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Post by angelminx on Jul 11, 2016 19:16:59 GMT -5
This is just a quickie, as I've been busy the last couple of days and at least part of tomorrow, too. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm slowly transitioning my 55G over to a catfish tank, and tomorrow morning it has to be broken down so that Maintenance can get to the wall behind the tank to fix the leak I get in the bedroom anytime someone uses the faucet outside . Last night I managed to catch the last critter (my amano shrimp "Mano") and get it into the 10G; I had caught the last of the fish the day before. I started removing the substrate last night, and so pulled up the plants, temporarily putting them in a bucket to go inspect later on. Of course this stirred up all the muck that was in the "gravel", so I couldn't see what I was doing. . . . while removing the last of the plants, I kept seeing movement out of the corner of my eye . . . I finally saw a flash again, then saw that it was Mano zipping back and forth. I hadn't seen him for the last week or so, and couldn't tempt him out with a Bottom Feeder Tablet that I'd left overnight in the far end of my specimen container (which was laying on it's side on the bottom of the tank). So I had figured that somehow or another, he was no more. What's funny, is that he looked almost bluish in color where my other 2 are practically "colorless"; he's bigger than they are reported to be, as well. This was a bit longer than I intended, and I need to get back to work (so I don't have so much to do in the AM). I'll post pictures when this is over. Angelminx
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Post by childofiam on Jul 13, 2016 9:49:54 GMT -5
Looking forward to seeing your new Catfish tank. I have Ghost shrimp in my tank that disappear for weeks at a time and just when I think they all died or was eaten they show up in numbers. Yesterday I saw one of the mamma shrimp carrying her baby shrimp eggs and a 1/4 in size baby shrimp right beside her. This is the second time I have seen a mamma shrimp carrying eggs.
Richard
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Post by angelminx on Jul 13, 2016 12:26:26 GMT -5
Arrgh! This is so frustrating! I tried to post here yesterday, but I was only on for a few minutes when I got kicked off ! I spent over 45 minutes with internet tech support after 9 PM last night before we got the problem fixed (5 minutes later the computer started responding sluggishly again, so I decided to try today instead). Yesterday it had taken bout 3 minutes to get the search engine up, and over 15 minutes before the results came up, and I gave up waiting to for the site to load again. Today I couldn't even get the search engine up (couldn't get onto check my emails, either), so it was back to tech support again. They were able to find and "fix" the problem, but it turns out that our network area has suddenly been overly-congested recently, so they are trying to do an upgrade to help fix the problem. But they don't have a time table . . . so there are going to be some connectivity problems for a while . . . Back to the blog: Yesterday I tried to post that they got the problem with the plumbing fixed; however, they had to come back today to put on another layer of (?spackling?) on the repaired wall. Now I find out I have to wait another day for it to dry before they can paint . . . and the tank can get put back in place. And he doesn't know if he'll be able to make it back tomorrow, or if I'll have to wait till Friday ! I am worried about my plants for that long. They are divided into 3 buckets, but the one with the Anubias has a large plant in it (I trimmed it down and am going to remount it when I put the tank back together) but I still have to keep pushing it back under/turning it to keep it from drying out (I keep pushing the plants in the other buckets under while I'm at it). They are not getting the light they need, and are kind of "crammed" into the buckets, so a few of the leaves have gotten broken . . . a couple on plants that can't afford it . Am I being overly worried, do I need to somehow get them some light other than ambient room light? I'm not sure how to utilize the GroBeams for this because I don't know how to mount them in this case. I don't know if placing the buckets outside for a little bit will do any good or not, because (trip/drowning/mosquito-breeding hazard) I can't leave them out there for very long . The fish aren't happy crammed into the 10G, but I've been adding StressGuard every day, and when I get off here, I am going to do an extra water change to help dilute the extra nutrients/wastes in the water. If maintenance can't get back here till Friday, should I do another water change tomorrow?
