...I have lost my pleco and both otocinclus cats. Sad day. On the good side of things, I did really want a bristlenose cat instead of the rubberlip, so I guess this gives me the opportunity to purchase one of those once everything is cleared up. The good news is, one of my ghost shrimp is carrying around eggs in her swimmerettes!! I mentioned to her last night as I watched her carrying the babies that she better continue making babies, because fairly soon, I will be adding the dwarf cichlids who may want to eat her babies. She paused, made a brief motion that I can only imagine was the shrimp equivalent of "the bird", and then continued on her merry way.
The tank is doing well otherwise. CO2 reactor is producing well, not ANYTHING like what I expected, but it seems to be helping the plants out. The ozelot sword is going CRAZY being in the center of everything, getting all the light and current! New growths all the time, and the other little swords are probably jealous! Moss is doing well, and I have FINALLY started seeing some extensions off of the hairgrass. It's not a quick ground cover, but it will do. I have been holding off on liquid fertilizer until the CO2 is producing better and the treatments for ich are finished. I don't want to pummel my critters to death with additives.
Tetras are happy campers and are all starting to plump out. They are getting used to the feeding routine of the net swiping through the tank with dinner. The shrimp basically hear that as the dinner bell and all come out in force! Have been feeding:
Omega One COLOR Tropical Flakes - once daily
Omega One Algae Wafers - twice a week as needed for shrimp
San Francisco Bay CO Frozen Bloodworms - once (maybe twice) a week
San Fransisco Bay CO Frozen Spirulina Brine Shrimp - once a week
Everyone loves everything, and I only limit the algae wafers because the dang shrimp will carry off large portions of them and hoard them away from everyone else. I can make sure everyone gets something to eat if things are in smaller-sized portions. I will even break down the wafers into smaller bits, but then the tetras will try to eat them instead. Damned if you do...
Wishing my pH would just go down already. I feel like I have done enough water changes with RO water to eliminate most of the old tap water from the tank. Not really sure what is holding it back from dropping, and I am rather bummed, since I had hoped to be getting closer to 6.5 by now. Currently sitting around 7.5.
That's all for now. Need to sleep, but will post again soon!
-Bri
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
New Camera! Plus, bad news!
Good news is, new camera! Bad news is, ICH! In addition to bringing home some unwanted pond snails, I have also brought home ich! Treating with Kordon's Rid Ich Plus daily and have upped the temp to the mid 80's to increase the ich lifecycle. Everyone seems to be responding well to treatment, but have had one casualty. One of the ornate tetras threw in the towel last night. Watching one of the columbians closely for any problems with a torn caudal fin. Looks fine, so far, but the ich treatment may be helping stave off any secondary infections.
I joined ratemyfishtank.com last night, so make sure and vote for my pics! Username is fishratscarriage.
Ok, so here are the promised pics!
And here's River!
I joined ratemyfishtank.com last night, so make sure and vote for my pics! Username is fishratscarriage.
Ok, so here are the promised pics!
A ghost shrimp close up!
The dang tagalong pond snails!
Bubble counter/diffuser for the CO2 reactor.
Front of tank. Look at that ozelot sword go!
Some of the tetras.
Java moss is also doing well!
One of the otos from the left side of the tank. That is the ONLY stalk of cabomba that is doing well.
A pair of shrimp discussing life.
A columbian bottom and Mr. Pleco.
The CO2 reactor.
A closeup of Mr. Pleco, taking a quick rest.
The right side of the tank, with a baby sword.
More tetras.
Now it's time for some rat and pup pics! Trying out the macro mode on the camera.
Dora wants more peanutbutter drops!
See, she'll do ANYTHING for peanut butter drops!
Including wander the top side of the cage looking for them! There's Miss Mousey Mouse on her wheel!
FINALLY! A peanut butter drop moment!
More please? Nutters is a good photobomber!
Miss Mousey Mouse
Nutters needs to clean up after all of those snacks!
Nutters enjoying a peanut butter drop.
Nutters can't figure out why he smells peanut butter upstairs! (Dora is on top of the hammock enjoying her drop!)
And here's River!
By the end, here, she kept sniffing the camera and pouting that I wan't petting her. Lilly was uncooperative, wanting to play with her toy and not keep still!
That's all for now! More pics once the tank settles out from the water change and ich treatment today!
