Squeeee! Getting Four More Tanks!

My husband just started his hour long drive to pick up four new to us tanks! We already have a 12 gallon and a 10 gallon tank. We originally were looking for a 75 gallon tank to add to our home, but our local buy and sells wanted close to retail for those size tanks. My husband widened the search to include smaller tanks, and we found a package deal for two 10 gallons, a 28 gallon and a 33 gallon, all with equipment. Our five year old son is super obsessed with fish, he’s how we started in fish keeping. He’s over the moon! He’s talking about hillstream loaches, and a betta tank, shrimp and snail tank, lol. I’ll have to do lots research to see what is actual suitable for our tanks, but his little mind is already racing with stocking ideas, lol.

He was so excited, he’s now on the phone with his Papa and now he says he wants a pond in our backyard, with koi and goldfish, lol. My Dad says he went to a pond building seminar at a garden centre recently, so he wants to help build him one, haha! I’m beginning to think this hobby is turning into a full time job. My husband is a little worried we’re going to fall way behind with other household jobs because the tanks will take up all our extra time! I’m currently recovering from a concussion, so I’m barely keeping up with our two little tanks. But that won’t last forever, wish us luck, lol!

 

Sounds like that 5 year-old's got some potential! Is it a 33g long (48")? Very nice size tank.

 

I have no idea on the actual dimensions, all I know is the capacity. These will be our first used tanks. Hubby says they’ve been sitting empty for about a year and might take some elbow grease to clean. I think it’ll be worth it to see the joy in his face and keep his passion going. He researches fish all the time. All his drawings and stories in kindy are about fish. It’s to the point his teacher wants us to encourage him to explore new topics. So he drew and wrote a story about visiting Hawaii. He drew a beach and a tree. He whispered to me later “I sneaked a fish in the picture. It’s in the blue ocean. I used a yellow crayon, so Mrs. G didn’t know I still drew a fish!” Cheeky guy.

 

Great! I just picked up 2 more today also a 10 and 17 tall

 

How fun!!! Keep us posted!!!

 

The tanks are here! They need some tlc. But as long as they hold water, I think we can make a go of it!

The 33 gallon is three feet wide, so not the 48” long version.

The 28 gallon came with a stand.

Then there’s two ten gallons. One is inside the kit box. There’s a bunch of heaters, filters, filter media and other miscellaneous fish stuff. Haven’t gone through everything yet.

 

Fun!

 

Hope you enjoy your new tanks the 33 gallon would look bomb as a community tank!

 

Hope you enjoy your new tanks the 33 gallon would look bomb as a community tank!

Yes! Just starting to research. My hubby likes the looks of German Blue Rams. I know we’d need to add them last after the tank is well established, but they also like pretty warm water. Trying to figure out tank mates to make it a community.

 

Yes! Just starting to research. My hubby likes the looks of German Blue Rams. I know we’d need to add them last after the tank is well established, but they also like pretty warm water. Trying to figure out tank mates to make it a community.

Rummynose tetras, cardinals and sterbaI cories would make a lovely warm water community with GBRs

Lucky you with so many tanks!

 

Rummynose tetras, cardinals and sterbaI cories would make a lovely warm water community with GBRs

Lucky you with so many tanks!

Oh lovely! I’ll have to look into those. I already like cardinals. Thank you!

 

That's great that the whole family is into the fish hobby, love it!

 

That's great that the whole family is into the fish hobby, love it!

My son is pulling all of us into it. My parents live across the country, but they are trying to sell their house and move close to us. My Dad is committing to making a fish pond in our backyard. My Dad starting getting interested in having a betta, so we bought him a Fluval ChI kit that’s waiting here as a housewarming present. My son asked if my Dad wanted one of our new tanks too, I could hear my Mum in the background “no, no, no! No more fish tanks!” Then my son got talking to her about her possible stockings in a larger tank. So she’s caving now, “I guess since you love fish so much, Nana will have to have some nice fish tanks for when you’re at our house”. Lol, they used to care for two turtles for almost 25 years. Those things were poop machines, so I think my Mum is scared about cleaning tanks again, but I think keeping fish is much, much easier than keeping turtles!

