u/FlexSealClubber

It’s a long story, but I started a garage pond in a 55 gallon tote about 3 months ago. It was stocked with 8 or so 1-2 inch feeders, 6 minnows and a crawdad.

About 3 weeks ago, I acquired this liner, pumps and 4 4ish inch goldfish. I did not know how big the goldfish were going to be until I arrived at the persons house. They’re obviously too big for a 55 gallon tote, so I immediately got the pond in the ground. I transferred all of the substrate, rocks, wood and fish. Right now I have to medium sized sponge filters on each side of the pond, but I’m wanting something more robust. Some of my questions are:

1. My fish vs the size of the pond. Is this ethical? Should I rehome the larger or perhaps rehome the smaller to make more room?

2. I’d like a fountain or waterfall that perhaps also has a filter. Any cost effective ideas and if so, ideas of placement?

3. Best/ cost effective way to hide the ugly black lip?

4. Just any ideas/suggestions at all, based upon what you see pictured. I’m concerned about water temperature. I’m located near St Louis, so it gets quite hot in the summer. I’ve read more floating plants. Blue dye or no? I can add more of the black stuff you see pictured, but I also would like to be able to see the pond lol.

It’s obviously far from finished. I’m going to get more rock and some edging this weekend

Any input is greatly appreciated!

Found this on Amazon for $10 and decided to give it a shot.

Super light and sharp, I just wish it had a pocket clip. Fits nicely into the small pocket on jeans though.

I have a knack for acquiring sick/injured Bettas from PetCo. I saw this ones colors and couldn’t pass him up.

Help me come up with a name for him. The names Brutus, Woody, Urban and Zeke are already taken.

I started this office bowl on a whim a little over a month ago. There’s a few bladder snails in it, but obviously no fish or shrimp. It has a tiny betta sponge filter located in the back of it.

The other day I used a chop stick to poke down into the soil to free up any trapped bubbles. Since then, there’s black stuff developing on the pea gravel. Any idea what this is? There’s also a bad smell coming from it. I added some almond leaves a few days ago, so I’m thinking the tannins from the leaves are making it look worse than it actually is, but idk. I’m debating on breaking it down and starting over. Pic #4 was taken a few days ago before I added the leaves.

Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated!

I have a 75, 55 and 40 gallon sump.

Is running both tanks from one sump a horrible idea? My other thought was splitting the sump down the middle since the previous owner drilled it out twice. My main concern using it for both would obviously be sickness being able to spread from tank to tank. No idea what I’m going to stock with other than my young Bichir will be going in the 75 when he gets bigger. I’m leaning GBR or Cichlids with the 55 but not dead set on anything.

I realize a sump isn’t necessarily needed for tanks this size, but it’s just something I want to do as I like to tinker and build stuff.

Any thoughts, suggestions or perhaps other ideas are appreciated!

I’m no carpenter (I’m sure I didn’t need to tell you that by my pictures) but I built this aquarium stand over the weekend.

I wanted to post these and get some feedback to see if there are any serious flaws. The bottom tank is a 40 gallon sump, next one up is a 75G, next is a 55. The two on the right are 20g and 5.5G. All in all, I’m looking at 1600 lbs.

I’m mainly concerned with my base (obviously the most crucial component). I essentially built the frame and then leveled it with cutoffs. Each block has at least one lag, 2 2 1/2 construction screws and multiple 16ga finish nails. It’s hard to tell, but I also shimmed the spaces with composite shims at the end.

The outer boards running perpendicular to the concrete foundation have been screwed into the 2x4s on the cabinet to the left and the right side were screwed into the studs of the wall (whenever available.

Everything was built with 2x4s, besides the 2x6s that I added to the front to give it some more rigidity.

Do you think I should add posts in the middle?

Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!

I started this office Walstad a few weeks ago. I came into the office this morning and noticed this smelled awful and what looks to be some type of black mold?

Any idea what this is and my next steps going forward?

There are a few bladder snails in the tank currently that are still alive.