10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Hello to MuddyWaters and everyone else who reads these posts! Today, being Wednesday, we'll change out half the water in a 75 and 100 gallon tank. We'll also work on the government office tank. Got a call yesterday from a friend who installed new carpet in her home and apparently, it has a corn base and her cat is allergic to corn. I've heard of grains not being good for cats, but didn't know about that grain in carpet. Anyway, we're keeping her cat until she can install a filter in her home to remove the corn. Not sure how all that works, but it sounds pricey. The cat is kept in a room separate from ours. Don't need any cat fights. So, the moral of this story is: Look into how grains, like corn are put into anything you might bring into your home. Some cats, just like some people might have a bad reaction and then you'll have to get some fancy, high priced gizmo to fix the problem.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello and welcome to another post from me about some things related to tank keeping. As we get into the week more, we do a little less with the tanks. Today, we'll change the water in a 55 and the 300 gallon. The 300 gallon has no filtration, just a large air pump that keeps the surface water moving. This outdoor tank gets two, large water changes every week. This is because we added four fairly large Koi from the local botanical garden water feature back in October. We'll return them to the garden in May sometime. The Koi have done well with the Goldfish. Fortunately, the weather this Winter has been pretty mild, only one snow of any significance. This is good for me, because I'm getting on in years and don't like to shovel my driveway. Anyway, about water changes. This duty is the best way to keep your fish healthy, second would be to keep the food to a minimum. The large, weekly water changes remove the dissolved waste material before it can build up to a level that would harm the fish. And, by not feeding much, the fish remain active by always moving around the tank looking for that bit of food all the other fish have missed. Keep up with your water changes and you'll have no tank problems.

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[10 Tanks]

It's Friday morning and I always get an early start. Rise and shine at 4:30 AM to start on all the chores that need to be done when you have eight cats, a bird and a lot of fish tanks, Fortunately, Friday is the easiest of all the days. No tanks, just a lot of other stuff. We're cat sitting a friend's cat for a few days. The friend got new carpet and believes the cat is allergic to the use of corn in the the whole carpet manufacturing process. The cat has the sniffles and after a couple of days at our place, she hasn't gotten any better. So, apparently, the problem isn't the new carpet. Other than the nasal problem, the cat eats well, is active and is using the cat box. We'll keep the it another couple of days and at this point don't have a clue why the cat is sneezing and has a runny nose. Stay tuned.

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[10 Tanks]

It's Saturday and we have just one tank to do. It's the second of the twice weekly water changes on the 55 gallon tank we manage for the government office. We'll clean the sponge filters as well. We're going to surprise them next week. We ordered some Java Moss and are anxious to see if we can establish a small "lawn" in the front of the tank. I like the plants we get from Buce Plants. They have a nice variety and are good about shipping their plants in well prepared boxes. It's cold most places in the US this time of year, so we're having the plants shipped in an insulated box with that 72 hour warmer that comes with it. Hopefully, we can get the moss established. The moss doesn't take any special care. If you have a lighted tank and water, you should be able to grow it. Also, we had a tree removal company here yesterday and our neighbor's tree is gone from our property. The company did a really nice job and everything has been cleaned up. All that's left, is to repair a few pickets in our fence. The cat with the nasal problems that we were baby sitting, still has the nasal stuff, but otherwise is very healthy. Her owner came and got her yesterday. We hope she gets better.

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[10 Tanks]

Good morning to gwand and any others reading my posts. Sunday is supposed to be a resting day according to the Bible. We'll do that for the most part. I'm not a religious person by most accounts, just a believer. We're essentially unchurched is the proper term. Not an evangelist by any means. So, we say "Do good things for others and everything will be alright." The out door fish tank is due for a water change. The fish in it are doing well despite the cold mornings we have here in northern Colorado. The botanical gardens people asked about their fish and were glad to know they're fine in their temporary home. Can't stress enough about the importance of large, regular water changes. It's the foundation of keeping a healthy tank.

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[10 Tanks]

Here comes another Monday. Three tanks to work on today. I've noticed lately that the sponge filters have been consistently running without cleaning. Typically, I need to squeeze them out every two to three weeks. I haven't cleaned them in three weeks, so I'm thinking of leaving them for this week too. If there's a problem with the bubble flow, I can always clean them on another day. I'm sure I've said this before, if you want to be successful in this hobby, you'll need to get used to removing and replacing at least half the water every week and don't feed every day. The fish will be fine with some variety of food given to them three to four times a week. And, lastly, you can't have too many fish in a tank. The fish do all their "business" in the water and even a little waste dissolving in their water can be harmful to them.

