My girlfriend recently bought me a Fluval Roma 90 litre aquarium. I had grandiose plans to do a better job of it than the office tank, which is quite a lot of hassle due to an odd combination of species and poor planning.
Initial stock ideas were some kind of shoaling group (probably barbs), a catfish and one or two peaceful cichlids.
I set up the tank a good week before going to get any livestock – the gravel, although pre-washed, still kicked out a large amount of dust when it went in. My girlfriend and I opted for an Asian theme to the decor – with an oriental bridge, stone Buddha head, soft plants and a miniature Buddha who sits on the bridge observing the room with his jolly face.
A cloudy tank!
Once the dust had settled – or rather filtered – what was left was a smart looking tank. Now I had to wait for the tank to begin maturing, I kick started the process with Nutrafin Tankaid, water conditioner, and liquid plant food to get some nutrients into the water and substrate.
I picked up three golden gouramis to help the tank fully mature. I had to do a 25% water change to bring down an initial ammonia and nitrite spike, but this is expected. In the new year I look forward to gradually adding more livestock to the aquarium to provide a wonderfully entertaining decoration for the living room :)
Golden gouramis by the Buddha bridge
