10 Tank's fish and tanks

[10 Tanks]

Another pretty morning. It's Friday and we'll take care of the government office tank and the 300 outdoor trough. We'll also feed all the fish a little. A pretty easy day, but that's good. The temperature will get into the 90s today. As I've gotten older, I really don't appreciate the real high and real low temperatures anymore. We also need to run a few errands and maybe go to the local coffee shop for a cup or two.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Friday supplemental post. Draining water out of the 300 trough and am letting the water run into part of the garden. Noticed a longish dark fish in the trough this morning. Almost looked like a Fathead Minnow, but could be a young Goldfish. Seemed active enough, so not sure exactly what I saw.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Here's another post that shows the largest of three Rainbow Sharks in the government tank we take care of for one of the employees. It's a personal tank. The 55 gallon tank has three of these sharks in it. The three have been together since we set up the tank a year ago last month. They've all got their separate cave or hiding place and seem fine. This one is about three inches plus, another is just at three inches and one is about two inches.

10

 

[gwand]

Beautiful fish!

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello and good morning. It's Saturday and we'll be working on a couple of tanks. A 45 gallon tall tank with quite a few Guppies and Platys and a large Swordtail and a 55 gallon with a lot of Guppies, Platys and another very large Swordtail. The Swordtails were slipped in with the Platys at the pet store, so they're interbreeding with the Platys. But, we like the whole diversity thing!

10

Beautiful fish!

Good morning. Thank you from the employee.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Took a picture of some of the Tiger Barbs in the government office tank. These are roughly 14 months old and large for their age. The instrument pictured in the lower left corner is four inches long and it looks like the Barbs may be in excess of two and a half inches.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Sunday morning and we'll work on two tanks, a 50 gallon and 55 gallon. Just changing out half the tank water most days. There's no filter in either of these tanks, so the water change is all that will need to be done. We use API's Tap Water Conditioner, just a half tablespoon is enough to detoxify the chemicals that can harm the fish. We also use a healthy handful of standard aquarium salt to the water. I really believe that a little salt will retard the growth of any pathogens that may be waiting for a missed water change to infect the fish. That's not going to happen, since we're very consistent with the water changes.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

A Sunday supplement. Changed out half the tank water in a 50 gallon tank. It started out as a "fish in" cycle with 12 Buenos Aires Tetras. And, just removed and replaced half the tank water every few days and fed a bit every couple of days. The fish sailed through the cycling process and after a year or so we have 18 healthy Tetras. We've been getting two a month for the last three months. The tank is heavily planted and that includes a large immersed Chinese Evergreen. Have no idea what the water chemistry is, but it's working for these fish.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Monday morning and we'll be busy today. Have four tanks on the water change schedule. We've added a little filtration to a couple of tanks, due to hazy water. The filters were designed for tanks that keep turtles, so we've lowered the water level in a couple of tanks to accommodate the new filters. But, the water is considerably clearer than it was. So, we'll take a couple of minutes to clean the filters every week. We'll change the water on the government tank and clean the sponge filters too. The 300 gallon trough gets a large water change too. The Koi and Goldfish are doing well and appreciate the warmer water in the Summer. Today is also a feeding day, so all the fish will get a little bit to sustain them until Wednesday, the next feeding day.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Monday supplemental. The tanks are done and all the fish looked nice and healthy. The Rainbow Sharks in the government tank were active and well behaved. There are two that are at least three inches and a third about two inches. They've been in the tank together for going on 14 months and seem to pretty much keep to themselves. If you can get at least a 55 gallon tank and establish caves by using rocks, pots and plants, these fish seem to establish an area of the tank and don't venture too far away from their cave. If one of the others move into their area, they'll definitely defend it.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Good Tuesday morning. Two tanks on the schedule for today. I have a 100 gallon trough in my basement with four large Goldfish in it and more Dwarf Water Lettuce than I can use. I also have a 55 gallon tank with some Giant Danios in it. This hobby is about keeping the tank water clear of dissolved waste material. I guess that's a strange way to look at this hobby, but that's what it comes down to. If you constantly remove the dirty water and replace it with clean, then you'll have no problems. Overfeeding is the only thing you really have to watch. If you feed a little every day or two and make sure you remove and replace most of the tank water every few days, there's really nothing that can go wrong.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Another post for Tuesday. Took this picture of two Zebra Nerite snails yesterday. No, this isn't a mirror image, just the snails in the government tank. These two are roughly 14 months old, which it's my understanding that this is old for Nerites. Typically, they only live a year or so. But, they still deposit a lot of eggs in the tank. A few are shown in this photo.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Tuesday again. Got our tank schedule a little out of sequence this morning. Apparently, we're doing a 60 gallon and the 75 gallon today. Oh well, with the aggressive water change routine we keep, if a tank goes a day or even two before we remove and replace the water, it's not a cause for concern. They're all done roughly every five to six days anyway.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Tuesday afternoon post. I read recently that Chinese Evergreen can't be immersed in an aquarium. Well, if you give the plant time, it can eventually be kept completely under water. You just have to remove all the potting mixture and immerse the root ball only. After several weeks, you can immerse the entire plant. Some leaves will die similar to introducing aquatic plants to a new environment. With the Chinese Evergreen, you simply prune the leaves that die. The new growth will have developed in an all water environment and the plant will be fine underwater. It's also beneficial to place an air stone underneath the roots of the Evergreen to increase the oxygen to the roots. This will stimulate new growth and keep the plant healthy.

10

 

[10 Tanks]

Wednesday morning and the neighborhood dogs are barking at something. Probably each other. It's a good thing I'm up and around pretty early, 5 to 5:30 AM or those dogs would be a pain. Anyway, we have two tanks to work on today. We've also got a couple of cats to take to the vet for checkups and shots. We have 8 cats and all the fish and my wife has a 7 year old parakeet named "Peanut". My wife is also a master gardener. The garden this year is exceptionally nice. Maybe, I can post a couple of pictures. I'll try. So, back to the tanks. Today is a 100 gallon and a 55 gallon. Today is also a feeding day, so the fish are more than ready to "strap on the feedbag"!

10