i'm going through a mild crisis, so i decided to start a fish tank.

i've had tanks in the past, but i have such a terrible habit of just buying everything in one go, shoving it in, and getting stuck with whatever was at the shop at the time, SO. i've been thinking about this for months, and i'm going to do a proper full planted tank. co2 system, biosoil, custom hardscape - the whole shebang. i bought the tank and substrate today, dug out some old sponge filters and a pump and heater. i'm very likely going to do cherry shrimp + a female betta, but that's not going to be for quite some time yet. anyway! biosoil base layer + sand substrate is what i've gone for - first time i've ever used sand, so i'm not sure how this'll work out. my personal preference for sponge filters is to gut the inside of them and shove an air stone in there instead, i find it just circulates everything better and makes such a nice little bubble column.

i spent most of the afternoon glueing together driftwood to make a decent shape to hide the filter system and allow for good plant growth. i really want to grow something out the top of the tank, a pothos or prayer plant or something, so i had to figure out a way to make some of the driftwood stick up over the tank rim. hardscaping is my least favourite part of the entire tank setup, and i struggled loads with this for hops' tank too. however! i managed in the end.

i'll only be able to chip away at this every few weeks, but thats okay! no rush to get it done as i don't have anything to put in it yet, and i really want to do it right. i'll probably just update this page as i go, i like being able to share progress pics :) today: substrate + hardscape!

alright so it's been roughly a week of cycling this thing. i'm lucky enough that i have a few established tanks in my household, so i have been speeding the process up a little by taking some plants and water from them. here's where we're currently at: i've got some anubias and java ferns in there, some floating plants for the top, and it's mostly within the parameters i wanted. i'm also trying to grow some pothos clippings in water so i can stick them in at some point!

yesterday i bought some shrimps! i wanted them in first so that a betta won't take them as a threat to an already established territory. this is my first time doing shrimps and i know in my heart that cherry shrimp are so much easier but...i can't do anything the easy way, unfortunately. also, cherry shrimp are so small. i don't want them to be opportunistically munched on by a fish, yk? so: i got crystal blacks! i love these little guys, they're so cute. so far, this is my only expense, which is a win! another week or two of these guys getting established + i may buy some plants when i get paid next week, and then i will go looking for bettas.

just a little short of the 3wk mark today and i have to say, i am thrilled with how things are progressing here. my plants are absolutely thriving, the roots on my frogbit are almost touching the ground! the pothos i experimented with are growing roots in the tank water, and all of my shrimp are still alive! i actually saw a moult just a few days ago, so they're growing too.

i added in 4x more plants this week - some dwarf grass for ground coverage, and three mystery plants that didn't have names for up the back. they're delightfully leafy and dense, and i saw roots growing out of the tops of the stalks, which means easy to propogate later down the line if i want more. i got one very tall one that was growing out of the surface of the water in the pet store. the two bushier compact ones i got for the middle of the tank are these beautiful red toned leafy things that i hope will maintain their colour without a co2 system. i did also have to soak them in a very diluted bleach solution to rid them of any snails, since i saw a few of them in the plant tank.

i have unfortunately had to pluck two snails out of this tank so far and i am not happy about it. there's not much i can do given the shrimps in there, so for now, i am going to hard limit the shrimp food and only feed them every 7-10 days and let them forage on their own. ideally, whatever snails did manage to sneak in there will eat the very limited algae that's in the tank and eventually die out with no food left. i don't want to kill them off because they are good for the tank in a managed population, it's just that managing a snail population is borderline impossible. nto catastrophising yet, though! nothing is wildly out of control at the present moment, so i can hold out for another week or so and see where we end up.

REJOYCE, FOR SHE HAS ARRIVED!!!

i have never shipped a fish to me before. this was an absolutely insane concept to me, but, i saw this pretty fish online and just had to have her. her name is tobiko! following my sushi theme i've always had for my bettas. she's a koi halfmoon plakat, and only very young! i've never had a female betta, nor any short fin species, so this is all firsts for me. she's very active and curious, i'm so happy with the choice i made. but i believe that is it for this long ass blog post! it was a delight to set this tank up, i'm excited to have a long running tank of bettas in the future :)