My first tank, what a adventure.

[Roadsterspeed]

I jumped into it head first after my hermit crab tank imploded. So reusing the 55g tank I bought all the things I needed, or at least I thought I did.... It seems that I would have been better off buying everything online. So now I'm left playing catch up. I'll just make this a nice little timeline of pictures.
So I made a stand

Filled that badboy with water.

Then put some substraight in and a few small plants.

Bought a knifefish when I was drunk, managed to acclimate him properly, and woke up the next morning to surprise.

I had ghost shrimp, had being the key word. My knifefish made quick work of them.

It seems I can't upload anymore pictures so I'll make another post with more.

 

[Roadsterspeed]

Act 2.

I bought some angelfish, nice little fish.

Bought some more plants.

Then things got buck wild, and I made this diy light fixture.

Bought some black Molly's, they poop a lot.

And a few blue mystery snails that need some tlc.

And that's where I am now. Hope you enjoyed.

 

[griff5499]

That Is a cool tank! Nice job! I have a 36 gal bowfront and set it up a month ago. Still trying to get the ammonia down to 0, still cycling! I also have black mollies, 2 dalmation mollies and 10 neon tetras. I can't wait for my tank to fully cycle, so I can quit worrying about them!

 

[Roadsterspeed]

Hahaha yeah that is always a stressful time. But it's well worth the wait.

 

[Nothing]

Starting up a new tank is always an exciting endeavor!What kind of knife fish is it? Some of them can get to 24" so a 55g is likely too small. I once upon a time had some ghost shrimp as well, and many, many guppies. Then I introduced my Leopard Ctenopoma and within two weeks everything was gone haha it was cool.

 

[Mamabon]

When I first set up my 20 gal tank I was so stressed to check on my new babies very morning. I was afraid what I might find. I thought, hey I thought fish were supposed to be relaxing. Well, I still worry a bit, but a year and a half later I've been through a lot, like nursing two fish back to health, got one in the hospital tank now also. But for the most part I love them. They each have their own personalities and I love watching how they interact. I have a male platty who is clearly in love with one of the females, he's been following her around for months. Others are shy, my Betta is the friendliest with me. Probably since I nursed him back from constipation. Which if anyone needs help with let me know. The pea trick didn't work with him, I used Epsom salt and daphnia. I have the recipe that works.

 

[missnathasha]

Beautiful tank!!

 

[J1Time]

Very nice so far! Did well to come from nothing to that.

 

[Roadsterspeed]

So I caved and bought this.

Also came into more money than I really know what to do with, so co2 is on the way as we speak. With this I'm upgrading my tank lids to solid acrylic with access ports cut into them and I will secure them to the tank top. Wish me luck as I enter the next phase of my freshwater project.

 

[Roadsterspeed]

And now for a few update pictures.

I ended up buying a breeding tank for my Molly's in case that happens.

This underwater cove is now all setup. My knifefish is terribly offended that I moved all his hideouts now. I hope he makes it through the changes :-/.

 

[Roadsterspeed]

So this is a newbie move but I've learned a immense amount tonight.

I bought a red male beta fish, I acclimated him to my 4 g water, I put him in, and he twitched and thrashed about, then dropped like a stone. That is toxic shock in a fish, I've seen it in dogs at work who's owners over dose them on accident. But to see it in a fish too is interesting. I was watching the whole time to monitor his movement, and when I saw him drop I rescued him immediately and put him in my breeder tank. He instantly perked up and started swimming around. After awhile I put him in my tank to see what he would do, at this point I realized that beta fish are very docile in the net. Once in the tank all the fish swarmed him to check him out since he's the only red fish in a all black fish tank. He was calm and non-aggressive, but he stayed by the place the breeder box was so I figured he was tired and wanted back in. So I decorated it really quick and placed him back him which he's quite happy with for now. I plan to make arrangements for his future home tomorrow. The 4g was incredibly toxic from my complete focus being on the 55g(4g had no fish).

I've also purchased my co2 setup. 5lb cylinder with a Milwaukee setup, I'll make my own inline diffuser. Still need a drop checker, any suggestions?

Well here's some pictures and I'm sorry for my horrid grammar and punctuation it's been a long night.

The lights usually off at night now that it's on a timer, just took a current tank shot.

 

[Roadsterspeed]

I well my Molly females attacked everything in the tank and killed both my Molly males, I think they are ready to pop(pregnant). Thankfully the large breeder boxes I bought came and I separated them from the rest of the community till I can figure out what to do. I ended up putting my beta fish in my main tank reluctantly. But to my surprise I got a very docile fish. I made him a little floating plant dock he can rest on or hide under during the day.


But good news is my co2 parts are starting to come in .
My 10lb cylinder should be here today which I'll fill tomorrow on my day off. Now I need to make a diy inline diffuser and diy drop checker. So close I can almost taste it.

And I final tank shot for now, I added black backing which makes a world of difference visually.