I’m Addicted to Aquariums

My New Obsession — Aquariums

Well it’s a new obsession that I’ve had for ever, I just recently got more serious about it.

I’ve kept aquariums on and off since I was a kid. My dad used to keep saltwater aquariums and I could sit and watch them for hours. When I was in the Navy, I would keep a small 20 gallon but then I would have to move and would just give the tank and fish away to another sailor. I just enjoyed setting up a simple aquarium with easy to keep fish like guppies and mollies.

A couple of years ago I bought a 39 gallon tall tank and put some small angelfish and some other species in it. We had some issues with nitrates and lost most of the fish, but all 5 of the angelfish did fine. As the angels grew, I decided that the tank wasn’t big enough for more smaller fish, so we’ve had just the 5 angelfish for 2+ years in there.

My wife really wanted some guppies and others so a couple of weeks ago, we decided to buy a new tank. I shopped around and ended up finding a 60 gallon with stand for the same price many of the 30 gallon setups were going for at retail, so I said, “why not?”.

A few days later, one of the 5 angel fish in the other tank got sick for the 3rd time in a year so I decided to go out and buy a 3rd tank to nurse him back to health in. Currently, he’s healthy and happy (I think) in his own 20 gallon tank. I am not sure if I will put other fish in with him, but since I think he’s blind in one eye now, I don’t want to put any aggressive fish that might pick on him in there. I think the reason he kept getting sick is that he was stressed from being the odd man out in the other tank and that they were picking on him.

Here are the tanks with videos and the equipment I have powering them.

20 Gallon

This 20 gallon is in my home office. It’s uses a Marineland Penguin 200 Power Filter. I had 2 of these hanging on the 40 gallon for the 1st couple of months but decided to upgrade that tank to a canister filter, so these have been stored in my garage for a couple of years. This filter is much better than the cheap Tetra Whisper 20 that came with the tank. I have a cheap, but quiet air pump and a simple heater set at 78 degrees in it. I have minimal decorations to give it a more natural look.

40 Gallon

This 40 gallon uses a 200 watt heater, a simple air pump, and the Fluval 306 canister filter. I am not a fan of painted rocks, but I figured the red rocks would match the Alabama theme in our den. There are now just 4 angels and I am fairly sure that they are 2 sets of male/female. They are paired up together most of the time. This tank is in our Den.

60 Gallon

The new 60 gallon is also using the Fluval 306 but I am seriously considering moving up to a larger canister filter soon. The 306 is rated for a 70 gallon tank, but I like to use filters rated higher than needed. I feel like it helps the clarity with minimal maintenance. This tank is in our rarely used living room.

I just bought a 50 foot Python water changing kit from Chewy.com and love it. It makes water changes and cleaning so easy.