Sapere_Ceta

Thanks, I really appreciate it. I think it will be the right decision too, unfortunately. I finished taking the aquarium down yesterday. It was really saddening to do it, but there was some slight relief too. Grume doesn’t seem to mind his temporary tote, thankfully, and I think we both will do better when I can set up his official five gallon aquarium. It will be easier for me to manage, and in turn, I can better dial-in on the aquarium plants and enjoying my interactions with him. I have been getting into keeping tarantulas and cockroaches for some time now, and those have been significantly easier and far less straining. I have them bioactive, and that has been simple and fun to do. I am taking it very slow (I have a small group of Madagascar hissing roaches with a female that recently gave birth, seven different species of tarantula slings, a small group of dubia roaches, and a small group of red-runner roaches). I plan on waiting for a few years or so before potentially having more. My health issues have always forced me out of what I’ve enjoyed, and I have a feeling the aquarium hobby might have to be given up again at some point for me. But, I think having a single five gallon will really do some good, and if I can keep it, even after Grume lives his full life, then that would really be something special. My mom was really helpful with moving everything on her day off, and together, we set up a simpler stand, which will have the aquarium, some of my houseplants, and the cockroaches on.

Hi everyone, I am going to be dismantling the twenty gallon aquarium soon. I ran into some extreme collapses that I am no longer able to fix. The bottom of the shape shifted, and the first collapse was pretty bad, and it’s continuing to move still. The first collapse hit the striped peacock eel I added, and they were never the same after that. They haven’t been able to swim properly for weeks, haven’t been able to control their movement well enough to eat anymore, can’t burrow, and remain completely vertical while swaying any other time. I did try and fix the collapse multiple times, but haven’t been able to well enough. I thought I finally got it managed, and then I had a far worse collapse last night. The three surviving guppies have been slowly deteriorating since having them, and my attempts to re-home them to someone who may have parameters far more to their liking haven’t been successful. Among this all, I’ve realized that my body really can’t seem to handle this any longer. Recently, I finally found a good disability attorney that has been helping me with my SSI case, at that was something great. I’ve known I’ve been struggling to handle the aquarium more and more for many months, but specifically the past few. If our current house accommodated my growing limitations, I’d likely be able to “power through” the maintenance and water changing, and the problems I’d be facing would likely feel less significant on me. On a very good day before, the recovery from working on the aquarium would be a week to a week and half. Now, it’s a few weeks at the least, so by the time I want or need to work on aquarium, I still am not physically well to juggle that. When I’m stuck doing water changes by bucket, when even consistently lifting less than 5lbs can cause a flare up, gallons of water definitely has been a problem. The strain hits me right where my brain is falling out and spreads from there, and I also lack a lot of skull and parts of my vertebrae removed there as well, so it’s very sensitive. I have always tried and make it work, because I love my fish, at the times when I am mobile, but, it’s very painful for me. Having constant vertigo, weakness/fatigue, and all of my other symptoms make it just as problematic with small but more frequent amounts. I regularly get sick and struggle with my symptoms, but, if it’s so much worse with something I used to love doing, than my ability to cope with it all drops immensely. My mom and I have talked about this multiple times already, knowing it would happen at some point, but, yesterday, we agreed that it’s better that the aquarium be dismantled. We will be moving Grume into a five gallon aquarium, which I think will be far more manageable. I am considering euthanasia for the striped peacock eel, and may do the same with the guppies as a very last resort. I know that there are chain pet stores around that could take them, but, when I could go to them, I’ve only seen severe ich and dead fish each time and the fish there are severely neglected (although I can’t say the other animals seem to be doing much better).

Sure! Living space wise, I can’t think of any other spaces available for any aquariums, outside of my current one. I live in and sleep in the living room, and my aquarium is positioned behind the couch, with the QT on the floor to the right of it. We were supposed to move out of my grandpa’s home, but, haven’t been able to. Outside of the living room is a makeshift dining-office space my grandpa uses, and then a kitchen passed that. To the left of where the living room/entry of the home is, if someone were to walk in, is my grandpa’s room, a half-bath, and my mom’s room.

I’m definitely up for any ideas that could potentially make things easier. I really appreciate that. Sure! That would be great! Thank you!