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Post by childofiam on Jul 13, 2016 13:49:44 GMT -5
Arrgh! This is so frustrating! I tried to post here yesterday, but I was only on for a few minutes when I got kicked off ! I spent over 45 minutes with internet tech support after 9 PM last night before we got the problem fixed (5 minutes later the computer started responding sluggishly again, so I decided to try today instead). Yesterday it had taken bout 3 minutes to get the search engine up, and over 15 minutes before the results came up, and I gave up waiting to for the site to load again. Today I couldn't even get the search engine up (couldn't get onto check my emails, either), so it was back to tech support again. They were able to find and "fix" the problem, but it turns out that our network area has suddenly been overly-congested recently, so they are trying to do an upgrade to help fix the problem. But they don't have a time table . . . so there are going to be some connectivity problems for a while . . . Back to the blog: Yesterday I tried to post that they got the problem with the plumbing fixed; however, they had to come back today to put on another layer of (?spackling?) on the repaired wall. Now I find out I have to wait another day for it to dry before they can paint . . . and the tank can get put back in place. And he doesn't know if he'll be able to make it back tomorrow, or if I'll have to wait till Friday ! I am worried about my plants for that long. They are divided into 3 buckets, but the one with the Anubias has a large plant in it (I trimmed it down and am going to remount it when I put the tank back together) but I still have to keep pushing it back under/turning it to keep it from drying out (I keep pushing the plants in the other buckets under while I'm at it). They are not getting the light they need, and are kind of "crammed" into the buckets, so a few of the leaves have gotten broken . . . a couple on plants that can't afford it . Am I being overly worried, do I need to somehow get them some light other than ambient room light? I'm not sure how to utilize the GroBeams for this because I don't know how to mount them in this case. I don't know if placing the buckets outside for a little bit will do any good or not, because (trip/drowning/mosquito-breeding hazard) I can't leave them out there for very long . The fish aren't happy crammed into the 10G, but I've been adding StressGuard every day, and when I get off here, I am going to do an extra water change to help dilute the extra nutrients/wastes in the water. If maintenance can't get back here till Friday, should I do another water change tomorrow? Don't worry... the plants will survive. In nature plants experience dark cloudy days for weeks at a time during monsoon season, just make sure they stay under the water. Find something to wedge them down in the bucket like a stick cut to be tight across the bucket, then you can push down the plants and set the stick across the bucket edges to hold them under and replace some of their water every couple days. Our ATT Uverse is doing the same thing here. Slows down to nothing for hours on end. AT&T Tech said that I am sharing my uverse connection with 9 other house holds.... I am paying for the fastest UVerse package so that I can have the speed but now I have to share that speed with 9 other house holds. This is like the Air Lines that purposely over sell a flight by on average 23% because they know that everyone wont show up for some reason or another. I have see flights where the offer free flights to people if they will wait till the next available flight because everyone showed up for the flight... Todays business ethics are in poor conditions except for companies like AAP that really care about their customers! Richard
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Jul 13, 2016 16:43:21 GMT -5
Like Richard said, the plants will be fine. Think about people who ship plants. I've pulled plants and just due to busyness, I've had them sit in a bucket for like a week.
They're flexible.
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Post by angelminx on Jul 13, 2016 23:59:52 GMT -5
Good to know about the plants. I got kicked off again shortly after I posted my above comments, and have only just been able to get back on, so I couldn't ask these questions earlier: I tried to repair my seams earlier (no leaks, but a small section or two that weren't that good looking), but didn't have any luck. I thought I had an unopened package of aquarium sealant, but couldn't find it. The one I could find (of course), was the one I had opened shortly before I discovered Carl and his treasures; it was by Marineland, and I had around half of a tube left. However, I could only get about an inch or two out of the tube at a time (and I'm having to do this myself), using all the strength I have (which is not much). I also had to keep poking an ice pick through the opening to get anything to come out at all! I finally gave up . I am going to order a tube from Carl (I don't think I need more than one for a 55G), however, I don't have a "calking" gun and was wondering if that was something that could be rented (like from Tru-Value Hardware), or if I would have to purchase one from somewhere. Also, I watched the You Tube video, and was wondering if the masking tape step is necessary (I have some, but not a lot). And since I have to do this by myself, can I work on one seam at a time, or do I really need to get someone to "follow along behind" and smooth the silicone bead out as I "seal" the whole thing? Originally I was just going to try to repair the 2 spots, but since I have to purchase a "tube" of silicone anyway, I might as well do the whole tank. Like I said earlier, there are no leaks at the moment, but the tank will be sitting dry for a few days, so I want to "take out an insurance policy" and do this since the tank is dry. {Darn, I've just added another couple of days to the tank's down time !} I've tried to get out all the "particles" ("sand/gravel" bits, etc) left over from emptying the tank, but there is a little bit left, and I don't have a shop vac or anything to vacuum them out with. Any suggestions? One more thing: now that the tank is empty, I can see the "tag" showing from under the bottom of the tank (of course it's facing "upside down" so it's hard to read), and it (the part I can read) says "tempered glass" (with the drill warning), and then something that looks like "cleaned by", and a series of numbers. To the side, is the picture of an anchor. Not sure if that has anything to do with the manufacturer or not, because I'm petty sure this tank was a Top Fin tank. I can tell the width of the side glass, but how do I tell what the width of the bottom glass is, since it's hidden by the bottom frame? I purchased the tank in the late 90's from Petco.
