When I retired, we were deciding on a new hobby—my wife was leaning toward a train set, and I had my heart set on an aquarium. I started imagining not just a tank, but something clean and self-contained, so I designed a cabinet to hide all the wires, hoses, pumps, and noise. That idea slowly evolved into a full setup, complete with a pirate chest centerpiece that kind of became the soul of the tank.
At the beginning, I knew absolutely nothing about plants, fish, or aquarium keeping. So I treated it like a project—spent a couple hours every night researching, taking notes, tracking progress, and snapping photos along the way. I planted the tank on December 22, 2026, and since then it’s been a steady learning curve. This is where I’m at now, along with my current stock of 16 ember tetras 14 rummynose 10 cardinals 6 Julii 3 Otto’s and 15 shrimp that have grown on me . Still learning every day, but it’s been a pretty rewarding ride so far. Thinking of a single blue ram for the last piece. Your thoughts keeping in mind there is no drama now and would like to keep that 😊
Posted by Admirable_Chef_8650
4 Comments
Very cool setup! Enjoy the hobby!
Love it
Very cool. If you ever get bored, you could restart it as a reef tank.
absolutely incredible! I am inspired to attempt a custom build like this!