Checking in from the West Sound...

Greetings all,

New to the hobby after a spectacular failed stint as a teenage fishkeeper some many years ago!  I'm starting my first tank, a 75G African Mbuna tank, and based on my kids/wife's response, it is likely not my last!  

I'm transitioning after recently retiring from the Navy, and am back in grad school at UW til the end of the year.  Now was a great time to try another tank.  I've enjoyed poking around on the forums here, and although Edmonds is a bit of a trip from Bainbridge (but not as much as Angelo's from Bremerton!), I made it up to the store last week, and was really impressed.  Looking forward to getting to know everyone and check out all the other stuff besides the Mbuna.  This hobby looks like it could easily cross into addiction territory!  

Here's the space I started with:


Found this 75G acrylic tank I on Craigslist, 48"W x1 5"D x 24"H, painted it black, ordered a couple canister filters and LED light


Stumbled onto a landscape rock/quarry yard down near Bremerton, picked up a ton of rock.  Not literally.  Literally I think it was 300 lbs.     Made a footprint template and tried my hand at stacking.  First effort...

The stacking looked a little funky, so before we moved it up to its final spot, I tried again...

Now with Pool Filter Sand and water...

From the side...

and lastly, my trusty sidekick and assistant Fishkeeper, Bentley...

He's quite helpful, all 155 pounds of him.  

So, the tank has been cycling for a week.  I got some Fritz-zyme from Angelo, and it's processing ammonia pretty well, just waiting for nitrites to come down.  I'm working on the stock plan, probably make a trip south to Portland in a couple weeks, once the tank is ready.  I'd like to see the first batch of fish we put in there in person, if possible, and I've heard really good things about the Wet Spot, so....Road trip.


Glad to be on the FishBox!

Welcome back to the hobby hose91. I appreciate you sharing your build :)Looks like an awesome start. If you haven't ever been to the Wetspot then I would definitely recommend going at lest once. It's a huge place with many species large and small.

Bentley's got everyone here (at home) wanting a dog, thanks....lol

 

Nice looking setup.  Good that you have egg crate under those rocks with the way most mbuna dig.

Is Bentley a Newfie?  I have a Newfie/lab -- not as big as your boy, but looks similar.  

Thanks for the welcomes! Bentley is indeed a Newfie. We've always had labs, after the last passed, our oldest boy was looking for BIG, so we researched and found the breed. He's a gentle giant, but is a bit hard on the house in general. Fur, and slobber, and just general sloppiness. He fits in well with our 3 boys and coonhound. Fish only add to the merry mix!

The eggcrate definitely helped. It's acrylic, so I'm less nervous than I could be about the rocks crashing out of the tank. They're all firmly planted on the eggcrate, or otherwise pretty stable. The two big ones in the middle almost fit together like a puzzle, I was shocked when I tried that the first time. I was looking for height, and the stacking "lincoln log" thing wasn't really working for me, and when I put them on top of each other they just "locked" together. I was pleased. Looking forward to putting live fish in it!

Puppy!!!!

  

hose91 wrote: He's a gentle giant, but is a bit hard on the house in general.  Fur, and slobber, and just general sloppiness.  He fits in well with our 3 boys and coonhound.  Fish only add to the merry mix!

Our other dog is a basset hound.   
We've always had labs as well and were looking for another, but the rescue told us about this mix that had been taken to the vet to be put to sleep for no good reason.  We decided to give him a home and can't understand why he was given up.  He's the sweetest dog.

 

Welcome to the box! Looking forward to the tank updates!

Thanks for the great share above.  Lots of good folks on here with lots of great knowledge.  I know you will have fun with this group.  It looks like you have put a lot of thought into your startup.  That 75G tank is a beauty.  Nice job on your rock layout (just make sure all rocks and particularly that tall one are secure and stable so you don't have any tumbles...I would take that tall one and make sure it was secure on the bottom - maybe leaning it a bit with a big rock placed at one end to hold it from sliding and another rock placed on the other side to hold it up and then that stabalizing rock having a number of other rocks around it/on it for stability).  Make sure to share updates as you get your stocking in.  And I'm so envious of your trip to Wetspot...its a great store.  Your newfie is lovely.  Great dogs.  My doggy friend is a Papillon (about 6 pounds in size...LOL).

Anyway...welcome (Hi Paul)...glad you made it to the box.