1930s historically accurate planted aquarium

[Daniel]

2 minutes ago, JamesB said:

Now I know how I sound when I talk about fish to a non-nerm. So many words I never heard before, lol.

Believe me when I say I only know those words for a few minutes just after I look it up.

[Lemon]

36 minutes ago, Daniel said:

@quirkylemon103 Bee and wasp venoms are different as bees and wasps are only distantly related. Both bee and wasp venom contain distinct major allergens. Phospholipase A2 and mellitin occur only in bee venom, and antigen 5 only in wasp venom, but both venoms contain hyaluronidases. People that are allergic to wasp venom are rarely allergic to bee venom.

ok cool. do you think me and my mom should still get an allergy test for bees?

[Daniel]

Just now, quirkylemon103 said:

ok cool. do you think me and my mom should still get an allergy test for bees?

Honey bee stings can fatal for people who are allergic so if you are concerned, I would get an allergy test.

But far fewer people are allergic than think they are. If I get stung on the nose by a honey bee, my nose will swell, but that doesn't mean I am allergic. Being allergic is getting stung on one place on your body and swelling somewhere else, or having shortness of breathe, or worse.

If you are worried, get tested.

 

 

[Jungle Fan]

@quirkylemon103 as @Daniel  said ask your doctor for an allergy skin test for bee venom allergy if you are concerned.

Irritation, and local pain after a bee sting are a normal reaction; reactions that may include hives, itching, difficulty breathing, low blood pressure and in a few cases, anaphylactic shock are not, and defined as allergic reactions, and can be fatal.

So if you have experienced any of these symptoms before when stung by a bee, or in relation to other insect bites definitely make sure to ask your doctor for the test since allergies can worsen with re-occurring events.

"According to the 'Journal of Asthma and Allergy', approximately 5 to 7.5 percent of people will experience a severe allergic reaction to insect stings in their lifetimes. In beekeepers, this risk rises to 32 percent." from Medical News Today.

So much for the medical statistics trivia for the day.

[Fishdude]

3 hours ago, JamesB said:

Now I know how I sound when I talk about fish to a non-nerm. So many words I never heard before, lol.

Oh thank God it wasn't just me

[Eddie Dingle]

I was reading about Elizabeth Nourse last night when I was having trouble sleeping, some of her paintings reminded me of this thread. 

Circa 1910 and 1911

[Daniel]

Goldfish were the bomb early on.

[Maggie]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:39 PM, Daniel said:

@quirkylemon103 Bee and wasp venoms are different as bees and wasps are only distantly related. Both bee and wasp venom contain distinct major allergens. Phospholipase A2 and mellitin occur only in bee venom, and antigen 5 only in wasp venom, but both venoms contain hyaluronidases. People that are allergic to wasp venom are rarely allergic to bee venom.

Many years ago, I got stung by something and had an allergic reaction requiring epinephrine at the emergency room. I'd been stung numerous times before with nothing but normal pain, local swelling, and itching. I've been stung 2 or 3 times since then with no allergic reaction, so assume it was some oddball type of wasp or hornet. That is the only time I've ever had an allergic reaction to anything. 

[Jungle Fan]

@Maggie  you might still want to get tested by your doctor though because these allergies generally do not disappear and if you displayed symptoms of anaphylactic shock needing the administration of an epinephrine pen you might want to be sure. If you come up positive for a specific allergy  the doctor can then prescribe an epi pen to carry with you in case you get stung and have symptoms. I have seen patients whose lives were saved by their epi pens.

Edited April 4, 2021 by Jungle Fan

[Anita]

5 hours ago, Jungle Fan said:

@Maggie  you might still want to get tested by your doctor though because these allergies generally do not disappear and if you displayed symptoms of anaphylactic shock needing the administration of an epinephrine pen you might want to be sure. If you come up positive for a specific allergy  the doctor can then prescribe an epi pen to carry with you in case you get stung and have symptoms. I have seen patients whose lives were saved by their epi pens.

I emphatically second this recommendation. 💕 You might get stung a dozen times with no serious reaction, and then one time, wham! Your airway starts closing up from anaphylactic shock. I hate to be an alarmist, but if that happens @Jungle Fan is 100% right about an epi pen saving your life. 🏥

[Lemon]

how is the tank doing? any updates?

