How you doing?

Unob!?!? I was just wondering where you went. lol



Nice! I'm a wilderness canoeist. Looks like my vacation might not get canceled. :D
I'm here. Thing is, I have a variety of interests, and that means a variety of forums, and my interests vacillate, so I may frequent a different forum for a while, etc.
 
Got the tank on the stand and filled it with substrate and decor. Will probably fill it with water today or tomorrow.

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Also got the light and filtration set up. I like the light - it's an LED fixture that connects to my phone via bluetooth and has a ton of cool features, like a timer that allows you to ramp the light up and down, so you can simulate sunrise/sunset. It also has a feature that takes the weather forecast from Google and recreates stuff like transitioning from sunlight to cloud cover and back. I'll have to get a video of it.
 
I got my 55 gallon up and running a few months back, but have had trouble with the fishes. Ich got my last group, all but one. I now have the lone survivor.
 
It also has a feature that takes the weather forecast from Google and recreates stuff like transitioning from sunlight to cloud cover and back. I'll have to get a video of it.

That's cool AF.
 
I've been water testing the tank all weekend. I think I'll fill it up completely and get the filters going tonight or tomorrow.

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I've been water testing the tank all weekend. I think I'll fill it up completely and get the filters going tonight or tomorrow.

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Avoidin Deer goes on Craigslist.
Searches "aquarium."
dam you ;)

It does look nice.

So a few questions:

-What's that bowl for?
-What are you using for filtration? I've mostly had corner filters...not much luck with the under-gravel ones. But that was eons ago, when trilobites still swan the oceans.
-Your gravel looks more like fine sand than anything the poop can fall between. Is that some new thing?
 
Avoidin Deer goes on Craigslist.
Searches "aquarium."
dam you ;)

It does look nice.

So a few questions:

-What's that bowl for?
-What are you using for filtration? I've mostly had corner filters...not much luck with the under-gravel ones. But that was eons ago, when trilobites still swan the oceans.
-Your gravel looks more like fine sand than anything the poop can fall between. Is that some new thing?

Lol, sorry AD. Just trying to keep myself busy, haha.

Regarding the bowl, I used it when adding water. Basically, with the tank dry, I placed the bowl in and poured water directly into the bowl. Doing it this way prevents the substrate from getting moved around too much (compared to dumping the water in directly).

For filtration I'm using a canister filter (Fluval 406) and a "hang-on-back" filter (AquaClear 110). Both of these filters use electric motors to draw water into them and push the water through the straining media and biofilter media and back into the tank.

The substrate I'm using for this tank is indeed sand - specifically pool filter sand. Some people have complained that using pool filter sand sucks because it makes the water cloudy whenever the sand is disturbed, which is why I used the bowl when filling the tank. The bowl worked well, but it turns out that the sand I used doesn't cloud up at all, even if I were to disturb it. I used sand primarily because I like the way it looks. I have heard of undergravel filters, but never actually used any of them before. Because of the sand bed, I had to use the filter types mentioned above, and to get rid of the fish poop I will be "vacuuming" the sand every now and then.

I'm still on the fence on what fish I want to stock the tank with, but I'm leaning towards some african cichlids. Specifically Tropheus Moorii "Mpulungu" shown below:

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Or Tropheus Moorii "Chimba", shown below:

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Or I could just do a bunch of tetras, lol. Still very much undecided.
 
I recall vacuuming the tank with a manual bulb-type vacuum with a collection bag hanging off the side of it. It still stirred stuff up.

Love those fish pics. Very pretty. Never had cichlids...just the basic stuff (tetras, zebras, swordfish, mollies, maybe some bottom feeders.) A friend had what I thought were more exotic fish: clown loach, kuhli loach, gourami. They were above my 10/$1 budget. Another friend had oscars and jack dempseys. Gotta love a fish you feed steak & burger to.

When I was a kid we also had a small outdoor concrete pond that was stocked with goldfish and some type of "google-eyed" fish. Had a few lily pads and frogs. Used to feed the fish worms and spiders. They over-wintered well. Raccoons were the enemy.

Fascinating hobby.
 
I had a Jack Dempsey. He was such a prick. Killed all the other fish in the tank (x6) until he had it all to himself.
They are NOT "community fish," that's for sure. Everything around them is on the menu.

I guess the other fish found out a little late, huh?
 
I had a few fresh water tanks on the go for many years. Got out of it about 10 years ago.
Had small breeder tanks and a 50 gallon community tank.
If you're doing the standard fresh water tank with tetras, swordtails etc., I highly recommend adding a red tailed black shark.
Get a small one and watch it grow. They live for a long time (5-7 years) and are a beautiful fish.
They are a solitary terrotorial fish, so you should only have one.
They might chase the others during feeding, but generally keep to themselves. They are bottom scavengers.
Have fun.
 
breeder tanks

Did you breed fish? If so, what kind?

