Hi guys, just wondered of any of you keep aquariums? I love this hobby and would love to here about your tank(s) and your fish!

Always wondered about your name.

Ha! Hi Pakar, I'm an avid angler and the name has more to do with my two passions in life. Magic and fishing. But I love fish in general. I find them fascinating creatures and have had aquariums with a variety of species over the years.
I just got a new 45 gallon tank and it has rekindled an old hobby.

While I love fishing I have not had a tank since I was younger. Once I started being gone so much to perform I found it does not keep as clean as I would like.

My grandfather used to say "God does not count the time spent fishing against you, and doubles everything else". No religious debates guys just an old mans expression of how much he loved to fish.

Great quote, Danny, I love it.

I have a one gallon fish bowl on my kitchen island with a single Beta fish we named Sid, short for Sid Vicious, because as I understand it Beta kill their own. He's a beautiful Beta and my wife and I love the little guy. He leaves lots of bubble nests, which I'm also told tells us that he's a happy camper. I would like to have a full blown aquarium, but the maintenance required stops me in my tracks. The reason I love my one gallon Sid is that he doesn't need an aerator and all we have to do is change a gallon of water once each a week. I like that, and so far so does Sid because he gives us lots of bubbles!

Way to go, Bob. Sid sounds great! Low maintenance and enjoyable.

Hey magicfish, you seem to know your fish; what's the story with the nesting bubbles of the Beta that says they're happy? Sid gives us lots of bubbles and I'm trying to understand the biology here. Any info you can provide will be much appreciated. We love this little guy and want to keep him around for awhile. When I bought him and asked how long he will live, the response was, "You'll probably kill him from over feeding before he dies of natural causes." Well, we feed him regularly and only by the book. And we love those bubbles. Any info appreciated. I know I could google my question, but I'd rather hear from one who knows, than from Wikipedia. Thanks! bogb

I would love to own an aquarium, but right now I have a dog and the money and time required of owning a dog kinda makes it difficult to be able to own and aquarium and have the time to maintain one properly.

Hi magicfish, thanks for starting a thread on this.

I have two tanks;

A peaceful 10G consisting of a beautiful blue, red & black halfmoon Betta, 6 harlequin rasbora, 5 panda corydoras, 1 bronze cory and 5 japonica shrimp.

And then there’s the boisterous 25g with a pair of marbled Gourami’s, 7 black widow tetra, 3 neon tetra, a leopard danio, a silver shark and a bristlenose pleco called Bane. (less than ideal and a bit dysfunctional, I took it off the hands of a friend who set it up without much research, I added more BW tetra to even out the aggression, those things remind me of little piranha’s)

What do you have in the 45g?

Sounds like a really interesting mix, Steve.
My new 45 is a cichlid tank.
1 yellow lab
3 red zebras
1 Auratus
1 fire mouth
1 convict
1 jewel
1 tiger loach
...and 1 large bluish cichlid I haven't identified yet. I got it on a whim from an out of business pet shop. So my tank is a bit disfunctional too!
I'm really happy with it. I set up a chair in front of it and I sit and watch. Its very relaxing.

Just purchased a new fish.
Clarius Batrachus, or Walking Catfish.
Years ago I had a Shovel-Nosed Catfish and I loved it. This is my first cat since.
Apparently they grow quite large and are extremely aggeessive with a voracious appetite.
I love fish I can relate to lol.

I am a fish whisperer.

...aaaaaand it's gone. That's right, gone. I woke up this morning and my Walking Catfish had, well, walked. They can breathe air and can walk on their pectoral fins.
Now the trick is finding him before the wife does!!!!!

I have a pond in the summer and just keep some goldfish (they grow huge; best investment in fish), clams and snails. They go into an 80G tank indoors for the winter. My daughter (with my assistance) keeps a 60G with a turtle, some catfish and cichlids, a 30G with angelfish a bichir and some other things (memory fading...). My wife keeps a couple of bettas on her desk.

Snails are interesting to watch. My apple snail cruises along pretty good.
With the loss of my catfish I've just run out and purchased an Oscar and a Peacock Bass.

I need closure to the catfish story. How does it walk out of a tank? The tank wasn't too high for that? No lid on top? Did you find the body?

Lol. No closure yet, balducci.
I bought the fish knowing what it was capable of and knowing that my aquarium is not entirely covered. I figured the catfish would stay put until I could replace my canopy- I was wrong.
They like to jump. And breathe air. And crawl to another watery home. They can travel great distances on land provided they stay moist. So my guess is he's shrivelled up dead under the furniture somewhere. If I tell the wife she won't sleep till its found.

Your nose will find him in a couple of days.

I just did some reading on the walking catfish and was surprised to see that its listed as an invasive species and that owning them is prohibited in many states. Apparently many who were originally sold to aquarists have been released into the wild where they have created havoc among native species.

These Southeast Asian natives seem to prefer deep stagnant water, which may be why yours decided to split.