-Bri
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Passing into month number two...
And everything is doing fine! The algae is doing too well, if you ask me, but the shrimp have been making a dent and just added a pair of otocinclus to the tank today to help with that as well. Also got two more ornate tetras for a tank crew of:
6 Ornate tetras
5 Columbian Red-Blue tetras
2 otocinclus
1 Rubberlip Plecostomus
10 (or so) ghost shrimp
and a couple of pesky pond snails...those jerks
I have decided I am going to buckle down and purchase a new digital camera to help out with the blog. Either that, or figure out how to work the hubby's and use it for better pics. Only other new happening is the new CO2 reactor! Weighed it out between making a homemade reactor or purchasing a kit with a bubble counter/diffuser and went with the kit, mostly so I can get some accessible carbon into the tank to help the plants out and (cross fingers) get them growing fast enough to stave off some of the algae. I am also holding off on adding any more liquid fertilizer until the plants begin to respond to the CO2 and can use the liquid better. At this point, I feel that I am just feeding my algae. The kit is by Hagen and it has some good looks. Will probably use the provided yeast kits until I run out and then use my own homemade mix to save money.
Kid you not, some of my ghost shrimp are larger than the otos I just put in. They are becoming MONSTERS!
Prepping for a water change tomorrow or Thursday and still trying to decide my showcase fish. I am having a dilemma here...I LOVE blue ram cichlids and think they would do mighty fine in my tank, but they are not readily available in my area and the places that sell them offer very short guarantee periods. My other preference is for Turquoise Severum cichlids, who get much larger and may nibble on the plants. But these we sell at my workplace, we have a long guarantee period, and I can observe them for illness/gender at the store before I buy. I don't know. I will have to think on it some more...I think my tank is better suited for the dwarf Blues, but I don't want to have a fuss about gender/illness/return policies!
Anywho, thanks for reading! Will post more soon!
-Bri
6 Ornate tetras
5 Columbian Red-Blue tetras
2 otocinclus
1 Rubberlip Plecostomus
10 (or so) ghost shrimp
and a couple of pesky pond snails...those jerks
I have decided I am going to buckle down and purchase a new digital camera to help out with the blog. Either that, or figure out how to work the hubby's and use it for better pics. Only other new happening is the new CO2 reactor! Weighed it out between making a homemade reactor or purchasing a kit with a bubble counter/diffuser and went with the kit, mostly so I can get some accessible carbon into the tank to help the plants out and (cross fingers) get them growing fast enough to stave off some of the algae. I am also holding off on adding any more liquid fertilizer until the plants begin to respond to the CO2 and can use the liquid better. At this point, I feel that I am just feeding my algae. The kit is by Hagen and it has some good looks. Will probably use the provided yeast kits until I run out and then use my own homemade mix to save money.
Kid you not, some of my ghost shrimp are larger than the otos I just put in. They are becoming MONSTERS!
Prepping for a water change tomorrow or Thursday and still trying to decide my showcase fish. I am having a dilemma here...I LOVE blue ram cichlids and think they would do mighty fine in my tank, but they are not readily available in my area and the places that sell them offer very short guarantee periods. My other preference is for Turquoise Severum cichlids, who get much larger and may nibble on the plants. But these we sell at my workplace, we have a long guarantee period, and I can observe them for illness/gender at the store before I buy. I don't know. I will have to think on it some more...I think my tank is better suited for the dwarf Blues, but I don't want to have a fuss about gender/illness/return policies!
Anywho, thanks for reading! Will post more soon!
-Bri
Thursday, January 13, 2011
I'm horrible about remembering to take pictures...
...but I promise I'll get better! Just did a 20% water change on the tank and scrubbed down the glass. Getting some green algae growth on the rainbow rocks and have seen some oxygen accumulation on the bottoms of the ocelot sword leaves! Boo algae growth but yay plant growth. Also had to to cut back the bottoms on two of the cabomba stalks to get the current root growth closer (or into) the substrate. Three of them have already rooted on their own. The java moss is flourishing and I have had to split one of the sections into two pieces, moving the "new" section into a grove on the right side driftwood. I have yet to see the hairgrass go anywhere, but I have high hopes considering how well everything else is doing in the tank! Fairly soon I may have to rig up my CO2 reactor!
