31 August 2005

Water Analysis


The ammonia is now 0.00mg/L! this means that the ammonia eating bateria is built up! But the nitrite is still at 5.0mg/L which is very high. so the nitrite dudes have a while to go.

no fishes have died. and Friar and Tuck have definetly helped with the algae problem!

30 August 2005

Steph is hooked!

Steph measured the water today
NH3/Nh4 is .25mg/L
NO2 is 5mg/L
and pH is 7!

he is becoming a mother hen with the tank! he called me up just as i was getting out at Green Square..

S: Have you got the fish food? (demanding/worried voice)
E: Yes, why whats wrong?
S: The fish arent floating but they are swimming up and down! vertically!
E: Well what do you expect them to do? they cant play chess.
S: Fine...

Steph are doing a water change now (something about water coming out of a hose and making heaps of drippy noises seems to drag him away from any entertainment device) so that will bring the nitrite down a bit - just for the comfort of the fish and then next week i should see a burst in plant growth fingers crossed!

My new tools


Trying to plant and resubtrate aquatic plants in a tank that you can't actually touch the bottom can be very frustrating.

Amano uses surgical tools which are expensive, which i cant afford so ive come up with 2 home made tools. Using 2 bamboo stakes, I have made a prong, and a spade.

I can use the prong grab the base of a plant. use the bamboo stick to push it into the soil then with the spade hold the plant down as i pull the prong away!

i also use it to move plants around. Groovy huh? Neccessity is the mother of invention

Txt from Steph

"Your man fish is sniffing all the girl fishes butts"

Which is good, because fish only have 3 objectives

1. Find Food and Eat it
2. Dont be someone else's food
3. Root to Reproduce

Of course its up to the fish to sort out its priorities...

29 August 2005

Photos of the first fishes





Silky is a silver female swordtail and is very shy. Lancelot divides his time between Silky and Marion who has a bit more attitude.

Lancelot (Male Swordtail) and Marion (female) Posted by Picasa


Friar and Tuck - 2 siamese algae eaters Posted by Picasa

Today Water Analysis

oooh the ammonia has gone down!
NH4/NH3 is 0.5ml/L and the nitrite has gone up 1.0mg/L and the pH is still 7. So Hooray!!! The tank is cycling!!!

And there are playmates in the tank! steph is now taking photos of them. Will post up soon. I decided to get few cheap fish in help with the cycling.

When the ammonia/nitrite hits 0 it means that the tank is established and more fish can join the critters. Its important to cycle the tank, if you cant be bothered cycling be prepared for lots of water changes and lots of chemical purchases! (dechlorinator, bacterial booster, ammo-lock, buckets buckets heaps of hosing, wet carpet etc)

26 August 2005

Daily Water Analysis

25% Water Change

NH3/NH4 - 1.0mg/L
pH - 7.0
NO2 - 1

Tempted to do another water change.

Read something about using dechloraminators rather than a dechlorinator. And guess what i have! Yes its only a dechlorinator!

So off to the shops again!!!

Dodgy Sydney Water

Oh dear.

Steph bought an Ammonia Test kit today and we tested the water in the tank to see if we could put some fish in... but at 2.0 (0.0 is good) it was too high so for another week it will stay as a planted tank.

After reading about pH, Ammonia, Nitritem Nitrate levels i thought i would test our home tap water. and the results were rather concerning.

Kitchen:
NH4/NH3 = 0.5 g/ml
PH = 7.5 (7 is normal)
Nitrite 0.0 (0.0 is normal)

What is alarming is that we drink/cook and clean with this water!

Ill post this info up on the web and see what fishperts think. and Ill test the bathroom tap after i finish dinner.

Later: Ive tested the Bathroom water, its a little bit better

Bathroom:
NH4/NH3 = 0.25 g/ml
PH = 7.2
Nitrite 0.0

But the thought of running 20 meters of tubing from upstairs to downstairs is rather daunting.
I think ill research how to neutralize my kitchen water.

Next item on the shopping list... WATER FILTER!!!!

