# JKfish's NPT/ Holistic Pet Keeping Journal



## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Hey all, since it's summer time, I figure it is the perfect time to make a lot of changes to my pet keeping in general.

So far, I have two distinct goals that I will be documenting via this thread. 1) convert my two 10 gallons into NPTs using the Walstad method. 2) Switch my diabetic bichon over to a raw diet based off the prey-model.



> *NPT1*: Heated and cycled 10 gallon
> Fauna- Panache the HMPK, too many pone snails, too many MTS
> Flora- Aponogeton bulbs, moneywort, wisteria- all dying
> Substrate- Flourite
> ...





> *Here is a letter I wrote to my vets on 5/23/12, it explains what raw feeding is, why I wish to do so, what is preventing me from switching him, possible medical issues that need to be adressed before continuing, etc. ... Still no response from them (I obviously excluded my name and those of my vets for safety)...*
> Hello,
> 
> This is JK, and I just want to reach Dr. G or Dr. S because I have a few questions regarding Rex and his diet.
> ...


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

*NTPs :*
So, I had bought organic valley potting soil. To be honest, it sucks.... way too much clay >.< I guess that's what I get for living in Georgia. I'm going to try and convince my mom to drive me out to homedepot while she's doing her errands, maybe I can pick up some non enhanced top soil. From what I hear, top soil tends to be easier to use simply because it doesn't have all the additives that most potting soils seem to use. If not top soil, somebody has suggested that I use Miracle Grow Organic Assorted Potting Soil. He says it is full of additives, but if I mineralize it, or at the very least rinse it out several times, that most of the additives will wash out safely. Seing as the potting soil I have currently is so full of clay, I could probably mix it in with whatever else I get to add a bit of iron 

I ordered my plants today from Planted Aquarium Central and they should be here Monday ( YAAAAAAY!) . I figure I bought enough for the two 10 gallons, seeing as the plants currently in there have decided that life simply isn't for them XD . 

The order:
1 bunch of Alternanthera reineckii "roseafolia"
1 Nymphaea stellata bulb (dwarf lilly)
2 bunches of Hydrocotyle leucocephala (Pennywort)
2 clumps of Lilaeopsis mauritiana (microswords) for NPT2
1 bunch of Myriophyllum Pinnatum (green fox tail)
1 potted Hygrophila corymbosa Stricta
1 potted Cryptocoryne undulta
1 bunch of anachris

It's a little bit of everything, and I'm still planning how I want to set the tanks up. NPT2 has my little siblings' fish in them, so they asked for certain plants, like the microsword and the dwarf lily.... we'll see how it looks 

Since they're coming, I need to make a trip out to petsmart or something that sells tank hoods and light strips soon... NPT1's lights are a disgrace, and I can't stand the hood, the feeding flap is itty bitty. :/ I was hoping that I could find some for sale relatively cheap on craigslist, ebay, etc but nope... the ones that were up were priced higer than the new ones  . 

Oh, and I'm hoping to find some "driftwood" in the forest behind the house soon. There's an old dead oak or two back there, but it requires a long walk down a steep slope through thorns ... That little excursion will have to wait until my sprained ankle heals.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Here's a starting pic of the two tanks. Forgive the emptiness... In the past month or so my plants have been dying off.  I've been forgetting to add the ferts (the flourite is now well over a year old, and I don't think it's got very much left in it to give to the plants), and the lights are/were funky :|

soon to be NPT1 (Panache on the left.... nobody on the right)










Soon to be NPT2(Salabite on the left, Draco on the right)


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Sounds like a good plan, and since you have a forest out back...why not collect your soil from that area to use. I like to collect my soil on the side/slope of my hill in my forest/pasture area...I scrape off the top layer to expose the soil-then dig the first few inches-then sift to remove any large organics.

What floating plants are you going to use.....

Look forward to pic...hope your ankle heals up quickly....

Edit-Unless you have proper lights the plants can't use the food.....


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks OFL  I just changed out the light strip for the second tank.... the lights didn't say exactly how many kelvin it was, but it is 15 watts and claims to be full spectrum... I'm going to stop back at petsmart and buy another light strip for the first tank (and this time ask an employee if they know exactly what the spectrum is ^-^ ). Both tanks are in well lit areas by windows,(you just can't tell in the first one because it was cloudy out), so with the added sunshine the 1.5 watts per gallon will hopefully be enough.

