Rikostan

Well, the tank is getting there. One more bag of substrate for the left hand side, but the right is pretty much done. Just need some more mosses and a carpeting plant for the very right front corner and some mosses to go on the "tree" top Most of the stuff floating is jungle val, so I really just need some middle ground and foreground/carpeting type stuff for the left hand side, but I still haven't decided what to do. The bag of substrate won't be here till next week and I still have to decide on plants, but that's about it. Hopefully by the end of next week I'll have it done and then we just wait for the cycle to complete. {EDIT} There are some large rocks underneath the "hill" in the middle-right part of the tank. It's not just substrate piled up that high.

I have 76 channels on my subscribed list, 8 of which are not fish related...LOL, so I won't list them all, but most of them are Co-Op ambassadors, like Wel-don, Guppy Guru, KG Tropicals, Fish Room Fever and Chattanooga Ed. Corvus Oscen and Bentley Pascoe are in my top 10 too. I have to say I really enjoy the entire Fishtuber community. I haven't met a single person I didn't like yet. It has only been about three months though... It's cool to jump into a live stream and see so many names you recognize and get so many "Hey Riko!"s from a lot of different people. {EDIT} Obviously Aquarium Co-Op is in there... I have learned so much from a lot of the channels, but I think I have the most fun on the Fish Room Fever/Chattanooga Ed's streams. They are geeky goofs, just like me. {EDIT #2} @StephenP2003's post reminded me... I really enjoy Girl Talks Fish too. I have a little non-creepy crush on Irene. She is just so pleasant to watch and listen to and she knows her stuff. I'm, going to stop editing now. I bet I could keep going on naming specific channels, but I'd end up leaving out somebody i really like, I know it.

Oh man, i really dig that table top! Love the idea of using tool chests for the support too. Some great inspiration right there! Once one of the kids moves out, if they ever do, I am moving to the basement and will think of setting something up like that. So much storage space.

People do still say it today, but my point was that when people spread that misinformation way back in the early 70s, it was a little more understandable, than it is today with all the sources of information we have now. There is no excuse at all for it now.

Yup, that was mine too. It was the early 70s though, so while it's not an excuse, it was at least a little more understandable.

Hiya Tim and welcome! There seems to be quite a few Pennsylvanians here, so you are in good company. I've just come back to the hobby after a long time away and started out with guppies, so I'll be interested in your posts!

150/30/5 Mine is pretty easy... And there are plants in all of them, but only fish in two of them so far. I am still putting the 55 together I bought a toilet seat from amazon once about 4 years ago... ONCE. Now they think I collect toilet seats. Now a week goes by that i don't get a recommendation for a toilet seat.

We have a septic tank and leech bed, so i have not flushed any fish. I've always heard there is a chance the fish could harm the bacteria in the tank, so I just didn't chance it. Instead I have just wrapped them in a piece of tissue paper and threw them away. So far it's only been a few guppies though. I might do something different if I ever get a larger fish.

Hiya Ken Jones The Irishman and welcome! What part of NY are you in? We are upstate, right on the lake Ontario shore. I think you'll enjoy it here. Tons of polite, knowledgeable people to help us newbies out.

Hiya Gayle, welcome to the club! You'll have to walk us through your set up for the 20 gallon once you get started with.

Welcome Teddy! Some super smart people here to help newbies like us get a head start in the hobby.

I'm a pretty big newbie, but I did the same thing. I thought I might gather some tips along the way or even help a few other newbies, so i started a thread about my very first 55 gallon tank ever. I bet a lot of people would be interested in your thread!

I've always wanted a Tardis.

HA, good idea! I'll start a spreadsheet. I've always had a truck or at least a larger SUV as my vehicle, so when I needed to get something, i just went and picked it up. When I retired, we decided we didn't really need a second vehicle since my daughter still lives at home and has her own car. We live in a pretty rural area, so getting people to deliver can be a pain and/or expensive. So far I've discovered my wife's little Malibu can hold 4 2x4s at a time and 6 cinder blocks at a time too. That's all on the interior, nothing tied down on top of the car. 🙂

I paid $63 for my 55 gallon from PSP. I'm too far for delivery, but the 55 fit fine in the back seat of my wife's Malibu... in case anybody else is missing the convenience of having a truck.

I've so many outdoor tubs and ponds over the past few months. Informational posts like yours have motivated me to look into for next year!

