[Bunnie1978]

BTW - I think all your projects are AWESOME!! I send people to your thread all the time from all my forums when I see they are trying to do something that you've done!

 

[giypsy]

Tex.... A LOT of the things I do.... I do because nobody told me I COULDN'T do them.... That and because I think it would be cool. :biggrin: Kinda like my hood lift mechanism..... (See pictures a few pages back....) .... :biggrin:

Ditto RestlessCrow.
My Dad never actually let me do anything therefore, I never learned
anything. I did get very used to listening to lectures.

RC: Pear.

 

[RestlessCrow]

Ok.... One vote for Pear, one for Merlot....... Duly noted.

LFS was out of SAE's and Otos.... They DID get some Kuhlies in however, but the guy wouldn't sell them to me because they had just arrived. (That's why I go to this store.... they're HONEST and tell you when something has just arrived and should stay in the store for a while)

I Ended up coming home with one Bristle nose plec.... and six Glass cats. (Just because I've always wanted them and I felt that my water conditions are good enough finally for them.) I'm going away this weekend again, and hopefully when I get home they'll have more Otos and Sae's.... and well sell me some Kuhlies. I'll keep ya'all posted.

 

[Bunnie1978]

BN are very active... I'm sure he or she will make you very happy! I'm off to get some more fish... I have an Angel tank, and now I'm going to get some African cichlids... something new and exciting!!

 

[RestlessCrow]

Tiny update. BN Plec is chewin' away..... things are stabilizing nicely as far as the algae wars go.

The Cider Wine CO2 System went like GANGBUSTERS for about two weeks and then tapered off. (I suspected it was going to do so.) It will have to ferment for about another two months at least to be considered ready for bottling, so I'm contemplating adding another 1 gal jug to the existing 1gal jug to suppliment the 5 gal jug. (Did that make sense?)

Plants have recieved a second trimming...... Had a minor fish issue that took out all 6 glass cats and 2 of the three Cories.

Added 7 COOL little cories that I can't quite remember the name as I'm typing.... 1 dwarf gourami, 5 red line Tetras.... and another five Hatchets.

I'll try to get pics up soon.

 

[giypsy]

My first batch of Ginger ale was very light and delicious, Thanks.
Seems my out-of-the-fridge time produces a very dry bevie.
Have not added it to the DIY rig yet as I had to move the
whole fish rack again. Five hours I could have been studying . . . sheesh.

The jello DIYCO2 works differently than the straight sponge method.
It does not produce the initial foamy muck everyone gets all freaked about;
slower acting & more controlled I think.

What is the decision for the next MOB batch? I've ripened some pears for mine.

 

[RestlessCrow]

My first batch of Ginger ale was very light and delicious, Thanks.
Seems my out-of-the-fridge time produces a very dry bevie.
Have not added it to the DIY rig yet as I had to move the
whole fish rack again. Five hours I could have been studying . . . sheesh.

The jello DIYCO2 works differently than the straight sponge method.
It does not produce the initial foamy muck everyone gets all freaked about;
slower acting & more controlled I think.

What is the decision for the next MOB batch? I've ripened some pears for mine.

Glad you liked the recipe! It's a favorite around the house here. (just be CAREFUL if you use Champagne yeast like I warned Previously. Saint Marie made quite a mess out of the kitchen opening one out of that batch. I would not use it in the DIY rig however, because if you do, it won't produce enough carbonation to be drinkable.)

I'm going to have to try the Jello DIYCO2 in the smaller 1gal jugs I'm using. Not sure about the next MOB Batch. I only have a 2.5gal carboy left, and the big one is going to be tied up for at least another two or three months. I may try a small (2.5 gal) batch of something very soon because of the aforementioned "tapering off" and I believe I'm going to try some sort of Merlot type thing. (Plus that will keep Saint Marie happy. ) I was rummaging around down in the downstairs freezer and stumbled across approximately 5-10 pounds of frozen concord grapes from last year's garden. I had frozen them initially because they were all ripening at different times and I didn't have enough to make a run. I had full intentions of making a batch after all were fully ripe, and as usual, got distracted and forgot. 8-[

It's 8:15 as I type this and I wanted to leave for Maryland this morning at 9. I haven't packed any clothes or any of my equipment.... so I have REALLY gotta get off APC and get my butt moving. More to follow as usual.

