Minanoras adventures in fishkeeping

[Minanora]

However a Cory laid an egg on the container I had them in... Silver lining I guess.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/8/2022 at 11:49 AM, Minanora said:

I now have that, "all my shrimp died" story. My stomach is roiling.... The new shrimp came in yesterday. All but one died.

I'm heartbroken. FedEx...... 😔

I’m so sorry.

[Minanora]

On 12/8/2022 at 1:21 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I’m so sorry.

Thank you friend. It's hours later and I still feel sick. I'm that crazy person that cries over dead fish and shrimp.

Eventually I'll share my tale. I just can't bring myself to type it up yet. I'm sad, angry, sick, shocked, and disappointed. I shouldn't have let them ship this close to the holiday. They shouldn't have gotten stuck in transport. I just go through it all over and over in my mind. I'll relax at some point.

[nabokovfan87]

Very sorry @Minanora I know how much you were looking forward to them arriving to you.

You're not "crazy" for being upset. I think we all can relate to the emotions you're going through.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 12/8/2022 at 4:33 PM, Minanora said:

Thank you friend. It's hours later and I still feel sick. I'm that crazy person that cries over dead fish and shrimp.

Eventually I'll share my tale. I just can't bring myself to type it up yet. I'm sad, angry, sick, shocked, and disappointed. I shouldn't have let them ship this close to the holiday. They shouldn't have gotten stuck in transport. I just go through it all over and over in my mind. I'll relax at some point.

Please don’t beat yourself up. You can’t control the postal system and couriers. I’m sure your seller took the necessary steps to ensure safe packaging, but what happens in transit is not always predictable. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/8/2022 at 5:49 PM, Minanora said:

I now have that, "all my shrimp died" story. My stomach is roiling.... The new shrimp came in yesterday. All but one died.

I'm heartbroken. FedEx...... 😔

So sorry that’s happened to you 😢

[Minanora]

The eggs... Yes, egg(s)... On the specimen container... I think they're Oto eggs. I thought the one I saw was laid by a Cory but the specimen container is close to the glass... I've only seen otos go behind it. It's full of water so the cories... I just don't think they fit back there. Plus the eggs are a bit larger than other Cory eggs I've seen. And they are yellow/orange ish... Very creamy in color. Also different than the Cory eggs I've seen. 🤔

The cories and otos are spawning in the plaza, so I'm kinda hoping they're Oto eggs. I see the cories planting eggs in all the bushes while the otos have been on the front glass chasing the female around. They're adorable.

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/8/2022 at 10:58 PM, Minanora said:

The cories and otos are spawning in the plaza, so I'm kinda hoping they're Oto eggs. I see the cories planting eggs in all the bushes while the otos have been on the front glass chasing the female around. They're adorable.

I get the feeling my otos might spawn soon. Sounds like a perfect tank.

[Minanora]

I'm still not ready to relive the experience I had with the shrimp I bought. The retailer did good and I will be ordering more shrimp from them after the holiday.

 

So today I just focused on my future fishroom/art studio space. I should have taken before photos, but I took photos today. It's got a lot more work ahead but I spent 6 hours working on it today. Getting organized and getting stuff ready for goodwill. It's going to pour rain tomorrow so I'm not going to make much headway. Yes this isn't the fish-she shed, but lumber prices.... This is phase 1 of my space.

Behold! The future fishroom.

It's 22x8'ish I can't remember the dimensions exactly. I'll measure it when it's empty.

Phases of project:

1) get it empty

2) electrical

3) water and waste water lines

4) insulation, maybe drywall, maybe. I am running conduit for the electrical in the walls regardless since it's an external structure. Overkill but yeah then I can leave the walls open if I want.

5) lighting and finishing

6) furniture, racks, tanks, decor 

7) fill tanks!!! Test the space.

😎 enjoy the space!