Hopefully the soil is good... the one thing that worries me is that the forest is literally right behind a large subdivision, and only about a quarter to half of a mile away would be a middle school; it's a thin stretch of woods, which makes me wonder if the soil could possibly already be contaminated by run off pesticides, weed killers, and all that nasty stuff. :/

As for the floaters, I have to ask my dad for a few water lettuce from his aquaponic systems.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

When in doubt...don't use it....

Yes, that added natural light will help a lot...when you are using dirt the high nutrients can handle the natural light and even recommended....

That proper color temp bulbs..as you already know....is so important for photosynthesis....Daylight bulbs are what I like to use 6500k...I get them in the lighting dept not the aquarium section...cheaper...lol....

Light strips I use the cheaper ones I found in the lighting section-one was an under cabinet type and another was for growing plants...they don't look all that great-but get the job done...lol...I remove their plastic covers and replaced bulbs-but I also keep open top tanks for best light penetration to the plants-I use yard sticks cut to fit on the inner lip of the tank for the light strip to rest on-pretty strong too...they can hold up a 15lb cat...lol....heat seekers...laffs....this way I can place two light strips over the tanks and creates a hood of sorts-plus more light....

Hopefully, along with the added natural light and the extra CO2 the decomp will naturally create-your Roseafolia will stay red...nice plant by the way..but can be picky sometimes....

Water lettuce is a great choice....


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Okay... I'll have to check out lighting sections in Walmart and Homedepot then~

Lol, I can't imagine a 15 pound cat balancing or laying on a yardstick right over a tank! XD That is one brave kitty.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

So, I decided to rinse out/ halfway mineralize the potting soil, and I have to say that I'm pleased with the results. I stuck a lot of the dirt in a tub, added water, stirred it up, and let it settle. There were a lot of floaters, so I poured out most of the water, and with a little bit over the soil, I used my fingers to sift through the top surface. The little bits of bark and twigs were on the top, and the heavier mud/dirt was on the bottom, so removing all of the unwanted extra wood was easy enough to get rid of. After that, I dumped and smoothed everything onto stretched out garbage bags. I'd say at least half of it was washed away in the process, but what's left is significantly less red/clayish.  I mean, there is still a lot of clay clumps, but I'll deal with them. The mud is approximately 1 cm deep, so it'll dry quickly.

Pics of the drying mud-








i'm still considering trying to get a bag of the Miracle grow top soil, or some other top soil mentioned in a previous post. Maybe after rinsing it down/off several times, I can mix the mud and top soil 50/50 to create a nice mixture of clay-dirt and real dirt for the plants.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

So, I got an email late last night saying the plants are on their way over! Now I'm feeling a bit nervous.... I hope by the time they get here my ankle will be healed enough to empty the tanks out. I can definately walk on it now with a brace, but I don't know how well carrying 5 gallon buckets will work out. :/ I could always empty the tanks out a gallon at a time, but that'd be a pain in the butt. I also need to find my API master test kit... It's missing D: I suppose I could either buy a new one, or just play this by ear/sight/how well the fishies are doing. Both tanks are cycled, so I don't think I have too much to worry about once I turn the filters back on.

Worryworting aside, I'm ready. I've got approximately 4-6 sterilite containers. One is holding the dirt, two will hold the old flourite substrates from the tanks that will go ontop of the dirt, one can hold all the plants in some water, and if I have another two, they'll hold some old tank water with the filters running in them to keep the cycle alive. If not, I have buckets 

I'm thinking that I will be moving my tank with Panache in it down to the main floor, simply because the main floor gets a wonderful ammount of light (natural and artificial), much more than my room. It'd look really nice in the family room once all the plants have grown in.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

So, today was the day for my NPTs!

The plants arrived by 1 o'clock







I was freaking out... They were packaged great, and a few extras were tossed in . The Pennywort was getting a little yellow around the edges, but then again, any plant would be after several days in a box. 

I decided to tear down the divided NPT first, because I wanted my little siblings to be able to pick and chose whatever plants they wanted.








What was distressing though, is I didn't have enough prepared soil for both tanks! (I never did end up getting the Miracle grow potting soil, we'll see how this goes)...