The fish and shrimp (the shrimp especially) are enjoying the fruits of my labor. The shrimp were all out investigating the bits of flotsam from the scrub down. The tetras all hid during the work but have come out to see what all the shrimp were doing. By the way, I am down to 4 ornate tetras and I may leave it that way. We'll see if I feel inclined to add any more as I get more fish for the tank. I think the next additions will be a couple of otocinclus to help out with the green algae growth in the small pores on the rainbow rock since I see the pleco going over it but missing the smaller crevasses. I think I will also get a school of cardinals before they go off sale price. As many as I want to have in the tank, I would much rather pay a quarter of the price for each than full price!
Sad day yesterday...Perseus is now swimming in the pond that never ends (fish heaven, right?). He passed while resting on his favorite fake plant. Not too bad, he made it to his 3rd birthday. I still personally think this was his way of getting back at me for moving him out of the "big" tank, but I can't blame him. Don't know if I'll end up getting another betta or not. I now have an empty bowl, but with the larger tank to take care of, it would be nice to not set up another betta for a while. We will see if anyone strikes my fancy at work.
That is all for now. Nutters says "Hi" from the cage, but I think it might be "Where are the snacks". I'm not so good at translating rat...
-Bri
The fish and shrimp (the shrimp especially) are enjoying the fruits of my labor. The shrimp were all out investigating the bits of flotsam from the scrub down. The tetras all hid during the work but have come out to see what all the shrimp were doing. By the way, I am down to 4 ornate tetras and I may leave it that way. We'll see if I feel inclined to add any more as I get more fish for the tank. I think the next additions will be a couple of otocinclus to help out with the green algae growth in the small pores on the rainbow rock since I see the pleco going over it but missing the smaller crevasses. I think I will also get a school of cardinals before they go off sale price. As many as I want to have in the tank, I would much rather pay a quarter of the price for each than full price!
Sad day yesterday...Perseus is now swimming in the pond that never ends (fish heaven, right?). He passed while resting on his favorite fake plant. Not too bad, he made it to his 3rd birthday. I still personally think this was his way of getting back at me for moving him out of the "big" tank, but I can't blame him. Don't know if I'll end up getting another betta or not. I now have an empty bowl, but with the larger tank to take care of, it would be nice to not set up another betta for a while. We will see if anyone strikes my fancy at work.
That is all for now. Nutters says "Hi" from the cage, but I think it might be "Where are the snacks". I'm not so good at translating rat...
-Bri
Monday, January 10, 2011
How to be the ideal pet store shopper!
Here are some tips on how to be an ideal pet store shopper! It may seem easy, but many can't seem to follow some of these basic steps!
Step 1: Do your research BEFORE you shop! Buying a pet, starting a fish tank...these are not in any way similar to renting a movie or buying clothing. They require education and thought, and on a busy day in the pet store, your pet store associates may not have the time to educate you thoroughly on what you are buying. Most places aren't commission-based either, which means we are staffed to help everyone who visits as succinctly as possible. In other words, the pet store staff may have to help several other people as well as you in a short time frame, and if you are taking up too much time asking questions that you could have researched yourself at home (the library, the internet, the local bookstore are all great resources!) you are making a LOT of other customers unhappy, which makes it hard on the business you are visiting. They try very hard to please everyone equally, and you can make it difficult by skipping this very important first step!
Step 2: Make a list of pertinent questions! After doing your research from Step 1, write down a short list of questions you would like to ask at your local pet shop. That way you do not forget about what you would like to ask and we can make sure your experience is as informative as you would have liked it!
Step 3: Do NOT come in with a time limit when starting a new pet enterprise! Nothing is more irritating and inconvenient than someone who needs to make a huge purchase in a short time frame. Give yourself time to be helped!
