Hello from the Marketing Gorilla

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akagorilla

Posted 9/3/2008 6:16:10 PM

New Member

Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/11/2008 3:40:12 PM
Posts: 11, Visits: 11

Ok, so I'm glad I found you here. I've got some fishy ideas floating around in my head and I want to make sure my third go around in this hobby much more successful than than the first two attempts. The first in 1995, the next in 99 and it all died about two years ago.

On Sunday I picked up a copy of FreshWater Marine and Aquarium magazine and found the fishchannel website. I hadn't read a fish mag in about 6 years.

My job, just in case anyone cares? I'm an internet marketing geek with 15 years writing, public relations and online marketing experience. You can view my blog on my profile for more information. I have participated in many other forums regarding work, so I get the rules of the community. I hope to be a part of this one soon.

Post #154758

akagorilla

Posted 9/3/2008 7:12:32 PM

New Member

Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/11/2008 3:40:12 PM
Posts: 11, Visits: 11

Since my idea is going to be spread out over multiple forums here on FishChannel, I need to write it down somewhere so I can refer to the master plan. So please excuse the novel I'm adding here.

My general idea is to have three small aquariums but I'm sure this idea will morph quickly after I hear from some of you. I like the idea of having a freshwater planted tank, a saltwater tank and probably another freshwater tank. I'm thinking less than 10 gallons each. I love the concept of small, but I want this little aquarium to look like big aquarium inside. I want it to be packed with life and style. When people walk into my place, I want them to look at my miniature environments and go Holy [refrain from using profanity]zky! That's a cool little setup. Do you know what I mean?

I don't want to start off with a big aquarium because I might move again in less than a year and I don't want the headache of moving a massive aquarium again, not for a year at least.

So I'm starting from scratch. No aquarium. No equipment. No fish. The fish are the least of my worries. I don't like anything fancy. Tetras, Corys and maybe an Angel for freshwater. Then whatever I can get in the saltwater that is common and easy to keep in a small tank.

My passion has always been the environment, the plants, the rocks, the overall presence of the tank and how it makes me feel when I get lost in it. I need some peace in my new place people!

My fishkeeping history is such: In 1995, I bought a 20-gallon kit from Super Wal-Mart in Georgia. No clue what I was doing. I killed some fish, got it stabilized and had it looking good for about 6 months. Then I got greedy and bought a 10-gallon tank for another room. Both tanks were very simple and I learned the basics over the first year.

The next tank was a 46-gallon bow front aquarium. Great show tank for my apartment. I had two bio-wheels leftover from the first tanks, which were now in storage. I set this one up and started adding some plants. They took off and so I invested in a higher quality light for the double hood. Then they really took off. Every plant I added was flourishing. Within a few months, my plants were out of control. I started trimming them and taking them to the local fish store and getting credit. I did this for two years and never paid for fish supplies for a long time.

In 99, I moved from Atlanta to Tampa and tried to start a saltwater set-up in the same aquarium with the same filters. That lasted for about 6 months before it just wouldn't work and I was tired of it. I went back to freshwater but realized that the hard water in Florida wouldn't give me the same flourishing plant life that I had before. After a few years, it just wasn't fun anymore to pay attention to the big ugly fish tank. And the kids were never really interested so I got rid of it, along with the wife.

Now, the ex has moved the kids back to Atlanta and I'm following. So I want the next aquarium set-up to be perfect so it's nice and calming for me and fun for the kids when they visit.

And I guess I should share where the passion came from again to start back into the hobby. I found after the divorce that a $9 kit of sea monkeys from Target gave me a sense of weird pleasure while I was at work. I loved watching those suckers grow and be happy. I even turned on my office webcam and showcased the sea monkeys for the world to see. I had hundreds of people everyday tuning in to watch them.

Its that miniature environment from the sea monkeys that I want to capture in my tanks. I even wrote away and ordered some more sea monkey packs. I know they are brine shrimp but the kids are fascinated by them and are really looking forward to more sea monkeys.

I'll be asking lots of questions about tanks, filters, rocks, substrate and all the other gadgets that I can think of to make this dream come true for me and the kids.

End rant. Thanks for reading.

Post #154762

FattFishy

Posted 9/3/2008 9:34:57 PM

Senior Member

Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 6:15:02 PM
Posts: 1,542, Visits: 1,001

This sounds fun... I had a brain fart so I can't really do much besides comment about it... off to bed.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cut Here

If life gives you lemons, squeeze them into people's eyes and run away!

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Post #154767