More Plants

I bought a couple more plants from a guy I found on a forum and got them added to my tank.  The full Nitrogen cycle isn't completely set up yet, but it's getting there.  The ammonia eating bacteria seem to be established, my ammo levels are zero today!

 

 This little plant is called Pennywort.  I put it in the back because it supposedly grows quickly and fills out.  It can also be used as a floating plant, but I prefer it be planted.

This plant is called Bacopa Caroliniana.  You can't see it in the picture, but it has a reddish tinge to the leaves.

 The plant on the left is Ludwigia Palustris.  The one on the right hiding behind the rock is an Amazon Sword plant.  It's a little one that was attached to the bigger one that I bought.  If you look at the top of the thick stem, it's growing another one already.  That larger leaf you see at the top of the stem grew overnight.  It was just a little nub yesterday.

The plant on the driftwood is called Anubias Nana Petite and doesn't require planting.  I just stuffed it in a crevasse in the wood.  It gets all it's nutrients from the water itself.  The plants in the front of the picture are called Glossostigma and aren't doing very well.  I think they need a higher amount of light than what my fixture produces.

This plant is called Micro sword.  It should eventually spread out and make kind of like a carpet across the entire bottom.  Once this happens I won't have to vacuum the bottom of the tank.

I like the little rock stack we made from rocks out of our front yard.

Cycle Started

My new light came today and I stopped and bought a few plants on the way home.  I got the plants planted and the filter, heater, and air pump going.  The water turned cloudy overnight tho.  I hope it clears up quickly.  Per, the fishless cycle guide I'm following, I dosed it with pure ammonia, about 7ml worth, and now I'm just waiting for it to circulate to test my water.  It needs to be 4ppm to make this work and grow beneficial bacteria.  Edit: I got it to 4ppm first try!

Finally!

I sold my DS!  I went and got a water changer and got the tank filled today!  Woot!  Now to get the light and a few plants tomorrow and I can get this thing going.  I have to get new tubing for the filter as well.  the tubing I bought doesn't fit and we can't force it to fit either so I have to stop and get a bigger size tomorrow.  Once I do that I can hook up the filter and dose it up and get it started cycling.  With luck, I will have a quick cycle and can start getting fish in a couple weeks or a month.  Sounds like a long time, I know.  Sigh.

A water changer is the neatest invention ever by the way.  Its like a gravel vacuum, but 100 times better.  It's got a gravel vac tube on one end with a valve switch on it.  On the other end, It has another valve switch and an adapter to hook it to a faucet!  You turn on the faucet and adjust it to the temp you want (by feel) then go dose the tank with water conditioner and put the gravel vac end in the tank with the valve off, then go back to the sink and turn the valve and and let the tube fill, then go back the tank and open the valve on that end and voila! your tank is filling up.  No buckets!  If you want to suck water out, you switch the valve the other way on the sink and the water flow creates suction!  No buckets!  It's so cool.  And fast!  I had 50 gallons in the tank in about 15 minutes or so. I'm so happy!

I'll look even better with plants and a light!

Putting in the eco complete

Arranging the driftwood and rocks

Filling

Full!

Getting excited!

My new light for my tank should be here on Monday and I bought two nice pieces of driftwood to put in the tank today.  I may hook a hose up to a tap and fill it tomorrow and get it going!  I'm too excited to wait another week so I can buy plants before getting it started. I really don't want to deal with planting plants after it's filled, but I'm so anxious!  I got a water test kit and have been having fun testing our tap water.  Our pH is high (alkaline) which is a bit disappointing, but the fish I think I've settled on should be able to adapt to it and handle it okay.

The two driftwood pieces I bought

Here they are in the tank.  The one on the left just barely fits,
I had to  move it around to find a way to set it in there without
it touching the front and back.  I may end up standing it up.

This is our tap water.  From bottom to top:
8.0 pH, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 0 nitrates
This is a good thing.

Andy has decided to not get a tortoise, he's going to buy stuff to make his own beer instead.  I have my misgivings, but I'm curious about the process and think it will be fun to watch, and fun for him to do.  He's very excited about it.

