[Cmex84]

Hey everyone. I'm Crystal. I'm a mom of 3 and my kids wanted an aquarium for Christmas this year. I did research for weeks, got all the basics and cycled the water, and just put the fish in the other day! Funny, this was for them, and it spiraled into something that I'm excited to expand on with other avenues in the hobby lol, so this should be interesting for all of us!

Always dreamed (when I was younger) of becoming a marine biologist. Sadly, those dreams weren't in the cards for me. Always wanted to live near the ocean. Huge "water baby" all my life. Ocean life has always fascinated me, and so therapeutic to just sit back and enjoy. So, I guess you could say that this was right up my alley too.

So far, the kids are loving it. My lil one can't keep her face from being pressed against the glass (figuratively speaking) and even my teens think it's pretty cool.

We started with a 20gal freshwater tank. I got the water conditioner/bacteria items all together, made sure to cycle the tank for a few days (without fish) and took the water into Pet-smart for a quality check. All was perfect! We had each of the kids (and hubby/myself) choose one fish we wanted. We chose a gold panda molly, black molly, cobra tailed guppy, green lantern platy and a mickey mouse platy.
So far so good.
Everyone looks to be getting along nicely. We're still just starting out, and I know that I have a LOT to learn, and a lot to teach my kiddos yet. But, looking forward to this being a fun, family hobby to grow as we go.

Excited to being able to "sponge" off all this forum has to offer. I've already put quite a few miles on my YouTube/google research lol. When I get into something like this, I go 110%, so I'm ready to learn more! I'd love to eventually get a Betta, and also start a reef tank in the distant future, after we get a good feel for the freshwater and a system in place, and more space after we move sometime within a year or two. But, that'll be awhile. I want to make sure we have this down first.

Feel free to give me any advice, correct any misinformation I may post about, suggestions etc. Constructive criticism is always welcome! I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions, so I'm glad to have found this site and hopefully can make sure that our family can enjoy our tanks for years to come!