Great idea for a topic, John. When I was a young teenager my Aunt gave me a bag of her guppies and some plants from her overcrowded, very murky tank that supplied an endless supply of guppies and plants! I remember that you couldn't see more than an inch or two into the tank. Of course, they produced wildly for me too, and although my tank was certainly cleaner than my Aunt's, I'm sure these fish survived mostly on sheer will. I didn't know anything about testing the water and I remember the water level getting very low sometimes. I also remember buying a breeder that you put the pregnant fish into and as the babies were born they dropped down into an area that the mother couldn't get to. I also had a net fry- raising contraption that went into the tank to protect the fry as they grew. Who knows how many poor guppies were in that 10 gallon tank!
Then when in my 30's I rescued 2 malformed feeder goldfish and raised them in a 30 gallon tank (I now know that this wasn't the ideal situation for them). However, I really enjoyed these fish for the 7 or 8 years that they lived (and yes, I now know that that wasn't nearly as long as they could have lived).
Now in my 50's (early, man, early), I have a 30 gallon set up with 6 glofish, 2 Dalmatian mollies, 2 red cherry shrimp and 1 hardworking snail. I also just added an unknown variety of live plant that is thriving.
But most of all, I have a 279 gallon tank full of dreams. I keep going back and forth over whether or not to sell the tank or have some fun with it; I just can't decide if I really have the time to dedicate to it right now. But, a tank of possibilities can be fun too!
Thanks again for this topic, I enjoyed the trip down memory lane.
Kathi
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