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Post by childofiam on Jul 14, 2016 11:51:21 GMT -5
Good to know about the plants. I got kicked off again shortly after I posted my above comments, and have only just been able to get back on, so I couldn't ask these questions earlier: I tried to repair my seams earlier (no leaks, but a small section or two that weren't that good looking), but didn't have any luck. I thought I had an unopened package of aquarium sealant, but couldn't find it. The one I could find (of course), was the one I had opened shortly before I discovered Carl and his treasures; it was by Marineland, and I had around half of a tube left. However, I could only get about an inch or two out of the tube at a time (and I'm having to do this myself), using all the strength I have (which is not much). I also had to keep poking an ice pick through the opening to get anything to come out at all! I finally gave up . I am going to order a tube from Carl (I don't think I need more than one for a 55G), however, I don't have a "calking" gun and was wondering if that was something that could be rented (like from Tru-Value Hardware), or if I would have to purchase one from somewhere. Also, I watched the You Tube video, and was wondering if the masking tape step is necessary (I have some, but not a lot). And since I have to do this by myself, can I work on one seam at a time, or do I really need to get someone to "follow along behind" and smooth the silicone bead out as I "seal" the whole thing? Originally I was just going to try to repair the 2 spots, but since I have to purchase a "tube" of silicone anyway, I might as well do the whole tank. Like I said earlier, there are no leaks at the moment, but the tank will be sitting dry for a few days, so I want to "take out an insurance policy" and do this since the tank is dry. {Darn, I've just added another couple of days to the tank's down time !} I've tried to get out all the "particles" ("sand/gravel" bits, etc) left over from emptying the tank, but there is a little bit left, and I don't have a shop vac or anything to vacuum them out with. Any suggestions? One more thing: now that the tank is empty, I can see the "tag" showing from under the bottom of the tank (of course it's facing "upside down" so it's hard to read), and it (the part I can read) says "tempered glass" (with the drill warning), and then something that looks like "cleaned by", and a series of numbers. To the side, is the picture of an anchor. Not sure if that has anything to do with the manufacturer or not, because I'm petty sure this tank was a Top Fin tank. I can tell the width of the side glass, but how do I tell what the width of the bottom glass is, since it's hidden by the bottom frame? I purchased the tank in the late 90's from Petco. I have used a microfiber cloth to remove bits of sand and water from tanks found here; www.walmart.com/ip/Microtex-Platinum-XL-Microfiber-Cleaning-Cloths-15pk/23569849The sand gets caught up in the microfibers as I am removing it and the last bit of water from the tank. There will still be some left but when it dries up I go over it again with a dry Microfiber cloth until it is all gone. Richard
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Post by angelminx on Jul 15, 2016 0:39:42 GMT -5
Good tip!
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Post by billyk on Jul 15, 2016 10:02:36 GMT -5
Hey! Sorry about your connection, networks are the bane of my existence. Not so much now as I can tell others to fix it but I still take responsibility. Argh, at least my home connection is solid and fast! Be sure to clean those joint areas real well, especially as Carl's tip said, using rubbing alcohol (90% is best). I used to be a bit of an adhesive expert and unclean bonding site was the largest reason for failure, followed by incorrect adhesive for given application. You can get a decent caulking gun for under $5.00 at most places.
