Member Spotlight on bolivianbaby

Hello, everyone. I'm very honored to be spotlighted here on Fishlore.

My name is Marie (aka bolivianbaby). I've developed a few other nicknames here on Fishlore, AquaQueen and Zookeeper and Shawnie's favorite "crazy fish lady". I'm the very proud 34-year-old single mother of a 12-year-old girl, who is as crazy about fish and other animals as I am.

We also share our home with two dogs, two guinea pigs, one Giant Flemish rabbit, one yellow-sided green-cheeked conure, several finches, doves, and two budgies.

I joined Fishlore when I learned about the nitrogen cycle AFTER fully stocking my tank about a year ago. After that tank cycled, I've been cruising on the MTS highway. I have several tanks set up at the moment.

Our current tank count is 25. We have betas, an African dwarf frog, African Malawi mbuna, jewel cichlids, convicts, JD's, an RTS, Honduran red points, rainbow cichlids, tropical community, goldfish, and a FOWLR tank containing a half-black angelfish.

Our tank sizes range from 5-75 gallons.

I prefer to keep all of my tanks with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5-20 nitrates. I've found my fish are more colorful and active when the nitrates never rise above 20.

Before I joined Fishlore, I never could have gotten my tank cycled with fish in it with no deaths. Also, I wouldn't have had the nerve to add additional tanks to the house, especially African and convict cichlids. More than likely, I would've given up on fishkeeping altogether.

Most importantly, I learned how to cycle a tank fishless, which I did to set up my first saltwater tank, the FOWLR.

One of the funniest things about fishkeeping for me is my parent's response when I tell them I got a new tank for me or my daughter. They usually say I'm crazy. Then they come over to see the new tank and talk about how pretty the tank is and how colorful the fish are.

Fishkeeping has also been a wonderful bonding experience for myself and my daughter. It's turned into a game for me to "sneak" new species of fish in the house and see how long it takes for her to notice. She's pretty sharp.

In the very near future, I'll be setting up another 75g tank and a 90g tank with Oscars and green terrors, just to name a few of the inhabitants

I also plan on re-aquascaping my 75g Malawi mbuna tank to look more like the natural habitat in Lake Malawi.

Thank you to Mike for keeping this site up and running and everyone on this forum. You guys are just so great! You're always friendly and willing to help, whether it's fishkeeping or personal. And you're always willing to enable MTS without judgment.

There have been several members who I've been able to turn to with tank leaks, stocking questions, and a shoulder to cry on when things got really rough. Shawnie, Harpua2002, Btate617, Lorabell, Lucy, Red1313, Jaysee, Tony G., and countless others. This site is filled with so many wonderful people. All of you are such a huge blessing to us.

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