I miss my tank at work.

[BF McUmber]

Especially with Covid, work was sparse and not great. For morale I got a fish tank for my work group (5 glofish danios, 10 cherry shrimp, 3 amano shrimp and 2 nerite snails, 2.5 months old planted 10 gallon). At the start I was positive I did not want a tank at home because it was a work thing, and I do other things at home.... but I kind of miss watching the shrimp eat and such. I really like my fish/invertebrate selection for the tank at work. which is nice (Literally only corydoras, hill stream loaches, chili rasboras and kuhli loaches have seemed nice with the probably 100's of hours of videos I've watched... so far)  So my question to the group is: 

1. Do you think I will lose love and motivation for my work tank if I make a 29ish gallon tank at home? My initial thought is no because it is a work discussion piece, but I would see similar things at home.  

2. With only being in the hobby for 2.5 months in, how dumb is it to buy a second tank already? (I had not fish exposure previously) 

3. Holy hell I did not realize how expensive aquariums are!!! not a question but more a holy shit moment. To turn it into a question, how reasonable is it to use testing stuff and siphons in both locations. How often do you see tank parameters that need "day of" attention? 

4. As it seems like I'm into bottom dwellers and shrimp  is a 20 or 30 long, or (2) 15's better than a 29? Is that just a phase and I will likely want a top show piece fish? 

Thank you for your input, and I realize I am asking for opinions and likely it is purely my decision/responsibility.

Brad

Edited June 1, 2021 by bwar

[FrozenFins]

Welcome to the Hobby!

1. No I dont think you will loose motivation if you get a home tank. If anything you will enjoy it more! I always find that the more tanks in different areas the better! 
2. Not dumb at all! Ask almost anyone in this hobby and they will have a simillar story to you "I thought I was going to only get one tank, but a few weeks passed and I already started looking for another tank". At 3 months in the hobby I had 3 tanks. All were relatviley small, a 10 gallon, and 2 bettas.
3. Yeah this hobby is expensive. Too expensive almost! You can try looking on places like Facebook Market Place, Craigslist, Kijiji, etc. For used aquarium goods. Theres almost always going to be a good deal! I got a 40 breeder in september from Kijiji with a filter, airpump, background, gravel vac, stand, and substrate for only $200CAD, its hold up quite well too.

I'm going to tag @Betsy because I know that she has a tank at work and at home, perhaps she can give some better answers.

[Sarina]

1. No, as you’ve probably already noticed in this hobby, most of us have MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome) and it’s a chronic issue 😂 If anything, it will just inspire you to get more tanks. 

2. Not dumb at all as long as you can reasonably care for said tanks. You’ve got a cycled tank already, so it wouldn’t take much to seed a new tank with some cycled media.

3. Aquariums are expensive, but they don’t have to be super expensive. There are tons of budget options, but I do encourage you to look at the 20 or 30 long tanks. You can use a budget light on a shorter tank and it doesn’t end up looking dim on the bottom and if you have plants they’ll do just fine. The light I linked to has good reviews and is programmable with a timer integrated into the light, so you get a lot for the money. For a filter, I highly recommend either a medium sponge filter and air pump (don’t forget an air stone, line, and check valve), or one of these bad boys and some coarse filter foam as media.  If you want to get fancy, you can put a polishing pad in the outflow chamber to get your water ultra clear. For substrate there are tons of cheap options, but for cory cats and most bottom dwellers, pool filter sand is a great choice and it will still grow plants with the help of root tabs. As for test kits, the co-op test kit is very inexpensive and you can split one jar of strips easily into two portions and keep some in both places. Make sure you grab ammonia tests, too! As for a siphon/python, investing in one for at home and one at work is definitely going to save you a lot of time and money. This one is my favorite. As for parameters that need “day of” attention, I see that rarely once a tank is established, but it’s worth noting that emergencies can happen at any time and being prepared is always best. Thankfully, you can buy things like seachem safe, which is a powdered, concentrated version of their other dechlorinator, and mix your own with distilled water in an opaque container for cheap. Mix ratio is 1 gram per 250ml water, dosage is 1ml liquid mix for every 10 gallons. Most aquarium emergencies (like an ammonia spike) can be handled by a dose of safe and hold you over for 24 hours. 

4. Longer, lower tanks are, in my humble opinion, the best kinds of tanks because you have lots of room for territory and line of sight breaks with decor and plants, it decreases the chance for aggression. Even if you wanted to add a showpiece fish later, they would most likely live more peacefully in a longer tank vs a taller, shorter one. 

I know this is a ton of information and if you have questions about anything feel free to ask, I’m well versed in finding inexpensive ways to make nice looking aquariums 😅 Another helpful hint: Lowes carries all sorts of hardscape rock for super cheap and you could make an awesome, inexpensive, amazing looking tank with just hardscape, sand, and no plants. 