[Minanora]

Auto emoji is acceptable but it was supposed to be "8 )" 😂

[TheSwissAquarist]

I can easily see some pothos hanging down from the rafters there! Can’t wait to see how it turns out!

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/9/2022 at 8:29 PM, Minanora said:

It's going to pour rain tomorrow so I'm not going to make much headway.

Sounds like it's egg time! Give whatever corydoras you want to spawn some frozen food (or just a good meal) tonight and maybe that will trigger things when the rain starts. *Runs to go feed his little fishes*

On 12/9/2022 at 8:29 PM, Minanora said:

Behold! The future fishroom.

It's magnificent, racks on one side as far as the eye can see!!! That's an awesome little fish room. I can't wait for you to have it done. It's going to be pretty special.

Edited December 10, 2022 by nabokovfan87

[Minanora]

On 12/9/2022 at 10:37 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

pothos

There's going to be a lot of plants in there. The plan is for this to be my little sanctuary. Plants, art/craft stuffs, fishroom. It'll be where I disappear to... after I do all the laundry and dishes. 😛 A place where I can leave my paints out and not worry about taking up space in our dining room. Same with my sewing stuff, or whatever project I'm working on., and fish stuff. haha. I can't just leave things around with our big family coming over so often and such. We often have 6-12 people in the house at any given time on the weekends. Sister, Brothers, cousins, nephews, nieces, parents, friends, etc. It's chaos. I have a hard time getting peace because I have to put everything away before company so we have space to hang out. Winter and spring are hard because we can't just be outside. 

 

On 12/9/2022 at 10:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Runs to go feed his little fishes

My kids have been spawning non-stop. However they all lay eggs EVERYWHERE.... scattered all over the place.... never like your happy lady, where there's a bunch all together. The most I ever see together are three eggs. Lol.

I'm focused on shrimp eggs right now. Two of the females I got that passed away were carrying eggs. Both broods have eyes so I'm just praying I can hatch them out like I have in the past. A small big box net fits perfectly in the lip of a taco bell cup. It literally clicks into place, just have to bend the handle upward and viola, egg tumbler. Especially with the co-op battery backup air pump, I have it set to energy saver while plugged in and it's just right with a ziss air stone.

[nabokovfan87]

On 12/9/2022 at 11:05 PM, Minanora said:

My kids have been spawning non-stop. However they all lay eggs EVERYWHERE.... scattered all over the place.... never like your happy lady, where there's a bunch all together. The most I ever see together are three eggs. Lol.

They'll get there. 😂 All that new space! Gotta see what parts work out.

Now you get to imagine little corydoras in science coats and glasses looking all smart. 😂

On 12/9/2022 at 11:05 PM, Minanora said:

I'm focused on shrimp eggs right now. Two of the females I got that passed away were carrying eggs. Both broods have eyes so I'm just praying I can hatch them out like I have in the past. A small big box net fits perfectly in the lip of a taco bell cup. It literally clicks into place, just have to bend the handle upward and viola, egg tumbler. Especially with the co-op battery backup air pump, I have it set to energy saver while plugged in and it's just right with a ziss air stone.

Best of luck with it. Hopefully you see results soon, good thinking.

[Minanora]

I worked on my usual chores all morning then installed the co2 system on the plaza and did a small water change.

There's a new tiny guppy in there... 😂 It never ends. At least it's only 1.

Tiny guppy. Can you find him?

[Minanora]

Oh and I also added water to the 75, trimmed the plants in the plaza and changed water on the temporary orange shrimp holding tank. It's what's left of my son's old tank. There were so many shrimp when I broke it down that I didn't even want to try to catch all the tiny babies.

