[Starry Night]

Hi everyone! I decided to start getting involved with this forum again, hoping to set up a small planted tank once I get back to my office instead of working from home. I’m guessing that might not be for a few more months but that gives me plenty of time to do some research and plan.

I had several planted tanks and a reef tank about a decade ago when I lived in Rhode Island - I moved to Florida in 2013 and brought one tank and then a couple of years ago I decided to move aboard my sailboat full time so unfortunately the tank had to go. Since I sold my house I got rid of all of my tank stuff so I will be starting from scratch! I was about to start seriously thinking about setting one up but then COVID hit so I’m glad I didn’t - as it is my poor house plants are suffering by neglect at the office as I usually only go in every two weeks or so.

My profile isn’t showing any old posts but I think I did post a bit but so long ago that I’m sure the entire forum has changed over at this point. I’ll probably be mostly lurking for a few months until we get some idea of a return to the office date but I’ll probably jump in with a few questions and am definitely looking forward to seeing some gorgeous tanks!

No tank photos obviously but here’s one of my “house” - she’s a 1998 38’ Tartan - lots of wildlife in the marina so I am definitely not isolated from the aquatic world!

 

[shrimp? fish? CRABS?!?]

Welcome! hope you get that tank up and running!

 

[somewhatshocked]

Glad to see you back!

Having a few months to plan is the perfect amount of time for scheming and acquiring all the things you'll need. I recommend reading through all the tank journals you can digest. You'll get tons of ideas but will also enjoy it.

Since you're setting up what I assume is a small tank that will need to be on its own for up to a week at a time (holidays) - I'm guessing you'll be going for shrimp, snails and the like? Going that route means you won't need a heater and they can eat on an Indian Almond leaf for a week or two without issue.

How much space (footprint) will you have? One of the smaller Fluval Spec (2ish and 5ish gals) tank kits would probably be ideal and simple to maintain. Could even rig up a tiny auto top-off system to account for evaporation.

I have both Spec tanks but enjoy the smaller one the most. It's easier to work in and cheaper to deck out in fancy stuff. You can use the fanciest substrates and plants around without spending what you would to scape a larger tank.

Looking forward to what you dream up. You should consider starting a journal in the Tank Journals section to document the process and eventually document the tank itself. Great way to keep all your notes and ideas in one place, as well.

 

[Starry Night]

Haha, somehow I missed these replies! We are limited to 10 gallons for tanks at work. Was thinking of a standard 10g (Really wish I hadn't given away the perfect table/tank stand now!) but I will start looking more seriously into some of the kits soon. While the tank will be on it's own over the weekend, I live within sight of the building and it's a state fish and wildlife agency anyway, so there would be plenty of willing folks to feed the critters if I was on vacation. That is the reason that I am going to do planted and not a nano reef, though, the planted tank is a bit more forgiving, especially at nano size!

I definitely plan to start a tank journal once I start actually accumulating things - probably this summer, I'm thinking August is likely for us to be back in the office full time. I am not a fan of working at home so will go back as soon as I can!