 

Bless you for encouraging your young son. He may be a marine biologist someday!

 

My husband just started his hour long drive to pick up four new to us tanks! We already have a 12 gallon and a 10 gallon tank. We originally were looking for a 75 gallon tank to add to our home, but our local buy and sells wanted close to retail for those size tanks. My husband widened the search to include smaller tanks, and we found a package deal for two 10 gallons, a 28 gallon and a 33 gallon, all with equipment. Our five year old son is super obsessed with fish, he’s how we started in fish keeping. He’s over the moon! He’s talking about hillstream loaches, and a betta tank, shrimp and snail tank, lol. I’ll have to do lots research to see what is actual suitable for our tanks, but his little mind is already racing with stocking ideas, lol.

He was so excited, he’s now on the phone with his Papa and now he says he wants a pond in our backyard, with koi and goldfish, lol. My Dad says he went to a pond building seminar at a garden centre recently, so he wants to help build him one, haha! I’m beginning to think this hobby is turning into a full time job. My husband is a little worried we’re going to fall way behind with other household jobs because the tanks will take up all our extra time! I’m currently recovering from a concussion, so I’m barely keeping up with our two little tanks. But that won’t last forever, wish us luck, lol!

If you do decide to do the pond. ask for advice on the construction. I am on my 3rd pond and I have learned lessons after each build that make for a more beautiful, and manageable pond. Feel free to ask me for any advice I can give. I am not sure if others have the same experience, but I have found my pond immensely easier to manage than my home aquariums.

 

If you get female bettas, get a few other species, too. I have 5 top feeders (Guppies, a Platy, and Mollies) and they get along with the girls. 2 of my 6 bettas are babies, and it’s so adorable when the adults play with the babies and chase them around. I have a 29 gallon tank, and we’re thinking about getting 4 more female bettas!

 

Turtles are much messier than fish. It's great that your whole family is getting into it. I hate to tell you, but it sounds like your whole family has MTS (what fun). White vinegar is great for cleaning the junk off tanks. The first thing to do is put your new tanks on a flat surface and fill them with water, leave them full for at least a day to check for leaks.
Good luck, and have fun!!

 

Bless you for encouraging your young son. He may be a marine biologist someday!

thank you! We’re trying to support him as much as we can. I was obsessed with horses at his age, and I never found another passion that I loved as much again (excluding being a mother, of course!). My Dad watched me get thrown off a horse, I suffered a concussion with amnesia for a couple of weeks, and that was that, my father couldn’t handle watching me ride anymore.

My in laws have been amazed at his fish knowledge. He got several fish reference books for Christmas, which we read before bed. They mentioned that he could be a marine biologist, and he said adamantly, “no! I want to open the new Pet City!” Pet City was our first LFS. It had been in business I think for over 20 years, and it had announced it would be closing its doors the day before we got our first tank and fish from them. We used to drive past it twice a week as I took my son to taekwondo. He wanted to go in there for ages, but I kept avoiding it because I thought having a fish tank would be so hard. As soon as my parents arrived at the airport, my son begged my parents to go to Pet City, so that’s how we got our first tank. It was my parents’ “congratulations! You started Kindergarten!” gift to my son

If you do decide to do the pond. ask for advice on the construction. I am on my 3rd pond and I have learned lessons after each build that make for a more beautiful, and manageable pond. Feel free to ask me for any advice I can give. I am not sure if others have the same experience, but I have found my pond immensely easier to manage than my home aquariums.

Thanks so much!!! I will definitely send you a message before we start the actual planning phase for the pond. I think it may be a while. My parents haven’t sold their house yet, so not sure if they will make it here before the summer is over! That’s interesting to know that pond upkeep is easier than aquarium upkeep. Maybe it won’t be as stressful as I’m imagining it to be!