No worries at all, it’s good you were able to get some rest. I though the same, that they would be okay with my water. But, I’ve lost them quickly from the beginning (one male at first, severe shimmying and soon death after) on day 3, if I remember correctly. I thought it could be from ammonia burn and residual shipping stress (all of the guppies arrived really delayed and freezing, from two different breeders, one in Iowa and one in Texas, and there was definitely ammonia burn on everyone). A few days after, another male died of the same issue. I worried in the back of my mind if it was a water parameter issue, although I held off and waited to see how the guppies did later on. Those all made it through their quarantine medications, and that’s when I water changed it all out. A day later, one of the males was swimming a little wobbly, and that’s when (a couple of days ago), I decided to dose 1TBSP of baking soda and 1/2 TBSP of salt, both per five gallons to start with. I waited one day to test the PH, which showed no change, and another day, which did go up and stay to 7.6. The same night, another male died. So, I added one more 1/2TBSP of salt, but by then, none of the surviving four were looking very good. Yesterday night, surprisingly the best looking ones out of the four, two females died. They originally did not seem to respond well when I did a water change. So, that is why I suspected the mineral context and PH wasn’t adequate for them, that’s when I started to gradually raise it. But, the deaths cause an ammonia spike (even though the QT is definitely cycled), because it can take some time for me to notice, because I can’t always get to the QT until some time or a day to a day and a half later. So, I have to water change it out, trying to do as minimal of a water change as I can to where it’s just enough to counter the ammonia spike. But, that’s not enough time for the replenished additives to raise the parameters. So, the PH will lower for a limited time, even if I do dissolve it in the new water prior to adding (it seems to only show up after two days of being in the water). I’m not sure what to do, because trying to gradually raise it is difficult when they’ve been dying and I have to water change, which causes it all to reduce until two days later to where it’s back to being slightly higher. I haven’t tried to raise it anything past what I’ve done, because I am afraid it will be to inconsistent, and I’m having difficulty monitoring because I’ve been very immobilized and stuck sleeping most of the day until I am able to get up to check on them, which is when I usually find a causality (two at once yesterday night), and then have to do a water change, which worsens my symptoms and only prolongs me staying very immobilized and stuck sleeping for longer.

It’s alright. Having this aquarium has been a lot more stressful and straining than I expected. My first original betta arrived with a severe case of gill flukes and quickly died thereafter while attempting treatment. I later got another betta with a school of Indian ricefish, which had a horrendous bacterial disease and the survivors had to be euthanized. I had Gandr, a crayfish in a paludarium, who arrived with an unknown disease or condition that I could only get to go into periods of “remission”, only to have it cause his death in the end. Grume has been the only fish doing well. Getting these fish has resulted into only more death and physical strain and stress. This has been in maybe 1.5 years at the most. With that, there have been four setups total, one completely dismantled and scrapped to try and limit the future spread of that bacterial disease, another mostly dismantled (although reused) because the maintenance and water changes became more work (looking back on this, I think this may have been the start of when the driftwood that was rotting extremely badly), and the third redone and partially dismantled (with all of the driftwood and some of the rocks scrapped) into the current setup because the driftwood was having continual quick-rotting and fungus issues, which began to affect the water quality enough to cause Grume fin-rot. That is really unfortunate about your health issues and you and your family getting Covid, alongside your shrimp and fish loss. It’s definitely understandable why you would want to give up. That’s a very rough situation to be in. Though, that’s good to hear that those two aquariums and the turtle pond helped offer a much better and less stressful experience for you. I originally had gone that route with the two past setups, but that in itself has been difficult to maintain. I do think a large portion of that was because of the rotting wood, and the amount of procedures, surgeries, and flare ups that have made things really difficult to maintain a balance. The third setup I really enjoyed, until I noticed that the driftwood was definitely needing to come out, and during that, when my light and filter both broke and fixing either was to no avail. I thought that getting these guppies an the striped peacock eel may help in the future by 1) keeping the snail population in check, since the striped peacock eel enjoys snacking on them (my suspicion was actually correct on the snail population being so extremely high because of the rotting driftwood, though, as now, there’s little to none), and 2) letting the guppies snack on some of the algae that may develop to lessen my maintenance (I’m very slow at water changes, and it is very difficult for me to do any maintenance because the water severely worsens the mobility in my hands, and the movement worsens my vertigo, pain, and my general motor skills and range of motion. So, it takes me upwards of three hours to spot clean any algae, trim any plant leaves if needed, vacuum up detritus, and then do the rest of what’s required for a water change, and to fit in the needed breaks. When there would be increased maintenance, it would regularly take me upwards of 5 hours). Since it all causes flare ups with all of my health conditions, and they tend to set one another off, I then have to recover up until the next water change and maintenance, and sometimes that’s not long enough. I am hopeful that this setup will be a lot better because the rotting issues are gone, and it already seems to be less work. The plants have melted back a lot, and that’s expected with how much I had to change. But, pairing this with the ongoing issues of the QT, and then with how the aquarium overall has been more unmanageably straining on my body, It’s been tough to try and stick it out til then to see if it actually does get easier, and that’s outside of the times I have a procedure or surgery, which more is to be expected of. I think that trying to someday find some bombproof fish in my area could be a good idea. I’ve yet to find anyone locally online. There are aquarium clubs, but, they’re farther away from me and I cannot usually leave the house for anything other than a doctor’s appointment (I’m unable to drive, so my mom would have to take me, although she works over 40 hours a week and gets home at night, so even I could, I wouldn’t want her to have to do that). I think there could definitely be local breeders out there, who maybe could ship them or drop them off if they were close enough and comfortable with it. It’s just a matter of finding them. That’s wonderful that your fish are spawning in those conditions. They do sound like hardcore, bombproof fish, haha.

