My newest tank. I have been away from the hobby for ~10 yrs but good to be back.

We spent some time in the country this spring and my son loved playing in the streams and river, catching trout fry and tadpoles, and seeing baby toads moving from pond to forest. As we were approaching our last days there we decided we should bring our Ball jar of tadpoles and river rocks home and set up an aquarium.

A quick scavenging of brook sand, river rocks, and drift wood and we were well equipped to set up a new tank built on natural materials. A Fluval 2.6 seemed like the perfect way to get going without taking over the kitchen, keeping the Mrs. happy. Substrate is potting soil plus a layer of river sand. Some eBay plant clippings finished it off. Was able to get the poles in their temporary home within a few days.

Not going very high tech on this. I don’t test chemistry, just try to keep an eye on things. I did put together a Coke bottle yeast/sugar CO2 setup and add a drop of Flourish each week. Water changes are frequent while the tank gets established.

UPDATE

8/10/2020

After about a month the tank is doing well. Now it is stocked with about 8 cherry shrimp and a Glofish Betta. Tank still looking for balance but green algae getting under control.