 

FishMich There is actually a lot of pond technology that is very helpful. If you can get it for a tank you can get it for a pond. Plus the sheer size of the pond keeps it a little more stable. Plus you are in Canada so our situation could be similar depending on where you are.

 

Turtles are much messier than fish. It's great that your whole family is getting into it. I hate to tell you, but it sounds like your whole family has MTS (what fun). White vinegar is great for cleaning the junk off tanks. The first thing to do is put your new tanks on a flat surface and fill them with water, leave them full for at least a day to check for leaks.
Good luck, and have fun!!

Awesome! Thank you. I will use white vinegar and we will fill them and test if they hold water. It took a while for my husband to warm up to having fish. His Dad used to make custom aquariums as a job, and THEY NEVER CHANGED THEIR WATER!!! He just told my hubby, you just have two tower filters, an under gravel filter and a diatom filter? He said he never once changed the water with that set up. So, with that being said, my husbad’s impression on fish keeping was that you just threw the fish in and never change the water. When I was doing daily water tests and frequent water changes for a fish in cycle (obviously, I didn’t know about fishless cycling at the time), my hubby gave me a lot of grief about spending too much time and money on the care of the fish. I’ve tried explaining that fish keeping has changed a lot over 35 years, and that nowadays, aquarists are much more aware of the welfare of the fish. Anyways, hubby has come around a bit. He now mostly let’s me do my maintenance stuff without complaining too much!

 

FishMich There is actually a lot of pond technology that is very helpful. If you can get it for a tank you can get it for a pond. Plus the sheer size of the pond keeps it a little more stable. Plus you are in Canada so our situation could be similar depending on where you are.

That all makes sense! We’re in the interior of BC. I was just looking into koi and it looks like it gets too cold for them outside in the winter? We’d have to have a temporary pond indoors for the winter? We have a large backyard, so we could put a decent sized pond, but I wouldn’t have much space indoors to house the fish during winter. We rent out our basement, so I really only have the top floor of the house. Can’t really imagine where I’d put an indoor pond! Oh, maybe the garage? We keep the garage heated. Lol, too much to think about right now!

 

That all makes sense! We’re in the interior of BC. I was just looking into koi and it looks like it gets too cold for them outside in the winter? We’d have to have a temporary pond indoors for the winter? We have a large backyard, so we could put a decent sized pond, but I wouldn’t have much space indoors to house the fish during winter. We rent out our basement, so I really only have the top floor of the house. Can’t really imagine where I’d put an indoor pond! Oh, maybe the garage? We keep the garage heated. Lol, too much to think about right now!

I have never brought my fish in during the winter. They go a little dormant, but are always fine in the spring. My winter losses can usually be attributed to predators or from lack of gas exchange due to the pond freezing over. Most places I know leave them out.

 

I have never brought my fish in during the winter. They go a little dormant, but are always fine in the spring. My winter losses can usually be attributed to predators or from lack of gas exchange due to the pond freezing over. Most places I know leave them out.

Oh! Ok, if that’s the case, that makes it a lot easier. Even in the garage, I don’t think we’d have enough space indoors for a temporary pond!

I just wanted to add this. We skI and snowboard every weekend, last weekend we got separated from our son on the mountain. It scared me, but he was fine and wasn’t lost too long. Anyways, we bought walkie talkies so we can stay in touch with each other if we get separated again. I told my son he could make a code name if he wanted. Do you know what he wants to be called? Emerald Dwarf Rasbora. LOL! He switches his mind sometimes and says it’s Clown Loach. But he goes between the two

 

If the pond is 3 feet deep that would make it not entirely freeze and will leave space for the fish to stay dormant and warmer compared to outside temp.

 

Excellent! Thank you, that’s good to know.

