Setting up my new aquarium

I recently set up a brand new 29 gallon aquarium, as a birthday present to myself. The last time I had an aquarium was back when I was 6 or 7 years old. My grandmother set me up with a goldfish bowl and an airstone, and a few goldfish. I recall her cat making tasty treats out of all of them, and having my first experiences dealing with death thanks to that.

I’m doing my best to make sure this time around goes differently. I started out my new journey into aquariums, like any journey, by digging my nose deeply into a few good books on the subject. At first I was overwhelmed by the possibilities. Saltwater? Fresh? Small aquarium or massive? Maybe I could even grow corals! The further I educated myself, the more I began to realize the actual time and effort investment inovlved in this hobby. Having a little slice of the ocean in my own house, with a vibrant coral and tropical saltwater fish aquarium sounded incredible, but I became a bit overwhelmed with all of the setup and careful observation that would be required. Maybe it would be better to start out with something simpler, is how my thinking went.

I ended up with a 29 gallon long aquarium, a few live plants (Anubias and Cryptocoryne) and some cool looking rocks, with a black rock substrate. I filled up the tank and fired up the filter, beginning the process of “cycling” my tank.