Step 4: (Within reason) Take the pet store staff's advice! Now if the staff member is obviously a complete idiot (have seen it happen before), please take all advice with a grain of salt. The good news is, if you did your research, you should be prepared with some knowledge of what you are trying to do. You can use this knowledge to "test" the staff member assisting you. Let's say you are buying fish. Now you have done your research and know that you should only add about 2-4 small- to medium-sized fish to your 20 gallon tank at a time. You test your staff member by saying "I would like to add 6 of these Red-Bellied Pacu to my 20 gallon tank". A reasonable response would be "Sir or Ma'am, I highly recommend choosing a different fish for your tank as this species can get quite large. Too large, in fact, for your tank! Let's look at these tetras over here..." Someone who nods their head and starts to catch your new tankbusters is obviously not up to snuff. Now, if you've done your test and concluded that this person knows at least as much as you, if not more, PLEASE take recommendations! I cannot repeat enough that when one has worked in a pet store environment long enough, seen enough returns of unfortunate critters, and keeps up on their knowledge base, they know a few things about what they are selling. I have seen too many ill-fated combinations of fish, birds, reptiles, and small animals to not want to prevent a death or two. I don't spend my time talking to you to spew out gibberish. I honestly want to make sure that your tank/vivarium/cage succeeds! I promise that most pet store staff are trying to help you out when they make recommendations as to number of fish, size of cage, and type of reptile bedding. Yes, we are a business and most businesses are out to make money, but there is a special balance in pet stores between making money and keeping happy customers. One bad experience with an inappropriate fish, a child being bitten by a dwarf hamster/parakeet, or a striky snake will end the store-customer relationship very quickly. Now if we take the time to determine that you, in fact, do not need to spend a lot of money today, and that brings about good results, then we will keep you as a customer and keep your future business, however much money that might mean for us.
Step 5 - HOLD ON TO YOUR RECEIPTS!! Almost all pet stores have some form of live pet guarantee. Most of those are null and void without your receipt. If you are keeping fish, store receipts in your tank stand. Small animals, birds, or reptiles...find a good stashing place for those receipts and keep them for the whole guarantee period, even if the pet is healthy the first few days. A lot of places have guarantees on their products as well. Hold onto those also. I cannot tell you how many times someone has had to buy a whole new filter/heater/lamp/cage/etc. because they did not bother to hold onto their receipts! My method? Take a plain envelope and stash receipts in it in a place you will remember. Mine is the drawer next to the sink. Hold onto them until the replacement period is over and then go through and throw out the no longer useful receipts.
Step 6 -REPEAT! Build a relationship with your LPS (local pet store) and it's employees! Be a model customer and they will treat you like gold. You will get to know them and they will feel more comfortable making recommendations to you and your specific needs. You will know peak times in the store and avoid them whenever possible so that you have a little more time with the staff. As we understand you, we can stop "babysitting" you and your purchase choices and start chatting about more advanced topics that are more relevant to you and your critters! The other plus side? If we know you well, we will be more confident in backing you up if you flubbed up and forgot (god forbid!) a receipt. Isn't that nice?
If you love your pets and you visit the pet store at least once a week, follow these steps to make certain that your visits are always productive and positive ones! Trust me, we know who you are when you are in that often, and if you are an ideal shopper, then we are more than happy to serve you every time! If you see your staff running away when you come in...well, maybe you should brush up on these steps and see what good may come of it!
In tank news, we have the traditional good news/bad news. Bad news first, you say? Lost two White-Finned Rosy Tetras in two days this week. The first one made it 6 days in the tank, the second made it 7. No symptoms, no fluctuations in my levels (still 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrate and nitrite). The only thing I could think of is that my pH is slightly more elevated than is ideal for the species, but considering levels at the store (between 7.2-7.5), my 7.6 is nothing too high than what they have been used to. We will see what another water change tomorrow brings to the pH and the health of the rest of my Rosies. Also purchased some more ghost shrimp. The ones from last week have (I swear to goodness) doubled in size and are very active in the tank! Hope they continue to enjoy it as I decrease the pH. Some more tetras have joined the bunch. A school of 5 hyphessobrycon columbianus have joined the tank and are loving it! The Red-Blue Columbians are VERY active when juxtaposed with the more docile and shy Ornates in the tank. They are shoaling together, however, and seem to be having a grand ole time. The Columbians are also more excitable eaters, which has helped the Ornates figure out when the food is coming. Everyone is currently enjoying their daily doses of Omega One flakes and algae wafers and their tri-weekly dose of frozen bloodworms! Plants are doing well, though I will have to make some time for pruning this week as some of the older growth on the swords may need some removal. The java moss is branching out nicely, and I even have some added bonus of duckweed from the shipped plants rooting out at the surface! The eventual hatchets will LOVE that!
That's enough for tonight! Pictures to come in the next few days of the newest additions and the "jumbo" shrimp!