 

[RestlessCrow]

Just another update now that I have some time. Plants have grown in nicely. The Hairgrass is spreading all over the place. New stuff is beautiful. The original clumps are covered in algae. If I remove it by hand, it's back by the end of the day so I kind of gave up on it. If I had it to do differently, I would have planted the Vals 'Corkscrew' either in the middle, or even the foreground as it is an open and airy plant that you can see through. I'm tempted to pull it up but after pulling the plants out of the little hospital tank and seeing how much of a mess it made, I think I'll hold off.

Since the last update, I've added 7 Cory 'Sturbae', 2 Black Lyretail Mollies, 5 Red Line Tetras, 5 more Hatchets, and the Endler's in the little tank in the other room FINALLY started poppin' out little ones.

On the flip side, I tried 6 glass cats who didn't even make it 24 hours, and managed to take out 2 of my 3 Cory 'Elegans' in the process. (NO you don't need to read me the riot act about QT.... I know.) I went back to LFS to get some more cories, and casually mentioned it to the LFS Owner to get his opinion on what to do or watch out for, and he gave me full credit for them!! I REALLY wasn't trying to go anywhere NEAR the route of asking for a refund but he decided to, because the Glass cats had just arrived and he told me that his salesperson shouldn't have sold them to me. I actually felt guilty, so when he asked how many I bought I told him 5 instead of six. 8-[

At this point I have to give LFS a good plug, because of his honesty in business, excellent service, and awesome selection. Everyone usually has "one person" they like to deal with in every business, and I usually deal with the owner. (Turns out he knows Saint Marie too! We had a good laugh about that one!) Well... one day he was real busy and he said "This guy here can help you" and patted a young man on the back and introduced him to me. I'll admit I was skeptical, because the kid was all of about 14 years old, but I trust Adam (The owner) and off I went with this kid to make my fish selection that day. Well.... this kid was AWESOME. He was a wealth of knowlege, and the whole time we were discussing each other's tanks. He was a little shy to be working in a sales job, but once he started talking, he loosened up. After the sale was complete, and I had a bag of fish in my arm, I walked over to the owner, and politely waited for him to finish his conversation with another customer, and just said to him "Keep that kid around. He's a good one" and walked out. You could see the smile on his face. If any of you are anywhere near North New Jersey, I would HIGHLY RECCOMEND Adam's Pet Safari in Chester NJ. :cheer2:

Now.... what you've ALL been waiting for. Photos! There are a few questions that I will be throwing out to the community at the end, so please read all the way through.

The Crypt has been putting out leaves like crazy! When I first put it in it just sat there and did NOTHING but then all of a sudden... it went nuts!

An overall view of the center, to right side of the tank. The Lotus is behaving surprisingly well, the Vals are growing beautifully, and the Ozelot Sword that melted is finally putting out some robust growth. (You can just barely see it poking above the hairgrass) The Rotala on the right side got pruned last week as it was trying to cover the surface. One more note. I asked previously if you could cut hairgrass and never recieved a response, so I'll tell y'all this. MOW it down if you want to. it seems to make it grow faster.

A decent shot of my Cardinals and Rummies. (Little buggers don't hold still long enough to photograph!)

Here you can see that the Ozelot Sword is FINALLY making a comeback.

AND.... a nice closeup of the bane of my existence.....

And my Gourami:

Ok... so now the questions. I have a feeling that I already know the answer to the first one, but I'm using 6000K "Daylight" T-8's but the tank seems overly "Yellow" You can see it in the photos. Anyone care to suggest their favorite T-8?

Am I the only one who seems to suffer "alien abductions" from their tank? I've lost three Clown Loaches, and three Kuhlies. Vanished without a trace. (I know the Kuhlies are probably just hiding, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of them in two months.) No one floating, no one in the filter..... Just..... GONE.

Thanks for looking, and I can't wait for comments!

 

[Bunnie1978]

That's great. I was thinking about how yellow it looked myself. For photos you can compensate for that. Are you sure it's the light making it yellow and not ferts in the water, or algae? If the water is colorless, then I would definately get a cooler shade of light... I would think 6000k would be good, but you might even get up around 10000k. I've heard some great things about the GE superdaylight 9325s, but I don't know if they come in T-8s. My tank seems kinda dark with just the 6700ks on and super bright with the 10000ks on.

It all looks good to me.

 

[RestlessCrow]

Thanks for the input Bunnie. I'm positive it's the lights. I'm not adding any ferts and I don't have any problems with green water Algae. It's definitely the lights. I was going to go to the local lighting store. They can order ANYTHING but usually have it in stock. I even bought a metal halide UV Light emitting bulb (100W) for my glass repair business from them. I just gotta get my sorry butt over there. It's only about 7 miles away but it's a pain to get there. (Yes... I'm whining. LOL)

I'll definitely look for a different spectrum, because sitting here in the evening watching TV and the tank, it actually ANNOYS me that it's that yellow looking to the naked eye. As soon as I have a good show fixing glass (ie: make some money) I'll go get new bulbs.

