|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 7:52 am
I have made a few posts already without properly introducing myself. I have also noticed that it appears to be "de rigueur" around here to also introduce our aquariums, so here we are. I apologize for rather . . . bleh pictures, I am an SLR girl myself. These digitals rather mystify me; while I'm hollering "Where's the godamn aperture!" I end up forgetting about simple things like centering the photo. Nothing a little photoshop can't fix, though. Me: I'm 26 years old, have been a serious aquarist for about 20 years (started young!) and will be beginning my master's in Marine Biology in a couple months. I have been a general manager for a Subway franchise, a Fire & Rescue dispatcher with 911, and am currently running a customer service dept. for a local cobbler. I am also a wannabe mechanic and often use my car as a guinea pig, (to no detrimental effect yet!) I enjoy making gadgets, particularly for my aquarium, I listen to heavy metal but play classical (bassoon,) and I hate moonlit walks on the beach (can't stand the feel of sand in every orifice, but give me the open ocean any day!) My Aquarium: Now for the nitty-gritty. I recently moved 600 miles, and had to give away all my fish because I didn't think they would survive the trip very well, not to mention the very logistics of moving them. So my aquarium now is recently started, just under 3 months old. The plants are not quite 2 months old, and I fully expect it to be another year before the plants are as large and numerous as I want them to be, especially for the slower growing ones. Obviously, as you can see, the hornwort is not in that category. whee It is a 60 gal tank with a 250watt HO T5 lighting system, running 2 actinic bulbs around 8500k and 2 "daylight" bulbs around 6500k, as well as 3 pairs of LED lights for occasional moonlight simulation. All 3 varieties of bulbs are on different switches to simulate dawn, midday, dusk, and moon lighting during full moon weeks. It is one of the cheapo Odyssea hoods, it is equivalent to a $300-$500 system which I snagged for $50. The only issue is that the ballasts are well known for blowing out in a year, but all I need to do is pull out my soldering iron and it can easily and cheaply be replaced. Great deal, IMO. The tank has a penguin bio-wheel filter, and I use mechanical and biological filtration only due to the nutrient needs of my plants. Carbon filtration is no bueno for me, and if I do things right, unnecessary. The only other hardware is my heater, which you can see has a very short cord and won't go all the way to the bottom...oops! The substrate is black flourite (I swear by that stuff, great for plants and easy on cory barbels,) the plants are...varied. I have yet to really "aquascape" yet, I have simply placed them where they have the most room and light to grow. I will crowd them together and make it look pretty when they are not so small and stringy from bad growing conditions at the distributors tanks. They already look much better and bushier, so it shouldn't be too long. Just this week I have begun to have a slight issue with an increase in algae growth and my plants slowing their growth. Basically, looks like fertilizer is no longer enough, it's time for CO2 injection to get the plants up on top again. I will be making a home-made "injector" today. I attempt to run a PH of 6.8, but my KH/GH is very low, just below 100, so I have been having issues with my buffering capacity. Today's other project is using oak leaves to steady the PH in the acidic range--I have heard good things about this method, not to mention the effects leaves have on adding "bogwater" qualities, nutrients, and infusoria. The occupants include a young Bristle Nose Pleco, 3 Corys, 6 Neon Tetras, and an unfortunate case of 2 hateful Ram Cichlids. The Rams were originally 2 pairs of established male/famale couples. The Rams stayed in very tranquil, peaceful pairs, and minded their own business. When I purchased them it turned out they brought with them an Ich infestation. The originally infected male succumbed to the disease, all the others recovered just fine in no time. Not long after, the other male darted across the tank and popped his face against the red rock (which I plan to remove because of this, and it just looks gaudy.) He had a small but nasty gash on his lip which became infected and eventually killed him. So now I have 2 bitter old widows who fight way too much for my comfort. I am going to attempt to exchange them at my not-so-local fish store that is 2 hours away. Not sure what I would like next other than some more natural looking (and less sharp!) rocks to make some caves and hidey-holes for the corys. The Pleco is just fine with hanging on the underside of the wood all day. When I first added her a few days ago, I could not figure out why I had air bubbles rising up from the bottom of the tank all of a sudden. Turns out she was rasping holes in my wood and releasing trapped air bubbles. I understand that Plecos like the fiber from wood, but good lord, she'll be "shitting bricks" before too long if she keeps it up! xp You can just make her out in the first picture, she is on the glass, at the bottom, dead-center of the tank and just below the left side of the driftwood. The Corys appear to be picture-shy.     