-Bri
Step 1: Do your research BEFORE you shop! Buying a pet, starting a fish tank...these are not in any way similar to renting a movie or buying clothing. They require education and thought, and on a busy day in the pet store, your pet store associates may not have the time to educate you thoroughly on what you are buying. Most places aren't commission-based either, which means we are staffed to help everyone who visits as succinctly as possible. In other words, the pet store staff may have to help several other people as well as you in a short time frame, and if you are taking up too much time asking questions that you could have researched yourself at home (the library, the internet, the local bookstore are all great resources!) you are making a LOT of other customers unhappy, which makes it hard on the business you are visiting. They try very hard to please everyone equally, and you can make it difficult by skipping this very important first step!
Step 2: Make a list of pertinent questions! After doing your research from Step 1, write down a short list of questions you would like to ask at your local pet shop. That way you do not forget about what you would like to ask and we can make sure your experience is as informative as you would have liked it!
Step 3: Do NOT come in with a time limit when starting a new pet enterprise! Nothing is more irritating and inconvenient than someone who needs to make a huge purchase in a short time frame. Give yourself time to be helped!
Step 4: (Within reason) Take the pet store staff's advice! Now if the staff member is obviously a complete idiot (have seen it happen before), please take all advice with a grain of salt. The good news is, if you did your research, you should be prepared with some knowledge of what you are trying to do. You can use this knowledge to "test" the staff member assisting you. Let's say you are buying fish. Now you have done your research and know that you should only add about 2-4 small- to medium-sized fish to your 20 gallon tank at a time. You test your staff member by saying "I would like to add 6 of these Red-Bellied Pacu to my 20 gallon tank". A reasonable response would be "Sir or Ma'am, I highly recommend choosing a different fish for your tank as this species can get quite large. Too large, in fact, for your tank! Let's look at these tetras over here..." Someone who nods their head and starts to catch your new tankbusters is obviously not up to snuff. Now, if you've done your test and concluded that this person knows at least as much as you, if not more, PLEASE take recommendations! I cannot repeat enough that when one has worked in a pet store environment long enough, seen enough returns of unfortunate critters, and keeps up on their knowledge base, they know a few things about what they are selling. I have seen too many ill-fated combinations of fish, birds, reptiles, and small animals to not want to prevent a death or two. I don't spend my time talking to you to spew out gibberish. I honestly want to make sure that your tank/vivarium/cage succeeds! I promise that most pet store staff are trying to help you out when they make recommendations as to number of fish, size of cage, and type of reptile bedding. Yes, we are a business and most businesses are out to make money, but there is a special balance in pet stores between making money and keeping happy customers. One bad experience with an inappropriate fish, a child being bitten by a dwarf hamster/parakeet, or a striky snake will end the store-customer relationship very quickly. Now if we take the time to determine that you, in fact, do not need to spend a lot of money today, and that brings about good results, then we will keep you as a customer and keep your future business, however much money that might mean for us.
Step 5 - HOLD ON TO YOUR RECEIPTS!! Almost all pet stores have some form of live pet guarantee. Most of those are null and void without your receipt. If you are keeping fish, store receipts in your tank stand. Small animals, birds, or reptiles...find a good stashing place for those receipts and keep them for the whole guarantee period, even if the pet is healthy the first few days. A lot of places have guarantees on their products as well. Hold onto those also. I cannot tell you how many times someone has had to buy a whole new filter/heater/lamp/cage/etc. because they did not bother to hold onto their receipts! My method? Take a plain envelope and stash receipts in it in a place you will remember. Mine is the drawer next to the sink. Hold onto them until the replacement period is over and then go through and throw out the no longer useful receipts.
Step 6 -REPEAT! Build a relationship with your LPS (local pet store) and it's employees! Be a model customer and they will treat you like gold. You will get to know them and they will feel more comfortable making recommendations to you and your specific needs. You will know peak times in the store and avoid them whenever possible so that you have a little more time with the staff. As we understand you, we can stop "babysitting" you and your purchase choices and start chatting about more advanced topics that are more relevant to you and your critters! The other plus side? If we know you well, we will be more confident in backing you up if you flubbed up and forgot (god forbid!) a receipt. Isn't that nice?
If you love your pets and you visit the pet store at least once a week, follow these steps to make certain that your visits are always productive and positive ones! Trust me, we know who you are when you are in that often, and if you are an ideal shopper, then we are more than happy to serve you every time! If you see your staff running away when you come in...well, maybe you should brush up on these steps and see what good may come of it!
