Hobbies, do you have one or more..??....(part 2)

i did some "tankscaping today.

went out and bought another amazon plant, and moved a couple of others, to allow now all the plants to get better lighting from that full spectum tank light i got a couple of weeks ago.

i moved the tall anubias from the right side, (over by the flintstone house) to the middle in this pic..it is mixed in with another amazon and java fern plants.

34shvd0.jpg


and in this pic, to the far left, i planted the new amazon plant, also the taller one....also here, the new plant is mixed in with yet another java fern and another amazon

(all plants are now tied down to the driftwoods i have in the tank).

2s0mp9t.jpg


yesterday, i had removed nearly everything in the tank, and "raked" the sand flat all over the place, as there were some bare spots thanks to the powerhead moving the water around.

i was told by a buddy of mine, to use pool sand, as it is heavier...

thing is, pool sand is costly, and you can only get it in a 50 gallon pail...

i can barely lift 10 pounds.
 
i have an ordinary thermometer in the tank, and it was reading way over 80 degree's.

my house is not insulated, so the heat just comes right on in thru the walls, as well as the winters cold.

so the ambient air temps in the house rght now are quite high.

(i do have window a/c's, but i don't run them 24/7.......)

so i did some online researching, and a couple of websites the people there use a small fan, to blow across the water

i went to amazon, and got a USB fan, then i had to go to wally world to buy a USB charger.

total cost for both items was about $15.00.

then some double sided tape at lowes, for $8.00 a roll

i was at a disadvantage though, i cannot mount the fan on the side of the tank like on the websites.

i had to mount the fan, ontop of the "sunlight"...

so i had to mount the fan this way:

in this pic, i can assure you that the fan was indeed spinning..>!!!!!!

it spins at 1,700 RPM's..

1zpjlo8.jpg
 
Last edited:
here is a pic of the water temp right now..

24b57uw.jpg



i just went and bought a digital thermometer today as well, the ordinary thermometer, is very difficult to read, as the lines are so damned tiny and thin, and they do not match up with the numbers.. (like 80 degree's, is where?????) there are no BOLD lines to match the temp readings.

i took this pic, with the fan still off, i turned on the fan, just now, and in about 1 hour or so, i will ost the cooler temp with that fan running.
 
i just had to "buy" a yearly photobucket subscription, and the other photo website will be shutting down, cuz it is free and the advertisers ain't paying enough, or some marlarky like that..

anyway, if i did this right, here is a pic of the items i had to get to cool the tank water.



i ain't sure what you guys can see.....(there should not be a "watermark" in this picture...





this new photobucket thing has a learning curve for sure..lol
 
Last edited:
sorry, i got all tied up with other crap, then took a nap...lol

here is a pic of the temp drop with that tiny fan, which also is SUPER qiuet..

this is just over a 5 degree drop in temps in that tank.

DSCN0648_zpshgml3dzd.jpg
 
algae, algae, every where i look, i got algae..

ok so i bought the full spectrum fish tank light, that i was told that the tank needed cuz it has live plants, and those live plants need that full spectrum to grow.....

ok

and it is highly recommended that you leave on the light for at least 10 hours each day...

ok

but my fred flintstone house was covered in algae.....and the leaves on the plants are covered in algae

and the sides of the tank have algae.....

ok

take out fred's house, scrub it clean

wipe down the inside tank glass...

can't do much for the plant leaves.

bought and added "algae control" at the pet store, and did a 3 day dosage per the directions

now it'll be a dosage for once a week.

i cut back on the full spectrum light to now 2 to 2.5 hours a day.

the rest of the day, all it gets is "daylight", NEVER direct sunlight

when it is feeding time (usually about 6 PM, i turn on the LED desk lamp that i have attached to the wooden board that the tank sits on.

shut off that light when they have chowed down, ink like 1 minute's time.

that full spectrum light, has a blue "night light" that i turn on, as i am watching tv, stays on for about 2 hours, then off it goes.

so far, no noticeable algae.

i question why on earth, no matter what web site i go to, regarding that special light (which by the way is all LED's), it would be recommend to leave it on for 10 to 12 hours a day..??? when they clearly know too that light causes algae growth....??

the light i bought is even lesser in lumens than a bigger one.

mine is at 400 the bigger ones are at like 700

just another day in a hobby, i am learning

plastic fish and no water in the tank, and plastic plants......would have been so much easier.
 
i just took an updated pic of my blue wag platy's (orange/black tails

the one at the bottom, is the one i got at the pet store about one month after the one on top was born in April

that top one is now about 5 months old and is getting closer in size, to the one on the bottom.

