I started tropical fishkeeping in around 1986. Sadly, I have had all sorts of fish and even a marine tank. I say "Sadly" because in my ineptitude many, many fish have died in my "care".
Most people seem to think (initially, myself included), that you buy a tank, put some plastic plants in, a heater, maybe a filter, and then add water, followed by fish pretty fish that you saw in the pet shop, and there you go! That could not be further from the truth.
Someone once said "we are not keepers of fish, but keepers of water". This is so true.
is is a truly great hobby and though I am still not very knowledgeable in the art of fishkeeping despite the many years that I have been involved in it, a few things that I have learnt are:
1. We are indeed keepers of water. If the water in the aquarium is perfect for the fish you have in that aquarium, then they will do well.
2. Allelopathy is nasty and can be costly. (Basically, one plant species will kill off the others until you only have that one species left).
3. The fancier the fish, the more easily it dies.
4. Research of plants and fish (as regards compatibility wither fish and plants, as well as water and lighting requirements) is vital to your aquarium's longevity.
5. Fish die. So don't get attached, and don't give them names!
It is vital that you only put certain things (rocks, wood, etc) into your aquarium. Putting the wrong type of rock, wood, or ornament in the tank could end up killing all the fish due to toxicity.
This is a completely natural rock that I was SUPER fortunate to have picked up whilst hiking in the Magaliesberg mountains one day. I have had it since 1986.
I won't show photos of my setups prior to 2006 as that will only bring back sad memories.
The above is a Southeast Asian biotope. (A biotope is a representation of a specific region of a habitat associated, with a particular ecological community). I researched this project for about two years before I added water for the first time.
I really enjoyed this 1.2m (200L) aquarium and am sorry that I eventually sold it - to make space to put a cabinet that I had made for displaying my models.
(Not sorry that I made the cabinet, sorry that I had sold the aquarium!)
This was my birthday present in 2006. It is a 40L coldwater aquarium. No heater. No filter. Plants do the filtration. Different fish have come and gone, but this little aquarium has just kept on going - with little to no fuss, I must add.
Maybe I am lazy, maybe I am smarter than I think, but I don't do all the usual MUST-DOs that is ascribed to, and subsequently discouraging people from starting, this hobby. I don't do regular water changes, I don't "clean the tank", I don't test the water parameters weekly.
What I do though, is to have loads of plants for extra purifcation, top up the water when it has evaporated below a certain level, feed the fish, and lately I have started adding fertilizer for the plants (iron, phosphorus,pottasium, nitrogen). I clean the filters when I notice that the water flow from the filters has dropped and only do large (30-40%) water changes when the fish get sick, or have suddenly died.
The above is a 700mm cube (300L) that I sincerely
regret having started because it is simply too deep for me to comfortably work in (trimming
plants, adding plants, picking up the occassional dead fish, etc). As can be seen in the photo to the right - taken when I initially set up the tank. Plus it has a wooden lid, making it even deeper to reach into!
As per the photos above, this was originally a Brazil stream biotope, complete with Leopoldi angels. They died when I was on a business trip and the temperatures in Cape Town soared to the 40s (celsius). That was sad. It is always sad when a fish dies.
August 2016
Covid came and we ended up working from home. I happily set up my home office - and of course, it needed an aquarium. I set up a 60L aquarium and it is especially relaxing to watch during those long Skype/Teams meetings.
February 2022
I don't know how I am going to get this aquarium back to its 2008 condition, but I wil keep on trying. It is not worth selling as I will never get back what I paid to set it up (excluding fish and plants). Perhaps, one day, when I am too frail to climb the little ladder and do the necessary acrobatics, then I will convert it to a terrarium or planarium, or .....
March 2010
Betta splendens - a.k.a. Siamese fighter fish. What a beautiful fish with great character!
Their natural habitat are the rice paddies of Southeast Asia but have been bred to beautiful colourations and are often showed at competitions. They live for about two to five years. I have had one. His name was Clarence and he lived for almost two years until I overfed him. You see, unbeknownst to me, Betta's will eat until they die. And that is what happened. I fed him special Betta food - which are one millimeter in size and though I was told to only feed him four pellets a day, he kept looking hungry, so I gave him six, sometimes eight pellets. Then one day he died. That was super sad. At least he died happy.
Last but not least, is my 18L coldwater aquarium. Yet another gem that simply evolves and evolves. No heater, no filter. Only plants and a handful of simple, coldwater swordtails.
(I hasten to add, when I initially set it up, I had plants in that needed a heater. Then allelopathy happened.... I'll say no more, except that I switched the heater off and left it...)
Jan 2023: Some new photos. As mentioned before, aquariums evolve. Mostly through allelopathy. (Allelopathy is a sub-discipline of chemical ecology that is concerned with the effects of chemicals produced by plants or microorganisms on the growth, development and distribution of other plants and microorganisms in natural communities or agricultural systems (Einhellig, 1995)). In simple terms, one species of plants can kill out others.
Because I don't really fiddle much in my aquariums allelopathy is a real thing!