My little 7 year old brother did his side first. It has pennywort, the roseafolia, the dwarf lilly, the foxtail or narrow leaf anacrhis (they both look remarkably similar), an aponogeton bulb, and one of the hygrophilias.








Unfortunately, my dad had gotten rid of all the water lettuce... I have no floaters! D: Water changes will have to be at least once a day for a while in order to keep the nutrient levels managable until the plants start to grow for me.

This was the end result. It's cloudy, so I'll do another water change if it doesn't clear up in a few hours. I must say, I'm proud of my little sister (12 years old).  She arranged her side (the right side) very well. It has the same plants as my little brother, but with microsword instead of the dwarf lilly, and the crypt instead the the hygrophilia.








Since I didn't have enough soil for my tank, I had to lug out the potting soil and rinse enough to fill it. I made a mess, but figured it'd be okay. Then, on top of the mess, I moved my tank to the main floor, where the most natural sunlight is. Even though it's the family room, my grandpa spends the most time there and had forbidden the tank from being on the main floor... well... there is the saying "sometimes it is easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission." That experience has told me that it is a load of bull! XD My mom was furious, my grandpa was a bit peeved, and I had to go scrub down the house and deck because I tracked mud around.

Here's my tank. By the time I got around to setting it up, I was feeling a bit shakey because I'd only had a light breakfast. I probably could have been a bit more careful when setting it up together, but I was hungry, so I sort of tossed it together. Hopefully it'll look better as the gaps fill in my slapdash effort. It is also cloudy and has no floaters, but I'll be doing water changes until it is clear andd the plants start to grow. The plants are pennywort, hygrophilia, some wisteria, one little itty bitty stalk of moneywort I rescued from my tank, an aponogeton bulb, a tiny clump of microsword that my little sister missed, anacrhis narrowleaf/foxtail, roseafolia, etc.








The bettas are all in their respective tanks, happy, and exploring. I tossed in all the mts that I could find in the gravel, but I'm not sure how happy they are with me. It's been a few hours, and they're all still clumped up in their shells and not moving. The pond snails are just fine :roll: But they don't burrow. Hopefully my mts will get to burrowing and keeping the soil from compacting. If I see them in the same place tomorrow, I'll run to a petstore and wheedle a few from the fishlady. She's really nice, and I doubt she'll be upset if I take a few from the plant tank, it's simply crawling with all sorts of snails! XD.

.... It's odd looking at my NPT, because I'm so used to it being divided. When it's not split in half, it looks so much bigger! Panache is incredibly happy with all the extra space, but it looks really empty.... maybe when the tank is stable and fills in, I'll pick up a few shrimps. If not shrimps, then I'd be stuck between a group of cory cats or a small group of platies. I love the way cories look and act, but the gravel might hurt their barbels. I love the platie's colors and the fact that they'd stand out, but unless I pick up all male, I'd have an explosion of fry. Decisions, decisions XD


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Good job....I am sure you did this already....but make water changes until the water is crystal clear...its important for the water to be clear for good light penetration to the plants...

The tanks are going to look great once they fill in and that won't take that long either....the high nutrient soil really gets them growing fast.....


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

thanks OFL. I already have done the water changes, and it's crystal clear. The fish are loving it- I found draco resting on the crypt leaves-, the snails are digging about, and I think I see some new leaves on the Pennywort ...The roseafilia is an incredible color, the undersides of its leaves are this beautiful irridesent pink! I love looking at the plants, lol, they're so pretty when they pearl! I'm going to try and get better pictures, the earlier ones were when they were still cloudy.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Awesome...look forward to seeing pics as the tanks fill out and grow....


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

JK, thanks so much for making this thread and posting pics as you go. I so want to do this!!! So it's great reading other people's experiences. With a possible house move coming up, though.. maybe I'll wait til spring. 

I thought it was great you let your brother and sister have a side to plant each, I enjoyed seeing the result - they did a great job! 

Did you end up being allowed to leave the tank on the main floor?


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Thank you Aus and OFl 

My grandparents and mom have grudgingly said alright XD. Of course, they're all saying "Those are the last pets! No more fish! I'm done!" .... but they always say that, lol. Of course, I don't plan on another tank (I'll be off to college in about a year and bringing Panche's tank with me.), so I'll be more or less following the no more pets rule.