24 August 2005

Plants Version 3

As mentioned in previous blog the plants are in!

I am stoked!!! they arrived a day earlier than what i expected, (Dodgy Australia Post who lost my express parcel for a week! has given me doubts about reliability) And the plants are in perfect condition. Wrapped in wet newspaper to keep them moist, the plants were healthy and strong!

Steph insisting that I would pull the tank down (as if!) so he would do the planting and i could do the directing. I reckon hes hooked on aquariums too now and he cant bear to let me have all the fun! Rather like getting flatpacked stuff and having to build it at home... I love putting that stuff together, but Steph alwasy does that stuff now... Think it gives them (men) a sense of manliness.

anyway i digress.

So the new photos - i got a bit happy snap and although I've posted some here, you can find some more photos of the tank on here.

Views of the tank from Front and Angled

Close ups of the plants

Oh and i forgot to use the sandstone piece!

oh well an adjustment...

Sandstone piece $2.45
Credit $-2.45

Running Balance: $747.78

New Links

Ive just added some fishy links

Koko's Goldfish world is a great website for information about goldfish, from feeding, keeping to breeding. They even have a videoclip of goldfish spawning (have fish babies)!

I know, I just watched it... Twice!!! Zooming in to look for the spawning... now I feel dirty.

Hooray the plants are here!!!

The plants have arrived!!!! yayay

they are now resting in the veggie section of the staff fridge.

I hope people dont think its a new type of alfalfa greenie sprouts and sprinkle over their salad!!!

or they will be sick!!! hehehe

Ive put some Riccia in with Swish... right now hes not sure what its all about and keeps swimming under it to give it a good look!

i cant take a picture right now... Swish knows that he has my attention and hes staring back at me right now.

22 August 2005

The Tropical Tank Today

A slight rearrangement of the plants when the fishman told me that Val grass doesnt like tropical water... But wait til the shipment comes in!!!

Meet the Fish

It just occured to me that i have many other friends in my smaller tanks that i have not yet introduced!


Meet Swish - Swish is a common Siamese Fighting fish. He's been in my care for almost 6 months and he lives in a tank between Dom and My cubicle. Recent I removed his backing paper so now he has a view of finance. And everytime finance people use the archives, Swish swims over and has a look. Im sure he could tell you the state of the companyis finance with a flick of his tail!



Here is Francios and GG (Greedy General) these 2 are new recruits and live in the HR office. In the past they have had a high mortality rate so I have been elected to look after them.
GG is a fantail and Frankie is a common goldfish, with all his points (tail and fins dipped in black) he also has a little moutashe on him. And he is very highly strung. Must come from his mothers side.





And here are our other fishes
Revlon - is a common goldfish, red and white in colour. Named for his strip of red across his lips he and Jaws are the oldest fish in our tank. Over a year old, he is the food specalist of the tank. Food is his number one, two and three priority.

Jaws is a long finned comet, all gold, Steph named gave him a big name to fill in and boy did he do it. Jaws has a habit of ramming Revlon while Revlon is trying to feed. Normally Revlon with ignore Jaws, straighten up and continue feeding. But every now and then Revlon will fight back and they will butt each other in circles.

NoName - is a newish addition. Totally camouflague, but very shy as you can see hes always hiding in the background. However with the new plants in the tank hes been a bit more adventurous and comes out with Jaws and Revlon for food.


Chopsticks 2.01 and 2.02 (Version 1 died due to malnutrition) are the two catfishes which help keep the tank clean, little grazers that munch on the algae growth all over the tank.
They too chase each other around. One is a bit more shy, the other comes out a bit more often. With the newly planted Val grass, they have found a new game. Munching their way up the val grass, until it bends down with their weight. then they let go. and the Val grass floats back up. Quite amusing

21 August 2005

New Airstone

Fish are happy! Steph is happy!

the world is now back in balance again

EEK Disaster!

i broke the airstone in the goldfish tank!!!

oh well stuck it back in but my god big bubbles!!! the tank looks likes its on the boil! Steph had declared that he doesnt like it so tommorrow we will get a new airstone! Revlon Jaws, NoName and chopsticks 2.01 will be much more relaxed tommorrow onwards.