DSCN0657_zpsls9fchrc.jpg
 
my fish are all doing well...my "baby" blue wag platy, has grown, but still a tad bit smaller than the one i got at the pet store, but thriving nonetheless...

my black racer snail, lives up to its breed's name, one minute you see it, next, it's gone..!! zoom...zoom...lol

my 2 cory fish (catfish) the green juul, and the pepper, are a couple of "whack jobs"....seriously, like a couple of real cats...anyone that has or had cats, you know how they go running around the house at break neck speeds, crash into things, and then look at YOU like you're the idiot.....

my 2 cory will try to swim to the top of the tank, but they never make it..it's either thier weight or their fins, that take them back down to the soft sand in my tank..

then they each go "berserk" like a cat would and kick up the sand, making for sand clouds, much like the road-runner does in those cartoons...

funny stuff, but i still think they are on drugs.....

anyone like @Stimpy that also has a fish tank knows, that weekly water changes and monitoring the chemical levels are paramount to the life of the fish, plants and good bacteria.

which brings me to include this...

i changed the water this morning, but each time i do so, i wait a few hours, BEFORE adding any chemicals or salt....i do not add chemicals for the sake of just adding them, i want a "stick reading" to determine what is actually needed.

so any way, the nitrate level was a tad higher than i'd like it, the ammonia level is a whopping ZERO..perfect.

so for hecks sake now, i added "some" easy balance chemical to help control the tad high nitrate level..but i also decided to add some more "safe start" chemical which is the good bacteria to add to what is in the tank now, which also controls the nitrate level..

well, i go to "pour some in", and don't you know, the bottle slipped from my hand.....opps.....

but the good bacteria is not harmful...i just have less now in that bottle...lol

the live plants i have, i had to trim off some of the leaves, they to help control the nitrate level and add oxygen to the water.

i fully take apart the power head (this circulates the water) and i fully take apart the filter and clean out all the algae in each, which can slow down the impeller in the motor, and basically weakening the motor from doing it's job..all so very easy to pull apart and reassemble, takes all of about 20 minutes to do both on the same day.

i think on average about 10 minutes for a water change weekly, and every 3 weeks, about that 20 minutes to clean the devices.

not all that difficult nor time consuming, when some of you guys have dogs, or cats, and have to take care of them.

only thing is, i cannot throw a stick for them to fetch, or roll a tin foil ball for the cory's to run after......

they do just fine, being the whack jobs that they are.....
 
my fish are all doing well...my "baby" blue wag platy, has grown, but still a tad bit smaller than the one i got at the pet store, but thriving nonetheless...

my black racer snail, lives up to its breed's name, one minute you see it, next, it's gone..!! zoom...zoom...lol

my 2 cory fish (catfish) the green juul, and the pepper, are a couple of "whack jobs"....seriously, like a couple of real cats...anyone that has or had cats, you know how they go running around the house at break neck speeds, crash into things, and then look at YOU like you're the idiot.....

my 2 cory will try to swim to the top of the tank, but they never make it..it's either thier weight or their fins, that take them back down to the soft sand in my tank..

then they each go "berserk" like a cat would and kick up the sand, making for sand clouds, much like the road-runner does in those cartoons...

funny stuff, but i still think they are on drugs.....

anyone like @Stimpy that also has a fish tank knows, that weekly water changes and monitoring the chemical levels are paramount to the life of the fish, plants and good bacteria.

which brings me to include this...

i changed the water this morning, but each time i do so, i wait a few hours, BEFORE adding any chemicals or salt....i do not add chemicals for the sake of just adding them, i want a "stick reading" to determine what is actually needed.

so any way, the nitrate level was a tad higher than i'd like it, the ammonia level is a whopping ZERO..perfect.

so for hecks sake now, i added "some" easy balance chemical to help control the tad high nitrate level..but i also decided to add some more "safe start" chemical which is the good bacteria to add to what is in the tank now, which also controls the nitrate level..

well, i go to "pour some in", and don't you know, the bottle slipped from my hand.....opps.....

but the good bacteria is not harmful...i just have less now in that bottle...lol

the live plants i have, i had to trim off some of the leaves, they to help control the nitrate level and add oxygen to the water.

i fully take apart the power head (this circulates the water) and i fully take apart the filter and clean out all the algae in each, which can slow down the impeller in the motor, and basically weakening the motor from doing it's job..all so very easy to pull apart and reassemble, takes all of about 20 minutes to do both on the same day.

i think on average about 10 minutes for a water change weekly, and every 3 weeks, about that 20 minutes to clean the devices.

not all that difficult nor time consuming, when some of you guys have dogs, or cats, and have to take care of them.

only thing is, i cannot throw a stick for them to fetch, or roll a tin foil ball for the cory's to run after......

they do just fine, being the whack jobs that they are.....
Sounds to me, taking care of fish is just as time consuming as having dogs. I can throw the ball, or stick, but I better be standing up, or get tackled. My best bet, is swing the ball, stick, or PVC pipe around a few times, then give it to Trucker, (large white dog) and ket Turbo and Diesel chase him down. They love that.
 