I have pictures!

The camera was dying, but these were decent 

First is my tank with Panache... I had run out and bought different lights before, but I'm really hating the lighting (I don't think the plants like it either) which is a bummer. They're supposed to be "daylight, full spectrum" Lies. The one on the right has a rather distinct blue coloration, and the one on the left is just a funky color. Tomorrow, I'll return the lights and go ahead and buy a proper glass hood and nice lightstrip like the second tank has. 








The snails are happy though, when I watch closely, every now and again I'll see gravel shift because the mts are rooting around. I'm going to have to capture a few and toss them in the second tank. The ones in the second tank aren't quite as abundent yet.








Panache is happy too  Panache is chill... as always... Lol, sometimes I think he's a bit... special. He tends to swim very slowly and stare off into space quite a bit, sometimes I catch him staring at the plants for several minutes at a time... just sort of floating there without moving his fins. But, he's always been like that and he's my finkid. On a side note, platies and guppies are a dollar in petsmart right now. They'll need about approximately a month of qt, so if I buy them soon, by the time they're ready to go in the tank, it'll be lush and full of hiding spots.








Here is the second NPT, the one shared by my little siblings. I'm seeing a lot of new leaves on the pennywort, and I found two new leaves on the dwarf lilly! The roseafilia is pearling in the tank, and I swear I see a new set of leaves coming in. It's a beautiful red now.








My little brother's and Salabite's side. Salabite has a bubble nest going on. He's flaring up a storm at Draco, which is a bit nerve wracking, because he seems to blow his tail quite a bit. It's a pain patching him up, and his tail never grows back quite right.... however, his colors seem to pop against the greens, and he seems super happy.








My little sister's and Draco's side. Draco is extremely laid back, and seems to care less about the raging fish to his left. I need him to flare though, he had gone through a pretty bad case of finbiting, and his ct tail is finally growing back in. However, because he's not flaring, the ray reduction isn't as drastic as it needs to be. I think he's trying to go from wannabe plakat to a wannabe delta... >.<








All the fish are active as can be, and enjoy laying on the plants. However, I notice all the boys seem to clamp up when they stay still too long....  I'm not sure what to think of that, because when they're swimming they're fine, and they're colored, no signs of distress, still eating like pigs, and no stress stripes. I did four 25% water changes throughout the day yesterday in both tanks (I should technically do another few today on Panache's seeing as it still isn't as perfectly crystal clear as I want it to be) and I'm wondering if all the water changing has got them clamping slightly.


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Looks good. I use lots of soil NPTs, so I could have given you advice on starting.
You look like you did just fine without me though! lol. 

As far as the lighting, I prefer the 6500k 'Cool white' or 'Daylight' bulbs from wal-mart. Your tanks will be getting plenty of full spectrum from the windows. The fixtures just need to give a little boost. (Plus, the bulbs are only $4.)

Soils that are 30-60% clay are actually GREAT for NPT's- Clay's full of nutrients that terrestrial plants can't use. In the early days of fishkeeping, everyone used Laterite as an enriched substrate- It's just a red clay from south america.

To prevent anaerobic spots, I'd really encourage you to fine some small echinodorus species to plant in each tank.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Oh, it looks like there is construction going on across from the house ... THey're knocking down trees, and one looks to be a big dead oak! Oh my, the branches are full of dried oak leaves.... I'm really tempted to hobble on over there with my bum ankle and drag a few limbs back home XD You never know when oak leaves are necessary! I might even be able to drag off a nice hunk of "driftwood"... if only the bulldozers would leave so I could do that.

Thank you, RedCigh.  I did get the bulbs from walmart, they were the swirly flourescent bulbs to fit the hood. But the hood is inconvienent as well. XD Lol I'm definately going to make a trip back tomorrow and swap them out for the strips if they're only 4 dollars!


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

You could add a few leaves to each tank, but the wood would take too much prep work I think.

Also, on the holistic diet topic, you can buy whole ground rabbits and squirrel online pretty cheap. (Probably the normal prey for wolves, and it includes all the organs.)


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Wow, great job! Thanks for the pics.  It'll look awesome when the plants take off and get really bushy, which probably won't take long. 

