Hello Fish and Reef Lovers!
I am Lisa, and I just moved from San Antonio Texas to Manhattan in August of 08' to go to school.
I got into fish randomly. My boyfriends father had a 35 gallon fish tank in the living room that was always empty of fish, and not really taken care of. For years this tank sat there full of water but empty of fish. One day his dad decided of bring home a couple of fish. I couldnt stop staring at the tank, i fell in love with those random tropicals. So did my boyfriend. So the very next day we went to that fish store (fintique, san antonio TX) and got more fish, live plants, etc. We just kept adding more and more stuff to the tank untill one day we decided to get out own fish tank. It was a 90 gallon. First it was all South American cichlids, then we gave them away (well, most of them, we still have the pearsei- personally my favorite) and switched to african cichlids. Then we moved up to a 125 (because it was on sale that day!
) Then we tried saltwater, a 30 gallon which turned out to be a miserable tank - ugly and dirty, and well just a general tank disaster. So we downgraded to an Oceanic Biocube 14 gallon. That reef tank turned out to be everything that 30 gallon wasnt.
Speaking of the move. The tanks were packed up in a Uhaul (everytime we went over a big bump my stomach turned at a mental image of a cracked 125 and shattered biocube) The fish were air mailed. This turned out to be awful. When we got to the mail center to pick them up the attendant said "oh we had a problem with your shipment..." we went to the back and saw soaking boxes and discovered that all of the bags were empty (no water at all in the bags)
We filled the bags up with the water hose, and rushed to a nearby fish store we passed on the way over. They charged us $50 to rebag the fish that needed it, and to dechlorinate the others that had to be filled with the hose water at the mailing center. Luckily only one fish didnt make it (he died a few days later in the tank). Even though the bags were empty of water, it was moist enough in the bags to keep the fishes gills wet. Oh well.
We brought the corals over in an ice chest. That was a disaster too, some mushrooms got covered in aragonite and turned into a pungent slime, some polyps just disapeered altogether and a hermit crab died. Looking back on it, there was probably a better way to transport the coral.'
I was spoiled by my fantastic fish stores in San Antonio: Fintique, Daves Rare Aquarium Fish, Texas Tropical and Marine, Aquarium Designs, Wolf Reef, and B&B Aquatics....and since moving to manhattan the only places that I have been are petland discounts and a petco...ugh! Can anybody reccommend good reef stores and cichlid stores!?
Oh well, sorry for such a long post, hah, but thanks for taking the time to read it!
I am Lisa, and I just moved from San Antonio Texas to Manhattan in August of 08' to go to school.
I got into fish randomly. My boyfriends father had a 35 gallon fish tank in the living room that was always empty of fish, and not really taken care of. For years this tank sat there full of water but empty of fish. One day his dad decided of bring home a couple of fish. I couldnt stop staring at the tank, i fell in love with those random tropicals. So did my boyfriend. So the very next day we went to that fish store (fintique, san antonio TX) and got more fish, live plants, etc. We just kept adding more and more stuff to the tank untill one day we decided to get out own fish tank. It was a 90 gallon. First it was all South American cichlids, then we gave them away (well, most of them, we still have the pearsei- personally my favorite) and switched to african cichlids. Then we moved up to a 125 (because it was on sale that day!
Speaking of the move. The tanks were packed up in a Uhaul (everytime we went over a big bump my stomach turned at a mental image of a cracked 125 and shattered biocube) The fish were air mailed. This turned out to be awful. When we got to the mail center to pick them up the attendant said "oh we had a problem with your shipment..." we went to the back and saw soaking boxes and discovered that all of the bags were empty (no water at all in the bags)
We brought the corals over in an ice chest. That was a disaster too, some mushrooms got covered in aragonite and turned into a pungent slime, some polyps just disapeered altogether and a hermit crab died. Looking back on it, there was probably a better way to transport the coral.'
I was spoiled by my fantastic fish stores in San Antonio: Fintique, Daves Rare Aquarium Fish, Texas Tropical and Marine, Aquarium Designs, Wolf Reef, and B&B Aquatics....and since moving to manhattan the only places that I have been are petland discounts and a petco...ugh! Can anybody reccommend good reef stores and cichlid stores!?
Oh well, sorry for such a long post, hah, but thanks for taking the time to read it!