Sounds to me, taking care of fish is just as time consuming as having dogs. I can throw the ball, or stick, but I better be standing up, or get tackled. My best bet, is swing the ball, stick, or PVC pipe around a few times, then give it to Trucker, (large white dog) and ket Turbo and Diesel chase him down. They love that.
yeah, maintaining the fish tank is time consuming, but once i got into the "groove" of doing this, it's not that bad..as we all know, i got nothing else to do, my back limits me to the heavier things i used to do..

house keeping (to help out), some cooking, maintain the car's cleanliness, yard work, etc, take what ever time those take, then i am done.

down side is, i cannot throw the ball at the fish, one, i may kill them, two, thier mouths are too small to grab it, and bring it back to me....lol
 
today i went to the pet store, i needed to buy a chemical for the fish tank..however, you'd have thought there was some sort of "convention" going on..van after van, (those high cube vans like a FedEx)

there were loads of people in green t-shirts..

so i asked "what's up"?

and i was told it "puppy adoption day"

" can i adopt a fish instead"?

"uh maybe, you have to ask inside" we both laughed, hey, the store wasn't even opened yet, and i was in a rare good mood..

so this guy is carrying in (i think) a puppy golden retriever?

i looked at it and said..."hi cutie"..and he (or she) made a whimpering type of sound.....not sure what that meant.

anyway, i needed to get the chemical and a new "house" for the fish to hide in. my flintstone house's paint was fading and getting some algae, which i scrub it clean very often, hence, the faded paint.

so i got a new building, a "saloon"...now if those fish don't do any tricks for me, the least they can do is get drunk....and there's one in there right now, in this pic...so you see...fish DO DRINK...!!!!!!

 
ok, so i told you that i have one power head. you also know that i have a sand substrate.
you also know that i have 2 cory (catfish) and you now that they can kick up sand. at least, i see them doing this many times a day.

so as you also know, i told you that i have a sponge filter on the power head, but due to the suction of that power head, i may get about 2 months use out of that filter. due to the constant suction of the power head.

so what i did was, take the old U pipe that was used for the HOB filter, and cut a section, then i drilled holes.
then insert that into the sponge filter, and attach that to the power head...and it works..!!!!!!!

here is a pic of the U-Tube from the HOB (hang on back) tank filter, that was broken, but i kept for a "just in case day"



in this pic, you cannot see all, but there are a total of 9 holes drilled into this section of tubing



and here is the new sponge filter, attached to the power head, and it works as intended.

 
went and got a new snail yesterday..i really only wanted the ghost shrimp, but they had none. so some other customer was buying a snail, a white shelled one, and the gal asked me if i wanted one as well.

at first, all i could say was, "i'm thinking about it"....

then i said why not..

i got a yellow mystery snail..

when i got it home, and place it into the water, he was like DEAD.....!!

like WTF, i just spent $3.00 on a dead snail..??

so i said screw it, i ain't going back to the store till maybe sunday or monday.

so i take the snail out of the tank, and put it into a plastic cup.

then i'd say about 1 whole hour later, that damned thing is moving..!!!!!!!

so now, i go and do a google search, and find that these mystery snails can "zone out" for a long time, if they feel a threat...

so after seeing him "move", i place him back into the tank...

now i saw him early today, inside the "saloon" building.........but i do not see him any more...

in the google search, these snails are said to be escape artists.....they WILL climb out of the tank.....oh joy.........

so hopefully, he's in here someplace...



it's supposed to look like this one
gold-mystery-snail__75355.1330674288.1280.1280.jpg
 
went and got a new snail yesterday..i really only wanted the ghost shrimp, but they had none. so some other customer was buying a snail, a white shelled one, and the gal asked me if i wanted one as well.

at first, all i could say was, "i'm thinking about it"....

then i said why not..

i got a yellow mystery snail..

when i got it home, and place it into the water, he was like DEAD.....!!

like WTF, i just spent $3.00 on a dead snail..??

so i said screw it, i ain't going back to the store till maybe sunday or monday.

so i take the snail out of the tank, and put it into a plastic cup.

then i'd say about 1 whole hour later, that damned thing is moving..!!!!!!!

so now, i go and do a google search, and find that these mystery snails can "zone out" for a long time, if they feel a threat...

so after seeing him "move", i place him back into the tank...

now i saw him early today, inside the "saloon" building.........but i do not see him any more...

in the google search, these snails are said to be escape artists.....they WILL climb out of the tank.....oh joy.........

so hopefully, he's in here someplace...



it's supposed to look like this one
gold-mystery-snail__75355.1330674288.1280.1280.jpg
You might want to start googling these things first. Lololol.
 
You might want to start googling these things first. Lololol.
yeah i know....lol

but i was really there for the ghost/glass shrimp. i like those. they scurry about the tank, and keep it clean.

but i drove all the way down there, and i did not want to leave empty handed.

all those pretty colored snails...and all the descriptions say are like, "community tank, beginner, and price"

i still cannot find this one......i think he's in that "saloon" building.

ain't got too many other places he can be, and yes...i did check the floor, and behind the tank...lol
 
Top