10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Thursday morning. Having a little coffee and planning the day. Two tanks today. They're due for water changes. I have a 55 gallon in my living room to do and the outdoor 300 gallon. Weather should be pretty good for late March, so the outdoor tank will get some Dwarf Water Lettuce dropped into it. The plant should be able to handle the cooler mornings for a few weeks. We'll see.

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[davros]

Didn't think those 3 things went together: March -outdoor tank- Colorado

 

[10 Tanks]

Didn't think those 3 things went together: March -outdoor tank- Colorado

Good morning to you. Well, you can have an outside pond or tank in this part of the country as long as you have a means of heating it. No tropical fish of course, water stays around 50 degrees in the Winter. I have Goldfish and am babysitting some Koi for the local botanical garden. They close their water feature in the Winter, so I keep their fish in my heated tank until warmer weather. I'll take them back around Memorial Day. Climate change has sure taken it's toll here. The Winters are colder and the Summers much warmer. Some will "poo-poo" climate change, but I've lived here off and on since the early 70s and I can tell you, the weather is definitely different.

Thanks for checking in on me!

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[Oldspartan]

Good morning to you. Well, you can have an outside pond or tank in this part of the country as long as you have a means of heating it. No tropical fish of course, water stays around 50 degrees in the Winter. I have Goldfish and am babysitting some Koi for the local botanical garden. They close their water feature in the Winter, so I keep their fish in my heated tank until warmer weather. I'll take them back around Memorial Day. Climate change has sure taken it's toll here. The Winters are colder and the Summers much warmer. Some will "poo-poo" climate change, but I've lived here off and on since the early 70s and I can tell you, the weather is definitely different.

Thanks for checking in on me!

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Having raised food and livestock for more years than I want to admit I can attest to climate change.

Our plant zone was just changed this past year and we now border on a zone 6, I think they call it a 5b. This to my mind is a positive effect for us personally on the homestead. OTH we now have constant winds too often gusting into the 50MPH range and our rainstorms are likely to short and heavy rather than long and easy. Erosion control has become more important as has keeping an eye on the Hudson and southern end of Lake Champlain. Those two do not affect me but they do affect my friends. Until last week we had two perhaps three small snowstorm. Less than a foot total> Last week over two feet with heavy winds. For the last ten years this has been a new norm and we have gotten several large November storms in that period. Not unheard of in my lifetime but unusual. Three of the past 5 years the local ski area had a difficult time making snow. Just not cold enough for extended periods.

I do not get down in the weeds over this because it is all outside my control and I have a tendency to live within the confines of my little box. We are as self-sufficient here as we want to be at a given time, from food to power although we no longer avail ourselves of raising our own meat critters.

So yep, I am a believer in a changing climate. Outside of saying that it is is just too political a subject for this nice friendly forum.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. I agree on the politics end of things. i used to be interested in a little political discussion now and then, but I've become so disappointed in our politicians, that I've totally given that up for more interesting discussions, like the Water Keeping Hobby. As an old Navy veteran, I've seen more changes and not for the better than I care for, but that's life. Take care and please keep in touch here.

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[10 Tanks]

Friday morning and we have the day off from the tank routine. What are we going to do without the tanks? Fed the fish a little bit this morning. Well, let's see, errands to run, but not a lot else. Retirement is nice. We have plenty of time to do our chores around the house. Should have some nicer weather coming up in the next few days. It appears we may be in the 70s next week. Haven't had a day this warm since this past October. Don't recall for sure.

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[10 Tanks]

It's a cloudy Saturday. That's very unusual for this part of the country. But, the temperature is very reasonable, in the 40s. So, today, we have the 55 gallon tank at the government office. We'll perform a 50 percent water change and check things over. You know, if I had this tank to do over again, I'd put in more rocks and driftwood in it and keep the plants to a bare minimum. I think I'd use more Java Fern and maybe one or two small, Anubias plants. Now that I've kept tanks for some years, I think the aqua scape is better if it's mostly driftwood and rocks, with few, if any plants. So, much easier to maintain and the plants don't last forever. Plants are a little finicky when it comes to temperature and fertilizers. At least for me, that's the case.

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning and a Happy Easter to you. I'm not much for organized religion, but we'll go to church this morning. Am hoping I come away with a bit better attitude about our world. But, anyway, we're working on the 300 gallon outdoor trough today. We put in some Dwarf Water Lettuce several days ago and so far, it doesn't appreciate the move from indoors to outdoors. The outdoor temperature is still too cool for it. But, we'll keep adding to it. We certainly have plenty in the indoor tanks.

