Anita

Does the fountain need to float? The problem with most floating solar fountains is their GPH is severely restricted by the solar collector panel size—most of them produce less than 4W power. And of course, the floating fountain will block sunlight from reaching your plants. Eg., an 8" diameter floating fountain would take up almost 1/3 the width of a 26" diameter half-whisky barrel. Are you trying to keep the water oxygenated? I use a stationery solar fountain wired to a solar collector panel (20W, 360GPH) that sits on the ground. (With a little DIY, the panel could be mounted on a post.) Having the panel outside the pond alleviates the problem of the solar cells getting covered up by gunk, aka, algae/plants. The fountain and pump sit at the bottom of the pond, leaving most of the water surface open for sunlight and gas exchange. In addition to providing aeration, the fountain output is part of a trickle sump, so I need the output to stay in one place. You can downgrade/upgrade the pump GPH with a smaller/larger solar panel. BTW, @CalmedByFish posed the question, "Pond without electricity?" and got a number of suggestions. My reply includes details of my summer pond setup with solar fountain.

One thing to consider with mosquito fish (Gambusia) is they have fallen out of favor for mosquito control because a) they do not eat many mosquitos and unfortunately, b) compete with other native fish species. Below is an excerpt from "Adverse Assessments of Gambusia affinis" published by the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA): FWIW, I would regard the Illinois list you are reading with a bit of caution if you are trying to stick with truly native fish species. At a glance, the list of "approved species" includes several fish that I believe are NOT native to Illinois. I suspect this list combines native fish with fish having commercial or recreational value. For example, the list includes goldfish, which hardly seem to be a desirable species in the wild for any reason I can think of. Notice that the list is titled "Aquatic Life Approved Species List" and defined as (bold text is mine): "For the purposes of Section 20-90 of the Fish and Aquatic Life Code [515 ILCS 5/20-90], the Aquatic Life Approved Species List is established. The following aquatic life categories will be considered approved for aquaculture, transportation, stocking, importation and/or possession in the State of Illinois. Those species having special requirements are indicated by an asterisk (*)." So I guess it boils down to how strongly you feel about having native fish. For a more reliable list of non-native fishes that identifies exotics, as well as fish not native to Illinois (transplanted from other regions in North America), I suggest using the USGS database of Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. Here are the search results for Group: Fishes + State: Illinois + Sort By: Taxonomic Group. Using the USGS database, I learned that the Northern Redbelly Dace (Chrosomus eos/Phoxinus eos) is native to waters north of (e.g., Wisconsin), but not actually in Illinois. "Native Range: Atlantic, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, upper Mississippi, Missouri, and Peace-Mackenzie River drainages, from Nova Scotia west to Northwest Territories and British Columbia, south to northern Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Colorado (Page and Burr 1991)." The species guide includes a color-coded map. You can also find a database for native fish at FishMap.org (hosted by NANFA). Using their interactive map, I clicked on the middle of Illinois state, which brought up a list of native and exotic fishes for the Mackinaw Watershed. You can also find information about keeping native fish at NANFA (via articles and their forum). Haha, probably more information than you wanted to know about native fishes. 🤪

Ooo-o-o, like those self-cleaning kitty litter boxes! 🤩

What a cutie! 😁

That goofy catfish sure has grown up! Hopefully everyone will get settled into their new community. 🥰

Good timing! 😎

初めまして @H20CultureLabs！敬語を良く分かりますね！でも、上下関係の事を困りましたね。アメリカの名前そのだけ下さい。 MicrosoftのIMEキーボードは漢字を上手に出来ます。日本語や英語で書道をまだ下手で書きます。どうぞ宜しくお願い致します。 [Nice to meet you @H20CultureLabs! You are so polite! But giving me a title is a little embarrassing. Please use my American name without the honorific. Microsoft’s IME keyboard is skillful at writing kanji. My handwriting is poor, in Japanese or English. Warm regards.] 琴立山 Kototateyama [Zither-like Standing Mountains]