And it's great reading posts from OFL and redchigh.. your experience is awesome to have around.

JK, are you putting the guppies in with the bettas? I've read a lot about why they don't make great tank mates..mainly aggression, but different water needs too.. I'm not sure about platies, though. 

If you use wood from the oak, age it about a year (or two) outside the tank, in case of green sap residue. The leaves will be cool, if nobody uses sprays near them at all. I'm on the lookout for a good supply of oak, but close-to-inner city living means I just can't trust they're clean.  

Looking forward to more progress reports!


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Hmm... echinodorus would be swords and such, correct? I have microswords in my little sister's side, and I could probably take a few pieces and stick them in the other side and my tank as well.

For raw feeding, I've heard of a nice site...I think it's haretoday.com. I'm still waiting to hear back from the vets... I might just send them another email.  I don't want to bug them (summer is insanely busy over there), but I need info my dog's glucose levels for the meter.

Thanks Aus  The oak branches and leaves are being run over and buried as I type... so that's a no go... ah well XD The guppies or platies would just be with Panache. He's so docile, I think he'd be fine sharing space with them in the 10 gallon


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Microswords don't really have the massive root systems that real echinodorus species have.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

okay  do you have any specific species you would recommend?


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## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

echinodorus blehirae var compacta is good... (Actually Blehirae X parviflorus)

Echinodorus 'Klienar Prinz', Echinodorus “Red Flame”, and maybe even Echinodorus “Ozelot” would fit in a 10G. (ozelot is the largest, so try to find the others first.)


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

redchigh said:


> Looks good. I use lots of soil NPTs, so I could have given you advice on starting.
> You look like you did just fine without me though! lol.


Laffs....Do I not count.......I guess you haven't seen my tanks that I have been keeping for near 10 years.....laffs.....I also keep nothing but the soil based systems...take a look at my album......


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Okay, Day 4...

so, I went to petsmart today and picked up three very colorful platies (all male)... They're in a 4 gallon qt tub right now, though they all look extremely healthy and (maybe a little too) vigerous. The redwag is the largest, hungriest, and apparently the most agressive... I think he thinks the other two are females, despite the very obvious gonopodiums... XD The other two are slight smaller sunburst and orange mickeymouse colored platies. I've gone ahead and stuck a cave in there, which the mickey mouse one has claimed... The sunburst one is hanging near it, for the most part being sure to stay out of sight of the red wag. >.< It's going to be a loooong month for the two smaller platies XD









Along with the platies, I got the better lights and hood for Panache's tank. It's incredible just how much more light the tank recives when it has a glass hood and proper light strip!








I'm a bit concerned about Draco and Salabite in the second npt... I was watching them swim in the sunlight, and it almost looked like there were little specks of sparkles between their scales... almost like velvet!  I'll have to investigate further when it is dark and I can use a flashlight. I just hope it isn't velvet... 








Draco's side 








Salabite's side... Salabite has freakishly long pectoral fins... his right pecttoral is 3/4ths red... you can see the red in the pic! The last quarter is clear. Despite the long pectorals, he swims very, very well~ They're long and slender, really pretty~








It's pretty incredible to see how fast the plants are growing! The dwarf lilly arrived with three leaves,and now it has seven!








The roseafolia is doing well too. It (all of them in both tanks) started growing what looks like flowers! I don't know what they are, but they're pretty cool~


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Very nice....its amazing how well plants will grow in high nutrient dirt along with proper lighting...It will be filled in before you know it.....


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Thanks OFL. I'm really surprised how easy this is! I don't have a green thumb (I've even killed cactuses if that shows you how bad I am at keeping plants), so it's really surprising and rewarding to see the plants and fish so ridiculously happy. 
~~
It turns out I don't have a flashlight though, so I can't check Draco and Salabite. I'm not crazy worried, seeing as they're both acting fine, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

Also, the sunburst platie died... It was perfectly fine when I went to bed, and when I woke up to feed them, it was literally floating belly up. :/ I'm not sure what killed it, but the other two seem perfectly fine. To be safe, I've done a 100% water change after scrubbing down the tub, and I'm considering dropping in 1 tsp of epsom salt per gallon just incase it was an internal parasite that did him in. The poor mickeymouse platie is having to hide from the redwag, though the redwag's agression has dropped significantly... Seeing as the dead platie was still in the 14 days, I'll bring him back as proof and ask if I can pick out another platy to disperse the remaining agression between the two.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Sorry for your loss....I do hope it happened in a QT and they are not exposed to the Bettas......always a good idea to Qt for at least 3 weeks-this time-line starts over if they have to be treated or any die....