[Daniel]

On 4/13/2021 at 6:17 PM, quirkylemon103 said:

how is the tank doing? any updates?

Okay @quirkylemon103 this update is for you!

You asked for an update and it took me a long time to provide one. Spring is the time when a beekeeper works from dawn to dusk and my beekeeping duties have kept me off the forum lately.

But as I glanced at the 1930s Historically Accurate Aquarium this morning I noticed the angelfish were spawning and thought this would be a good time for an update.

The main thing I have been waiting on is for the Jungle Val (Vallisneria americana) to fill in. It was a long wait. For 5 months the Vallisneria just sat there and did nothing (many other people have this experience with Val, who knows why?) Then about a month ago the Vallisneria decided to wake up and spread like wildfire and it is starting to look like what I had in mind originally. The substrate is about an inch of soil from the asparagus bed in my garden covered with about an inch of sifted gravel from the creek in my backyard. I don't add any additional fertilizers to this aquarium other than what came with the original dirt.

Just a reminder...this a very inexpensive super low maintenance aquarium. There is no light but sunshine through the window. There is no heater so the aquarium stays at room temperature. There is no filter except for that provided by the plants. There isn't even an airstone for goodness sake! Just a 100 year old glass box filled with water.

I did not cycle the tank before I put fish and plants in. I do not know what the parameters of the water are. I do not know the temperature, ph, kH, nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia levels in this aquarium.

I hope this pair angels will raise a school of little baby angelfish because wouldn't that be cool. About 4 months ago the female angelfish in the video above was snagged out of this aquarium by one my cats and played with and chewed on for a while before I noticed what was happening.

She looked pretty bad when I put her back in the aquarium, and she looked even worse when her few remaining fins dissolved away over the course of the couple days after I rescued her from the cat. My wife thought she was a goner for sure.

But her fins and her health grew back over time and now she is healthy enough to breed. She is the little angelfish that could!

[Brandy]

6 hours ago, Daniel said:

The substrate is about an inch of soil from the asparagus bed in my garden covered with about an inch of sifted gravel from the creek in my backyard. I don't add any additional fertilizers to this aquarium other than what came with the original dirt.

Just a reminder...this a very inexpensive super low maintenance aquarium. There is no light but sunshine through the window. There is no heater so the aquarium stays at room temperature. There is no filter except for that provided by the plants. There isn't even an airstone for goodness sake! Just a 100 year old glass box filled with water.

Just out of curiosity, what is your waer change schedule on this, @Daniel? 

[Daniel]

Just now, Brandy said:

Just out of curiosity, what is your waer change schedule on this, @Daniel? 

Water evaporates away at about an inch a week. When it gets down several inches, I top it off with water from another tank. But there are no traditional water changes.

[Brandy]

2 minutes ago, Daniel said:

Water evaporates away at about an inch a week. When it gets down several inches, I top it off with water from another tank. But there are no traditional water changes.

I cannot even conceive of a tank that balanced. It's my lighting, I think. I can't help it, the whole reason I wanted tanks was some indoor sunshine for my darker corners. I mostly have cheap lights, but I ultimately am constantly filling them with floaters to fight back the algae and that defeats the purpose!😆

[Streetwise]

I appreciate that @Daniel has helped normalize top-offs as enough for many balanced tanks. I haven’t done a water change since [redacted].

[Lemon]

8 hours ago, Daniel said:

Okay @quirkylemon103 this update is for you!

You asked for an update and it took me a long time to provide one. Spring is the time when a beekeeper works from dawn to dusk and my beekeeping duties have kept me off the forum lately.

But as I glanced at the 1930s Historically Accurate Aquarium this morning I noticed the angelfish were spawning and thought this would be a good time for an update.

The main thing I have been waiting on is for the Jungle Val (Vallisneria americana) to fill in. It was a long wait. For 5 months the Vallisneria just sat there and did nothing (many other people have this experience with Val, who knows why?) Then about a month ago the Vallisneria decided to wake up and spread like wildfire and it is starting to look like what I had in mind originally. The substrate is about an inch of soil from the asparagus bed in my garden covered with about an inch of sifted gravel from the creek in my backyard. I don't add any additional fertilizers to this aquarium other than what came with the original dirt.

