It’s Gk!!!!

Keerthana is energized when she pens down something very close to her heart…..I used to write in the past, thanks to her I am trying to rekindle my past passions and leave those memories to stay for years to come. We both have a few hobbies that keep us locked up while we have our daily morning tea. This site is a namesake of my favorite childhood hobby of fish keeping. People who know me can relate how close I am with this hobby. Rain or Shine keeping aquariums was never boring or tiring.

This is my marine aquarium landscape as on May 10, 2020.

Like many other aquarists, my story also starts with keeping freshwater fish. When I was penniless I used to go to ponds/river to catch Tilapia/Barb/Tinfoil and keep them in whatever I found at home and that is how this hobby started…somewhere at the age of 16 with around 10 aquariums at home all the money given by mom would be spent on the hobby. I still remember the day when I saw Ocellaris Clownfish at my regular aquarium shop and that was the first time I encountered marine fishkeeping in India (Chennai). I saw this clownfish inside the anemone and it was really beautiful, with no idea of what it would take to keep marine fish I spend all my pocket money in buying them on the same day. I requested the fish shop owner to lend me some saltwater,  came back home, and worked on setting up my first marine aquarium. A week later I went to the sea (Bay of Bengal) and got saltwater for my first water change. The same week I saw that my anemone is dying and my clownfish’s eyes were gradually swelling. I lost both of them in a few weeks.

Long story short, I quit Marine fishkeeping and I continued with my freshwater setup for years but I always wanted Marine aquarium. Thanks to my love, I set up my marine aquarium in 2012 and started learning about them.

My 2012, 20 Gallon setup

Very healthy growth of Hawaiian Tang, 2013

Really not sure why this happened, our aquarium is filled with Star Polyps, 2014

It’s been 8 years now and my aquarium is a lively ecosystem. I have not seen the crystal clear water, change color apart from one overfeeding mishap while we were not at home.  We lost most of our fishes in this mishap, need to be cautious when you have automated feeders.

Let me introduce the family one at a time with some easy tips to keep fish happy.

Vivid Puple color

He is relaxed, with lot of space

Purple tang is a reef surgeonfish, found in the Arabian sea & Red sea. He can survive for 25-30 years and we wish to see that happen (My record was a clownfish which survived with us for 7 years from 2012). This purple tang has been with the family for 3 years now and we have been seeing him grow bigger. The pleasure of fishkeeping is ecstatic when you get the fish as fry(little ones) and make them grow under your watch. I try to get them very young and watch them grow.

Purple tang is semi-aggressive and territorial. They demand lengthy space to swim around and need greens(Sea weed) to be fed for better immunity. Eventually, I plan to create a family of 2 purple tangs, and 2 Hawaiian yellow tangs in my dream aquarium.