Hi all,
I've returned to the aquarium hobby for the first time since college, woo! Doing a freshwater, and a few varieties of live plants is my new challenge
The specs (so far):
The empty tank:
The filter and extras:
Filling with gravel:
I used cardboard from the aquarium's packaging to hold the gravel in place. It covers ~22" of the base, 1.5" thick.
And the sand, covering the final third:
The first fill:
Wow, I thought I had washed it all out better than that, but the gravel was still full of mud. So changed out all the water at this point (10 gal)
Round two, looking better:
After one final change:
Alright! I'm thinking that's good enough for the filter to handle.
So I set the system a-running, and checking it the next morning:
Victory!
At this point, the tank is running, and I'm dosing Seachem Stability daily, but I don't yet have a water test kit (will be getting API Master Kit), so just letting it do it's thing.
Unpictured, I do have a piece of Malaysian driftwood soaking over the weekend. I'll be sticking that into the sandy area, as I plan not to have any plants in that space so it's something to fill the space.
I've returned to the aquarium hobby for the first time since college, woo! Doing a freshwater, and a few varieties of live plants is my new challenge
The specs (so far):
- Filter: SunSun HW-302 with included filter foam, Purigen for chem, and Seachem Matrix for bio.
- Gravel: Flourite, 1 bag
- Other Gravel: Quickrete Coarse Sand
The empty tank:
The filter and extras:
Filling with gravel:
I used cardboard from the aquarium's packaging to hold the gravel in place. It covers ~22" of the base, 1.5" thick.
And the sand, covering the final third:
The first fill:
Wow, I thought I had washed it all out better than that, but the gravel was still full of mud. So changed out all the water at this point (10 gal)
Round two, looking better:
After one final change:
Alright! I'm thinking that's good enough for the filter to handle.
So I set the system a-running, and checking it the next morning:
Victory!
At this point, the tank is running, and I'm dosing Seachem Stability daily, but I don't yet have a water test kit (will be getting API Master Kit), so just letting it do it's thing.
Unpictured, I do have a piece of Malaysian driftwood soaking over the weekend. I'll be sticking that into the sandy area, as I plan not to have any plants in that space so it's something to fill the space.