 

[giypsy]

Wait, wait, hang on there for a sec. I think you really only need to swap one.
I have an Ultra Sun T8 6500k and a Flora-Glo T8 2800k. The Ultra Sun is smiliar
to your two T8s; the Flora-Glo is specifically recommended for a planted tank and
is designed to work with the other even though they are different manufacturers.
According to the spectrum chart on the Flora-Glo you could jack the K up to
the next step which would be 18,000k BUT I would not as you and I have the
same algae issues. In other words I am suggesting replacing one hot/yellow
tube with one cooler tube. I bought the Flora for the plants; I bought the
Ultra for the fish, inverts and me.

My two tank setup is admittedly shallower than your one but I have raised the
level of the fixture and that has slowed the algae down. I have added an
olive nerite from one plant shipment and have tigers and a zebra nerite on order.
The lone olive is working his way slowly around the planted, so I believe
we are on the right track here. With your sq footage, you will need a tribe
of nerites, suggested population is min 1 per gal of water, research has indicated.
They do not reproduce in fresh water, so you will have to buy your tribe.
I suggest waiting until a week from Monday in deference to Miss Marie.

Cannot advise anything of practical experience for loaches as I have employed
the natural predatory instincts of the female betta for pond snail reduction.

With regard to shooting the tanks; I bought a polarizing filter for my cam,
I am almost regretting not buying a yellow first as it seems everywhere I shoot
I get yellow cast as a result of interior lighting. IF you have a manual setting,
get to know it intimately. Not assuming anything regarding your photog skills,
shoot everything, at every setting, and keep a run sheet until you are satisfied
with the raw shots.
Then go into Photoshop or GIMP and adjust color temperature, contrast, et cetera.
One last note, the crazy part is; I get the easiest, best results with the two
incandescent bulbs one hot and one cool, that came with the LBBPS hood.
Nice soft lighting, not much fooling with the settings, f5.6 at somewhere between
80-125.

Cryptocorynes seem to get all cranky when you move them, then they get over it
and take off under good circumstances, in my experience.

 

[RestlessCrow]

Wait, wait, hang on there for a sec. I think you really only need to swap one.
I have an Ultra Sun T8 6500k and a Flora-Glo T8 2800k. The Ultra Sun is smiliar
to your two T8s; the Flora-Glo is specifically recommended for a planted tank and
is designed to work with the other even though they are different manufacturers.
According to the spectrum chart on the Flora-Glo you could jack the K up to
the next step which would be 18,000k BUT I would not as you and I have the
same algae issues. In other words I am suggesting replacing one hot/yellow
tube with one cooler tube. I bought the Flora for the plants; I bought the
Ultra for the fish, inverts and me.

My two tank setup is admittedly shallower than your one but I have raised the
level of the fixture and that has slowed the algae down. I have added an
olive nerite from one plant shipment and have tigers and a zebra nerite on order.
The lone olive is working his way slowly around the planted, so I believe
we are on the right track here. With your sq footage, you will need a tribe
of nerites, suggested population is min 1 per gal of water, research has indicated.
They do not reproduce in fresh water, so you will have to buy your tribe.
I suggest waiting until a week from Monday in deference to Miss Marie.

Cannot advise anything of practical experience for loaches as I have employed
the natural predatory instincts of the female betta for pond snail reduction.

With regard to shooting the tanks; I bought a polarizing filter for my cam,
I am almost regretting not buying a yellow first as it seems everywhere I shoot
I get yellow cast as a result of interior lighting. IF you have a manual setting,
get to know it intimately. Not assuming anything regarding your photog skills,
shoot everything, at every setting, and keep a run sheet until you are satisfied
with the raw shots.
Then go into Photoshop or GIMP and adjust color temperature, contrast, et cetera.
One last note, the crazy part is; I get the easiest, best results with the two
incandescent bulbs one hot and one cool, that came with the LBBPS hood.
Nice soft lighting, not much fooling with the settings, f5.6 at somewhere between
80-125.

Cryptocorynes seem to get all cranky when you move them, then they get over it
and take off under good circumstances, in my experience.

Wait! WHOA..... Too much info all at once! (Awesome! Thank you!!!) I've got six bulbs under that hood, so when you say replace "ONE" I will assume you meant replace "Three". I'm going to have to make due with what I have for the next week or two in order to pay my extra special tax to the state of New Jersey to be able to keep that little "freedom card" in my pocket.... after that is squared away, I will work on getting some new bulbs.