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 8:52 pm
Very nice! I was wondering what I would ever do if I had to move far away, and I decided I would send my fish to myself. Welcome to the guild!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:43 pm
Nice! Your little female ram is very pretty...makes me want to get my boy a mate. cool
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2009 9:51 am
Oh, very nice!
What fish did you have before you moved?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2009 4:01 am
Nice tank,
And welcome to the guild smile
It's pretty harsh having to leave fish behind. But moving fish is hard. I tried it before and my entire stock died out.
When I moved a second time I left two goldfish and a random undieing Cardinal tetra in my dad's care. I still miss those fish.
I had been downsizing for years, but now dad's been adding goldfish and tetra's to the tank anyway ^^;
It's a very nice tank, I'd so like to see your pleco, she sounds adorable.
Interesting story your rams have. What are you planning to trade them for?
You know, instead of one large rock, you can stack a bunch of smaller smooth rocks too. I always find that a fun puzzle, and after every large cleaning your fish will have new teritory to explore.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:27 am
Quote: Very nice! I was wondering what I would ever do if I had to move far away, and I decided I would send my fish to myself. I was tempted! Luckily, though, I did not--the cost would have set me back a bit. I moved last Sept., right before the stock market crash. Excellent timing on my part, eh? Took me 9 months to get a job, what with the economy slump. I moved with several thousand dollars, and the day I got my first paycheck I had 28 cents in my account. Talk about the hair of my chinny chin-chin! sweatdrop I had around a hundred fish at the time of the move, I would have needed another trailor and another truck just to move the fish! I could have attempted to move a few, but I was not certain of their survival over a 2 day trip with 15 hours of driving over 600 miles in hot vehicles. Plus the move alone was complicated enough without figuring out where to put all the fish, how to keep their water cool and oxygenated, etc! If I had been able to get ahold of an oxygen tank, it might have been feasible, though still a giant pain in the a**. I believed it to be the best thing for the health of the fish to give them to a good quality store. The first time I moved several years ago, I did bring my paradise fish with me. What with the cool weather in March and him being an anabantoid, he had no problems with oxygen levels and temperature. I also made that trip in one day, and a little speeding did wonders on the travel time, only took about 9.5 hours. wink Quote: Nice! Your little female ram is very pretty...makes me want to get my boy a mate. If you live in northern Virginia you can have her! xp Quote: What fish did you have before you moved? Over a hundred fancy guppies. Not sure exactly how many, they moved too much to get an exact count. sweatdrop Quote: I'd so like to see your pleco, she sounds adorable. Oops, amend that, it's a "he." He is very young and small, the face bristles were so undeveloped I mistook him for a female. He had yet to get the bristles down the center of his snout as well, they are just now starting to show. I have yet to catch a good picture with the digital--he either moves, or doesn't come out at all. Then I finally snap a picture and the thing is grainy, such as one I almost caught this morning of the pleco yawning with all his fins and odontodes extended. He was looking very fierce. My SLR developed an issue with a sticking shutter week before last, if I can't fix it myself I will need to wait until it is out of the shop to take some decent pictures. I really hate digital cameras... Quote: Interesting story your rams have. What are you planning to trade them for? I am considering a female bristle plec, some smaller schooling fish, such as threadfin rainbowfish (I. Werneri,) some spotted blue-eyes (p. Gertrudae,) or, if they are to be found, perhaps some local minnows which are ok with warmer waters. I really like quite a few of the Apistogrammas, but they are way too territorial for my plec and corys. I could really stand to have some more fish, as far as water quality goes. My plants are soaking up the CO2 and nitrates faster than the fish can provide it! The nitrates in particular is really getting me, in a typical tank there is at least a little, but no, nitrates are 0. xp I am working on building a contraption for CO2 injection, but am missing a couple final pieces. I really need to get it up and running, I found out that the water hardness here has changed from really hard to, well, nothing. They water is so soft it has NO buffering capacity whatsoever, and is wreaking havoc on my PH. I can increase the hardness, but it is difficult to do without raising the PH with it. I need some CO2 and tannins to help with keeping the PH at a decent level. Bah--chemistry! Quote: You know, instead of one large rock, you can stack a bunch of smaller smooth rocks too. I always find that a fun puzzle, and after every large cleaning your fish will have new teritory to explore. Definitely, I want to get some long and flat rocks, something to create some lines in the tank to compliment the rather squat piece of driftwood. I am also looking for a good "log" to put in the tank. Everything I've come up with today is either too rotten, too long, too short, too green, etc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:09 pm
get the pleco, they make alot of fun mess, perfect for your plants, plus they are so cute! mine is my favorite fish
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
