Hello! I'm new here, so I guess I'll give a quick little introduction to why this tank exists.
I'm a high school student who's going into college next year, and have been going to school, working a job, and paying on several bills and expenses for a while now. I've always enjoyed having aquariums, but I'm gone from my house from 7 AM till 11 PM on most days now, and on days I'm not gone, I'm usually in bed asleep or trying to catch up on homework. So, my hobby has kind of taken a hit, and while I don't want to stop caring and enjoying my saltwater tank, I think I need something that's going to be less stressful and a bit more entrancing to watch. I love saltwater, but it can be a bit much to keep up with! Plus, setting up a new tank always relaxes me, especially when it's a pretty simple set-up. So, here we go!
I grabbed a 5.5 gallon out of my closet, and decided to use the equipment I already had with the tank - at Top Fin Internal Filter with an AC sponge and a preset heater from Walmart. Both work fine for a standard 5.5, and have lasted me a long time in various applications. I went with some brown pea gravel I had in my closet (big mistake), and some cleaned base rock from an old reef tank. I set it up, and started cycling!
About a week into my cycle, I went to my LFS to see what they had and to pick up some plants. I came away with a few ideas, a Java Fern Windelov, a Red Tiger Lotus, and a Val. Lighting over this tank is just a desk lamp with a 7W 5000K LED bulb (which adequately lights the tank), but I hope to be upgrading to a PAR 30 suspended above the tank within the next couple of weeks when my next paycheck comes in. Should help the plants out!
I let the tank cycle, and I took my time to plan out exactly what I wanted. I finally decided that I was going to go with a pea puffer. I had kept one before, but it was before I really knew anything about fish - I tried to feed it flake, kept it with mollies, angelfish, and gouramis, and not surprisingly, it died pretty quickly. I was going to do it right this time. Three weeks in, and I went to get a snail colony starter. Got a few pond snails and a few ramshorns, threw them into a jar, and put it onto the windowsill to grow. Once the tank cycled, I picked up a little puffer, and brought him home. He was skinny, but most puffers are at the stores around here. Sadly, he never really ate, even after going through a few rounds of Prazipro and Metroplex. I guess he was too far gone with the parasites when I got him. He refused live snails, live brine, frozen bloodworms, and live blackworms. He just sorta disappeared in the tank one day. Pretty sad.
I gave the tank a week while ghost feeding, and brought in a female betta. She was pretty ugly, but was in like 1" of water in her cup at Meijer. I felt bad for her and brought her home. I realize bringing a fish into a sick tank isn't a good idea, but I have meds on hand and it's a betta. She's probably better off sick in a cycled tank than "healthy" in a cup! While I did enjoy having her around, it wasn't really what I wanted. Coming home to a relatively empty tank with a betta kinda gliding around is calming, sure, but it's not the entrancing movement and color I want. I decided to give her to a LFS who'll put her into a sorority, and move onto the next idea.
While I was at the LFS, I saw that they had a pretty unique fish (at least for around here): Ember Tetras. A school of 8, for like $1.50 each. Juvenile, and not super colorful yet, but recognizable. I snatched them up super quickly, as I'd always wanted to try some of the tiny tetras or rasboras, but had never had the opportunity locally. I also picked up a trio of male endlers, and a few ghost shrimp. I got everyone home, acclimated, and went to work - and when I got home, this tank was basically exactly what I want. Small, but extremely active and colorful with an easy maintenance schedule. There's always something going on in this tank, and I love it. I did lose a few of the Ember tetras (3), but they all had bent spines and terrible color - I think they probably should have been culled, or maybe they were injured in shipping. The remaining 5 are doing great, and so are the endlers and shrimp.
I went to the LFS to trade in a coral the other day, and ended up with an interesting critter. A freshwater pom pom crab! I had seen a few online, but had never seen any in person. When I saw him, I had to take him home. I thought about setting up a little tank for him, but thought he'd be better off with the abundance of food in the 5.5. This guy was a great addition, and honestly, is one of my absolutely favorite parts of the tank. Not only does he have some great patterns, but his pom poms are very bright, and he's out and about quite a bit around the tank. He's hard to find on this ugly pea gravel, but you can usually find him scurrying around somewhere.
So, that's been the journey of this tank so far! I'm glad it's finally settled in, and I'm hoping to finalize the equipment and start adding more plants soon. I think I might switch to pool sand in the near future, but I'll have to wait until it comes into stock later on in the year. The gravel looks okay, but it grows dark brown algae, and makes it hard to find any fish or inverts that are hiding near the bottom. I realize that this tank is stocked fairly heavily, but I do weekly water change and feed pretty light. I plan to try and replace a few of the Ember Tetras that I lost, as the 5 that remain are still pretty skittish and might feel better with a couple more in there.