I really have no way to raise the bulbs other than to open the hood, and that floods the room with too much light for my taste.... and the algae really hasn't been much of an issue.... About once a week I get my hands wet and pull a little out and it's sufficient for me. I was very surprised to see my Gourami and Mollies actually eating some algae. The gourami will get hold of a long strand and swim like heck to pull it off.

I added three clown loaches, approximately 2" long, and within the first few minutes, watched them actively hunting and eating small snails. They've been in for about 5 days now and I can already see a downturn in the amount of newly hatched pond snails.... Plus they just look good in there. LFS Said he'd take them back when they start to get big so I'm not concerned about that. (Just worried about trying to catch them without tearing the tank up.)

I'll keep playing with camera settings... it's another thing I love to fool with.... and I have gimp but I'm not too good with it. The pic of the gourami with the cartoon bubble took me almost an hour to do. Thanks for the info. Hopefully this snow coming my way tonight will add a little funding to the lightbulb account.

Thanks for the help Gipsy!!!

 

[giypsy]

The short{er} answers;
yes, in your case three

GIMP is not that hard if you have to resort to
the distructions, here is the best tutorial I know of:
http://gimp-tutorials.net

You may have all the product of the "storm of the century"
as I am on a train in an hour.
We would not have received a snow-day anyway;
good thing the Prof was planning on us being
out of class today.
Carry on . . .

P.S. Buy dark chocolate

 

[RestlessCrow]

The short{er} answers;
yes, in your case three

GIMP is not that hard if you have to resort to
the distructions, here is the best tutorial I know of:
http://gimp-tutorials.net

You may have all the product of the "storm of the century"
as I am on a train in an hour.
We would not have received a snow-day anyway;
good thing the Prof was planning on us being
out of class today.
Carry on . . .

P.S. Buy dark chocolate

Dark chocolate? I'm assuming for Saint Marie....

 

[giypsy]

Roger that; you have approximately 24.5 to 30-ish hours to accomplish your mission.
That is all.

 

[RestlessCrow]

Saint Marie: "Honey? Why are there snails in the sink?"

Me: "I cleaned one of the filters."

Saint Marie: "Oh.... Um. Ok. Are you going to get rid of them?"

Me: "Yes dear. I'm going to clean the other one first. Then I will"

Saint Marie: "Ok. Good."

::::: Bunch of noises come from under tank :::::Carrying filter to sink::::::

::::: Bunch of grunting noises while trying to remove top off of Fluval:::::

Me: "Oh! COOL!!!! I found my Kuhlie Loach!!! Hon? Can you come hold the kitchen strainer for me?"

::::::Saint Marie walks over.... I had her strainer...... yucky brown gunky water spills into kitchen strainer::::::

Saint Marie: "AHHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? It Looks like a worm!!!!!!"

Me: :::::Laughing::::: "It's the Kuhlie Loach that went missing about a month ago!!!!"

Saint Marie: "That's disgusting." ::::::Storms out of the room::::::


:der:

She's so good to me.

 

[Bunnie1978]

LOL!! That is amazing!

 

[bratyboy2]

Saint Marie: "Honey? Why are there snails in the sink?"

Me: "I cleaned one of the filters."

Saint Marie: "Oh.... Um. Ok. Are you going to get rid of them?"

Me: "Yes dear. I'm going to clean the other one first. Then I will"

Saint Marie: "Ok. Good."

::::: Bunch of noises come from under tank :::::Carrying filter to sink::::::

::::: Bunch of grunting noises while trying to remove top off of Fluval:::::

Me: "Oh! COOL!!!! I found my Kuhlie Loach!!! Hon? Can you come hold the kitchen strainer for me?"

::::::Saint Marie walks over.... I had her strainer...... yucky brown gunky water spills into kitchen strainer::::::

Saint Marie: "AHHHH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? It Looks like a worm!!!!!!"

Me: :::::Laughing::::: "It's the Kuhlie Loach that went missing about a month ago!!!!"

Saint Marie: "That's disgusting." ::::::Storms out of the room::::::

:der:

She's so good to me.

if we could only all get married to someone so cool!!!

 

[RestlessCrow]

if we could only all get married to someone so cool!!!

Ummmmm..... Uhhhh.... I guess that this really DOES mean that I need to invest in that ring... eh? :heart:

 

[bratyboy2]

awwwwwwwww u should u know u love her and if some one wcan put up with a fish nerd...then they deserve the ring of there...smaller ( ) dreams lol. times are hard got to save a bit lol