I met a guy at his house to buy one of the tanks I have (long before COVID-19) and he showed me his fish room. The room itself was small, maybe 8' by 6', but he must have had 40 tanks in there, all side by side on multiple shelves from floor level to eye level. Each one had a different type of cichlid fry in them. It was a sight to see, for sure.
 
Get a small one and watch it grow. They live for a long time (5-7 years) and are a beautiful fish.
Have fun.
They can be total pricks too. I had many 'shark tanks'.
The only docile ones are bala's. All the rest can be pricks. I had a tank with rainbows, red tails, balas, irridescents and one columbian.
The columbian are the coolest.
 
Did you breed fish? If so, what kind?
It started unintentionally.
I had several smaller tanks that I used sparingly to help with transferring fish, or when cleaning out my 50 gallon tank.
I had a couple of pregnant swordtails and decided to isolate them just to see what I would get.
Pretty soon I had dozens of them. Tiny babies.
I learned that you need to take the mother out right away, or else she eats her young.
I also learned to provide hiding places for the babies to keep them safe.
I just kept isolating pregnant fish, swordtails, guppies, etc., and pretty soon had so many that I donated them back to the fish stores.
It's also wise to maintain a ratio of say 3 or 4 females for every male.
If there are too many males, they will pester the females relentlessly, and end up killing them.
The males are horny little buggers.
 
On a different note, to answer the original question "How you doing?":
Getting cabin fever big time.
It's still cold up here (below freezing and a little snow today), so I can't do much outside.
I jumped the gun last week on a mild day and took off my winter tires (on separate rims) and installed my summer tires.
Wife went to Costco early this morning and had to scrape ice off the windshield. She was not happy.

My 25 year old Kenmore washer died last week too. Tub stopped spinning and the agitator stopped agitating. The pump still worked though.
First thought was just to give in and buy a new one. Then I got bored and googled the problem.
Long story short, the washer is really and Inglis unit, with a Kenmore name tag.
Turns out a plastic coupling between the motor and the pump breaks on a regular basis.
Ordered the part (you can still get it after all these years), and received and replaced it today.
Woo hoo. Turned out to be an easy job. There was a how-to on Youtube. God I love the internet.
The part cost $35, including shipping.
Just saved myself a thousand bucks.

Other than that, I'm eating too much, getting soft in the middle, and watching too much TV.
Having said that, if you're bored as well and have Netflix, I highly recommend a six part British series called "Bodyguard". It is awesome. You won't be disappointed.

OK, I'm done rambling for now. Need a late night snack. (Well not really, but I'm going to eat something anyway)..
Cheers everyone.
Stay safe.
 
How am I doing right now? I'm kinda sore right now.

I finished painting my bedroom a few hours ago. I made it a 2 day painting project to stretch time since it;s not like I am going back to work anytime soon. Besides, I was doing the project myself, including moving the furniture around. Hence, why I am sore. It's the most I have moved in a while.

Bought the paint over the phone and went to pick it up Tuesday evening. Moved most of my furniture out of the room and started on taping off and cutting in on Wednesday. Did the full walls Thursday. I've even moved some of the furniture back already. Doing the rest tomorrow.
 
How am I doing right now? I'm kinda sore right now.

I finished painting my bedroom a few hours ago. I made it a 2 day painting project to stretch time since it;s not like I am going back to work anytime soon. Besides, I was doing the project myself, including moving the furniture around. Hence, why I am sore. It's the most I have moved in a while.

Bought the paint over the phone and went to pick it up Tuesday evening. Moved most of my furniture out of the room and started on taping off and cutting in on Wednesday. Did the full walls Thursday. I've even moved some of the furniture back already. Doing the rest tomorrow.

Post pics when you're done! I love seeing before and after renovation pics.
 
Found a gym I can lift at. Excellent. Jujitsu is still off the table, but at least I can stay strong, now. Also, sun has been out. That's nice.
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Post pics when you're done! I love seeing before and after renovation pics.
Unfortunately, I don't have a before pic, but just imagine the walls used to be stark white.
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The color I chose is called Purple Lace from Benjamin Moore.
The paint went on nicely, but man, I hate dealing with textured walls. I love it because the color is so whimsical. A light lavender with a small hue of blue.
 
Great colour! Definitely sets it apart from the usual white. I think it adds character and is perfect for the room, especially with the collection you have going! (y)
 

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