Pics!
Thanks for reading!
I'm a high school student who's going into college next year, and have been going to school, working a job, and paying on several bills and expenses for a while now. I've always enjoyed having aquariums, but I'm gone from my house from 7 AM till 11 PM on most days now, and on days I'm not gone, I'm usually in bed asleep or trying to catch up on homework. So, my hobby has kind of taken a hit, and while I don't want to stop caring and enjoying my saltwater tank, I think I need something that's going to be less stressful and a bit more entrancing to watch. I love saltwater, but it can be a bit much to keep up with! Plus, setting up a new tank always relaxes me, especially when it's a pretty simple set-up. So, here we go!
I grabbed a 5.5 gallon out of my closet, and decided to use the equipment I already had with the tank - at Top Fin Internal Filter with an AC sponge and a preset heater from Walmart. Both work fine for a standard 5.5, and have lasted me a long time in various applications. I went with some brown pea gravel I had in my closet (big mistake), and some cleaned base rock from an old reef tank. I set it up, and started cycling!
About a week into my cycle, I went to my LFS to see what they had and to pick up some plants. I came away with a few ideas, a Java Fern Windelov, a Red Tiger Lotus, and a Val. Lighting over this tank is just a desk lamp with a 7W 5000K LED bulb (which adequately lights the tank), but I hope to be upgrading to a PAR 30 suspended above the tank within the next couple of weeks when my next paycheck comes in. Should help the plants out!
I let the tank cycle, and I took my time to plan out exactly what I wanted. I finally decided that I was going to go with a pea puffer. I had kept one before, but it was before I really knew anything about fish - I tried to feed it flake, kept it with mollies, angelfish, and gouramis, and not surprisingly, it died pretty quickly. I was going to do it right this time. Three weeks in, and I went to get a snail colony starter. Got a few pond snails and a few ramshorns, threw them into a jar, and put it onto the windowsill to grow. Once the tank cycled, I picked up a little puffer, and brought him home. He was skinny, but most puffers are at the stores around here. Sadly, he never really ate, even after going through a few rounds of Prazipro and Metroplex. I guess he was too far gone with the parasites when I got him. He refused live snails, live brine, frozen bloodworms, and live blackworms. He just sorta disappeared in the tank one day. Pretty sad.
I gave the tank a week while ghost feeding, and brought in a female betta. She was pretty ugly, but was in like 1" of water in her cup at Meijer. I felt bad for her and brought her home. I realize bringing a fish into a sick tank isn't a good idea, but I have meds on hand and it's a betta. She's probably better off sick in a cycled tank than "healthy" in a cup! While I did enjoy having her around, it wasn't really what I wanted. Coming home to a relatively empty tank with a betta kinda gliding around is calming, sure, but it's not the entrancing movement and color I want. I decided to give her to a LFS who'll put her into a sorority, and move onto the next idea.
While I was at the LFS, I saw that they had a pretty unique fish (at least for around here): Ember Tetras. A school of 8, for like $1.50 each. Juvenile, and not super colorful yet, but recognizable. I snatched them up super quickly, as I'd always wanted to try some of the tiny tetras or rasboras, but had never had the opportunity locally. I also picked up a trio of male endlers, and a few ghost shrimp. I got everyone home, acclimated, and went to work - and when I got home, this tank was basically exactly what I want. Small, but extremely active and colorful with an easy maintenance schedule. There's always something going on in this tank, and I love it. I did lose a few of the Ember tetras (3), but they all had bent spines and terrible color - I think they probably should have been culled, or maybe they were injured in shipping. The remaining 5 are doing great, and so are the endlers and shrimp.
I went to the LFS to trade in a coral the other day, and ended up with an interesting critter. A freshwater pom pom crab! I had seen a few online, but had never seen any in person. When I saw him, I had to take him home. I thought about setting up a little tank for him, but thought he'd be better off with the abundance of food in the 5.5. This guy was a great addition, and honestly, is one of my absolutely favorite parts of the tank. Not only does he have some great patterns, but his pom poms are very bright, and he's out and about quite a bit around the tank. He's hard to find on this ugly pea gravel, but you can usually find him scurrying around somewhere.
So, that's been the journey of this tank so far! I'm glad it's finally settled in, and I'm hoping to finalize the equipment and start adding more plants soon. I think I might switch to pool sand in the near future, but I'll have to wait until it comes into stock later on in the year. The gravel looks okay, but it grows dark brown algae, and makes it hard to find any fish or inverts that are hiding near the bottom. I realize that this tank is stocked fairly heavily, but I do weekly water change and feed pretty light. I plan to try and replace a few of the Ember Tetras that I lost, as the 5 that remain are still pretty skittish and might feel better with a couple more in there.
Pics!
Thanks for reading!
