JAS927
Active Member
I’ve been keeping aquariums since childhood, starting as many do with a beloved pet goldfish; at the age of 4 with a 15G and one $0.03 feeder fish that lived nearly 8 years. Her name was “Goldy.”
Fast forward to my teens working in fish departments at various large name pet stores to be able to afford my cichlid and reef-keepingaddiction hobby.
In my adult years I continued keeping my aquariums even though moving thousands of miles around Ontario for work - juggling moving hundreds of gallons of water and previous aquatic life.
During the big nasty event that recently took place to all of us, we purchased a homemade 60G octagon paludarium tank with someone’s handmade island that was supposed to hold plants - that ended up being nothing but a waste of $450 when it ended up arriving at the door with rusted, seized pumps, a burned out aquarium heater and a lousy Amazon light that wouldn’t keep anything thriving. We quickly decided this tank should be filled with water and it ended up housing a whole lot of freshwater shrimp until a new set up was recently purchased just for them. The shrimp tank was drained, silicone removed, and resealed before the thinking began. What to house in this unique tank?
It has been a few years since we’ve had a saltwater setup on the go. I vowed to stick with freshwater since life is just so busy between work and raising a family of 5 children. Cichlids are forgiving and water changes and maintenance is simple. However, an octagon that will allow for 360° viewing would just look so nice with a reef in it right?
Well, this former paludarium, turned shrimp tank will now be a reef. It will need to stay hidden in a corner with couch and cabinets blocking little people from going near it for the time being.
Updated and current pics to follow! There have been a few happy fish swimming around for a while and it’s ready to order something to get it started! (we don’t have any LFSs up here that sell anything saltwater unfortunately.)
Rock cycled in advance
Adding some water
Waking up a ragdoll who knows he isn’t allowed to sleep up there…and the tank continues to cycle
Fully cycled but still being set up…lighting not yet incorporated at this point
More to follow when I have time!
Fast forward to my teens working in fish departments at various large name pet stores to be able to afford my cichlid and reef-keeping
In my adult years I continued keeping my aquariums even though moving thousands of miles around Ontario for work - juggling moving hundreds of gallons of water and previous aquatic life.
During the big nasty event that recently took place to all of us, we purchased a homemade 60G octagon paludarium tank with someone’s handmade island that was supposed to hold plants - that ended up being nothing but a waste of $450 when it ended up arriving at the door with rusted, seized pumps, a burned out aquarium heater and a lousy Amazon light that wouldn’t keep anything thriving. We quickly decided this tank should be filled with water and it ended up housing a whole lot of freshwater shrimp until a new set up was recently purchased just for them. The shrimp tank was drained, silicone removed, and resealed before the thinking began. What to house in this unique tank?
It has been a few years since we’ve had a saltwater setup on the go. I vowed to stick with freshwater since life is just so busy between work and raising a family of 5 children. Cichlids are forgiving and water changes and maintenance is simple. However, an octagon that will allow for 360° viewing would just look so nice with a reef in it right?
Well, this former paludarium, turned shrimp tank will now be a reef. It will need to stay hidden in a corner with couch and cabinets blocking little people from going near it for the time being.
Updated and current pics to follow! There have been a few happy fish swimming around for a while and it’s ready to order something to get it started! (we don’t have any LFSs up here that sell anything saltwater unfortunately.)
Rock cycled in advance
Adding some water
Waking up a ragdoll who knows he isn’t allowed to sleep up there…and the tank continues to cycle
Fully cycled but still being set up…lighting not yet incorporated at this point
More to follow when I have time!
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Looking forward to seeing how you scape this project
