A few of you might remember my flat tank that I set up in October 2021, at the time I was hoping for a working at home (at least a little bit) but it didn't happen and I was back in the office full time. Since then, from February this year I have set up freelance and am now working for myself and have a better home office in a different part of our property. It's not been a terrible start to the business but it is tough to say the least so I want to make sure I make the most of being my own boss and making my office a place I want to be.
This isn't a journal about my office but its where my hobbies are going to be and they are all a bit interlinked and hey its my journal so here we go
The first steps were kitting out my office with a desk and a chair and I've since decorated it white and navy (which you can see a bit in the pictures). The plan is for my Aquascaper 600 with my puffer fish in to sit to my left and then this tank sits to my right on a run of kitchen cabinets (with a sink) and lastly I've got a bunch of pots in the back left corner behind me. I also would like to make a few small terrariums in some storm jar type things. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of documenting this on a YouTube channel...
But back to this tank! It's an ADA 60F which means its a flat or shallow tank, not hugely practical for fish but I have some cool options. Its 2 foot long, 1 foot front to back and 8 inches tall making 30 litres or just over 8 US gallons. The filter is an Oase Filtosmart 100 which is a bit too powerful for this tank but I get the external heater which is a pretty big benefit in a shallow tank. The light is a Chiheros A Series which is quite a green light so I may change it eventually but it will be great for now.
I floated a few ideas around in this thread and basically had 3 options that I'm still trying to decide on. Dwarf Puffers, Emerald Rasboras or Shell Dwellers. The one I started on was the Dwarf Puffers - I like the idea of having 2 puffer tanks - but I drifted over to the idea of the Emerald Rasboras. BUT today I was in an LFS and saw the most amazing Platies (I know right) that I have ever seen. They were a bright coral red high fin with blue eyes and I can't stop thinking about them! So I'm now setting the tank up now with an aim to go back and get them at the weekend.
Still quite a bit to do, I've ordered some black acrylic paint to do the back and left side (to hide the pipes), I found a bag of DOOA Jungle Sand that I didnt know I had! I only want to do quite a thin layer of sand to maximise water volume but I do want to plant in one area. I've stacked some wood in so far which I do like but the way it goes around the light is a bit awkward and I may need to saw a bit off to get the light in the right place I also want to split the sawn edges of the wood to make it look more natural.
Planting wise I want to keep it pretty simple, I'd like either some Vallis in the back left corner or I may get a stem plant, not sure which I'd like to maybe try something different? I've not kept Ludwigia for a long time and that could be cool. Will definitely have some red root floaters on the surface and I want to get some small Anuibias species for the branches, probably some sections of moss and maybe some Bucephalandra too. The tank will definitely have some riparian planting most likely a peace lily sat on the wood. I might also try growing some Anubias out of water too. To help with the riparian planting I am going to get a grow bulb for the angled spot light over the tank as the room does not get a great amount of natural light.
So tomorrows job is to paint the glass when the paint arrives and wash the sand, probably play with the positioning of the wood. I'm planning to soak the wood in the tank and use some Seachem Purigen to help keep the water clear, plus the tank is right next to the tank so changing out water is fine. Before I add fish in I'm going to seed the filter from my other tank and hopefully with the submerged, emerged and floating plants the bioload of 3 small Platies will be compensated
Wills
This isn't a journal about my office but its where my hobbies are going to be and they are all a bit interlinked and hey its my journal so here we go
The first steps were kitting out my office with a desk and a chair and I've since decorated it white and navy (which you can see a bit in the pictures). The plan is for my Aquascaper 600 with my puffer fish in to sit to my left and then this tank sits to my right on a run of kitchen cabinets (with a sink) and lastly I've got a bunch of pots in the back left corner behind me. I also would like to make a few small terrariums in some storm jar type things. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought of documenting this on a YouTube channel... But back to this tank! It's an ADA 60F which means its a flat or shallow tank, not hugely practical for fish but I have some cool options. Its 2 foot long, 1 foot front to back and 8 inches tall making 30 litres or just over 8 US gallons. The filter is an Oase Filtosmart 100 which is a bit too powerful for this tank but I get the external heater which is a pretty big benefit in a shallow tank. The light is a Chiheros A Series which is quite a green light so I may change it eventually but it will be great for now.
I floated a few ideas around in this thread and basically had 3 options that I'm still trying to decide on. Dwarf Puffers, Emerald Rasboras or Shell Dwellers. The one I started on was the Dwarf Puffers - I like the idea of having 2 puffer tanks - but I drifted over to the idea of the Emerald Rasboras. BUT today I was in an LFS and saw the most amazing Platies (I know right) that I have ever seen. They were a bright coral red high fin with blue eyes and I can't stop thinking about them! So I'm now setting the tank up now with an aim to go back and get them at the weekend.
Still quite a bit to do, I've ordered some black acrylic paint to do the back and left side (to hide the pipes), I found a bag of DOOA Jungle Sand that I didnt know I had! I only want to do quite a thin layer of sand to maximise water volume but I do want to plant in one area. I've stacked some wood in so far which I do like but the way it goes around the light is a bit awkward and I may need to saw a bit off to get the light in the right place I also want to split the sawn edges of the wood to make it look more natural.
Planting wise I want to keep it pretty simple, I'd like either some Vallis in the back left corner or I may get a stem plant, not sure which I'd like to maybe try something different? I've not kept Ludwigia for a long time and that could be cool. Will definitely have some red root floaters on the surface and I want to get some small Anuibias species for the branches, probably some sections of moss and maybe some Bucephalandra too. The tank will definitely have some riparian planting most likely a peace lily sat on the wood. I might also try growing some Anubias out of water too. To help with the riparian planting I am going to get a grow bulb for the angled spot light over the tank as the room does not get a great amount of natural light.
So tomorrows job is to paint the glass when the paint arrives and wash the sand, probably play with the positioning of the wood. I'm planning to soak the wood in the tank and use some Seachem Purigen to help keep the water clear, plus the tank is right next to the tank so changing out water is fine. Before I add fish in I'm going to seed the filter from my other tank and hopefully with the submerged, emerged and floating plants the bioload of 3 small Platies will be compensated
Wills
