First tank back

[AKfish]

Well back at the hobby. Been away for a while now. Moved home to Alaska and plan to be putting roots down for good. So getting back into the hobby with the plan to breed some different fish for local aquariums and possibly online sale. I have been given a zero dollars budget due to a baby that will be here any moment. Wife has said "unneeded expenses" are strictly regulated for now lol. So was given a 30gal, filter and heater. Also came with one lava rock and some pink gravel. Sneaking a little here and there I have bought two packs of plastic plants and one silk plant. Normally don't do fake plants but don't have lighting and stuff I need to live. So like I said working on a tiny budget. I have several pieces of cottonwood I collected from the matanuska river near where I live. Yesterday I collected glacial sand from biglake also near where I live. Boiled and cleaned both sand and wood thoroughly. Wood has been in the tank for weeks now as well as my brothers 50gal. Sand was added just yesterday so water still clearing a little. Also why the DIY pre filter pad on my intake tube. But for a no budget tank (max $100 spent on everything including fish & food) it came out really nice I think. What about you?? Lol. Thanks for looking I'll post a series of pics below.

 

[AKfish]

Well going to have to figure how to add pic lol. Don't normally post stuff anywhere so I'll get it done shortly. Ask my fience lol.

 

[fishperson100]

Lol please tell me how you upload it, I had trouble with it too

 

[AKfish]

My tank

 

[AKfish]

H

Well going to have to figure how to add pic lol. Don't normally post stuff anywhere so I'll get it done shortly. Ask my fience lol.

Had to resize it using a Google play store app.

 

[AKfish]

Be a learning process to post quality stuff. May just do YouTube videos and link them. Stocking list of my tank is. 3 female Bettas, 2 bumblebee gobies, 1 hillstream loach, 3 peppered Cory's, 1 Valentina synodontis and a bristle nose pleco. Oh and actually be 2 native Alaskan snails believe it or not. Found them in 82° F water while collecting sand.

 

[FishGuest5123]

Nice! I presume you know about the aquarium nitrogen cycle and beneficial bacteria since you’ve had tanks before. Tip on pics: If you take the pic as you are posting and don’t get too close, it will usually load. Congrats on new baby too!

 

[AKfish]

A link to my tank video

 

[AKfish]

Yes I am familiar with cycling. Jump started this 30 gal off the bacteria in my brothers 55 gal. Had a couple fish in day one and never lost any. Just have to move a lot of water to keep them healthy lol. Move as in water change, just to clarify.

 

[AKfish]

And thank for the congrats.

 

[Back in the fold]

She who must be obeyed always throws a wet blanket on manly pursuits. Every man is born devious so that he can cope with female negativity when it arises. Sharpen your skills in stealth lying and get the set-up you want. What's she going to do, take your birthday away ?

 

[AKfish]

Well it's a temporary hold in funds. It works out because I'm still finalizing my plan. I have a certain amount of space to utilize right now. I had been going back and forth on what tank size I was going to build. Seem to have decided a stack of 4'×3'×1' equaling between 75-85 gallon tank. A decent volume of water with a huge footprint. Giving more room for shrimp and plecos that I plan to breed. I want to colony breed as much as possible. Bigger footprint should allow me to do that easier. Plan to have 4 sponge filers in each tank. Shrimp don't like current and I want to make sure all water is getting circulated well. Anyway planning to doc most the building. Will be starting with one tank and adding as time goes on. Believe I should have at least 5 tanks spanning from floor to ceiling with enough space between for maintenance. All on a constant drip and overflow system. Anyway like I said planning to doc it all and post as it progresses.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Don’t we just love our wife’s...... (just kidding! )

Man I can remember those days! When I was a kid, I asked my mom if I could get a 10 gallon fish tank! Well....guess what she said first...”Go ask your Father...” Well I did, and he said, “Go ask your Mother”. So I went back to ask her, and she said, “Fine, but you only get a $10 gallon budget.”

Man those where tough days!

I love your tank! What is your stocking list?

 

[AKfish]

Lol. Well thank you. It almost doesn't feel like having a tank. 30gal was the smallest I used to have when I was big into fish. Used a 30 as a QT tank because I had several big fish. This tanks stocking list has just recently changed a little. We had three female bettas. One was older and we kind of adopted it from a friend. She was about 2-2 1/2. Had a lump under her scales on her side. Anyway just recently passed away. So now we have two female bettas, one hillstream loach, two bumblebee gobies, three pepper Cory, one Julii Cory and two bronze Cory with a bristle nose pleco. Will say that the bumblebee gobies were also adopted as well as the hillstream loach and julii. A friend was moving and had a tank with all those fish in it. I already had my 30 setup and one female Betta with my pleco and the 3 peppered Cory's. I would never keep gobies in freshwater. Also wouldn't normally keep a hillstream loach with betta. Loach loves the current with high oxygen while bettas obviously love calm water. Anyway it's not their forever homes. Just holding for a couple months at most. Oh forgot there is also a Valentina synodontis. Hides so much forget she's there lol. Probably a little over stocked even though it doesn't look it. Have a lot of bottom dwelers. But my sand couldn't be cleaner lol.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Lol!

So what kind of bottom dwellers do you have?