...But first, coffee (with Jen)

I remember receiving my 10 gal aquarium for Christmas in 1999.  This was my second tank - the first being a 5 gal which was kept in the kitchen, but I don't remember when I started keeping fish in that tank. I had the 10 gal aquarium set up in my childhood bedroom for about 10 years. At first, this was a cold water set up with blackmore fish, comets, and a few other short-lived fish. My longest living cold water fish lived for about 2 years. Over the first few years of my 10 gal set up, my fish died quickly and I didn't know why because it was a similar set up to the 5 gal that I moved up from. That is, I didn't know why until I placed an aquarium thermometer in the tank. This was when I discovered my "cold water tank" was actually being heated to tropical temperatures because of the hood light and the exterior air in the house/room.  The tank water was far too warm for the cold water fish, which is why they kept dying a few months after being placed in the tank...