Time Wasters

I have several ads in the classifieds right now trying to raise some money.  We got a lot of it sold, but there are a few items that people have called on, called back to confirm the address and said they'd be there in just a few and then not show up.  It really pisses me off.  One, I get my hopes up that one more thing would be gone, then I sat here waiting for them, and now I sit here wondering who the hell I just gave my address to.  It messes with your head.  I hate time wasters.

On another note, the hunney has decided now tho, that he might not get a tortoise with his half of the money.  He just can't make up his mind.  Silly boy.  I, however, am still set on getting my fish tank up and running although he can't decide if he's gonna help with/give input in on it or not.  He got excited about it, then got upset about it because I misunderstood what he was wanting to do with it, and now he can't decide if he wants to give input or not.  I am not just throwing this together, I want to make it pretty as well as functional.  I want it to be it's own little eco system so I only have to do minimal upkeep on it.  This means spending a bit more and waiting a bit longer to do it, but it will be worth it if I do it right.

I ordered a special substrate that is made specifically for planted aquariums called eco-complete.  It's already infused with fertilizers and enzymes and good bacteria and comes already rinsed and wet (the bags are thick and have water in them).  It finally came yesterday. Yay.

We also water tested the tank yesterday since I had to reseal the corners and thankfully I did it right and there were no leaks.  Because it's freezing outside, we had to do it in the kitchen, but it actually worked out pretty well.

Filling

Draining, only had to use a bucket for the last 10 gallons or so.

We have D&D tomorrow, but I'm hoping to go pick up the last few items I need on Tuesday and then I can fill this darn thing for good.  I now have the money for it. lol

We've been bums this weekend and have mostly just been watching movies, it's been great.  Andy just started another one, so I better be done.

That Much Closer

I sold my old kindle and several of our DS and Game Boy Advance games and put all the money in the tank/tortoise fund.  That much closer to getting both. Yay!

I only have to buy a few more things to get my tank filled and cycling at least.  I need some tubing for the filter, a water test kit, and some plants and we're good to go, the rest I can get later.  I think I'll go get the tubing later today.  My plant substrate should be delivered later today as well.  If I can talk my husband into it, I'll water test the tank today too.  I can't wait until I get it going and it's done cycling so I can put fish in it!

Mental age

I have upped my nerdiness and added to my overall geekiness by joining a Dungeons and Dragons game.  It's all my husband's fault, he's a bad influence (hehe).  He has a history of getting me into these things. For example, "Just play a character to level 10 and if you don't like it I'll never mention it again." with World of Warcraft (I had three 85's when I quit). Anyway, he joined a friend's game a few months back but they had a player quit and just before Christmas he talked me into coming and trying it out.  I've been to three sessions now and I have to admit, it's been fun.  It's really different from most any game I've ever played, but fun.  Plus, I get to have some really cool dice and a cool chain mail dice bag!  Also, I really like the other couple that's playing.  They're fun to talk to and we have a lot of common interests.

Speaking of bad influence, among the other things I blame my husband for :), I have now started sipping coffee here and there.  As I sit here sipping one this morning, I had this odd sense of feeling older while doing it.  I mentioned that to Andy and he said, "Well maybe it's because it's something adults do."  I found this very funny and kind of profound.  I have often said that my mental age is far different from my physical age and I really hope I never grow up.  Physically I'm 33, mentally I peg myself to be about 18-21 with the occasional 12 year old outburst (I want my fishies and I want them now, dammit!).  I think it was my mental age feeling older while sipping coffee, as, often times, my mind still thinks it's a child and I find myself still thinking along the lines of, "Only adults do that.", so I think my husband pegged it on the nose.

Although I still don't really care for the taste of coffee, I like the caffeine boost without the sugar and I like that it's warm (it's cold at my work).  I have however, discovered that I really like tea.  I can't drink tea in the morning tho because it tends to relax me and make me sleepy so if I drink it at work I have to chase it with a Dew, which makes me cold again, and then I'm on a roller coaster that I can't get off and can make for a slightly cranky Stef at the end of the day. So tea is best avoided at work, lol.

Speaking of wanting fishies, I decided to sell my old Kindle and I found a buyer.  Yay for tank funds!  I'm also contemplating selling my Nintendo DS, since the only person to have played it in the last year was my niece.  If I do decide to sell it, I'll be able to have my tank up and running right now, which would be awesome!  This put ideas into my husband's head however and he is thinking about selling his DS as well so he can fulfill a long time want and get a tortoise.  I have to admit tho, tortoises are cute and I've always wanted a turtle, so it works close enough.

