Want to Create a 10 Gallon Shrimp Tank: Where do I Begin?

[SilverArowanaBoi]

I broke down my 10-gallon tank yesterday. I know it's random and perhaps unexpected, but here are the reason(s) and my plans for the future:

Reason(s):

I'm about to enter a very busy stage of my life. I'll be starting school in the next few weeks, getting a job, and taking care of everything else that goes on in my life. I won't have the time (or funds) to put into another tank for now. I've also been getting weary of tank maintenance. What's the point of the hobby if it feels like a chore? It should be enjoyable, not a pain in the a**. It has been running for weeks with broken equipment and no fish, so I broke down the tank yesterday.

The Future:

I intend to get a second setup, maybe in a couple of months when things settle down, maybe in a year or two. I don't know when. If I do a second setup, it will be saltwater. I don't want another freshwater tank; I want to explore a different side of the hobby and open the doors to hundreds of new options for stocking. If I do a saltwater tank, I want to start with a 30g or an AIO Cube Tank in a larger size.

What do I plan to do with the 10-gallon tank? I'm thinking of turning it into a paludarium or a terrarium tank. I also might just leave it alone and let it be a quarantine or backup tank if things go south. I know most of you would promote the quarantine tank idea, so I put it out there to make you all happy, lol.

This will be the last update for this tank until I do something with it. Adios.

 

[jjohnwm]

Good on you. Losing sight of the point where "fun" degrades into "drudgery" is easily done, and once you have passed that point, getting back to the level at which you were enjoying yourself is, in itself, more work. If you aren't enjoying the hobby, regardless of how many or how few tanks you have, then...as you have stated...what's the point?

You'll get to a point in your life when you welcome the challenge of more tanks while actually having the time, space, money and energy to do them justice. It might be in a few months when you settle into your new routine and realize you want to expand your involvement again...or it might be in 40 or 50 years when you retire! You'll know it when it happens. I went through a period of almost three years when I considered myself completely dormant in the hobby, and had mentioned to a long-time friend that I was on hiatus. He visited me in my then-new home a few weeks later, and was a bit surprised when we went into the den and he saw the 200-ish gallon community tank there.

He said "I thought you were out of the hobby?" My response: "I am! This tank isn't a breeding experiment, doesn't require live food, takes a few minutes each week to maintain, looks nice and makes me happy. I'm on hiatus; I'm not dead!"

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Good on you. Losing sight of the point where "fun" degrades into "drudgery" is easily done, and once you have passed that point, getting back to the level at which you were enjoying yourself is, in itself, more work. If you aren't enjoying the hobby, regardless of how many or how few tanks you have, then...as you have stated...what's the point?

You'll get to a point in your life when you welcome the challenge of more tanks while actually having the time, space, money and energy to do them justice. It might be in a few months when you settle into your new routine and realize you want to expand your involvement again...or it might be in 40 or 50 years when you retire! You'll know it when it happens. I went through a period of almost three years when I considered myself completely dormant in the hobby, and had mentioned to a long-time friend that I was on hiatus. He visited me in my then-new home a few weeks later, and was a bit surprised when we went into the den and he saw the 200-ish gallon community tank there.

He said "I thought you were out of the hobby?" My response: "I am! This tank isn't a breeding experiment, doesn't require live food, takes a few minutes each week to maintain, looks nice and makes me happy. I'm on hiatus; I'm not dead!"

Exactly, that's where I am right now. A hiatus with a tank, neither completely dormant in the hobby nor overloaded, just...content.

 

[jjohnwm]

Content? As in "leave well enough alone and change nothing?"

I've started my stopwatch; we'll see what happens...

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Content? As in "leave well enough alone and change nothing?"

I've started my stopwatch; we'll see what happens...

Wow. That little faith, huh? Ok, let your stopwatch run. Your phone/watch/computer will die before I give up, and I'm very competitive.

 

[jjohnwm]

It's not "that little faith"...it's that much faith. How many times did we see the "final last version" of your other tank? Who knows? Maybe you can resist the urge to improve the crap out of your tank...maybe...

Tick...tick...tick.......

It's really tough on the competitive guy...i.e. you...when he is facing an opponent who can't be bothered staying awake to follow the action...i.e. me.

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

It's not "that little faith"...it's that much faith. How many times did we see the "final last version" of your other tank? Who knows? Maybe you can resist the urge to improve the crap out of your tank...maybe...

Tick...tick...tick.......

Ehhh its little faith. I misswrote the title of my Final Tank Setup Thread...

 

[jjohnwm]

...tick...tick...tick...

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

...tick...tick...tick...

*boom*

 

[jjohnwm]

*boom*

I thought you said you were competitive? You lost already!!?!?!?