Success with live plants is a lot easier than a lot think....as long as you have proper lights to promote photosynthesis-aquatic plants are really easy to grow even without dirt substrate.....

Its amazing at how you will see behavior changes in the livestock when you have thriving live plants......


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Yes, they are in a 4 gallon qt tank with 78 degree water... I would like to get a larger one, but that's the largest one I have at the moment, so 100% water changes will be done once a day.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Raw feeding

So, I'm in a bit of an odd situation.... The dog food has run out sonner than I thought it would. The vets haven't gotten back to me, and there is a chicken wing thawing in a tubberware next to me. I've been roaming around looking for the stamp scale that measures in the hundredths of an ounce rather accurately, and I can't find it. On top of that, i have no idea what ammount of insulin i should give him because i don't have a glucose meter. 

So, I'm going to be playing this one by ear more or less. He should be fine with 3 units, I'm assuming, since this is his very first meal. One of my diabetic people friends suggested getting one touch as a glucose meter, he says that it is good quality, and relatively cheap, though the test strips are what cost a fortune... I'll run out to walmart with my dad and grab one. Hopefully the vets will get back to me when I email them explaining the situation... Fingers crossed!  

I need to feed Rex about 2.49 to 2.68 oz of meat (thank goodness he is a small dog and doesn't need too much meat per meal) and a bit of bone.... Obviously there is about equal parts bone and meat (not good)... But it'll be his first meal and http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawfeeding/ says that first meals don't always have to be the ideal amount of meat vs bone vs organ... It's more about swapping your dog and getting him or her and his or her body accustomed to a new diet...


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## Olympia (Aug 25, 2011)

Hehe I hope he enjoys that! My boxer literally cringed her face when we tried giving her raw food and spit it out immediately. Spoiled dog. xD
Also, curious, are dogs born with diabetes? Or do they get it like people do?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Haha, he loved it! No need for tough love XD. The first meal, I was sooo scared he was going to inhale it. He slowed down and probably tasted his dinner, though. Dogs can develop it... I think his is genetic.  he developed it about a year and a half ago, he was around 9, so middle aged, despite a relatively good kibble and daily walks.

I've requested that my dad make a trip out to the ethnic market that he passes on his way back to work. (i love the variety and how inexpensive the meat cuts are) I need different cuts of unenhanced pork, beef, liver, heart...etc. Chicken is nice, but dogs need the red meats. lol maybe i could even ask for a few whole fish to supplement Omega3... 

I'm going to do this right, whether or not the vets decide to help me. I'm still searching on reliable information on good blood glucose levels for dogs, how to use the meters, and so on and so forth.


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Gosh, Rex is a lucky dog to have you as a friend, JK! I remember years ago, one of the people who was first loudly supporting the raw meat diet... can't recall his name .. he bred Border Collies, magnificent dogs.. anyway, I loved reading his articles, and he was on TV a few times because apparently feeding your dog raw meat only was a real scandal! Probably was, seeing as most vets get kickbacks from dog food and pharmacy suppliers.. There was heavy criticism. Because.. y'know.. NO dog has EVER survived by just eating RAW meat!!:roll:

Your tanks are looking wonderful, btw. How's it all going? Looking forward to more progress & pics!


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

NPTs
Today is day 8, and they're doing magnificently! I'm seeing a few rotting just slightly around the root area, so I'm going to do a water change today, then get a toothpick and poke around the gravel just slightly to make sure those areas aren't developing anerobic spots. I might pull those two or three stems up and clip them to a healtheir part where the roots are growing, that way I can rebury them with intact root systems..

Here's the first NPT. Panache is a happy betta, the plants are happy plants, and I'm a happy person~








I had tossed in a few aponogeton bulbs that I wasn't completely sure were alive or not... these bulbs have been with me for over 2 years now, through thick and thin. Recently, several of them had sort of died on me, but I kept the bulbs. Anyways, 8 days later... they're alive! (Insert thunder, lightning and mad scientist laugh here). I see a tiny little green bud.








