When I was in elementary school an aquarium helped me raise frogs from eggs to adults. Watching the frogs develop though the life cycle was fascinating. When they were fully grown, I released them back into the neighborhood drainage pond where I collected the eggs.
Then when I was in middle school, I kept aquariums with fish. I had ten gallon tanks with some neon tetras, zebra and glass tetras, upside catfish and an algae eater. I do not remember why I stopped, but I remember the tanks were broken during a hail storm. The aquariums were on the porch, after the fish were already gone.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I rediscovered my love for the fish keeping hobby. My son came home early from college. Along with him, came a betta fish. When he went back to school, the fish stayed behind. This gave me an excuse to buy a bigger tank, some friends and then a second tank!
Ten Gallon Aquarium
Unsure of my husbands reaction to my newfound aquarium hobby, I purchased a ten gallon tank for the betta fish. To keep him company, two molly fish and two Panda Corydora catfish were also bought. Things all changed when one molly fish gave birth and then the second one too! Suddenly, the ten gallon tank seemed crowded.
The ten gallon tank now sits in my craft room. Previously, the tanks functioned as a home for five male molly fish, six catfish, a zebra nerite snail, a mystery snail and a few ghost shrimp. Currently, it is home to a family of less than a dozen catfish and two male mystery snails.
Pictures of my ten gallon aquarium
Twenty Gallon Aquarium
The twenty gallon tank was purchased to help with the sudden influx of molly fish. Having two tanks gave me a way to sort the male molly fish from the females. Originally, there were more females than males so they gained residency in the twenty gallon tank. My catfish pair turned out to be one male and one female. This discovery was just the beginning of the catfish population boom that is occurring.
The twenty gallon tank resides in the dining room. Previously home to four female molly fish, more catfish than I can count (at least a dozen), a tiger nerite snail, a mystery snail and a single cherry shrimp. There are now 20-something catfish, six female mystery snails, and the last remaining Molly fish, a female nick-named Stretch.