Unfortunately, four out of the eight guppies are deceased now, and the surviving four aren’t looking well anymore. I’ve continued to gradually dose baking soda, along with some aquarium salt, but, I don’t know if the PH can rise enough to their liking fast enough. They’ve been looking and acting fine and by the end of the day, a guppy would be dead. Tonight, the remaining four aren’t looking like they’ll survive either. It has been difficult to maintain a higher PH than my original 7.4, adding to the trouble. With how I’ve been feeling, I’ve been sleeping off and on excessively each day since last week and am very immobile. Because of this, I’ve often woke up many hours or a day to a day and a half later to find a dead guppy with a small ammonia spike. I have to do a small water change then, enough to rid of the ammonia spike, but can’t raise the PH high enough after. With how much work everything has been in total, with the main aquarium and the quarantine tank, and how even the main aquarium only has been taking an even more straining toll on me over time, I’m beginning to regret having an aquarium again. I was scared to add more fish anyways, but I was hoping this would help lessen some of my maintenance done (which would lessen my strain), but, now it’s been even worse. Yesterday night was the first time where I really started to consider selling everything. Since having this aquarium, it rarely ever has been what I had hoped, although I really love and appreciate Grume. I’m hoping to continue doing what I can, although it has been a lot on me physically and because of that, now getting up there mentally. Though, I may start looking into potential options if it really goes that route, and if someone has had to do something similar with a full setup, feedback would be appreciated.

Yeah, I hope so as well! I think this may work out, especially with so many options as to where the fish could be in the tank. I would have preferred other Livebearers, but he reacted really well to guppies. So, I went with them. Just to be on the safe side, I found baking soda and added 1tbs per 5 gallons to the QT and to Grume’s temporary home not too long ago. Dosing in small amounts, which I’ll be monitoring of course, should help keep the mineral content to the guppies liking, without it bothering Grume.

It’s been five days into quarantining my new fish: eight guppies and a striped peacock eel. All of the fish were extremely delayed. Two of the male guppies were shimmying, while I unboxed them, and unfortunately, those two died within three days of adding them to the quarantine tank. The six remaining guppies (four males and two males) seem to be doing okay. I’ve been quarantining them with Ich-X, Maracyn, and General Cure. I’m admittedly a little worried that my water won’t be to their liking. The PH is 7.4, and the KH and GH were within the range Livebearers do well with (I lost the test kit and have yet to replace it, so I haven’t been able to test this for more recent confirmation). I haven’t kept guppies in a long time (over five years), and I’ve heard recently that the strains can be pretty sensitive nowadays. To begin with, I was surprised that Grume responded better with guppies than any of the other Livebearers I had showed him, although there was only occasional flaring with the species he didn’t “like”. The driftwood, the Fluval 107 canister filter, and other supplies all arrived yesterday. I drained the aquarium down more than 75%, and used 5 gallons of that water to place into a bucket. I added the heater originally from the aquarium into it. I scooped Grume out with a small plastic container and added him into that bucket. I didn’t drain down the aquarium completely until the very end, as I wanted the plants to stay submersed for as long as possible, and I covered any plants poking out with wet paper towel. The driftwood, as suspected, was definitely rotting quickly. Many pieces I could bend without any give, and the driftwood was very soft, with the outside of the wood coming off in my hands. Upon taking the driftwood out, I started to build up the hardscape with the new driftwood. When I thought I completed the hardscape, a single rock at the bottom shifted and caused everything to collapse. So, I had to remove it all, replace the rock with a very large piece of driftwood, and then do a completely different scape, but of a similar idea. Once I figured out what I liked would be final, I superglued what I could reach to into place and let it dry for 2-3 hours. I drained the aquarium completely to fill in any of the newly created gaps with roving wool, and I added more sand to the places that needed it. Any plants that I had to move from the substrate were planted back, although some may be moved again later on. I superglued the epiphytic plants to the hardscape, let the superglue dry for a little over an hour (I sprayed the plants every 15 minutes or so while waiting), and then I refilled the aquarium about 75% of the way up. I unboxed the Fluval 107 Canister filter and followed the installation instructions. I filled the aquarium up to about 95%, when I realized that the wood was still going to float. I took the rock that ruined the first attempted scape and added that on top. I will be unable to work on anything until the driftwood is waterlogged. It’s difficult to see the full scape because of the glare. I will be adjusting the substrate and plants eventually as well, but, I am extremely tired and experiencing very bad flare-ups (I was working on this all until almost 5am).

Thanks! I’m going to try conditioning with the use of food once I am ready to water change out the Kanaplex. I’ve been refraining from feeding Grume (although I spot him catching seed shrimp in the aquarium on his own), just to avoid any potential bloating or constipation issues, digestive upset, etc. Lol! That would be neat, haha. Yeah, it is. That is a good idea! I forgot that there’s more natural looking artificial driftwood now, admittedly. I have driftwood arriving in a few days, so I will be using that after I move Grume over to a temporary tub setup, remove the existing driftwood, drain the aquarium down, and carefully apply 3% hydrogen peroxide to the rocks, equipment, and sides of the glass. I’m hoping to reduce the chance of a reoccurring issue until I can afford a UV sterilizer. The replacement light and filter were costly for my budget, but they were definitely worth it.

I think that is the best approach too, so hopefully all goes well. The new wood will be here in a few days, so I’ll be to hopefully tackle it soon.

Yeah, it’s really strange. I really would like to get a UV sterilizer at some point. I’ll have to look online and see if I can get a good quality UV sterilizer without breaking the bank. In the meantime, I’m considering draining the tank down when I get the new driftwood, wrap the plants and keep them wet enough (the aquarium is right behind where I am on the couch, and I am often unable to sleep much, so it’s easier for me to assure they’ll stay well saturated while being buried in the substrate still). I could set up a temporary tub setup for Grume, remove the driftwood, let the rocks dry out and target them with hydrogen peroxide potentially, if I do it carefully. If there were spores released in the tank, not just when I squeezed them after their removal in a bucket, they would still be present in the aquarium, on the plants, in the substrate, etc. But, maybe if the amount is reduced, the driftwood is changed, I could keep it from becoming widespread until a UV sterilizer was added. I’m unsure if the Kanaplex would kill any spores.

Seemed like it. I’ve never seen a fungus like that in an aquarium. I didn’t realize something like that could grow submerged that way.

Yeah, I agree. If anything, it seems like it would make him less comfortable and potentially go on the defense out of confusion. With that as well, if the betta wanted the territory, they could hypothetically just take it. I wouldn’t think that adding them in a certain order would change that. To me, it would make more sense to leave them as is, and introduce the new fish in a safe manner.

Yeah, that would be my guess as well. I’m going to try Amazon Wood, which I've heard good things about. If it were just the black sore-looking things, it would be an eyesore, but a tolerable one. Though this spongey fungus is really odd and gross. I lightly squeezed one of them with tongs, when I placed it into a bucket, while I was water changing and extracting them off of the driftwood, and it gushed out tiny white particles everywhere. I can’t imagine what it would be like if that were to get into the water, and maybe some already has before I did that water change, though that’s unknown to me. So, replacing the driftwood is definitely the safest approach.

For sure! I’m thinking that will be the best approach to getting them all as acclimated as they can be around each other because they’re actually introduced to the aquarium. I have heard other keepers do it the opposite way, where they reintroduce the betta to the aquarium after adding the new fish, once they make it through quarantine. The theory is that it makes the betta less protective over the full aquarium as their territory, though I haven’t figured out which I would prefer or if one way would be particularly preferable.

I have a large amount of replacement supplies coming in the mail. My HOB broke (this is the fourth one that has for this tank), and I’ve decided to replace it with a Fluval 107 canister filter, because the HOBs and I have never had a good history, and the never ending cycle of the always breaking, eventually unfixable HOBs are something I’m not always enjoying, even when it gives me an “Oh, it’s happened again” laugh. This one has had problems from the beginning (like the design making it so that half of the filter is always partially falling off), but, this one was used to replace the other filter that was another replacement, and so on. My Finnex light broke, which was sad, because I only used it for about a year, when I’ve kept it packaged and waiting to be used for maybe six years. I replaced it with a Fluval light and that caused a massive algae bloom in the end, because the spectrums are too different, even when I programmed it to be close to what I had. I returned that light and now have a new Finnex light; it’s great and the algae production has definitely lowered as a result. (Apologies for the glare. With how the sun is positioned during this time of the year, I have consistently worse glares) I will be replacing the lid on the aquarium with a stronger stainless steel mesh lid, because there will eventually be a worrying amount of holes from where the various HOBs were placed upon joining the HOB graveyard I wish to forget. The driftwood has a very X-files-esque spongy, black fungus, alongside the spore-like black dots it has had for over a year now. Upon the arrival of this spongy, black fungus, Grume has developed fin-rot, although the Kanaplex seems to be doing the trick and I’m sure I’ll have his fins looking better soon. Because of this, I’m replacing it. It’s a downer, as I really love the driftwood looking how it does in the scape. But, I don’t want to risk more fungal outbreaks in the future, especially if it’s affecting the water quality. When I’m ready to redo that part of the aquarium, I’ll be moving Grume temporarily to a tub setup, because I’ll have to drain the water really low, and because of my conditions, the process would be very prolonged. I’m also going to be setting up some quarantine tanks. I have decided to get a few more fish. I don’t expect them to be particularly helpful for anything other than making me feel gratified, but one species definitely will nibble on the looser algae that forms, and the other species will help keep my snail population lower. I’ve tested out Grume’s boundaries a bit with playing videos of many species, and logged to what to responds to, which was fish similar to his own color, like I figured (he has only flared at red objects in the past). It definitely isn’t exact to having fish directly in the aquarium with him, but I think it’s a decent way at potentially getting an idea for how he could react. I’m unsure if this will work like it has with various objects and with “introducing” him to my cat, but I plan on playing videos he hasn’t had problems with while he eats, so there’s a loose positive association there that maybe builds. I don’t know if that’s possible for a fish, but, he has responded well to it when I’ve done it with my phone, my cat, objects he’s shown uncertainty or an aversion towards. Realistically, this wouldn’t get rid of a defensive drive, and I definitely know this. I’m just trying to make fish on videos he responds well to a potentially more positive experience before he’s introduced to the same species in fishy-person. It might help lessen any potential stress. I’m also stocking up on more medications (Maracyn, IchX, and Prazipro), so I’m well prepared for quarantining and treating whatever illnesses that could arise in the future. Outside of that, I’m going to add in more foods to increase the variety. Yesterday, before the Kanaplex made the water very cloudy, I photographed Grume, who’s still being a happy-go-lucky wiggly guy, even with the fin-rot and the medication.

The fin-rot hasn’t worsened, so the Kanaplex seems to be working as hoped / expected. The water is cloudy, but that isn’t surprising. I ordered new driftwood. I have a theory that could be incorrect, but the theory is that this driftwood is rotting at a faster rate, and perhaps that’s why it’s developing the fungus that is worsening, and perhaps that’s maybe affecting the water quality beyond what I can test. I have an oddly whopping amount of snails, with not much decaying plant matter, only one fish that I tong-feed, nothing showing up on the tests I can preform in the water, a regularly maintained aquarium etc. If the driftwood is rotting more rapidly, maybe that’s why I’ve had an extreme amount I can’t get a handle on. They breed to the point where many keep starving and nibble on definitely healthy leaves, over and over again. Maybe the driftwood is leaching this organic matter and rotting away quickly, and that triggers significant reproduction that increases over time, but the snails aren’t able to consume much. Just a thought, I could be wrong of course. But, it could explain why there are a few things that all are happening together, without other connected or separate explanations I can find. (the fungus and black dots on the driftwood, the snail population, and how Grume could develop fin-rot).

I have spot treated easy carbon, and later excel, in the past to no avail (I had this with my previous scape too, and boiling them didn’t work either), though now it’s all been worsening, and then the weird spongy black fungus started this week. My betta doesn't flare unless I have a red object near him, funny enough. I wondered if he maybe got caught between a rock or driftwood, because he’s done it before, but that didn’t seem to be the case either. Indian almond leaves would be a good idea. I don’t have any, though I do have leaves I’ve collected in the past stashed away. They aren’t as beneficial as Indian almond leaves, but a small added benefit is still a benefit nonetheless. So far, I haven’t seen worsening in the fin-rot. There’s one small semi-white string I do see on one of his fins, but the other strings seemed to be shaken off fully when he comes over to beg for food.

I’ve just noticed that the black dots have spread to parts of the rocks. I’ve never had that issue before in my last scape with this driftwood (even when they did have the black dots). I think maybe it would be better to replace the wood at this point. Though, now I’m worried I’ll never be able to get rid of them, since they’re on the rocks now too.

No worries. It’s definitely possible it could be unrelated. I’ve had them for over a year now, and they haven’t done anything, but there’s been that weird spongey black fungus growing suddenly, and they’re also attached to the driftwood, like the black dots are. So, I’m not sure if they happen to be related or not. I do know though that there’s a lot more black dots than there were lately, and some of them are getting somewhat elongated now. Really strange.

A few days ago, Grume developed a few small pinholes, maybe 1-2 of them, which I figured could be from his consistent clumsiness. However, two days later (yesterday), they were worsening. Today, I noticed thin white strings on his fins, though they’ve since fallen off from his wiggles. There are no behavioral changes, signs of stress, or anything similar, thankfully. I preformed a 40% water change, and noticed that the black spore-like dots on my driftwood now has a black jellyfish-looking fungus on it, growing on the underside. I plucked off the emerged fungus I could spot off of the driftwood. After, I added a dose of Kanaplex, which I’ll continue with, as per the instructions. Grume has handled Kanaplex well in the past, when I first quarantined with it as part of his Quarantine medications, so I opted to use this, instead of trying to wait for a medication to arrive by mail (although I ordered Maracyn just in case), since I’m 90% bedridden and am unable to leave the house and drive. My worry, which is why I’m creating this post, is about the black spores. They’re solid, they withstood multiple boilings, and since they’re now suddenly erupting with the fungus, I’m unsure if the Kanaplex would actually be able to go through the spores’ shelling. I have a photo of a younger looking fungus I missed, although it’s dark and difficult to see it. I’ve been plucking these off, and they’re squishy, float, and anchor to the wood extremely strongly. Given the state of the driftwood, would it be better to scrap it, once I finish the Kanaplex doses? Or, is there a different approach. I suspect this could have resulted from a light change, as my Finnex light broke and the Fluval light I ordered was much darker, which triggered a large algae bloom as well. Perhaps the fungal spores responded to the light change, ending their dormancy. I’ve since added a new Finnex light yesterday.

It was at this point, that I decided to completely redo the aquarium. I felt that with all of the unintentional neglect it had, that it would be better to give it a complete refresh. I also felt like I could have done better with the scape, but that was my least priority this entire time, as I just wanted a manageable aquarium, not wanting to get over my head. So, away it went. I placed Grume into a temporary heated and filtered 5 gallon, not knowing how long this would take me, and got to work. It took me a grueling 7 hours before I had cleared everything out of the aquarium and cleaned it out to start with a nice, clean slate. I layered mesh bags containing pea gravel onto the bottom to start with, so I could make the scape higher and take advantage of the added height this aquarium has. The back layer is over 6 inches tall. I collected rocks from the side of my neighbor’s garage (they never see me, since I am couchridden 95% of the time, so I’m sure seeing me at the side of their garage scooping up rocks made me seem even stranger to them). My grandpa knows them well, so I knew they wouldn’t mind. I cleaned the rocks thoroughly, and then I placed them into the aquarium, starting with the largest rock first to act as my base layer, combining that later with more rocks and then smaller rocks as accents. I would temporary add the driftwood in to get an idea of how I would want each piece, and then I would remove it. Once I had most of the rocks in to place, I added the driftwood for the permanent placement, and tried to lock them well into place with each other and the rocks. Some rocks needed to be added to help make the scape sturdier, and thankfully I did grab a good amount of smaller rocks, which I didn’t originally know how much I would need of. I used leftover roving wool to act as filler for spots the substrate would pour out of. I do know that it can degrade, but it takes years to do so, which isn’t an issue for me. I would check the back reflection to see if there were spots I had missed, and I would continue to press more and more roving wool into those spots until it seemed secure enough. I was very worried to pour in the substrate, especially since the back substrate would be over 9 inches high, and I didn’t want any of it to pour into the front, where the sand would be. Pouring in the substrate little by little, the roving wool thankfully worked as I had hoped it would. I added more rocks periodically before pouring in substrate to act as anchoring points, in order to hold the slopes, without any substrate slipping. This allowed me to plant the slopes without issue. I added the substrate I needed to the front and sides as well. But, I kept it concentrated to the scape, so it wouldn’t show under the sand near the edges of the aquarium. I added the sand and saturated the substrate enough with water, so I could plant the aquarium more easily. After planting, I filled the aquarium up and checked everything to assure it was safe to add in Grume. I gave the aquarium a few days to settle in before photographing it. Grume seems to really enjoy his aquarium, and he loved going in and out of the cave he has, along with hiding in the driftwood and popping out of nowhere to wiggle at me. In fact, I caught him watching me and trying to be hidden, trying to see if I was going to feed him or not. He built a small bubble nest a few days later. Currently, the aquarium is undergoing a Hydra infestation. I have the lights out and have fendbendazole dosed. Just before doing so, I took a photo of Grume. He’s such a cutie.

October 11th, I preformed the last water change before I would be getting multiple surgeries, including a Partial Hysterectomy also with the removal of my Eustachian tube, on October 16th. Aside from the temporary fogging, the aquarium was looking good. The plants were growing in well, although they looked a little disheveled from the movement and cutting previously done. October 27th, I photographed the aquarium while I couldn’t preform water changes or maintenance on it, because I was in a long surgical recovery. Algae was building up extremely heavily, and I did what I could with the lighting to attempt to combat it, but it definitely was not enough. November 3rd was my first water change after my surgeries, but it was minimal and was very difficult to preform. I was very tired and did not photograph the outcome. November 12th, I continued to let my body rest, but I did photograph the aquarium looking overgrown. Cosmo enjoyed watching Grume with me. He continued to do well, and was growing so quickly from when we had gotten him at just 6 weeks of age.

September 11th, I spotted Grume resting before he noticed me staring at him and started begging for food once more. I enjoy when I can take photos of him, without him wiggling and the photos ended up extremely distorted, which is 99% of his photos that I attempt to take. Bored of begging to me for food, he decided to forage for some pellets that may have ended up on the substrate. I love the one with his mouth open. He looks so cute, and he’s adorable focused on trying to eat anything he finds. I caught him resting adorably, before he noticed me and rushed over. His quick response was, of course, to wiggle at me, and the “photo-shoot” ended there. I performed a water change a few days after, and the tank was substantially foggy afterwards. The plants were growing in very well. On September 26th, I accompanied an 8 hour drive to pick up a kitten, who was originally found in Oklahoma. We named him ‘Cosmo’. During the end of our ride, our car was totaled and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere for multiple hours, until the tow truck was no longer lost and could take the car home, along with my mom’s boyfriend who had thankfully picked us up (they did not tell us they could only pick up one person in the tow truck, until they got there, even when knowing there was my mom, a kitten, and I). We don’t regret anything though, as I adore him. It was a lot of work getting rid of his fleas, but, afterwards, he’s been nothing but amazing (with a copious amount of kitten feistiness). We cuddle together every day, and he loves to watch the aquarium and interact with Grume, who seems to be amused by Cosmo. He will watch us play together as well. From time to time, I will watch Grume wiggle and Cosmo, and it makes me laugh.