20 August 2005

A bit of Credit goes a long way

Today Steph and I returned the thermostat that I wrongly bought.

and got some more noodles (for the denitrfying baterial to grow on) a check valve, some fertalizer tablets, and some sucker holders for the airstone in the goldfish tank!.

Then to Birkenhead, there is a great petshop there with a guy who knows his fish and plants. He tried to sell us some substrate fertalizer which was very exy, but i had bought the fert tablets before. so i got some tiny gravel and a piece of sandstone which ill tie the riccia onto.


Pet Barn Cost:
Noodles $18.95
Fertalizer tablets $7.25
Valve check $1.25
Suction Holders $1.25
Credit -$27.25
Balance $1.45

Birkenhead Cost:
Gravel 1kg $ 7.50
Sandstone piece $2.45
Total $9.95

Running Balance: $750.23

17 August 2005

Eek! Curse the happy clicking finger!

i just spent $76 on plants on ebay! Thats the problem with Buy Now, you want and want and want. and only find out at the end the damage!

>_< 2 minute noodles for lunch/dinner for the rest of the month

Cost of new plants $75.87

Running Balance: $738.83

Fish Tank for the Rev Head


Photo from paulcochrane.ath.cx

For those who like their cars and their fish. Theres Rototank!!!

Basically made from the Rotary Housing that you find in cars. Whats Roto-housing? Eva asks.. Its a part of a combustible engine, instead of piston and cylinders they use this triangle thingy that whirls around compressing. Its more effienient? Who knows!?! As a fishtank it looks totally cool!

If you are interested click here Rotary Engine Fishtanks

16 August 2005

The tank is full




I got impatient. But I couldn't wait! honest...

The driftwood had to be soaked for another 12 days, I hadn't found any pure soil for the plants, and I hadn't found plants that I really wanted.



It took a good 10 or 11 buckets of water, and Steph was drenched when I blew into the vacuum pump rather than suck. I was drenched dragging buckets of water from the kitchen sink to the tank. But its full of water, the light works the pump works and the thermostat works.

The driftwood is placed in a cross formation, it looks like two branches have fallen down, and the top one looks like it broke in half when it fell...

In the back I have Val grass in the centre, Carolina fanwort on the right. In the centre, in front of the val grass is an Amazon Sword plant to the left is some Alternanthera or Alligatorweed

Cost of Plants: $20

Running Balance: $662.96

I still need to get some Java Moss, Ricca, Anubia

15 August 2005

Book: Nature Aquarium World


I bought Takashi Amano's first book on aquascaping today.
Its a beautiful book, 190 pages of aquarium beauty and serenity.

And there are some photographic step by step instructions on how to create a tank from scratch. Its also filled with little stories and experiments he encounters as he aims for perfection.

The only downside of the book is its lack of plant descriptions. Thankfully most are easily recognised.
But has it inspired! oh yes it has!!!

I have decided for a trianglar layout for my tank, because it will be viewed from the side (sitting on the sofa) and directly in front and it will be a soft acidic Amazon environment, perfect for angelfishes, tetras and catfish.

Going Potty 2 go Planty!!!

I need to get some tiny terracotta pots.

ill be putting the aquatic plants in these and then planting the pots.

I wonder if they come in black?

14 August 2005

Plants


I've decided to keep the aquatic plants in pots in the tank. Thanks to an article by Al Ridley I can.

Reasons:
a. I have no inclination to search out aquatic plant soil
b. Easier to move the plants about and propagate
c. I have a bucket of clean gravel that needs to go into the tank NOW!

This is a pic of the tank with the heater and the thermometer.

Bugga! wrong size!

I bought the wrong size heater!

You need to have 1 watt per litre. and for some reason I thought my tank would be a 100L tank! so I bought a 100w heater, then today I remembered it was 130L! Bugga! Oh well... Im out to buy another heater.

