[To All Enjoy-Aquarists] How to Grow a General Aquarium Reviewed by a Real Average Person Part 1: Self-Introduction
What exactly is a 'real average person,' let's put that aside for a moment.
I'm going to run this with the concept of 'Hey aquarium industry, look at the reality of an average household.'
When you look at photos on social media or in shops, you see those overly perfect aquascapes that make you go, 'Wait, is this CGI?'
The LEDs are blindingly bright, the CO2 is automated, and the canister filter is tucked away under a dedicated stand!
Heck, with an overflow system, it's like some invisible hand of God is making perfect adjustments.
—No, no, are we talking about a dream world? I mean.
A 6000lm hanging LED?
External filters controlled in 100L units simultaneously?
An automated dosing system on a timer?
No way. This is a normal house. A 600H full set starting at a million yen? I can't pay that.
That's half my annual take-home pay, yo.
Even if it were free, I don't have the space for it, yo.
I don't even have space for the stand to put the tank on, yo.
I'm a soldier fighting to protect a measly 20L tank from the pressures of my kids and the household budget, that's what I am.
I mean.
In other words.
Professional articles start from the premise that a 30cm cube tank is the minimum, but even that is hard to find space for, so they aren't really helpful.
No, actually, I do use professional aquarist articles as a huge reference, but even when I do exactly as they say, I make absolutely no progress.
So, to you over there.
Rest assured. Me too.
To everyone with normal sensibilities, to everyone with an average income.
To all the dreamers who are about to give up, thinking that aquariums are just a hobby for the rich.
Rest assured. Me too.
I will share my honest thoughts on how much you can actually grow in a normalhobby environment that isfar from those 'pro-level' or 'celebrity-perspective' setups.
The author is just a regular person who keeps an aquarium as a hobby.
It all started with my son's goldfish scooping.
My monthly hobby budget is capped at 10,000 yen.
I manage my tank in the gap between appliances and on top of a bookshelf, and I will review—without sugarcoating—the plants and livestock I've actually raised using equipment you can buy at a home center aquarium corner rather than a specialty shop, and mainly using the online shop Charm, without using any ADA gear.
By the way, this is the aquascape that started my struggle to customize the goldfish my son bought at that time.
The bare minimum promise
Wait? I heard this aquatic plant just needed to be buried, but it all melted...???
This is an aquarium article for all entry-level aquarists (lifelong enjoyers) who have had that experience, but just so you know, this is intended for these types of people, so here is a disclaimer.
Everyone says foreground plants are easy to grow and absolutely necessary, but aren't they super hard?
or
They say background plants are a pain to trim, but mine get covered in algae or melt before they even grow out?
or
I heard that if you just put Neocaridina shrimp in the tank they'll multiply, but I don't have a single one?
or
Isn't it just impossible to turn them on and off at the same time every day due to work?
This is for people with those kinds of worries.
I want to keep goldfish healthy.
I want to try breeding medaka.
I want to enjoy the different colors of guppies.
I'm satisfied just by looking at the water in the tank. I'm keeping the world's safest water (Japanese water).
This article is not for those people.
There are already articles for average households for goldfish, medaka, and guppies.
Those will be helpful for you.
Soft water, hard water, pH, shade-loving, sun-loving, foreground, midground, background.
I will proceed on the assumption that you at least understand those terms.
I want to have an aquarium. But I have no money, no time, and no space.
But I still want to.
This is a series of articles for such people.
From the next post on, I will be sharing my specific keeping experiences, so professional aquarists, please do not read this.
The articles will be released in the following order after this ① opening.
💥② Common Mistakes
🌿③ Foreground Plants & Moss
🌴④ Background Plants & Floating Plants
🐠⑤ Tropical Fish and Shrimp
🦎⑥ Emersed Leaves & Reptiles
◆ My Tank Specs
• Number of tanks: 2 small tanks + 2 medium tanks (4 tanks total in operation)
• LED lighting: GEX Power III (affordable but bright enough)
• Filtration: Hang-on-back filters (4 GEX Power Slim units currently running)
• Aeration: GEX Silent Force 2000S (*quieter than a refrigerator. Seriously.)
• CO₂ injection: Charm original set (74g cylinder) installed in the planted tank. It is the cheapest injection set ever.
→ If you inject at 1 drop per second, one cylinder lasts about 2 weeks.
You're using CO2 injection!
If you thought that, this article is for you.
I only started injecting three months ago, and you can get everything you need for 7,000 yen with the Charm injection kit starter set. This is much more cost-effective than setting up quarantine tanks or sub-tanks and tinkering with this and that.
Well, this has gotten long, so I'll end the introduction here. It continues in the next article!
A real aquarium review at the equipment level of a typical household.
To be continued