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Hello from Hinton


Roxy
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I grew up with fish in the 70's in Edmonton, my mom had 20 tanks. Mainly angels,oscars,convicts and live bearers. Starting in 87 when I moved on my own I started with 4 tanks, 33,48,54, and a 40. I kept angels, severums, the odd discus, silver dollars.  However I moved a lot, so pared down to just the 48 gal. I later kept a few fancy gold fish in 2000.

 My son and I just got back into the hobby, last Aug as our new neighbor is a fish keeper. So we were bitten by the fish keeping bug.  We have a 55, a 33, a 15 and a 20 as backup. They are basically community tanks. I'm looking to connect with fish breeders of Moscow guppies and quality swords and platys in Edmonton. We come monthly for medical appointments. My son just had major hip surgery at 17. So he finds his 2 tanks very relaxing.

He has this betta in a 15g with a few tetras. He's loaded with personality, he likes hanging out in a submerged glass 7up bottle. He's the only fish that goes in there. He likes to sit with his head poking out. The neons aren't even interested in the bottle.

 I'm amazed the changes that have taken place in the hobby since the 80's. I've learned plenty just reading on the forums last few weeks. So we are looking forward to making contacts in the Edmonton area. 

All my old haunts are gone: John's Fish ponds, I knew jack quite well and my mom knew both of his parents. Tropical Fish gallery in the N end, I remember when they started on 42 st and 118 ave, then 45 st and 118 ave, last moved just off of 66st across from the SPCA. They had some beautiful discus, I used to drool over!! Another favourite was the Koi fish shop on Stony Plain Rd and 152 street. These 3 places were the only ones that I bought from. It was always a treat to see the new shipments. The owners took time to talk fish. Jack was my favourite in a private home in Highlands. I often wonder what happened to these people? We run AC's on our tanks.  I expect to be asking many questions!

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Hi Roxy,

There are a few good local breeders but most of the online activity for buying/selling happens on the Edmonton Aquarium Facebook Group. Too bad you missed the Edmonton auction last month which had a lot of fancy guppies, and a healthy buyers interest for them too I noticed. Calgary has its auction today!

I was most active in my fish hobby from the mid 70's to 90's in the Netherlands and got seriously back into the hobby last year. I didn't notice too much change on the equipment but the selection of fish and stores is a lot less than I was used to in the Netherlands. IMO there is also more commercialization of gadgets, pills and 'elixirs' that you apparently need to be a responsible hobbyist but that you can do without with a bit of knowledge and proper tank care and fish selection.

Wrt the undergravel filter. I never used one and what I heard is they can clog up the substrate but like you said generations group up on them and to me they have the advantage that everything is in the tank. No tubing to start leaking and heat loss as the water is pumped around canisters, boxes, etc. I personally don't use any filters and use heavily planted tanks to let the plants remove fish waste. By the way, you can still buy undergravel filters, at least I saw them on Amazon.ca.

All the best,  Bart

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Yes, biodives, I agree the amount of bottled preparations has greatly expanded and the gadgets. The selection of fish has greatly decreased too. I've also noticed that a lot of different colours have entered the scene on the livebearers.  I'd love to have a CK, but tank size stops me. We live in a 1995 manufactured home and I'd worry about a big enough tank going through the floor.

My neighbor in a 1972 trailer has a 210 gal with a 90 gal sump and a 110 and a 60 I'd be scared !!

 The other big change I noticed was people using sumps. I never even knew what that was. Of course back then a 77 gal was a big tank for in the house. Thanks for the tip on the Edmonton group. 

We want to experiment with a planted tank outside this summer. So have been reading up on it. I remember many old timers having them.

Unfortunately we have a tiny hobby and pet store out here. So selection is dismal.

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Last year I moved from a house with large and very natural self-made pond to a condo and am thinking about setting up tank, or more likely tubs, on the balcony. Perhaps in combination with some aquaponics. The pond could swing a few degrees over a day but above ground I expect much larger temperature swings with both very high and, if you want to stretch the season, quite low temperatures. I've been interested in desert pupfish, some of which can survive 4-40C temp ranges. Of course finding such fish for sale will be the hard part. The other issue is bringing them inside, or rehoming them, at the end of the season. I've been wondering if there are smallish native fish that could benefit from captive breeding and release to boost their numbers. That would solve the rehoming issue and bring me more in touch with the local natural aquatic world rather lust after far-away exotics. Last year I caught some unidentified fish fry late in the season and released them at 1-1.5" back into the same pond before winter.

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I had an above ground ~150 gal. Tub that went from 16c to 34c in one day, more than once. I added a heater when it dropped to 14 one night, an set it to 18 c. I did cover 1/2 of the tub for shade with a sheet of foam insulation and covered 90 % at night.

The boesmani rainbow fish and s.american river cichlids survived. The rainbows spawned every day and I harvested a hundred fry.

J

 

 

Edited by geleen
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