hard and confusing, until I found Fish Lore. In here I learned about the aquarium nitrogen cycle, stocking guidelines and all of the little things that make the difference between success and frustration.

After getting a bad batch of BioSpira, and loosing two Dwarf Gouramis to Iridovirus, I figured that there was much more to know about this hobby than a couple of guidelines if one wants to get it right, and be fair with those little innocent creatures that depend on us. I became much more interested in the hobby and learned all the little things that sometimes make the life of an aquarist difficult, but most importantly, I learned that in this hobby one will never know everything.

After completely cycling the 28 gallon tank we added some fancy tail Guppies, Platies, Otos, Ghost Shrimp, Apple Snails and Neon Tetras. The biggest personality in this tank is one of the Guppies who is so feisty, that the only thing he does is chase his biggest Guppy tank mate restlessly, reason why we have called him "Helllboy". We also have a 5 gallon planted tank with Hornworth and Java Fern, home to my Veil Tail Betta baby called Balthier, who has gotten my entire family interested in the fish hobby again. Here a picture of Balthier.

For my future plans, I hope help my grandpa start a 55 gallon Angelfish tank, (since I helped him get back his interest in the fish hobby), plant the 28 gallon with my boyfriend, and get a 10 gallon divided for two Bettas. Also in the distant future, I hope to get a reef tank going... (not while I am still in college!).

I would like to thank my boyfriend and my family for all of the support, Mike, Tom and the other moderators of Fish Lore for keeping such a great website running, and nominating me for this spotlight. To Lucy, for being such a great fishy friend, to Martinismommy, Allie, Shawnie and all of the other Betta parents for letting me get bitten by the "Betta bug" and to all of the Fish Lore members for making the fish keeping experience of beginners an interesting and successful adventure.

-Alessa

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