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[10 Tanks]

It's a chilly Tuesday morning in northern Colorado. This time of year, the early morning temperatures can get down into the single digits (fahrenheit), pretty cold. Today, is our busiest tank day. Four tanks need the water changed out. We got our Java Moss yesterday. I have it in a bucket of treated tap water and poured a little old water from a tank into the bucket for a bit of fertilizer. I have a small lamp above the bucket for lighting. We'll put the moss into the government's tank tomorrow and see if we can get it started. It appears the moss made it through the shipping process in good condition. We'll see what happens. Nothing else new to report. It's starting out as a typical Tuesday.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Tuesday's tanks took about 2 and a half hours, but they're done for another week. Today, being Wednesday, we have a 75 and a 100 gallon tank to do. But, those really don't take as much work as the smaller ones. I get the "python" siphon going and set a timer and go about doing some other things while half the water is removed. After performing the water change so many times, I have a pretty good idea of how long the water removal process takes. I have roughly a dozen new Platys in a couple of tanks. It looks like there are a couple of generations in those tanks. Some of the fry are larger and more colorful than others. Even though the water is in the cooler range for my fish, they still reproduce because of the pure water conditions. I removed all filtration from one of my 55 gallon tanks yesterday and just left the tube in to aerate the tank water. The sponge just had very little material in it when I squeezed it out. The tank has six Buenos Aires Tetras and six or so male Guppies. I'm very sure all I need to do is remove and replace half the water weekly and this task will take the place of the filtration part of things.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. This is Wednesday's supplemental post. Went to the government office this afternoon to change out the water in their 55 gallon tank and to put in some Java Moss that we hope will grow into a nice little lawn along the front of the tank. The mats of moss are secured with black, cotton sewing thread around some small pieces of lava rock. Earlier, we just acclimated them in one of my tanks for a couple of days. We put the lava rocks in a small "spa" basket under a couple inches of water and positioned the basket above a large sponge filter. We thought this would provide good lighting and a constant supply of oxygen. then, later today, we took the moss pieces out of my tank and positioned them in the front area of the government office's tank. The pieces seem healthy and in time we should have a nice, green lawn.

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[10 Tanks]

Thursday. We remove and replace half the water in a 55 gallon and the outdoor 300 gallon tank. The Giant Danios in the 55 are doing well. No fry since we put the fish in several months ago. Otherwise, they seem very active and eat well. The Goldfish and the Koi are doing very well outside, despite some pretty chilly nights. The Koi like to hang around the heater toward evening. I know I would if my place got cold. The weather here has been very tolerable during the day. The sun shines more than 250 days a year in this part of the country. Lately, the temperatures have been pretty mild and we've had one significant snow. So, we've needed to water our trees more often. Anyway, that's it for today. Have a good rest of your week.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello and another Friday has rolled around. It's cold here. This "Arctic Blast" has affected many places, including all the way down south in Houston, TX. Tried to perform a water change on my outdoor 300 gallon tank yesterday and the water froze in the siphon hose before I could drain out half the water. This has never happened before. The tank heater is really going to be tested. I've heard that some people don't believe in Climate Change, but 2023 was the hottest year on record here in Colorado. If the heat is rising, so is the cold in the Winter. This change is certainly happening much faster than predicted. Hopefully, the cold will let up in a day or two and I can get out and change the tank water. Try to stay warm!

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Just some more information on what I believed was a failure to perform a water change on my outdoor tank due to the cold. Well, the cold had nothing to do with it. I found a small rock in the hose. I removed the rock and did I feel dumb! But, what the heck. The hose isn't transparent, so how was I to tell? I restarted the siphon and it worked like a charm. The fish are now swimming around with half their tank full of new, treated tap water.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello. Woke up to one very cold morning. Good thing we changed the water in the outdoor tank yesterday. It would likely be too cold if we had to do things outside today. Got a a dusting of snow. Anyway, we'll take a trip to the government office this afternoon to check on their tank. We'll change out half the water and squeeze out the sponge filters. Pretty light day for tank duties.

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[10 Tanks]

Hello and Happy Sunday. Cold, cold, cold. That sums up what we're in this morning. Steam is really coming off the outdoor tank. The fish are swimming around the tank heater. I don't blame them. Our two outdoor cats have been confined to the garage for a while. Too cold for pets to be outside. Although, my neighbor lets his dog out. No tanks today. We're staying indoors until this cold breaks. Maybe in the next day or two, we can venture outside. The wife goes out for a few minutes to feed the birds and squirrels. And, we have a stray cat that eats the food we put out on our front porch. Don't know where it sleeps at night. Have a good day and stay warm!

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[10 Tanks]

A Sunday supplement. Decided to change up the tank keeping schedule. We did Monday's tanks today and will divide up the rest of them as equally as is possible. This cold spell has allowed for time to rethink our tank keeping schedule. So, if you're keeping track of these posts, we didn't want you to think we'd lost some of our marbles and got our schedule messed up.

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