I’m an enabler, what can I say? 😉

Edited June 1, 2021 by Nirvanaquatics

[BF McUmber]

Thank you for your replies. I did not mean to make a big deal out of the cost. Yes, I am into this hobby for 3x what I expected it to be as of now... but there was a lot of things I did not account for, such as Easy Green. While surprised by it I am not deterred by it because I bought these $6 fish and shrimp, god damn, Im'ma make sure they survive. If they don't I will hopefully figure out why as well. 

The main point of that comment was to determine if it is ok for me to use the same equipment at work as I use in the office. That way I only have 1 siphon, test kit, and one algae scraper and such. 

[Betsy]

I have two sets...you could always start out with one set and see if you feel like you need more than one.  I like to think as little as possible, haha!  Remembering to bring a siphon home is a little too high key for me weekly...plus, those things always have surprise water in them.

The other thing to think about is if there is sickness in the home tank or the work tank, you'd be sharing those germs if they shared equipment.

I've found that my home tank stresses me out infinitely more than my work tank (I think I try too hard and expect too much from my home tank, sometimes).  I'd be interested to know if you feel the same way once you get everything set up!

[DaveO]

The interest you show in starting another tank at home is great. I'd be willing to bet you will enjoy it more than your work tank.

[gardenman]

Regarding costs, watch for the dollar a gallon sales at the bigger pet shop chains. That's a great time to buy tanks. People selling used tanks often ask for far more than you can buy a new tank for. Sponge filters are cheap and very effective.  Lights by Nicrew and the sort are quite good and very affordable. It doesn't have to cost a fortune to start a new tank. If you take advantage of a dollar a gallon sale ($29 for a 29 gallon tank) and use a sponge filter ($5-$10), air pump ($10-$15), Nicrew-type light ($20-$30), You're well under $100 for a 29 gallon tank. Something like pool sand or Safe-T-Sorb as a substrate will be very affordable. 

[binkysmom]

I started with a work tank, then needed one for home. I now have 11 tanks in total. My work tank is shrimp only now as I'm in 2x a week.

[lefty o]

you know you want one at work, and at home........ mts is a thing ya know. LOL

[CosmicAshhole]

I recently got back into the hobby... Like 100 x deeper than I was the first time.

I'm doing things right this time, and I am currently the caretaker for my two 8.75 gallon betta tank and a 20L that I just set up and I'm cycling.  I'm also responsible for my parents 55 gallon tank which I took over because it was a WRECK.  

This has happened over the course of maybe 4 months???  I'm already planning on a 150gallon tank for a Ghost Knife....Eventually.  

 

Welcome to the obsession.  I love each tank in its own way. 

[NanoNano]

My thoughts:

1. & 2. I strongly doubt that you'll lose your motivation.  Two of the things I've found with myself and hobbies is 1) As I get better at something,  I want things that gives me additional challenges and opportunities to grow/show my knowledge. 2) There's always some "collecting aspect" that goes along with any hobby (I can only play one guitar at a time,  but if one guitar is good, two is definitely better, and three must be...).  You probably want to mull over the 29 gallon aquarium a bit.  Larger water volume means more maintenance time especially if you have to hand carry water to/from where the aquarium is located.  You could be doubling or tripling the time you spend a week on feedings, dosing, water changes, cleaning, etc.

3.  My advice would be to buy duplicate sets of things for home and work.  You want a biological "firewall" between tanks if possible- especially one that's in a public area where a lot of people have potential access to it.  You're always going to have water (likely a little smelly) that's going to remain in things and if you're transporting half used bottles of test chemicals or things like Stessguard you could end up with a spill that damages or stains your car interior or drips it's way across a carpet as it goes to and fro.  I once had a manager with a genius strategy.  We had an "office Betta" that was kind of our work team mascot, conversation piece, you know the drill...It was required that the Betta be paid a cash tribute (put into a "trust") by the winner of the office football and March Madness pools.  The cost burden of care was taken care of via windfall and "dude" ended up in a top of the line tank with his own mini fridge for live food before the end of his days.

For home stuff,  I always make sure that I join every relevant store reward club that you can so that I build points to redeem.  I also have a "cash rewards" credit card where I'll dedicate the amount of cash rewarded to hobbies.   As you've called out  prices on aquarium prices/supplies can be *crazy*,  but if you're able to wait for the right deal and/or promotion, sometimes be flexible on things like color choice or revision/packaging,  and be flexible about the size of the bottle of consumables, you can often save 25%+ off every day prices *easily*.  I would resist the urge to go cheap.  I've found that in a hobby where things are constantly exposed to water, humidity, vibration etc. if you buy cheap,  you end up buying twice (the second time being the more expensive solution you should have bought initially).  

The one thing that I would give some thought to is your emergency plans for both locations.  If you end up with an illness outbreak in a tank and need to quarantine fish,  are you equipped to handle it?   If the office decides to cut the power or repaint or close for an extended holiday, etc. and you needed to move that aquarium off site, are you prepared?  Maybe going for two 10's or two 15's with one that you could potentially use if you get thrown an aquatic curveball *is* good thinking.

Good luck- look forward to following the rest of your journey on this.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2021 by NanoNano