Quick update for what I have nicknamed our Forum Anniversary Member Articles Project. Not too much to report except to let you all know that I am currently communicating with @Daniel @CorydorasEthan and @KaitieG on a plan for this anniversary event. 💡 I.e., silence on this thread does not mean nothing is happening! Like the proverbial duckling, we are madly paddling away below the water's calm surface. 🦆 In the meantime, you could help keep my inbox less cluttered by posting suggestions or questions in this thread. I am following the thread and will post my reply as soon as possible. BTW, I am in the midst of my busy season, working as an editor and announcing college sports events. So I will not be as present on the forum in general and may be a bit slower than usual to reply here. If you are interested in helping with this project, then, please send me a PM! ✉️ Bye for now... 😎

I do too! It has been added to my organizational "Under Consideration" list. Thank you! 😁

Still figuring things out. 🤔 When I have a plan, I will let you all know!

My goal is for us all to have fun with this. Please bear with me as I try to figure out how to best accomplish this! 🤓 In the meantime, if anyone is interested in helping out, please PM me and let me know what you would like to do. Thanks! 😎

Haha, you read my mind! @CorydorasEthan and I are currently strategizing about how to keep this project a manageable size, since we are asking people to volunteer their time and efforts! Also, I want to do our best to include everyone who wants to contribute, because this is supposed to be a celebration of our online community. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 I beg your patience as I get my thoughts organized. 😇

@KaitieG Awesome! Send me a PM and let's chat about what you would be willing to do! 🥰

Congrats! Have a virtual cigar...

Or on the other end of the spectrum, how about an aquarium version of "Where's Waldo?"

I second this recommendation. Scuds are detrivores and like shrimp and snails, eat biofilm and decaying matter. If scuds overpopulate to the point they start "outcompeting" the shrimp, you should start wondering what went wrong in the tank. 🤔 The problem with internet stories is that people are strongly motivated to post worst-case scenarios because it improves their social media "hit" scores. As long-time pet owner, former wildlife rehab worker, and current marketing pro, I find these stories particularly troublesome because I suspect the aquarium owner has a much larger problem; one that is putting the creatures in their care at risk.😣 Imagine locking a dog in a car for 6 hours on a 70-degree day. Then, releasing the dog, filming a YouTube video as it collapses from heat stroke, and claiming this breed is heat-intolerant?🥵 That seems to be happening with these sensationalist aquarium horror stories as well. Just my opinion, of course. 😁

@CorydorasEthanCheck your inbox for a PM. Thanks! 😎

@CorydorasEthan If it would help, I would be happy to tackle the Articles project. I am a freelance writer/editor (see "About" in my member profile), so I have done this sort of thing. Or if you prefer to be in charge, I could support whatever you need. 🤓

The stars were in alignment today. Did you buy a lottery ticket? 😁

I have no idea what you mean, hahaha! 😆

In other words, not only is he named after a Sumo wrestler, he eats like one! 😁 Tateyama → 立山 [standing mountain] Kototateyama → 琴立山 [zither(-like) standing mountain*] *Does not translate easily, so my best estimate. お見事！[Splendidly done!]

I second this recommendation. Don't worry about Easy Green or any other fertilizers right now. Your plants will be fine without nitrates for days, weeks even. Yes, it is a total pain in the you-know-what doing water changes. But prolonged exposure to high nitrite levels could poison your fish. Learn from my mistake. → To save my snails from my stupidity, I did four 50% water changes in two days (2/day for 2 days). And I still ended up losing one after just 3 days. 😫 And that culprit was the LESS toxic nitrate. So... 🤓

A Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) system would remove all minerals from your well water. Depending on how handy you are, one of the cheapest solutions would be building a solar still that produces distilled water. There are lots of DIY plans around. There are also solar still kits. Please note, I have not personally used any of these and I am not endorsing these particular links. Just trying to give you some ideas to get started. 😎 You will need to figure out how much water you need, so you can buy or build a big enough system. Before you invest a bunch of time and money, however, I suggest you test your water to make sure that hardness is the cause of the problem. Unfortunately, well water can become contaminated with agricultural, construction, mining, or industrial runoff. In some places in the Western United States, the salt (NaCl) concentration increases as more and more water gets drawn out of the ground for farming.