Author Allen M Werner

Back some 25 years ago, my wife kept a few fish in tanks including seahorses. I was never into aquariums myself, but I did build a cement pond in the yard where we kept a host of goldfish, shubunkins, koi and a turtle. Lots of plants including beautiful flowering lilies. It was really nice. And being in Wisconsin, in winter, we bought big open plastic tubs with filters for the basement. We moved all the fish inside until spring. It was great while it lasted.
We haven’t kept any fish since.
But now we are back at it, and I am into aquariums now.
It’s a fun although a bit expensive hobby if you let it be. Honestly, Sue and I spend a lot of time window shopping the aquarium stores, watching YouTube videos on building tanks, learning about all the various fish and plants, the sizes and styles of tanks.
We’re also watching a lot of DIY videos in order to keep our costs down.

We are starting this hobby small.
I helped my wife get her tanks off the ground first. She now has a 20 gallon aquarium with a solid dirt substrate, live plants, cardinal tetras, guppies, white cloud mountain minnows and ghost shrimp. She also has three smaller tanks with bettas and goldfish.

In my wife’s 20 gallon, she had originally placed a few neon tetras, but these small fish seemed to be bullied by the others and were constantly hiding down low in the back. That’s not usually where neon tetras go.
For my first aquarium I used a small betta-size tank. I put in a dirt substrate and live plants. We then moved the skittish neon tetras into this small tank and bought two more. Everything is going well with these so far. We had five until one jumped out and died.

I will have my aquariums in the basement in my office space/play area for the grandkids.
I built my own stand for the two 10-gallon tanks.
They are going to sit empty for a while.

I have a 5.5 gallon tank that I wanted to use to grow plants. I put in the substrate this weekend. First a layer of nutrient rich soil mixed with peat moss. I then added some water to make it muddy, squishing out as much air as I could with my hands.

Next, I added a thick layer of sand to cap it off and keep the soil and peat moss at the bottom. You don’t want dirt getting into the water column. The dirt is for the plants, not the fish.

For plants, I decided to go with inexpensive ones to start, trying to find the ones that were on sale.
I got established plants with good roots. Various types of Vallisneria. Dwarf grass. Rubra hygrophila. Water Sprite. I also took in some clippings from the plants in Sue’s 20 gallon tank. Cryptocoryne Mioya. Bacopa Carolininia. Narrowleaf Sagittaria.
I then bought some inexpensive culture tissues of Monte Carlo and Cuba.
Sue and I have never dealt with tissue cultures before, so this is an experiment. We’ll see how it goes.

I put in a little water and started planting them in the sand. I realize the cultures probably should be spread out more than this but I’m just hoping some of the ends take root. It is my first time using these.
And I added the Dory statue for the grandkids. 🙂

Because Sue is also growing Pothos in little baskets at the top of her 20 gallon tank, she can’t use a common glass lid. We bought an acrylic sheet and had to cut it to fit the top of her tank.

I took the extra piece of acrylic and placed it on top of my tank as a cover.
This turned out to be a perfect fit for me because the LED light I bought for the tank wasn’t correct. The box says it is for a 16″ long tank, but it actually extends 3/4″ further, so only one side can be supported by the risers and the other side has to lay on the frame. It makes no sense why they sell stuff this way.
But when I put the acrylic lid on, I was able to sit the light on the acrylic with the risers protecting the light from the water.
I placed an air stone with a small pump in the back of the tank and it’s done for now.

I’ve going to give this aquarium a few weeks to cycle before adding any fish.
I haven’t quite decided on what kind of fish I will place in it yet. I have several types in mind. But I have time to think about it.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post. From time to time, I will post more about our aquariums.
Aquariums are a wonderful distraction from the hectic world.
They add a bit of serenity to an otherwise busy household.
We really enjoy having them and completely understand how people get obsessed by this hobby.
As much as I’d like to get a bigger tank or two to experiment with, one has to consider the other costs, not just of the tank, fish and food, but the stand, the water, and the electricity. To keep lights, heaters and pumps operating takes quite a bit of electricity.
And these things get heavy quick. Can your floor handle it?
A 20-gallon tank can weigh 225lbs.
A 50-gallon tank can weigh 600lbs.
And imagine getting a crack or a break in a tank that size.
And when you watch many of these videos created by professionals, they have tanks that are 150 gallon and larger. These can start weighing over 1800lbs. Imagine the water and electric bill after running lights, heaters and filters on tanks that size.
And I am only talking about freshwater aquariums.
Saltwater aquariums are even more expensive to operate because of the parameters the water must maintain for the health and safety of the fish, as well as saltwater plants like coral.
For now, we’ll be sticking to small freshwater aquariums.

Allen M Werner is the author of the epic fantasy series
THE CRYSTAL CRUX