I just joined and am here to say hi and introduce myself. My name is Timbobby and I'm 42 years old and from Knoxville, TN. I have thought about getting an aquarium since I was 25. My girlfriend at the time and I had odd pets. Tarantulas, scorpions, iguanas, chameleons. I read through books I would get from a local used book store and read books on aquariums with the intent to start one. I have always loved fish. When I was a young kid in elementary school I had a tiny aquarium with neon tetras and silver dollars that we got from walmart. Those fish didn't last long though and like them, my aquarium days were flushed down the toilet. I always liked fish. And learned to fish as I got older. Now I am much older, the idea of starting an aquarium is still here, and I decided to give in. First I read a book titled The Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums by David E. Boruchowitz. In this book was everything I needed to confidently begin my journey. I then found everything else I needed from a friend that is getting out of keeping saltwater fish and bought everything he hadn't already sold (he already sold a 300 gallon 7ft tall round tank that was bought from him by a local fish store). So, I get to start with a 90 gallon tank (48x18x25, with an aqueon overflow installed), stand, 48" T5HO lights, plenty of decorations, and a 30 gallon wet/dry sump. Cleaned everything, painted the stand, checked to see which direction the floor joists run (this is an old house and I want to be careful setting up an aquarium that could weigh more than 1,000 lbs. I don't want it falling through the floor), and put everything in its place. A few weeks later I went to the fish store that bought my friend's old tank, which is set up nicely on display, and bought 3 pearl gourami and a few plants (Amazon sword & Jungle val). The gourami did not like my pump at all. Way too much flow, they were struggling to stay in place. I went to home depot to get a valve to install in the hose that goes from the pump to the return bulkhead, so I could turn the flow down. Something I learned here is don't buy the cheap gate valves at home depot/lowes. They barely open, even at full open, and you will only be able to set the flow from barely to none. The big ones, that I guess are found online or maybe specialty hardware/plumbing stores, are the ones you want. I ended up plumbing everything (pics, once I learn how to limit the filesize) with ball valves (I don't recommend ball valves except to go from on to off, they really take alot of time if you're using them to tune everything in). There is more to my journey but I'm going to end this here for now. And learn how to edit pictures because most of mine say they are too big when I try to upload them. The only pic that I have small enough to upload is after first putting water in the tank. No plumbing, no fish.
Attachments
Last edited:
