Jump to content
Watch our video on the rules of this forum.

Dancing Matt

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    373

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Feedback

    0%

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Dancing Matt

    Summer AND winter tubbing?!? In Colorado

    in Photos, Videos & Journals

    Posted

    So here is a brief account of what I did, when, and where. In the conservatory with the wrench...

    I live in Colorado Springs and one of my first fish acquisitions, before I fell down the "nerm hole", was 6 common/comet goldfish. I quickly realized they would need more space and I had been planning on making a small pond so this project commenced as Pond #2 (it was the second "pond" test).

    image.jpeg.a919a8d50a99692476880569474eb90d.jpeg

    I purchased a 70 gal HDX storage tote and buried it half (or more) into the ground. I wrapped the unburied portion in emergency thermal blanket then filled in dirt around that. In the springs we get a lot of sun and melt off, the ground also doesn't freeze for too long or deep (relative to other areas). The thought was to use the ground to help trap thermal energy and the foil around the upper portion to potentially reflect any escaping heat (at that level) back into the water. I placed a smaller tote inside of it and used a power head to pump water into the bottom, through a bulkhead, and out the top through holes.image.jpeg.38b0f25e9a5588e32d798bb529d0725e.jpeg

    I first constructed it in the fall and the gold fish spent their winter inside. The first winter top was a piece of double sided greenhouse placed upon it. At our coldest, around January or February, I found it was considerably frozen through on top but I was fairly certain it had not frozen completely.

    image.png.275af619e6e12092b4d2ce2793699ea4.png

    The goldfish were transported into the "pond" in the spring and when fall hit I constructed my second top using PVC and clear shower curtains. The A-frame structure was "double walled" in the hops that an air buffer would help better insulate. The top became covered in snow (hence the A-frame design) but I didn't get any ice until late January or early February. The Ice was quite thin and when I put in a pond de-icer (the smallest one I could find which was still relatively large) it actually warmed the water slightly and de-iced the entire surface. (better photo to follow)

    image.jpeg.c23cd7e81b8b48acf96f5b78757d98b9.jpeg

    In the end I only had the de-icer in for a few weeks and the goldfish seem quite content. I am planning on building a larger pond this summer, using pond material, and will likely be recreating a similar (albeit nicer) top for the next winter. Hopefully this helps those in similar climates or helps to spark your imaginations.

    image.png.fe769ab47ce2ecf747754cf65c48bb19.png

    PS. The piece of wood in the corner is incase any critters fall in and need a place to crawl out.

    IMG_20211124_161627176.jpg

    • Like 2
    • Love 1

    My rekindled love of Repashy Community Plus

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Dancing Matt

    This is one of my favorite times to watch my fish so I'm just going to keep dropping these...

    Here are some pictures from today and yesterday, feeding Community Plus with flake mixed in because... reasons? The white clouds always get the zoomies when food is involved. My Amano is also quite greedy...

    image.jpeg.ff3be29758d646978014e35801f6fbf1.jpegimage.jpeg.35650bca108d63d69840e8612808c0b2.jpegimage.jpeg.57192cf451c77478f70429deee954818.jpegimage.jpeg.787356e2ab07a469a8e1fd30fd12e855.jpeg

    • Like 4

    Summer Tubbing & Outdoor Ponds - Species to Consider?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    You could consider trying over-wintering. In Colorado springs this winter I had a 75 gal tote  buried in the ground with an improvised green house cover using shower curtains and PVC (I need to make a post...). It has common goldfish in it, It didn't freeze over until late January or Feb and even then I put a "small" pond deicer in it and that ended up keeping the whole pond thawed.

    Golden White clouds look good from above, I just moved some the other day and had to stop and appreciate them. Looking at the picture I wonder if you could separate them (put 'em in the top portion?) and let them breed to increase your population. I started with 10 from a big box store and now have 6x that number or more, mostly from one tub.

    Check this post out

     

    • Like 3

    Betta fin appears as shedding and missing parts. F

    in Diseases

    Posted

    What are your water parameters? (Temperature, pH, ammonia levels, nitrite levels, nitrate levels, chlorine levels)

    A couple things to look into: 

    -Water parameters: If the water parameters are off (too cold, temperature fluctuations, extreme pH, chlorine in water) that can cause the fish to get an infection. The conditions would need to be changed and the infection be treated (with aquarium salt or medications).

    -Other Fish: Are there other fish that are attacking and tearing the fins or stressing out the betta so it gets an infection (aggression)? Aggression can cause illness that would need to be treated. Another question is have new fish been added that bought in a sickness?

    Water movement, air stone and CO2

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    You will probably get a lot of conflicting info, I believe the key is finding balance, I say play around and find what works for you. I ran CO2 and an air stone and thought it worked fine but I did not do a study comparing the dissolved CO2 in my tank with and without an air stone. Here is an article that talks about why they recommend an air stone in tanks. 

    https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/air-stones-the-secret-weapon-every-aquarium-needs?_pos=3&_sid=f75299a56&_ss=r 

    • Thanks 1

    Can anyone tell me what these little creatures are?

    in General Discussion

    Posted · Edited by Dancing Matt
    I forgot to read...

    Can you get some closer pictures? Definitely could be something larval...

    here are some terrifying yet fascinating possibilities, it seems to have mandibles and some type of legs/swimmers(or external gills maybe?!) like these different "fly" larva. Could be Alderfly larva based off their descriptions...

    https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/hellgrammite

    PS. I cracked up at your "I am a fool" statement, I say that all the time.

    EDIT. I just read the article and they do seem to be gills (on the hellgrammite) It like a bad "read all instructions first" moment. 😑

    Cold water set up

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Check out the member "Fish Folk" on the forum, they do some cool-cool water native fish.

    also check out this blog post for ideas: https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/coldwater-fish

    At the end of this blog there is a mention about paradise fish (it took me a while to find it but I remembered I saw a post about paradise fish somewhere), Just remember that a good rule for many fish is, "if it fits (in my mouth) than I eats". https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/top-5-gouramis

    100 gallon outdoor pond fancy goldfish

    in Experiments

    Posted

    I have common goldfish and they demolish the duck weed, I have to grow it in a separate aria were they can't reach it in order to grow it for their consumption. I made a homemade filter with a small HDX tote. One thing to think about is if leaf matter will end up in the pond because that can be difficult to clean out without a skimmer.

    • Like 1
×
×
  • Create New...