Around 6 weeks ago I decided to dive back into a Hobby of mine, Fish keeping. I have kept fish since I was around 14. Growing up, my father had his own tropical fish tank and also a very large Koi pond in our back garden. I found them fascinating to watch and as I got slightly older my interest in keeping my own tank grew.
I am one of 5 children - all girls, however I am the only one with the real interest of keeping animals. I had lots of pets over my child hood, rabbits, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, reptiles and eventually cats. My sisters would get bored of their pets and so I would take over looking after and caring for them.
My Saturday morning was filled with the weekly pet clean - which I didn't begrudge. Cleaning cages and changing sawdust. Thinking back now I spent more time with my animals then with my friends, even then I was rather introverted - keeping to myself.
I think it was for my 14th birthday I got bought a second hand fish tank which was complete and ready to go. It was a decent size for my first tank and I had it for around 5 years. Over the years it was filled with a variety of fish, some which if i researched now would not have been recommended for a tank of that size. The internet was still fairly new to me around then so fish forums were not as common. I went on basic fish keeping that my dad knew and used, although now it has changed a lot.
I had two tanks at one point, a smaller one which i actually had some fry hatch and sold on to one of my mums friend, that was fun! This was over 6 years ago - my fish tank was dismantled and taken apart around the time I went to college. When I moved to London I wanted to get back into the Hobby then - however circumstances couldn't allow it, up until now. I decided to dive straight back in but this time I wanted to go to the salty side.
So my tank has been up and running 6 weeks now. The water levels are all good and temperature is stable at 26.6 with my stc 1000 controller. I added x1 pom pom crab, x3 hermit crabs and x5 snails shortly after my tank cycled. I had a small diatom bloom but it was not nothing major. The CUC seem to be taking care of it.
Tuesday my new order arrived which added an additional pom pom crab, x2 cerith snails and x2 peppermint shrimps. They were drip acclimatised and are now settling in. I will not be adding anything new until after christmas now - which i'm hoping to get a Randall's shrimp Goby for my first fish! Here are a few pics of the reef in progress.
So my tank has been up and running 6 weeks now. The water levels are all good and temperature is stable at 26.6 with my stc 1000 controller. I added x1 pom pom crab, x3 hermit crabs and x5 snails shortly after my tank cycled. I had a small diatom bloom but it was not nothing major. The CUC seem to be taking care of it.
Tuesday my new order arrived which added an additional pom pom crab, x2 cerith snails and x2 peppermint shrimps. They were drip acclimatised and are now settling in. I will not be adding anything new until after christmas now - which i'm hoping to get a Randall's shrimp Goby for my first fish! Here are a few pics of the reef in progress.
