17G Cheapy

Hi all
 
A few months ago I had to reduce the number of tanks I had from 7 down to 3 due to the cost of them. Recently though, my mother decided that she'd like me to set one of them back up because I've had a few issues I've had to deal with lately and she knows that I love this hobby. She even offered to fund most of it since I was hesitant to set it up again. I'll still be trying to set up and maintain it as cheaply as possible.
 
Because this tank has been set up as a planted tank before, I already had an internal filter, heater and LED lights. I was just going use a bag of playsand I have stashed in the shed but a friend recommended Fluval Stratum if I didn't want to have to keep using ferts. I spent about $60 on enough Stratum for the tank but hopefully it'll be worth it.
 

 
I actually put the Stratum in yesterday and it went a bit cloudy as was expected. It cleared up well but I decided to add some plants I had from my other tanks so it's gone cloudy again haha. I've added vallis, swords, baby tears, anubias attached to some mopani and some crypt wendtii. Also have a few more pieces of wood ordered so I should be getting those within the week. I want to add some more anubias cuts to them 
 
 




 
(trying to get a photo without the cat took a heap of effort)
 
This tank will be kept on the lower side of temperatures as I plan to stock it with White Cloud Minnows. My boyfriend was interested in getting a Paradise Fish but he's decided on some Finke River Gobies for the bottom. He just loves them and they're actually native here. We were going to go for full Australian stocking with some Rainbows but the LFS stocks them sporadically so we've just decided to go with the White Clouds.
 
Cycling wise, I've added some media from my 55g and my other 17g and have added a little bit of ammonia. The count is already going down substantially so I hope to stock this tank in a few weeks.
 
I'm honestly really excited to see this tank up and running.

Sounds like it will a very nice little tank indeed and I look foreword to some more pics In the future if the cat let's you get them lol

Cool cant wait to see whats in store for clear pictures.

Got some pictures now that it has cleared up ^^
 

 

Added the background and the pipes today. The gobies need somewhere to hide and chill so that's why we added them. I dislike the ceramic pipes so I shoved some Java Moss on top. I'd honestly prefer to have an external filter but I can't afford to buy one so this ugly beast will have to do. 
 
I still need to fill in the back right corner but I'll be waiting until the wood arrives because I might use it rather than buy more plants.
 
Cycle wise, the ammonia and nitrite are already down to zero thanks to seeding from the large tank. I'll be testing it over the next few days to make sure it's stable and if so, we might get some fish by Saturday. 


 

 
Here's the pictures, I couldn't get them to actually load with my last post 

Looking great so far! Can't wait to see the fishies

Late update since I've been sick 
 
OK so, the water stats were fine up til Saturday so we picked up 6 Finke River Gobies. the lady at the LFS had a lot of issues getting them out of the display tank. It was hilarious. Once we added them to the tank, it took us another 2 days to even get a decent look at them, they're so tiny.
 
The vallis really seems to love this substrate since it's already sending out runners. I planted them less than a week ago and it's be noticeable!
 

 

 
Still waiting on the wood and I also ordered some duck weed but at the rate the vallis is growing, I'm not sure if I'm going not even be using it in this particular tank. It certainly won't be lacking in surface cover.
 
I find these fish fascinating, they don't have swim bladders so they just bounce around everywhere. They've even managed to get to the top of the tank which I never expected them to be able to do 


 

 

 

 


I had to feed them to encourage them to stay still long enough for photos. 
 
While at the LFS, I was told that while they eat everything they can get their mouths on in the wild, they can be picky in aquariums so the first couple of times I fed them I gave them some plant and protein mush and bloodworms. I ended up feeding them pellets the other day and they love them! They such messy eaters though haha.
 
We ended up turning the temp on the tank up to 22c, mostly for the plants since I took them from my tropical tanks. We were going to get White Clouds but this a bit too warm for them now so we've got to come up with something else.

They are way too cute!!

White clouds should be fine at 22c. They are bred in ponds here and they can get warmer than that

Haha they are adorable, especially when they jump around everywhere haha.
 
Oh really? Everything I've looked at for the WC says that 22 is their maximum but it would be great to get some honestly. I've fallen in love with them 

Basically right after I updated this yesterday, I got a phone call that my duckweed had come in. Bought $5 of the stuff and it was enough for both 65l tanks, the 200l tank and the outside goldfish pond. Jeez. Also picked up 10 White Clouds while we were there.  They had some beautiful guppies and I really wanted to get those but this is the boyfriend's tank and he chose the WCs. I think we made the right choice though, these little guys are so full of energy it's tiring just watching them 
 
My wood also came this morning, covered in 8 layers of duct tape. It sank straight away so it's already been put into this tank.
 
Pics will come once everything settles down.