What are you doing today?

[MattW]

They are a beautiful looking fish! And congrats on the fry too.

My last tank that used compost was just regular garden compost with nothing added so I basically had a 1inch sludge layer at the bottom on my tank. This time I’m having a mix of aquatic compost, gravel and a few other things. I’m hoping this will make sure the compost doesn’t compact and cause similar issues I have with the regular compost.

 

[GaryE]

For the past 2 years I've looked out every morning and seen an empty tank of about 65 gallons on my neighbour's deck. Unfortunately, she's a hoarder with serious issues, and a lot of stuff has been accumulating like that.
She seems to be getting some help, and is moving. I just noticed that in the latest truck from the cleanout crew emptying her house, the fishtank is going. The torture is ending.
It was too narrow front to back to really do much with, and the ice had forced the silicone apart, but still, who can look at a large tank and not consider what you'd do with it?
Whoever buys that place is going to have a lot to do. Hoarding is really nasty stuff. 5 20 foot truckloads, filled to the roof, and they aren't done yet. That's not a job I'd want. Nor, after this, is it a house I'd want.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

They are a beautiful looking fish! And congrats on the fry too.

My last tank that used compost was just regular garden compost with nothing added so I basically had a 1inch sludge layer at the bottom on my tank. This time I’m having a mix of aquatic compost, gravel and a few other things. I’m hoping this will make sure the compost doesn’t compact and cause similar issues I have with the regular compost.

I would only do soil under sand in a heavily planted tank. Crypts and amazon swords particularly thrive on that substrate. The roots keep it from compacting and/or going anaerobic. But crypts seem to do perfectly well on straight sand. And swords just grow crazy no matter what I do with them. So I think I have converted from a soil-under-sand guy to a straight-sand guy. It's just easier.

When I do a sand substrate for plants, I don't rinse it. I figure the dust provides some nutrients, and the water clears up fine by the time I'm ready to add fish. I have no scientific basis for thinking that the dust helps the plants, but it makes sense to me so I do it. (Plus I really hate rinsing sand)

 

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Bridge Day 2025. New River Gorge National Park. Leaves are not in peak quite yet.

 

[Rocky998]

 

[Back in the fold]

Lazy fall day today and the leaves are falling more lately . Beautiful weather today and I think I’ll go for a short walk just before sunset and watch the day end in the fresh air .

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Watched the Badgerling and her crew compete in the state marching competition today. They did ok, got an excellent rating and caption awards for percussion and flag corps. Not bad for a young band with a new director.

 

[GaryE]

Today, I plan to be thoughtful wildlife guy. Yesterday, I took Mabel on her after supper walk, and a line of deer passed us, with barely a look. It suddenly struck me that for the greater part of my life, I had never seen deer. In the middle of the city, they're just not around like that. I think I got so into aquariums because there was so little nature around me. And this was normal now, not only for me, but for a young dog that looked at the deer like I used to look at pigeons.
Then, Mabel needed a run in our fenced in yard, and I left her to her zoomies. The deer had come around and were wearily trooping across the back, and off leash she was very happy to run along the fence pretending to chase them. After a few minutes, she started barking, which she doesn't do. I went out and she was growling, all set for a fight. White goldens are not scary.
I tried to see what she was mad at, as I saw no animals. It was getting dark, which didn't help. All of a sudden I spotted a very large, skinny coyote ranging across where the deer had been, looking very annoyed at Mabel's alarm barks. He didn't seem to have been hunting her, but he was one of the largest coyotes I've ever seen.
I looked up. No Acme anvils were falling my way, so I brought the dog in.
Note to self - stay out with her when the sun goes down.

Today, I have a fish club meeting with a presentation from a local aquarium store owner on treating fish diseases. I have to figure out what I'm taking to auction. There, the wildlife will be local aquarists, who make skinny coyotes look harmless!

 

[gwand]

One of my lfs agreed to take my excess Julidochromis transcriptus Gombe juveniles. So I rolled up my sleeves, removed most of the rocks from the tank and started to net Julies. I netted 8 and left two in the tank, hoping they are both males. These Julies breed like rabbits.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Day two of putting up the winter fencing which protects the planted around the house from the deer. We do this every fall before all the greenery is mostly gone. I am sore as heck as I am getting too old for this stuff........

I live about 25 ,iles outside of New York City as the row flies. I see deer, fox, turkey and assorted birds of prey. We supposedly haver coyotes but have never seen one. We also allow a bow hunter on the [property for deer season. Before it starts if [its out a bunch pf motion sensitive cameras to track where the deer. are traveling. Last year he brought up one of his cameras to the house and showed us the picture of the side of the head of a black bear which had set off a camera.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Today’s hike with the Badgerling.

Local wildlife.

 

[GaryE]

Last night at the fish club, someone bid up to 23 bucks for a bucket of river rocks. A bucket of rocks, picked up locally.

I live beside a rocky beach with the world's highest tides that endlessly resupply the shore. I can hear rocks rolling up the beach in the morning!

There is next to no agriculture in this region, because the soil is poor and rocky. As I was auctioning the heavy bucket, I realized that I could be a Rock Baron. I promise you guys I'll still annoy you when I build my river and beach rock empire.

 

[MattW]

I've managed to sit & watch my tanks a bit more recently, and I've been appreciating my Sawbwa a lot more than I used to. They have a lot more open swimming room now, which has changed their behaviour. They seem to congregate more in the open now, compared to when they used to blend in amongst the plants. I also find it amusing how they swim compared to other fish I have kept. Darting around, then stopping for a few seconds, then darting off again. Even when feeding, they rush over to bug bite pellets, go for them, yet completely miss! I don't think there is much brain activity in these fish

 

[GaryE]

Sawbwa? Matt, they could be chatting in their group and saying "All it ever does is sit and look at us. Not much going on there..."

I've been carving out more time too, with the arrival of cool weather, and all these tanks. I've been watching the world of hatchet fish a bit. I've not kept anything like them since I last had them, years ago. Their relationship to the surface and surface tension is quite striking. They are tuned into things I can't see.

I'm also watching the Parananochromis a lot. The differences between species jump out, although my sample is tiny. P. brevirostris is quietly aggressive. P ornatus females are tough as nails and run the surviving male around. I think they caused the death of his brother, so that species is precarious. The survivor has been punched in the eye and may have lost vision to one side. Meanwhile, P gabonicus are seemingly easy going. One pair has larvae, not yet (maybe never) out of the cave. The other pair in a 4 foot tank are acting like the best of friends, without benefits. I think she has a crush on him but he is still too immature and clueless.

I got a tetra sold as Imperial lapis, and they seem to be two possibilities for their real name. They'll have to grow, but they are manic little current riders. They are wild to watch - they must face into fast water for their food. They are restless little fish that wouldn't do well in a slow moving tank.

I ordered some Hyphessobrycon margitae today, along with Nannostomus marginatus, And Hoplisome atropersonatus and loretoensis corys. They are due to arrive next week. The margitae sound like bad actors - tiny nippy and territorial tank bosses that I'll try in a large tank with no other tetras. I have some female H negodagua, who have the same reputation, and they are very interesting fishwatching. Lots of dance offs. The males must be spectacular. So these new fish will let me see a whole other range of tetra behaviour, if I get both sexes in the group I've bought.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

I got the word yesterday that I should be getting in some Sawbwa resplendens for my Inle tank early next week. I've heard that before, so we'll see. But it would be nice to have more than one fish in there.

Tonight? Parent teacher conferences. Day off Friday to compensate us for the evenings lost. So that'll be nice.