New Heater 150W = $23.99
Nitrite Test kit = $15.95
Thermomoter = $2.10
Total = $42.04

Running Balance: $642.96

Pet Barn - Driftwood dilemma

Wow driftwood is expensive...

I wanted dark gravel and i had to go to Pet Barn for some, they had doggies up for adoption there and there was this dingo cross that was singing up a hell of a racket! so cute :D.

I love Pet Barn, owners shopping for their pets, pets free to roam around for new butts to sniff. But no four legged creatures for us yet. so back to purchasing gravel. 14kgs later, plus some bio booster and plant food, a worm feeder. then went back to get some more driftwood to add to the pieces i bought at LFS.

Gravel (14kg): $20.85
Bio Booster: $7.75
Plant Food: $3.25
Worm Feeder: $1.50
Driftwood (2 bits): $29.20
100w Heater: $27.25
Total: $89.80

Oh hangon i need buckets to carry the water! Off to Bunnings!!!!

2 x 20L buckets: $15.96
Total: $15.96

Running Balance: 600.92

Its in its installed!!!

and Boy! do i have a bad sense in size...

After collecting the tank from the LFS
Note the grin.

Steph used his birthday drill to put it all together

and then problems appear, the tank on the stand completely smothered the security telephone, so we had to reengineer the room.

the dining table is on the otherside and the tanks where the dining table was...
and the golfish tank looks so small!!!

And i think at this point ill give some stats about the Aqua One 620T, only because the manufacoters website sucks...

AR620T
Height: 72cm
Width: 62 cm
Depth 38 cm
Volume: 130L
Biofilter: On top, powered by powerhead

The stand was interesting, they had supplied old instructions with the kit, and we nearly had kittens when we found out that we were 10 screws short! but then we noticed that the instructions included things for the back panels which were way too thin to have anything done to them so we relaxed and started building. Steph managed very well and the stand was built in 1/2 hr.

By then we were so buggered, and we had people over for dinner we had to stop I had to cook dinner.

Tank and Stand: $454.40
Driftwood (2bits): $25.56
Gravel Cleaner: $15.20
Total = 495.16

Balance = 495.16

12 August 2005

Designing the tank

Oh the inspiration!!!

ive just found the works of Takashi Amano, he is a leading instructor in aquatic horticulture. His tanks are what you call works of arts! some people call it visual poetry, its amazingly peaceful to see.

Originally called Dutch Aquariums, the aim is to use a variety of plants to create depth and a lush environtment to lose ones mind in.

Brainstorming what i want to decorate the tank with...

  • Driftwood (big bits)
  • Rock cavern (medium)
  • Smaller Rocks
  • Plants (tall tall ones)
  • Plants (low light ones)
  • Gravel + Planting material
i'm totally against naked mermaids and rusty cars stuff. i think aquairiums should be designed to relax with not entertainment.

So with the help of photo shop and a photo of the tank from AquaOne's website ive set about designing the tank.

what do you think?

I'm stoked!!!


Indeedy, for I have after many months of indecision taken the steps to get a bigger tank!

As per my previous blog I am going to get a Aqua One AR620T which is holds about 130 litres. I have been told that tanks over are more stable, and quite frankly I cant get anything bigger without relocating!

So today the shipment arrived at the LFS (Local Fish shop) Edgecliff Pets, Hannes has been wonderful and has agreed to hold it in his shop until Saturday (tommorrow!!!) when steph and i can pick it up in the beemer.
Here is a pic of it at the shop

its huge!!! about 70cm x 80cm x 50cm! (steph will have to get the tyre out of the boot. im not sure how im going to get it into the car... but then ive gotten a Sony TV box in the Beemer, so this should be a piece of cake!

The little pieces of driftwood and the vacuum pump are for the tank. but i want a bigger piece of drift wood to run up the side of the tank... will have to go shopping!

Im going to keep a running tally of how much this tank will cost after total setup. but im betting that it will be in the $700 mark. (provided i dont kill the fish on a reg basis)