Hi from Hampshire, UK

[Softbreeze]

Hi!

I used to have an aquarium a long time ago (both coldwater and later tropical) and have been itching to get back in to the hobby with a much bigger aquarium plus my first ever pond.

Sadly I became very badly disabled a little over 2yrs ago and it looked like that dream was done.

Luckily, I have an amazing husband who is all for creating that pond indoors with me. We're now planning a 6ft x 2ft x 2ft custom built sumped freshwater tank in the living room. I’ve got a soft spot for comet goldfish and wanted a more interactive fish experience. I'm also hoping to add weather loaches, gudgeon and eurasian minnows too. Not strictly native but want to try for a european-esque biotope.

Not had a sump before, excited to learn. Looking forward to advice on stocking levels. I believe the minnows, at 4" will be too big for the eventual full grown comets to eat but am open to opinions. Leaning towards plants and fully accepting some will get eaten but I figure that's good goldie enrichment.

I'm very pleased at the low tech trend as my last fish tank used T12s lol so needing to catch up with the last gear. So many cool toys to play with now but it is also a bit overwhelming! One thing we do need to figure out is the easiest way to do a water change as we can't install an auto change system in this room. Hubs will be doing the grunt work for me and I'd like to make that as easy on him as possible, especially with messy goldfish.

I love the idea of growing plants out the top of the tank and in the sump, for more nitrate uptake. Not to replace water changes but to help keep on top of things. Yup, lots of ideas! Seems like so long since I had something to be excited for, now I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas lol!

Anyways, pleased to be here and will share pics when we eventually get there.

[Darth Mollusk]

How exciting! I'm a fan of low-tech, too. And I just got a few more plants I'd been easing from soil to water into the tank today! 

I can't keep a plant alive unless it's in an aquarium, but these seem to be doing well so far 😆

[Softbreeze]

On 6/24/2022 at 1:19 AM, DarthMollusk said:

How exciting! I'm a fan of low-tech, too. And I just got a few more plants I'd been easing from soil to water into the tank today! 

I can't keep a plant alive unless it's in an aquarium, but these seem to be doing well so far 😆

The part about keeping plants alive but only in the aquarium? I felt that 😅 Although I'm doing a good line in peace lillies atm lol