Fish tank in Stuff

Last week I set up the fish tank that Ayden left behind after he moved out. It’s been sitting in my room since just taking up space, and I’d even bought aquarium decorations and gravel etc in the event that I would one day set it up and get a fish of my own.
The only time I’ve ever had fish before was MANY years ago when my ex and I had Siamese Fighter’s, but they were in tiny separate tanks because they are vicious bastards who kill each other if in the same tank. Talk about anger management problems.

So my original idea was to only set up that tank when I moved out of here, but for some crazy reason, last week on my days off, I set it up in the lounge in the only spot I could really think to put it - on top of that bookshelf where the speakers were. I moved the speakers down to the ground, put the decorations in the bottom of the aquarium and spent an hour or so filling up buckets of water until the tank was gradually full. I measured out the required amount of Ager per water ratio and I think I got it about right. With so many trips I think I might have been out a little. I then turned on the filter and left it to run for a few days to try and get the water right.

Today when I was out getting my usual groceries (exciting, right?) I went to Big W first and checked out their pool section to see if they had pH testers, and was surprised to find a few! There was one for $10 and one for $15, but that’s still cheaper than the aquarium ones which I’d researched online starting at $30 and going up to $120. Fuck, I’m only testing pH, not ordering a hooker!
So I figured the pool ones would be good enough and went home and tested it tonight after dinner.

It came up at about 7.4 and I really want to get an Angelfish, which I’ve since discovered is one of the most popular fish choices for beginner’s, next to goldfish. I’ve spent the week researching all about them and what climates they like, and apparently they like a pH between 6.5 and 7.6, so it looks like my tank is JUST in that range, and I now feel confident enough that I can go ahead and go to the aquarium and purchase an Angelfish to put in there.
I was also surprised to read that they are both an aggressive and a shy fish, so I can’t put in any more than three angelfish in one tank, but they can grow to be the size of a palm, and given the tank above is 70 litres, it’s ideal to only put the one fish in there. I think I could possibly go two, but I only really have the few decorations and they like to hide because they are shy. It’s just that the websites say they are territorial, so if I’m going to put them in, it’s good to put them in together so they grow up together and can’t fight over who was there first.
Who knew fish were so pushy?

There was a while there where I wanted to just take all the water back out and forget about the idea. Fish are a lot of work I’ve heard, as you have to change some of the water weekly to clean the tank and their waste and add the required Ager and keep checking the pH levels, but I thought to myself today that it’s really just me being lazy and even if I do move out eventually, it’s easy enough to take the damn fish with me. That is, if I don’t accidentally kill it.
I do think I’ve prepared myself pretty well for it though. I just have to get the fish, let it sit in the bag for 30-45 minutes to let it acclimatize and then gradually mix the aquarium water into the bag I bring it home in.

I may have my first pet since I was a kid soon! I just have to think of a really gay name to give it once I get it :) And hope my housemate’s cat likes it. He seems to think she won’t even notice it.