So i finished the background, love the way it looks. Plastidip stuff is so easy to work with. I also put the material on the top 2x4s. Not crazy about the look, but it'll do. It's mainly there to give me a place to put little stuff that would fall through the gaps in the 2x4s. For that, it does an awesome job. Sorry for the glare on the tank. It makes it hard to see the background. The lids! I love working with this polycarbonate stuff. I bought a 2'x4' sheet that let me make lids for both the 55 and the 45 as well. Just gotta get some of those stick on knobs I starting putting substrate in. I think I'll need 3 more bags, maybe 4 to finish it. I also still need to work on cable management and after I finish a project today, i am going to go down the hill to the bay and see what I can find for hardscape. I also need to drain the QT tank and put it up on the stand. It's currently sitting on the floor under the 55. Those are my goals for today; knobs, rocks/sticks, and move the QT tank.

Well she gave up the ghost this morning. Poor girl.

Well she is still alive, but not looking so good. Pretty sure she isn't going to make it. Thanks for asking, though!

I thought I would do a little journal of my journey with my very first 55 gallon tank. Even when I was big into fish tanks as a kid in the early 70s, I never had a tank larger than 20 gallons, so this is pretty exciting for me. I just came back to the hobby a couple of months ago and dove in headfirst. I have two 20 gallons, two 45 talls, a ten and the 55 gallon tank. Only one of them currently have fish; I have some guppies and cherry shrimp in one of the 20s. Although one of the 45s has finished cycling and will probably have more guppies next week. I'll focus on the 55 gallon though since I have not done anything with it yet, other than make a few decisions. Here is the tank currently: //content.invisioncic.com/b300999/monthly_2020_09/20200918_103659.jpg.2f661240beba402d3c31a8e47e5841a2.jpg Cables and such will be hidden. I have some material coming today to cover the top 2x4s with, then I'll make it a little prettier. I decided to do the plasti-dip for a black background and I am doing the twin wall polycarbonate for the lid. Most of my supplies for the tank are coming via UPS today, I bet our UPS guy is going to be surprised when I hug him... Filtration: I am going a little overboard with filtration for now, with the two large spongefilters from the Co-Op and a marineland 350 HoB. For air flow, I just grabbed one of the Aquatop Breza 100s from the Co-op and a battery backed up one from KG Topicals. Heater: I bought two of the 300 watt Eheim Jager's heaters and the JBJ true temp controller @Daniel recommended on another thread. I'm only going to put one of them in the tank for now, I just want one for back up. Substrate: Going with just Eco-complete. Plants: I already have a bunch of plants waiting in one of the other tanks. So far I have: Vallisneria Christmas moss Java Fern and Water Sprite. I want to also get some type of carpeting plant too, but haven't quite decided what yet. Hardscape: I'm going to walk down to the bay tomorrow morning and look for some interesting hardscape stuff. If I can't find anything I like over the next few weeks, I'll grab some of the usual suspects online. Fish: Probably will change, but I'm currently looking at 6-8 Boesemans Rainbowfish, 6-8 Rasboras, but haven't decided on which one, and 5-6 dwarf corys as well as some type of shrimp. {EDIT} For some reason it won't put the pic where I want it, instead it just displays the path and puts the image at the bottom of the post... //content.invisioncic.com/b300999/monthly_2020_09/20200918_103659.jpg.2f661240beba402d3c31a8e47e5841a2.jpg

Love the look of that, especially in the bottom pic! I'm also a Rick and my last name starts with Hu too, so we'd probably spend a lot of time next to each other in alphabetical lists... 😛 Oh and welcome!

I have friends in St Catherine's and in Waterloo and i used to have to go to Oakville quite often for work, so I've at least been in the Guelph area a few times. There is a youtuber in the Guelph area too... I think it's https://www.youtube.com/c/JNAQUARIUM I am pretty sure they have an online store too, but I don't think that's appropriate to post here.

I started medicating the morning I posted that. She is still alive, but not doing much at all. She didn't really have any signs other than being lethargic the night before I saw the string too. It hit fast... or at least it didn't show many signs at first. She is a tough one. Hope she makes it!

I'm just on the other side of Lake Ontario, in NY state. I'm in the same boat as far as shops or clubs go, none within an hour and a half drive of me. Luckily it's easy to get so much stuff online here, but I understand you guys don't have as many online resources. Welcome to the forum!