Chick-in-of-TheSea journal

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/3/2024 at 2:20 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Expected to become a hurricane now.

The air pumps I ordered look exactly like the ACO ones except for color. The reason they run so long is because they only pull .5 volt.

Be safe out there. Do what you have to do!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I guess we are in the calm before the storm. Yep, that’s a real thing! Before every hurricane it’s a waiting game. Very unnerving. But hey! I made it to Monster Jam. No videos of trucks allowed, but I was allowed to take vid of the motocross that they had during the intermission - a delightful surprise! I love watching motocross!

Kraken 

 

The mouth of ThunderRoarus Rex would open and close as he drove around.

 

Megalodon had 1 of the 2 female drivers that were present tonight. Monster Jam has 13 female drivers that compete worldwide. Also you can’t tell in this photo, but Megalodon’s eyes lit up blue.

 

This maneuver is called a “stoppie”

 

Sometimes they drive backwards whilst in the stoppie and it is called moonwalking.

Megalodon in the donut contest.

Monster Mutt. The ears would fly up when the truck caught some air. 🤣

Excaliber

 

Toro Loco had smoke that would shoot out the nostrils while it was doing stunts

The drivers completed a series of skills challenges and we voted on our smartphones. The overall winner was Jamie Sullivan, a female driver who drove Monster Mutt. She was the only driver to do a backflip. Now her truck needs some repairs.. but, totally worth it!

^ Jamie Sullivan, winner 

Edited August 4 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:13 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

She was the only driver to do a backflip. Now her truck needs some repairs.. but, totally worth it!

Craaaaziness. That looks like a ton of fun. Thanks for taking us along!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The category 1 hurricane is north of me now but we are still getting a ton of rain. Hopefully no power outages today.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Ok guys, finally! I do believe the plant melt phase is coming to, or has come to, an end.

Here’s when I scaped the tank.

And here’s where we are now:

This is the last of the melt that I can see. Most I siphoned out, and the guppies ate the rest.

Heres some shots of nice, fresh and crisp green growth. 

And this plant is fairly new to the tank. Aquarium Co Op microsword; a real favorite of mine. I’ve had some in my shrimp tank for ages and it requires pretty much no care. I did give this guy a root tab though, tucked into his rock wool.

I have seen some videos of tanks where the val is really rockin, and that’s my vision for this tank. We can call this The Grasslands tank, I suppose.

And then some guppy pics (even though they already snuck into some of my plant pics).

Not to play favorites or anything but.. this guy is my favorite. He is the only one with a purple body and spots. He loves cleaning the equipment. They are all really good at keeping everything tidy.

 

Here is endler and ember as well. They are both doing pretty good. That little ember really utilizes the whole tank and is right there with the lot of them when it’s mealtime. Everyone got live grindal worms today. I turned off the filter this time, hehe.

The side walls have algae for the first time, following the first dose of easy green. It was pointless to dose it during the plant melt, as the plants weren’t ready to take it up, but they did have root tabs during that time and now those are paying off.

Update: I lied. This guppy has a pattern on his body too, but he’s so hyper, he’s very hard to photograph. Here are some stills from a video.

 

Edited August 6 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

I hope that grass explodes on you and carpets!  I am jealous as can be if it does. 😁

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

See this is why I love ACO plants. You saw how the LFS plants melted. I’ve had the ACO plant say, 12 days? Check this out! It’s already made a runner!

 

 

I tack runners down with plant weights, burying the weight in the substrate just enough that it is not visible. This way I can coach the plant in the direction I’d like it to go. Right now it is drinking some Easy Green water. 🙂

ACO takes care of some of the plant acclimation for you by “aging” plants in their tanks, so consumers experience less melt vs buying from shops that sell plants that have not become accustomed to growing fully submerged yet.

Edited August 9 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Flicked on the room light real quick to see if Flint found his zucchini. There he was, parked with his chops suctioned to it. There is something so satisfying about offering vegetables and watching my critters really enjoy them. It makes me so happy. (The shrimps received a zucchini too.) ☺️

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I bought 2 lily bulbs for Geppetto to see if we can get some lily pads going for him to decorate. I tried to grow a lily before, but the bulb decayed. Let’s try again and see how these do!

 

Edited August 14 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/11/2024 at 9:10 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

(The shrimps received a zucchini too.) ☺️

The shrimps finished it in 2 days, rind and all. Not a scrap left. I went to remove it after day 1 but shrimps were on it, so I just let it be.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I have an unusual ammonia reading. Can anyone decipher?

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/13/2024 at 9:41 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

bought 2 lily bulbs for Geppetto

One of the bulbs has the thick white biofilm coating it. The other does not. Is biofilm-bulb a dud?

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/21/2024 at 7:28 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Is biofilm-bulb a dud?

That's what mine looked like when it was rotting. Is it mushy?