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[10 Tanks]

Monday morning. The beginning of another week of changing out tank water. But, what the heck else do we have to do? As retirees on a fixed budget, we're limited on the things we can do outside of taking care of all the animals, the garden and of course, the fish. We have an electric car that doesn't allow you to go too far away from home. Which is okay, because we can't leave the animals and fish without care for very long. Plus, we need to check the government office tank a couple of times a week. Finances are limited, so we can't really afford to take a trip. I think we're good with that.

Don't forget to change out a lot of tank water and do it regularly. Your fish will always be healthy and you'll have no tank issues!

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[10 Tanks]

A sunny Tuesday morning. Three tanks to work on today. As usual, we'll change out half the water in each. Noticed a few more snails than usual. Decided to reduce the feeding to a little on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Should take care of the snail issue. Lost a Platy in one of the 55 gallon tanks. It wasn't looking good, but was eating. Left it for the snails and it was removed in about 48 hours. We have at least a dozen Platy fry in this tank, so we're way ahead on the number of fish we have. The tank was due for its routine water change, so just changed out a bit more. This is one of the advantages of keeping large tanks, you don't need to worry about the loss of one, small fish fouling the tank water. There's more than enough water to dilute the toxins created by the decaying fish. If I tested the tank water, I doubt that there would be more than a trace of nitrogen in it.

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[10 Tanks]

It's Wednesday and it looks like another nice day here in sunny northern Colorado. Temperatures in the 70s and it's about time! Really tired of the cold weather. We generally don't even go out in it. So, today we have four tanks we're going to work on this morning and this afternoon. We'll change out tank water and clean out the sponge filters on the government office tank. I removed the heater from the outdoor 300 yesterday. I doubt that we'll get any really cold temperatures overnight for the next few months. The Dwarf Water Lettuce I put into this tank a couple of weeks ago is looking a bit better. We're pretty much leaving the tanks alone as far as the plants are concerned. We're really at the point that we just want to focus on the most important part of the Water Keeping Hobby and that's removing and replacing at least half the tank water every few days.

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[10 Tanks]

Today is Thursday and we have a light tank day. Just two that are due for large water changes. Have made a couple of modifications in our routine. We're backing off on the feeding to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and feeding just a little flaked food variety and some pellets and a wafer or two for the larger fish. Plants are going to be allowed to grow as they will with the exception of the Dwarf Water Lettuce. This plant needs to be controlled.

The food can be the reason for water problems. We just don't know how to feed our fish. Fish don't have the luxury of eating daily in their natural environment. So, why do we feel that they'll starve if they're not fed daily. They won't.

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[gwand]

Today is Thursday and we have a light tank day. Just two that are due for large water changes. Have made a couple of modifications in our routine. We're backing off on the feeding to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and feeding just a little flaked food variety and some pellets and a wafer or two for the larger fish. Plants are going to be allowed to grow as they will with the exception of the Dwarf Water Lettuce. This plant needs to be controlled.

The food can be the reason for water problems. We just don't know how to feed our fish. Fish don't have the luxury of eating daily in their natural environment. So, why do we feel that they'll starve if they're not fed daily. They won't.

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In one of my tanks the white mountain minnows are much more aggressive eaters than the celestial pearl Danios. The Danios are very shy, and are always out competed for the food that I place in the tank. Any suggestions to be certain the Danios are getting enough to eat?

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello and a good Friday to you. Today, we're taking the day off from the tank work. We did feed the fish this morning and as always, the were eager to eat. All the tanks have been emptied by at least half and refiled. Everything in the water is constantly dissolving, so by simply removing and replacing half or a bit more of the water every few days, you'll remove whatever has dissolved in it. This includes removing all the dissolving fish and plant waste material. The waste is nitrogen and is very toxic to the fish. By doing something as simple as changing out the water, you guarantee near pure water conditions for the fish. Remember: Don't keep very many fish, don't feed them too much and change out their water frequently!

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning. It's Saturday morning and we're brainstorming the day's schedule. We'll do the government's 55 gallon tank this afternoon. Just a water change. We checked and squeezed out the two sponge filters earlier and it appears the Anubias plants have decided to start growing. We have several new leaves. It's about time. The plants haven't really looked good in a couple of months, but they may come around. The tank has been up and running nearly a year and the fish have grown nicely.

If you might be interested in starting a new tank, I have a procedure I've been using for a long time that allows you to introduce fish within two days of setting up the tank. There is no waiting weeks for the tank to cycle. If you think you'd be interested in this, just reply to this thread.

Have a good weekend!

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