Hi everybody,

Retiring soon, so thinking of picking up a hobby. Although I have kept both fresh water and marine fishes, I am not a 'serious hobbyist'. Now that I may have a bit more time, maybe I can try something more interesting. Was searching for forums and found most were either oversea or dormant. This site seems pretty active.

What come to mind is a nano tank of between 1 to 2 ft. I would hope to do some simple 'aquascape' and either few small fishes or shrimps for live/movements. Read and watch many youtubes, none gives a complete answer. I guess there isn't and it depends very much on many factors.

If someone can just gives their views based on their experiences, then maybe decision can be simpler for me.

1) Should I go for open tank and customize the lighting, filter, etc or those 'All in one cube with everything built in' type? The All in one is very neat indeed.

2) Is the lid important? open tank, I need to customise lid or are there off the shelves lid? With the HOB filter, not easy to fit.

3) I read some say air pump and others show no air pump. With a good filtration system that circulate the water well enough, do you still need air pump? I though air pump is more for fishes to bring Ox.

So much for my self introduction and questions. Hope to hear from you guys.