In tank news, we have the traditional good news/bad news. Bad news first, you say? Lost two White-Finned Rosy Tetras in two days this week. The first one made it 6 days in the tank, the second made it 7. No symptoms, no fluctuations in my levels (still 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrate and nitrite). The only thing I could think of is that my pH is slightly more elevated than is ideal for the species, but considering levels at the store (between 7.2-7.5), my 7.6 is nothing too high than what they have been used to. We will see what another water change tomorrow brings to the pH and the health of the rest of my Rosies. Also purchased some more ghost shrimp. The ones from last week have (I swear to goodness) doubled in size and are very active in the tank! Hope they continue to enjoy it as I decrease the pH. Some more tetras have joined the bunch. A school of 5 hyphessobrycon columbianus have joined the tank and are loving it! The Red-Blue Columbians are VERY active when juxtaposed with the more docile and shy Ornates in the tank. They are shoaling together, however, and seem to be having a grand ole time. The Columbians are also more excitable eaters, which has helped the Ornates figure out when the food is coming. Everyone is currently enjoying their daily doses of Omega One flakes and algae wafers and their tri-weekly dose of frozen bloodworms! Plants are doing well, though I will have to make some time for pruning this week as some of the older growth on the swords may need some removal. The java moss is branching out nicely, and I even have some added bonus of duckweed from the shipped plants rooting out at the surface! The eventual hatchets will LOVE that!
That's enough for tonight! Pictures to come in the next few days of the newest additions and the "jumbo" shrimp!
-Bri
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Had some time to upload photos...
So it's a mostly photo blog while I wait for my chemical tests to develop...
Here is a shot containing four of the ornate tetras, Mr. Pleco down by the right hand rainbow rock, the hairgrass in the front, the ocelot sword in the center, and the cabomba on either side!
Closeup of the cabomba florets!
New growth on one of the amazon swords! Yay!
Shot of the entire tank!
And here are some pics from downtown with the full Christmas get-up! The bonnet:
The hip drape. Amazing what a table runner can do with a little velcro and some yarn!
Jazmine's scallop braids. Lovely, if I do say so myself!
That is all. Off to see my test results after a 25% water change!
-Bri
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Stock Show, Cold Weather, and Micro-Nutrients
My plants survived! The java moss and ocelot sword are still looking under the weather, but are steadily improving with some pruning and the addition of my high output lighting system! That and the addition of substrate fertilizer pellets and some liquid micro-nutrients. The cabomba caroliniana I ordered came with two cuttings already sprouting florets on the top! The tallest two cuttings in the back-center of the tank are starting some dense new growth on the top.
Just added my first batch of fish and critters on Sunday. Five White-finned Rosy Tetras (Hyphessobrycon bentosi) and six Ghost Shrimp (Palaemonetes sp.) are the newest inhabitants of the tank. Mr. Pleco enjoys chasing around the ghost shrimp in his spare time from nibbling the algae off the driftwood and the ghost shrimp enjoy using the filter flow to navigate around the tank. About the only time you see one of them is when they are catching the "express" around the front of the tank! One of these times, I'll get a vid of them floating by. The tetras are adjusting well and were coaxed into eating bloodworms on their very first day in the tank. I have to use the brine shrimp net from my bloodworms to feed flakes as well, dipping the net of flakes in the tank and letting the current catch it and take it to the little ones. One I get some more aggressive feeders in there, I may just be able to surface feed. Until then, these shy babies need a little bit of TLC.
Levels in the tank are still doing well. Ammonia, Nitrates, and Nitrites are still at 0ppm, though I should expect all of those levels to fluctuate slightly before the week is out after the addition of fish, but I am almost sure that the tank was more than cycled out before I started adding the tetras. Perseus did himself a good job getting things ready for the new inhabitants! Now he has been demoted again to the bowl. He is not thrilled. I need to do a water change tomorrow to start edging the pH back down to appropriate levels. Currently testing at 7.6 because I keep adding tap along with the RO water to buffer the tank, but I need to add less tap and more RO to get where I need to go here. Aiming for a balmy 6.5 pH.
Other things I am using in my tank for the plants and fish:
API Amazon Extract
A blackwater-ish extract that softens water, adds humic acids and tannins to the water to simulate amazonian waters.