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Post by angelminx on Jul 17, 2016 0:27:49 GMT -5
[Speaking of connections, my Dad used to have dial-up because that was all that was available--eventually he was able to switch to DSL--but what made it worse was that the wiring in town was in such terrible condition--a lot of it no longer had any insulation--that we had a lot of static, so he kept getting cut off. When looking at the bill, he would have over 1000 connections made each day!] I got my silicone today , now my sister-in-law's Dad has to find his caulking gun (it's buried somewhere)--he is planning on bringing it to me at church tomorrow. I managed to remove "all" of the old silicone (not sure if I need to do anything along the top frame area), however, I had a heck of a time getting it out of the corners . There is still a little bit in the very corners . . . I don't think the razor blade could quite get to them, and I had to use needle-nose pliers to get any grip on the old stuff there. I am going to go over the glass once more to shave off any bits of silicone I might have missed near the seams. It's hard to see if there is really any left, but feels like there might be a thin area of it here or there. If my tank was any deeper, I doubt I would be able to reach the bottom to do this project myself. I bought a holder for the razor blades yesterday, because when I had tried remove the tank's silicone so I could apply the old silicone I had, it was hard to manipulate the blade/get at the correct angle without one--I got a metal one that retracts; but they were out of the cheapest ($6) calking guns, the only ones in stock were $8 plus, and $12 plus . I have a couple questions about the silicone: The cartridge says the silicone will fully cure in 24 hours (1/8" bead), but then mentions reaching maximum adhesion in 7 days . . . if I use a 1/4" bead will it take twice as long (I was planning on waiting 48 hours anyway, before adding water to the tank), should I wait longer; and since it is only being used to "seal" the tank, and not "hold it together", do I need to worry about the "7 days"?
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Post by angelminx on Jul 17, 2016 0:42:46 GMT -5
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Post by angelminx on Jul 17, 2016 1:01:19 GMT -5
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Post by angelminx on Jul 17, 2016 1:52:19 GMT -5
Here are some of the placements I tried out (while waiting to be able to do something ) to get an idea on how I wanted the layout to look. I ended up discarding the idea with the flat gray stone propped up against the "pile" of stones to create an extra "hideaway", because it is a real stone, and I didn't want any accidental mishaps (I may place it behind the driftwood, if I decide to use it): I took a few shots from the "ends", and a few from the front (glare was the main problem that way), but most were from above. I took more than one of each of (all) these shots with different placement/content ideas (some with only slight variations in placement--note in the 1st and 2nd where the brown bank sits compared to the bottom tank brace) I tried adding the large Cichlid stone (I wish the mediums were available without having to purchase packages) the next morning, eventually coming up with the idea of placing the rock with the Bolbitis heudelotii on top of it. This last shot is probably the best of my head-on shots (glare-wise), the ones from the day before were terrible. I hope things turn out as good as the ideas are in my head--I've already noticed some of my Crypts beginning to melt . Putting the tank back together can't come soon enough. Since my Mom is scheduled to have the port (for her dialysis--she is supposed to be ready to just use the fistula) removed on Tuesday, I probably won't be able to do anything until Wednesday .
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Post by angelminx on Jul 17, 2016 21:19:12 GMT -5
And I thought today was going to go so well . . . . After church I sliced open my index finger (outside "edge", dominant hand, and a little ways down the tip) and had to go get stitches (4). So Mom helped me finish (I'd started that last night) putting the masking tape on the inside of the tank, then she went home. But, after administering the silicone (slightly awkward) I had problems removing the tape for those nice clean edges (my nails being broken and ragged didn't help, so I had problems getting the tape up); decided to wait a bit and see if it helped to come back and do it when I wasn't quite so frustrated. Not a good idea. I ended up messing it up royally . Part of the tape kept coming up in pieces, and a lot of it just pulled up a lot of the silicone--some of it just a little bit, and some all the way to the joint where the 2 pieces of glass meet . So I've ordered another cartridge of silicone (should have just gotten 2 in the 1st place)--I have about 1/4 of this cartridge left--and am going to remove the stuff I just put on, and then start over. No worrying about looking pretty this time ! I didn't have any sand paper (well, I do, but have no idea where it is) so I picked some up this evening after prayer service, and will see if sanding the area where the silicone goes just a bit will help it stick any better. I had cleaned the area with alcohol, to cut any grease that might have been present, but it didn't seem to matter, as some of the silicone that pulled off came up cleanly . Sand paper had been mentioned , but nothing was said about exactly how to use it for this, and I'm guessing not using any in the 1st place was part of the problem with the adhesion. Add a few more days before I can set the tank back up .