The hygrophila is doing wonderfully as well... I wish I had a better camera to show you just how bushy it has gotten. This photo does it no justice








I got two more platies yesterday from the same petstore (same tanks even), and decided to toss them in with the other two. 20 more days of qt. They were all over the place, so sizes are not truly as they are. Left to right: Mickey (orange mickey- 3rd largest), Ricky The Bully (Redwag- easily the largest), Pheonix (Marygold w/ mickey tail- 2nd largest), and Flicker (yellow mickey- smallest).








Here is the second NPT. The plants are exploding with growth as well! Draco and Salabite have upped the antie.... They've both got two bubblenests maintained and are flaring quite a bit~









The crypt is doing super well, but that one pennywort is starting to die, it's melting from the leaf down... I'm going to pull it out. :/ 









Holy cow, the dwarf lily is getting giant! Again, I wish I had a better camera. It's having a hard time capturing the color. It's got a green color with red polkadots and a red sheen in certain lights. Magnificent! I didn't look at it yesterday, and I can assure you that in 24 hours that one super large leaf doubled in size, and the that long leaf sprouted half the tank's height. I'm not sure where I read this, but apparently the long leaves need to be trimmed before the reach the surface, otherwise the lilly tries to send them all to the surface... is this true? Also, I think my little brother chose a bad spot for it! XD If I had known how big the leaves were, I would have made him stick it closer to the center of his side, wheter he liked it or not!









The foxtail is growing well too! I'm finding new branches like this one!









Microswords are starting to grow well~ I'm seeing little leaves starting to poke out from the gravel. 









Oh, and apparently the malasian trumpet snails like climbing? I'm finding snail poop on all of my plants >.< 









Raw feeding!
Haha, thanks Aus  A scandal you say? Oh my! XD I'd better watch out for pitchforks and torches, I suppose! ...It's incredibly easy and pretty cheap, especially when you take into account the vet bills dropping due to him being in tiptop shape. Porknecks were a tiny bit over a dollar per pound at H-Mart, beef necks were 2 dollars per pound, and chicken livers were slightly under a dollar per pound. People might not always be open to relatively new ideas, especially when it seems like it'll take a bit more time and research than following the norm. 

Oh, and I might post pics of him eating raw at my dad's place... I've gotta bring him over there tonight so I can teach my dad how to raw feed and inject him with insulin. If anybody is put off by seeing a dog eat raw pork neck, speak now or forever hold your peace.


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

Looking good.....

I really love my tiger lily plant....I like to let it send leaves to the surface to float like lily pads. I propagate off mine with a razor blade.

Apons-I have several of the corms too.....and they die back on a regular basis and re-sprout-they really hate to be moved very much.... 

I got both my lily and apon bulbs/corms from walmart that came in the small package dry- about 8 years ago.....got a 50/50 growth....I don't bury either of them...I just let them sit on the surface and allow them to send their roots into the substrate.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

Algae! D: it's all over my pennyworts and it's invading the glass of NPT number 1.  I wipe it off easily enough, but it's being persistent. And here I was thinking it'd never come! Lol. Anyways, it's been a bit, but the plant growth is stunning, I'll post pics in a couple of hours once the camera charges!

The plates have internal parasites. They had perfectly normal poop until yesterday. I think the Epsom salt I've been keeping them in as a caution is working. Darn. Well, I'll go pick up fizzing tablets or something, no misses nice lady anymore. Die parasites! Haha, but apart from that, they are happy. They even come to the front of the qt tank to say yellow when they see me  

As for the raw feeding, I could never be happier. Rex's coat has softened significantly, and his teeth are pearly white ( note that they were pretty much brown when I started!)


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## Aus (Feb 3, 2012)

Fantastic news on Rex's teeth and coat - seems the raw meat diet is working quickly to improve his overall health. How's he adjusting, insulin and all?

Ugh, parasites. Quarantine is such a good idea, imagine those little nasties in with the bettas. Hope they clear up quick quickly, poor platies.

And yay, tanks! D'oh, algae .. but that should pass. Can't wait for some update pics!


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