Flourite Liquid Supplement
In addition to using their substrate, I am using their liquid fertilizer as well. MUCH more bang to the buck than other liquid supplements since one cup-full will treat up to 60 gallons.
Complete Substrate Fertilizer Pellets
From aquariumplants.com, these puppies are compact nuggets of great nutrients for the plants to help them grow from the bottom up! They even sell a handy-dandy home-made applicator for the pellets!
The National Western Stock Show kicks off Thursday and MAN is it going to be a chilly year for it. We have had trouble getting much out of the upper 30's the past week, with New Years Eve being the coldest at about 19 for the high temp. Needless to say, we did NOT take out the carriage ponies. They stayed nestled in their barn at home. We will however be out this weekend, banking on the stock show to buffer the post-Christmas "dead season".
Once I get time to upload photos of the new plants and critters, I will post for your enjoyment.
-Bri
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Potentially a waste of money...
So I ordered plants for my aquarium from an online vendor and they shipped well, except for the fact that the carrier left the box at the apartment office. It was delivered Thursday, but I worked until late that evening and did not know it had arrived until I got home. Since I worked early the next morning, I asked the fiance to go pick it up from the office on Friday. He went over around lunchtime, but no-one was there because they were showing an apartment. So he went back later and the office had closed early for New Years Eve. Really? At 2 in the afternoon? They are closed today for the "holiday" and now my plants that I paid for overnight shipping on are stuck in the office for two days. I have a few expletives to insert here, but we like to keep this blog pretty PG. Or at least PG-13...so mild language only. Shucky-darn.
In other news, my tank has finished cycling and now is potentially too clean. Need to add a handful of more fish after I do a small water change to bring my pH back down to where I need it. My baking soda method was increasing my pH into the 7.6 area, so I need to go back to plain RO water with a little tap water for added mineral balance.
The swords are doing well. Some newer growth and a few leaves needing pruning, and I ordered some root fertilizer pellets with my plants, so they should take off here soon once I can get my package.
Mr. Pleco has been enjoying his algae wafers and green beans. Perseus thought about eating the green bean as well, but probably decided it wasn't best for his figure. The cutest thing happens at night when Perseus goes to sleep. He knows where his moss ball (from his bowl) resides in the tank, swims down to it, nestles in close, plants his inside fin on the ground, and then promptly passes out. WAY too cute.
We currently have a houseguest in the apartment. Her name is Darla and she is a recent amputee. She is also a Russian Dwarf Hamster. She is staying with us for a few nights so that she can get her pain medication every 6 hours. At work, she would go up to 9 hours at night without her meds. She is really sweet and is doing well at not bothering her stump. She will be going up for adoption once she is fully healed!
It's been too cold to go downtown with the carriages the last few days, so I have been at home, paying attention to my new tank (playing with my liquid test kit! squee!), hanging out with the finace, and enjoying our new Kinect.
Will post soon!
-Bri
In other news, my tank has finished cycling and now is potentially too clean. Need to add a handful of more fish after I do a small water change to bring my pH back down to where I need it. My baking soda method was increasing my pH into the 7.6 area, so I need to go back to plain RO water with a little tap water for added mineral balance.
The swords are doing well. Some newer growth and a few leaves needing pruning, and I ordered some root fertilizer pellets with my plants, so they should take off here soon once I can get my package.
Mr. Pleco has been enjoying his algae wafers and green beans. Perseus thought about eating the green bean as well, but probably decided it wasn't best for his figure. The cutest thing happens at night when Perseus goes to sleep. He knows where his moss ball (from his bowl) resides in the tank, swims down to it, nestles in close, plants his inside fin on the ground, and then promptly passes out. WAY too cute.
We currently have a houseguest in the apartment. Her name is Darla and she is a recent amputee. She is also a Russian Dwarf Hamster. She is staying with us for a few nights so that she can get her pain medication every 6 hours. At work, she would go up to 9 hours at night without her meds. She is really sweet and is doing well at not bothering her stump. She will be going up for adoption once she is fully healed!
It's been too cold to go downtown with the carriages the last few days, so I have been at home, paying attention to my new tank (playing with my liquid test kit! squee!), hanging out with the finace, and enjoying our new Kinect.
Will post soon!
-Bri
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