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Yesterday I adopted some new little guys; ember tetras. They need to color up a bit but seem more comfortable today and ate all of their frozen cyclops.

Also look how beautiful these serpae tetra are at the LFS!  They were labeled serpae tetra breeders.

While I was at mom & pop LFS, I noticed they had some Aquarium Coop product for sale! So I was able to stock up on Easy Root Tabs.

I also bought some guava leaves and capappa leaves for the shrimps and betta.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Checking in with the plant progress in the 20g. First, here’s the whole tank shot. I added a fake tall grass, and 2 fake short grasses. Also I put some live anubias in there. I just needed to see more green! I got impatient.

Aug 5

 

Aug 23 - this one looks worse? Ah well. It’s not melty, at least.

Aug 5

 

Aug 23 (ft. Hank, my fish with a minor disability. He has no gill plate on one side. He’s doing just as well as everyone else though)

Aug 5

 

Aug 23.

 

I couldn’t tell which was the “before” pic for this one, but anyway, I think this plant is looking nice. The yellower one on the left, in front of the rock, is fake. I cheated, heh.

Then we have some fishy pics.

The ember has friends in quarantine that will join him soon.

And then apparently the fish love the fake plant. Here they are swimming through it. They do this throughout the day.

It’s whatever, lol. As long as they’re happy.

P.S. You ever notice how the nicer looking fake plants are always in a multipack with a bunch of others ones you don’t want?

On 8/21/2024 at 10:32 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

That's what mine looked like when it was rotting. Is it mushy?

Feels pretty solid! There is a softer spot though, but it’s not that bad. Like when you press a peach.

 

Edited August 24 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/23/2024 at 5:10 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Feels pretty solid! There is a softer spot though, but it’s not that bad. Like when you press a peach.

Good. Yeah, my finger went through mine when I checked it.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Repashy Soccer! ⚽️ 🥅 

and a pic of the embers. Gaining more color and coming out from hiding more.

Edited August 26 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I’m mad because I keep seeing “The Fish Guys” van at my work. They maintain aquariums in businesses. I am like, where in this building is there a fish tank? And I learned it’s on the 5th floor in an area I don’t have access to. 😭

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 8/24/2024 at 10:46 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Good. Yeah, my finger went through mine when I checked it.

I checked both bulbs again. Took them out and pressed on them. Weren’t  too mushy but weren’t exactly firm either. Then I smelled them. They stank! So out they went with the water I was changing out. Both duds. What a bummer. 

I am not sure if I mentioned it, but one of the embers (top right) is missing a piece of its tail. I added low dose (1 T/5 gal) salt and it has been growing back nicely. Everyone else looks good except 1 dude (on left) isn’t coloring up like everyone. HOWEVER, that fish is the most energetic and the smartest. It always understands the Repashy and is first to eat it. It teaches the other fish that it is food.

 

Edited September 3 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

Awwww, I'm sorry about your bulbs. 😔

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I broke a personal rule and moved ONE of the quarantine kids to the 20g early because my ember in the 20g is the only one of its species in the tank that did not have a friend(s). So far this fish was qt 2 weeks. I am going another 2 with the rest of the group, and I don’t see any issues other than the lack of color on the smartest and most energetic fish. I’m kinda chalking that up to genetics at this point. Anyway, this makes my heart happy:

 

Edited September 8 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Update on the val. Some didn’t make it, and some have formed nice bundles of leaves. However, the slow growth is causing the hair algae to take advantage of the light and nutrients. Therefore, I have to be careful about how much light the tank gets. I will order more val but not the LFS inferior Val. It needs to come from co op since those plants are partially adapted to submerged conditions.

 

 

Microsword is spreading

 

Embers are still doing well.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Plants plants plants! 🌱

Today a nice unboxing! I splurged a bit. When I say splurged, it just means I bought plants. 🙂 Ya know, the fun stuff. Not just like, filter media etc

Look at this nice haul! & only 2 day transit due to the new warehouse!

This val has a runner!

Crypt parva for the foreground. First time trying these out. Nicer and fuller than the one pictured in the shop!

Tiger lotus bulb, for Geppetto. They may have sent me the one called red dwarf aquarium lily? Not sure but I’m good with either.

There were actually 2 in there!

Nice root systems. I weighted the val so it will stay down for reverse respiration. Also some of the pots had multiple val plants and I wanted them to stay together.

 

 

Got a Java moss for the shrimps as well. They haven’t had moss in awhile. They have a fuzz algae in there that is similar to moss though; it grows on the driftwood. My friend actually complimented me on it and asked what kind of moss that was. I said it’s algae! And she gave me this big eye roll. 🤣 Anyway, I think the shrimps will be excited, and the babies can chill in the moss.

Edited Saturday at 01:33 AM by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Moss inspectors!