We're crazy lol

Got a some cleaning done and the Christmas stuff put away finally.  Wasn't sure about getting the tree out without getting needles all over the house, but then, since we were going to cut it into fire wood anyway, I got an idea.  I grabbed a box and my cutters and just cut all the branches off where it was.  All Andy had to do was toss the trunk out back and Tony was nice and took the box of branches to the shed and I only had one place to vacuum up.  Worked great!

Tony bought two 10 gallon fish tanks to take back to Cali with him, but then was given a 30 and didn't have room for both 10's in his car so he gave us one of the 10's so now we have two tanks.  We've been cleaning the 10's this morning so they will be ready to use when needed.  Later we'll fill the 55 to see if it will hold water.  I had to reseal it so it has to be tested.  I was able to order some substrate for it, but I'll have to wait still to get it up and running.  I've got my old kindle up for sale and once it's gone I'll be able to buy a few more things for it and then maybe I can at least get it cycling.

This is what I mean by cycling  http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/125/1/The-almost-Complete-Guide-and-FAQ-to-Fishless-Cycling/Page1.html Doing a fishless cycle is a new concept to me but after reading this, I don't think I could ever do it any other way again.  Setting up a tank isn't as easy as just going and grabbing some gravel, filling it up, letting it run til it's clear and then tossing in some fish like I've always done, which is why I have to wait.

Happy New Year

2011 ended rather well despite a few hiccups.

The husband and I finally went on a much needed vacation over Thanksgiving, first visiting and eating turkey with my brother and his clan in Nevada, and then heading over to Cali to visit a good friend.  This involved a Harley ride, an excellent meal and lots of full bellies, an evening around a backyard fire pit, a ride on the world's tallest roller coaster (nyah nyah to my sis :), several rides up and down the coast and beach time for the first time ever!  (I don't count the one quick trip several years ago where I got to be on the beach for all of an hour and didn't even get to get my feet wet) It also involved playing with wild hermit crabs, gathering shells, a possible drug dealer next door in a slightly questionable hotel, lots of laughs and good food and great conversation.

There was a mix up and family drama about Christmas plans but it all worked out in the end even tho lots of traditions got broken and left behind.  Change is always hard but it actually ended up being nice, if weird for everyone, and quite a bit less stressful for us in particular.  My hunney and I ended up getting the exact same thing for each other, a Kindle Touch, which was hilarious, but we were both very happy about it.
We said goodbye to the old and rang in the new with a party at my sister's that was great fun as always.  Although we are all getting old, we yelled and screamed in the new year and then shortly thereafter, everyone called it a night LOL

So far 2012 is fine but frustrating.

Changes are still happening at work, but they are happening far too slowly for my taste and I have found myself being too bored, which sucks.  The politicking is still running strong tho and that never ceases to amaze me.  It does however show you loud and clear who people really are.  Good thing my new team is now their own department and hopefully we will no longer be dealing with the politics.

Between Christmas and New Year's I purchased a great 50 gallon (actually about 53) freshwater fish tank for a great price from a friend and it has become a big source of both excitement and frustration.  It came with the tank, stand, hood and light, nets, air pump, and a canister filter which all sounds great until it comes to actually setting it up.  I had to buy a heater, water treatment, a new light (which ended up not fitting), tank sealer (a couple corners were leaky), and media for the filter.  I over spent on just those few things.  It still needs substrate (gravel), tubing, airstones, check valves for the air pump, a floating thermometer, tube clamps, suction cups, some parts for the filter that are missing, a water test kit, some stuff to help cycle the tank before I can put fish in, and, of course, plants.  I'll add fish once it's fully set up and cycled, which is an expense in and of itself.  Oh and then I discovered the strip light is faulty and takes forever to get it to turn on (if at all) and then it shuts itself off after just a few minutes, so that will have to be replaced.  My new project will just have to wait for another paycheck (sigh).  I'm still excited about it, but frustrated at waiting.  Those of you that know me, know I am not good in the patience department.  I'm all about instant satisfaction! lol  Guess I'll just keep reading up on the proper way to setup and keep a fish tank so I can do it right this time.

When we first got it home

Emptied

Cleaned - Vinegar worked awesome!