Had an adventure with that tank yesterday. It's been a mulmy mess, I cut my feeding way down so I was only feeding the shrimp, and not the snails. Was fine for a few weeks, didn't need to change water, whatever, cool. Then yesterday I saw snails on the glass at the surface. Which was unusual. So I tested the water. Mass snail die off!!! Eeee.... 4+ppm nitrite, 2-4+ppm ammonia.... Only 10ppm nitrate. So yeah the little flesh bombs exploded in the last few days. Shrimp, totally fine.... Tiny babies everywhere, berried females, zoomy males. I changed their water and braced myself for the worst. I haven't seen a single dead shrimp. *Knocks on wood*

Changed water again today and vacuumed the bottom of the tank. Just holding my breath since I am selling a bunch of these on Thursday. I want to have at least 100 quality shrimp to take in since that's what they asked for. Hopefully they keep their "bulletproof" title. That was the worst conditions they've ever been in. Period. So far they are totally content... Just grazing and breeding up a storm. So drastically different from the horror story of the shrimp I lost on Thursday. Nerve-wracking none the less.

Adding to note that I've been observing the shrimp with a magnifying glass a lot since the snails went nuclear. All of their activities are as expected, and there's no sign of physical trauma that I can see. Lots of berried females with the number steadily increasing as usual. Shrimpletts, hard to tell if their growth is affected yet.

I'm watching for bacterial infection like a hawk.

 

Edited December 11, 2022 by Minanora
adding information

[nabokovfan87]

Hoping for the best. That's craziness. Very resilient shrimp!

[Minanora]

On 12/10/2022 at 10:59 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Hoping for the best. That's craziness. Very resilient shrimp!

Yeah I should have known better. I was testing the water every week, but didn't consider the changes that I made. Learn something new every day I guess. Next weekend I should finally be back down to 4 aquariums. At least, until the fishroom is done. 😊

[Minanora]

Speaking of the fishroom! I'm going to work on it today before it starts raining again. More cleaning.

I've decided that I'm going to epoxy the floor. We did it in my office at work. I love how it turned out and it'll be perfect for that space. That way I can just have an area rug where my desk will be on the back wall. A space where my son and I can be on the floor without it being uncomfortable but the rest of the room is okay with water spills and such.

I also decided that I am going to finish the framed walls with moisture rated sheetrock. The ceiling I will finish with wood. Shiplap or something similar. It'll tidy up the space and give it a very clean look. Plus help insulate even further. I haven't decided if I'm going to case the brick pony wall with wood, paint it, or leave it alone. I'll share photos for input once you can actually see what I'm talking about.

I think I'm going to hold onto the black metal rack on the side wall and use it for my rack of tanks. Instead of having to build something else. The other one on the back wall will be moving to the garage, which is on the other side of the wall with the windows framed in brick. Yup, there are windows on the inside wall. Originally this lean-to was built with slats of cedar, spaced one inch apart. I don't know what it was used for.... But it was not protected from the elements in any way. When we bought the house it was completely degraded, only one small part remained standing. We rebuilt it during the covid lockdown. Only took two weekends to get it built. We used cement siding on the outside and installed the vapor barrier just in case we wanted to actually finish the space. Here I am, finishing the space. 🤣

 

 

 

[TheSwissAquarist]

Can’t wait to see it!

[Minanora]

On 12/11/2022 at 9:21 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Can’t wait to see it!

Me either. I really don't want to wait. 😂 I may put engineered flooring in... Just because I don't want to wait for the temperatures to be warm enough to do the floor. I need to look at the product we used. It costs about the same, maybe a bit more.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

You should take before & after pictures.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 12/12/2022 at 10:47 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You should take before & after pictures.

Those would be very cool to see!

[Minanora]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:47 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

You should take before & after pictures.

I have the ones up earlier on this page. I'll be taking photos as the project progress. I will do side by side photos for sure.

[Minanora]

Busy day. Worked on the shed. Slow progress but it's getting closer to empty.

Took some shrimp in to my local shop. Walked out without fish! I'm trying to stay focused on the eggs and the shed. The shed is my #1 focus.

This weekend will be limited for activity on it, same for next weekend for obvious reasons.