 

If the pond is 3 feet deep that would make it not entirely freeze and will leave space for the fish to stay dormant and warmer compared to outside temp.

HI Jay, 3 feet can actually be excessive and can actually be considered a pool in some municipalities leading to legal concerns.

My pond generally does not freeze more than 2-3 inches. Most important is to have an opening for gas exchange. And in my area many ponds don't go deeper than 18 inches. I would research what the rules and the recommendations are in your neighborhood before making any decisions.

 

HI Jay, 3 feet can actually be excessive and can actually be considered a pool in some municipalities leading to legal concerns.

My pond generally does not freeze more than 2-3 inches. Most important is to have an opening for gas exchange. And in my area many ponds don't go deeper than 18 inches. I would research what the rules and the recommendations are in your neighborhood before making any decisions.

Oh wow! Had no idea about that, will definitely have to look into the regulations. Thank you!

 

HI Jay, 3 feet can actually be excessive and can actually be considered a pool in some municipalities leading to legal concerns.

My pond generally does not freeze more than 2-3 inches. Most important is to have an opening for gas exchange. And in my area many ponds don't go deeper than 18 inches. I would research what the rules and the recommendations are in your neighborhood before making any decisions.

Oh I'm sorry I didn't know about that.

 

Oh I'm sorry I didn't know about that.

It is one of those misconceptions that keeps getting told and retold. Just like with everything, there is some wrong information out there.

 

Yes, MTS can be a tragedy (Multiple Tank Syndrome). The disease is contagious, and I hate to say this but it sounds like the affliction has spread through your entire family. It might seem exciting now, but there's one thing for certain. As soon as you get your new tanks up and running, you will experience cravings for, you guessed it, more tanks. There's no known cure. All you can do is get your affairs in order. Your future is going to consist of looking at areas of your home that can be cleaned out to accomodate more tanks.

 

Sounds like you will be hanging out on the stocking forum quite a bit! What fun!

 

I love hearing about how excited your son is about fish!!!

 

Well, by looking at the state of the filters, I feel really badly for the last inhabitants of these tanks. It looks like we may not have gotten the deal we thought. No filters for either 10 gallon and no lids either. Trying to find lids online in Canada for 10 gallons, and I can’t really find anything!

Going to test the 28 gallon and the 33 gallon to see if they hold water before we start cleaning them.

 

View attachment 427574 View attachment 427575 Well, by looking at the state of the filters, I feel really badly for the last inhabitants of these tanks. It looks like we may not have gotten the deal we thought. No filters for either 10 gallon and no lids either. Trying to find lids online in Canada for 10 gallons, and I can’t really find anything!

Going to test the 28 gallon and the 33 gallon to see if they hold water before we start cleaning them.

Not sure why I can't find it online, but petsmart and big als have this hinged versa top for about $20 for a 10 gal.

 

Not sure why I can't find it online, but petsmart and big als have this hinged versa top for about $20 for a 10 gal.View attachment 427595

F and S has the for $10

 

Thanks! I looked on F and S, but I think with shipping and exchange, it won’t be worth it for me in Canada. Couldn’t find the versa top on Petsmart online. I ended up ordering a Topfin top from Petsmart. They had an order online and pick up in store sale last night. Hope it fits!

Just filled up the 28 and the 33 with water. Will wait 24 hrs to make sure there’s no leaks.


Thought the capacity of the tanks sounded funny. So we measured the “28” and the “33” gallon tanks. One is actually 29 gallons and the other looks to be 34 gallons.

Both tanks have been holding water for over 24 hours. But I think we will only keep the 29 gallon. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but the 34 gallon is bowed out in the middle. We’re worried it won’t last very long. Our plan is to post it on the buy and sell and advise that we weren’t comfortable using it as an aquarium, but could maybe become a terrarium? Posted in the stocking forum about stocking the 29 gallon. Bought a filter, an Aquaclear 70.