Today, after rearranging the layout of my bedroom, I glanced at an aquarium that had become dull and dusty. Originally, this aquarium housed fish owned by my sister a few months ago. However, since she no longer cared for the fish, I released them into the pond next to my house before I left for the city. When I returned home, I was somewhat surprised to see that the fish I had released were now much larger and healthier in the pond, unlike when they were in the aquarium, where they appeared small and unhealthy. By the way, the fish I'm referring to are Fantail Goldfish.
Instead of letting the aquarium remain dusty and unused, I took the initiative to try creating an ecosystem that would be filled with various aquatic creatures besides fish. I plan to include snails, small shrimp, fish, and some other animals that can live in pond water as they do in the wild. It's nice to have a small world thriving inside your room.
For the materials used, I utilized items found around the house like rocks, sand, soil, grass, and even the fish.
Today, I've been busy gathering all the materials I need. My search began with collecting sand from a ditch not far from my house.
Here, I cleaned the sand first to remove any mud and dirt that had settled in it. Besides the dirt, I sieved and sifted to get finer sand. I cleaned it in flowing water, so it was quite easy to wash.
Since I wanted the plants in my aquarium to grow and root like those in the wild, I had to add soil into the aquarium as a planting medium. I took soil from the leftovers of my gardening yesterday and sifted it to make it easier to use.
As for the plants I'll be planting, I'm actually a bit confused because I'm not very familiar with the types of aquatic plants. Here, I obtained these plants from the edge of the pond, where they usually grow in water. Hopefully, I won't make a mistake in choosing the seedlings to plant.
Sand is ready, soil is ready, plants are ready, and now it's time to place them in the aquarium.
After everything was arranged and filled with water, I had to wait about three to four hours before introducing fish to allow any debris to settle down.
Actually, I really wanted to reintroduce the fish I mentioned earlier. However, upon closer inspection, they were too big to fit back in here. Meanwhile, the fish I've introduced here are small Trichopodus I got from the neglected pond behind my house. These Trichopodus are more suitable for my aquarium due to their small size even though they're already mature.
Once my budget has accumulated, I plan to buy some colorful ornamental fish. That way, the aquarium won't be inhabited by just one type of fish. I'll also gradually introduce some other animals (shrimp, snails, and others) when the plants I've planted have truly grown. For now, I'll let these fish stay here and observe their progress from behind this transparent glass.
