Pet Maintenance
I spent my Sunday--the first one I've had alone in the house forever--doing what? Yes, that's right ... mucking out the chicken house and trying to get the fishtanks under control.
The chickens were easy. An hour with them, and they're all good and happy, gifting me with four more eggs.
The fishtanks are another matter.
The 37 gal is doing fine. I've lost a couple of fish to attrition over the last year, but the algae is pretty much gone (thanks to very hungry American-Flag fish), and the pH is higher than I am used to, but still very respectable. Go tank!
The 30 gal hex is seeing a bit of fish attrition as well, but mostly due to old fish and the heatwave we had a bit ago. When the temperatures go up to 85 in the tank, there are few fish that can tolerate it. On top of that, the tank has a pernicious case of black/red brush algae. I may end up having to replace the majority of plants in that tank to deal with it (pricy), but in the mean time, I've moved the surviving flag fish in there. There's only three of them (2 from he 37 gal and one from the 75) and they're all hanging out as a mini school. I'm always leery of swapping fish around, but they're looking good.
The 75 gal is a mess. Pure and simple. The pH had gone down to minus 5.8 (that being the lowest my kit reads), and I've had a hell of a time bringing it back up. As of today, it's now to 6.2 which is a VAST improvement, but I still don't think it's stable. All the other water readings are fine, which is great, but it didn't help the half dozen fish who died (2 corys, 2 discus, 3 flag fish and all the shrimp). Argh. On top of that, it has a horrible case of the black/red brush algae. I spent most of the afternoon trimming infected plants, vacuuming out detritus and doing a large waterchange in the hopes of getting things under control. I have a feeling my anubias are going to have to be tossed, though we'll see if a trim will encourage new, non-algae'd growth. If not, out they come and I buy new plants for that tank as well.
I can't buy new fish for that tank until the pH is stable, and even then, I don't know what I'd put in it. More discus? Congo tetras (which I like but grow up to eat other fish)? I dunno. Right now it has loaches, a couple of discus, a pair of gold gourmais and a herd of otos. I don't know what I'd put with them, and it won't matter anyway, not until I get the algae and the pH under control.
And how did the pH go that far down? As far as I can tell, it was from the large hunk of bogwood I had in there. Really, that's all I can think of. My tap water is in the excellent range for pH. So yeah ... just don't know, especially since the other two tanks are doing fine. Go figure.
So yeah, that was my day. I think it's time for fizzy water for an upset stomach, then to take a nap. Yeah. Naaaaap.
The chickens were easy. An hour with them, and they're all good and happy, gifting me with four more eggs.
The fishtanks are another matter.
The 37 gal is doing fine. I've lost a couple of fish to attrition over the last year, but the algae is pretty much gone (thanks to very hungry American-Flag fish), and the pH is higher than I am used to, but still very respectable. Go tank!
The 30 gal hex is seeing a bit of fish attrition as well, but mostly due to old fish and the heatwave we had a bit ago. When the temperatures go up to 85 in the tank, there are few fish that can tolerate it. On top of that, the tank has a pernicious case of black/red brush algae. I may end up having to replace the majority of plants in that tank to deal with it (pricy), but in the mean time, I've moved the surviving flag fish in there. There's only three of them (2 from he 37 gal and one from the 75) and they're all hanging out as a mini school. I'm always leery of swapping fish around, but they're looking good.
The 75 gal is a mess. Pure and simple. The pH had gone down to minus 5.8 (that being the lowest my kit reads), and I've had a hell of a time bringing it back up. As of today, it's now to 6.2 which is a VAST improvement, but I still don't think it's stable. All the other water readings are fine, which is great, but it didn't help the half dozen fish who died (2 corys, 2 discus, 3 flag fish and all the shrimp). Argh. On top of that, it has a horrible case of the black/red brush algae. I spent most of the afternoon trimming infected plants, vacuuming out detritus and doing a large waterchange in the hopes of getting things under control. I have a feeling my anubias are going to have to be tossed, though we'll see if a trim will encourage new, non-algae'd growth. If not, out they come and I buy new plants for that tank as well.
I can't buy new fish for that tank until the pH is stable, and even then, I don't know what I'd put in it. More discus? Congo tetras (which I like but grow up to eat other fish)? I dunno. Right now it has loaches, a couple of discus, a pair of gold gourmais and a herd of otos. I don't know what I'd put with them, and it won't matter anyway, not until I get the algae and the pH under control.
And how did the pH go that far down? As far as I can tell, it was from the large hunk of bogwood I had in there. Really, that's all I can think of. My tap water is in the excellent range for pH. So yeah ... just don't know, especially since the other two tanks are doing fine. Go figure.
So yeah, that was my day. I think it's time for fizzy water for an upset stomach, then to take a nap. Yeah. Naaaaap.