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Post by Carl on Jul 20, 2016 9:56:22 GMT -5
Sorry for these problems and your poor index finger. The sand paper is for prep work to clean old silicone from the glass after removal with a razor blade. Use of silicone is a bit of an art, I worked with a professional tank builder (Prestige Aquarium) for a year off and on from 1979 to 1980, and I was still not to his level www.aquarium-pond-answers.com/2007/03/aquarium-silicone.htmlThe above article has a video too, here it is here: Carl
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Post by angelminx on Jul 20, 2016 21:59:42 GMT -5
I got the new tube of silicone this morning, and after re-prepping the tank yesterday (and once more with the sandpaper, and a wipe-down of that area with the alcohol earlier this morning) I was able to re-seal it . It went so much better this time ( ) since my finger wasn't bothering me as much (and I skipped the hassle with the masking tape). I didn't use quite as much silicone this time (close, tho), and didn't make as much of a mess (last time I kept bumping the tip against other areas of the glass, so had more clean-up from that the last time) . We'll see how well it holds water on Thursday. Edit: I meant to say Friday. For some reason all day yesterday I kept thinking it was Tuesday, when I know it wasn't because we had our quarterly congregational meeting last night.
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Post by angelminx on Jul 22, 2016 0:19:21 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to tomorrow ! I drew some tap water today so I could test it tomorrow (I always let it sit for about 24 hours before testing) while I'm waiting to see if any leaks develop. I'm planning on adding the water after lunch, and I'll also test the water in the 10G (where all my fish are crammed--I did a H2O change Tuesday morning before Mom and I left for St. Louis), and the holding tub so I'll have an idea what adjustments may be needed. If there are no leaks, I'll remove a lot of the water, start my aquascaping, and then add that from the tub (the holding tub is filled to about 16 gallons), before I finally top it off. Depending on any adjustments that need to be made, and how things go, I may wait till the next day to return the fish back to their spacious abode. I plan on giving them a quick bath if I don't have to extend their acclimation period (whenever I bring new fish home, there is such a big difference in the pH that it takes quite a few hours to complete the process ). {If there is any leaking (heaven forbid) I have a new 55G waiting in my car, I just need to find someone to help me get it into the house.}
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Post by childofiam on Jul 22, 2016 8:30:51 GMT -5
When you get your tank back up you will need to establish the bio filter all over again like a new tank...
Richard
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Post by angelminx on Aug 1, 2016 16:34:20 GMT -5
Well, the tank is finally "finished". I'm just waiting to see if the plants spring back, and to get the new fish. I did try the piece of slate leaning against the one ornament for a bit, but after some more playing around, eventually decided on the final layout. I've got the new background installed (kind of hard to do when the tank is already in place, but I didn't receive it in time to do it beforehand) {I really like the height of this piece, but the roots wouldn't let it sit right, or really incorporate either of the other 2 pieces, the way I liked, along with it} here's what I finally ended up with: It looks tacky, I know, but ignore the zip ties on the driftwood. The 1st time I placed it in the tank, I tied the plants on with cotton thread (I preferred they way the plants were placed on it that time), but after a couple of days the thread started to rapidly deteriorate (which wasn't enough time for them take hold), and since I needed to treat the piece for fungus, I went ahead and took off the plants that were still "in place" and did that. When I "put it back together" I couldn't get them back the same way--and a couple of the pieces of java fern had somehow vanished from the tank , and the Anubias nana was losing leaves, and so looks terrible.
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Post by angelminx on Aug 1, 2016 17:04:05 GMT -5
The Bolbitis looked good when I first put it back in the tank . . . . . . but the shock of the whole process started to get to it and fronds started dying, so I had to do a drastic trim job When I set up the new XPM/UV system, I decided to try changing the return and splitting it so it would return in both a spray-bar near the surface, and a "jet" (the 1st pic shows the way I went about it): Also, I never went thru a recycling process (still testing every day tho) because while the tank was sitting idle I kept the filter media in a bucket with an airstone, and a daily partial-dose of Stability, along with a mini-pellet of fish food; also, when I put the tank back together, I put the pre-filter sponge from the 10G (I put a new one in its place that tank) into the 55G, as well as (after adding the sand to the 55) the majority of sand from the 10G (which I, of course, replaced with new sand) went on top. Mano immediately took residence in the old pre-filter sponge and would still be happily there today--if I hadn't stolen it from him this morning. I had to lift the thing from the water to get him to leave it ! [If it hadn't detracted from the look of the tank, I might have let him keep it.]
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