Just a reminder...this a very inexpensive super low maintenance aquarium. There is no light but sunshine through the window. There is no heater so the aquarium stays at room temperature. There is no filter except for that provided by the plants. There isn't even an airstone for goodness sake! Just a 100 year old glass box filled with water.

I did not cycle the tank before I put fish and plants in. I do not know what the parameters of the water are. I do not know the temperature, ph, kH, nitrate, nitrite, or ammonia levels in this aquarium.

I hope this pair angels will raise a school of little baby angelfish because wouldn't that be cool. About 4 months ago the female angelfish in the video above was snagged out of this aquarium by one my cats and played with and chewed on for a while before I noticed what was happening.

She looked pretty bad when I put her back in the aquarium, and she looked even worse when her few remaining fins dissolved away over the course of the couple days after I rescued her from the cat. My wife thought she was a goner for sure.

But her fins and her health grew back over time and now she is healthy enough to breed. She is the little angelfish that could!

thanks for the update 😀. It would be really cool if the angelfish bred. did you say what you are feeding?

[Daniel]

6 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said:

thanks for the update 😀. It would be really cool if the angelfish bred. did you say what you are feeding?

Mainly blackworms, some mosquito larva, some Tetra Color granules. You were asking about the adults right?

[OnlyGenusCaps]

Very cool concept and interesting experiment!

8 hours ago, Daniel said:

who knows why?

Seasonal response perhaps?  I know this is a widely occurring species, but there are a number of aquatic plant species with tropical and temperate "forms".  In those species, the temperate ones often go, and in some cases even require, a seasonal dormancy, while the tropical strains go merrily along, and even seem unable, in some cases, to be able to form the dormant structures.  That said, I don't know if this is the case with Val, or if it has even been studied.  It was just a guess. 

 

 

[Daniel]

15 minutes ago, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Very cool concept and interesting experiment!

Seasonal response perhaps?  I know this is a widely occurring species, but there are a number of aquatic plant species with tropical and temperate "forms".  In those species, the temperate ones often go, and in some cases even require, a seasonal dormancy, while the tropical strains go merrily along, and even seem unable, in some cases, to be able to form the dormant structures.  That said, I don't know if this is the case with Val, or if it has even been studied.  It was just a guess. 

 

 

It is a local plant so the dormancy theory makes a lot of sense.

[Daniel]

13 hours ago, OnlyGenusCaps said:

Very cool concept and interesting experiment!

Seasonal response perhaps?  I know this is a widely occurring species, but there are a number of aquatic plant species with tropical and temperate "forms".  In those species, the temperate ones often go, and in some cases even require, a seasonal dormancy, while the tropical strains go merrily along, and even seem unable, in some cases, to be able to form the dormant structures.  That said, I don't know if this is the case with Val, or if it has even been studied.  It was just a guess. 

 

 

And if these plants are seasonal, how would the plants know what season it is?

Sunlight! For the last 5 month each day has had a light more sunlight than the day before. All the plants have know is that each day is longer than the day before and that would be enough of signal to break dormancy. This is something that plants do all the time. Thanks @OnlyGenusCaps!

[Griznatch]

 I just saw this topic pop up because of the update. Wow, this is awesome, thanks for keeping this going!
 

There's a lot to be said for "less is more", lol  I just cracked myself up...  I've found out the hard way that sometimes patience and balance do more for this hobby than trying to constantly dial things in to the nth degree.

 

 

[Lemon]

16 hours ago, Daniel said:

Mainly blackworms, some mosquito larva, some Tetra Color granules. You were asking about the adults right?

are you asking what if I was asking what you are feeding the adult angels? sorry confusing sentence, yeah I was asking about the adult angels. but what are you going to feed the babies?

[Daniel]

2 minutes ago, quirkylemon103 said:

are you asking what if I was asking what you are feeding the adult angels? sorry confusing sentence, yeah I was asking about the adult angels. but what are you going to feed the babies?

I will feed baby brine shrimp, baby Daphnia, and then baby mosquito larva at first. I grew the adults up using pretty much the same diet.

[FrozenFins]

I love seeing the progress of this tank, so interesting...

Thanks for the updates daniel!