# Sparrowhawk's Journal



## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

On Sunday, I had an awful shock with Falkor. My partner and I had visited a friend for the day, and when we got back, he had gone from beautiful, full fins to a half-gnawed off caudal and damaged dorsal and anal fins. Between midday and 9:00pm, he'd done this much damage to himself. I was horrified! And also wondering what I had done wrong to cause him to do this to himself.

Being my usual panicky, anxious self, I fluttered about for a while, berating myself for neglecting my baby, until my partner basically grabbed me by the shoulders and told me to go search my beloved betta forum for ideas, and _stop panicking_. I spent the rest of the evening going through all the things that could be causing him stress or boredom or the miriad of other things that cause tail biting, exhausting the search function on the topic and ended up even more confused than when I started. 

Needing to make a decision, I resolved to first change up the decor in his tank, with plans to purchase a larger home for him ASAP. The following day, I initially kept the light off, but noticing that there was no change in behaviour whether the lights were on or not. That day also happened to be Christmas Eve, the day my father was visiting, and the evening my partner and I needed to head to the country to visit his family. I was upset that I couldn't do any more for Falkor that day, but since he'd stopped biting, at least for that time, I stuck to routine until we left.

This morning, Christmas Day, my partner and I were instructed to go on a "treasure hunt" for our gift. We followed the trail of clues, from inside the house, around the property. At one point in the journey, attached to one of the clues, was one of those "exercise mirrors" for bettas. I'd been thinking of getting one for Falkor for once in a while, as I'm always afraid of holding a mirror to his tank for fear of him hurting himself on the glass, so I was delighted that my partner's family had thought of not only us, but our little boy. We headed back inside with the final destination being the Christmas tree. We then found out why we needed to go on the hunt. In the time it took us to find the clues and come back, two bettas had been placed under the tree, one for each of us. 

Initially, I was horrified that they were in tiny vases with nothing in them and no lids, but I hid that emotion because they'd obviously put a lot of thought into getting them for us, and gone over the set budget for presents set by the family to get us these boys (it's a large family so the budget for each person was $10, and the average price in our state for bettas is anywhere between $10-$20 each, usually on the upper end of the scale, plus the vases and food they'd bought). As for the conditions they were in, we found out that they'd just followed the instructions given to them at the pet store, so it was no surprise they were in those conditions. We packed the rest of our presents up as best we could, and prepared to take these poor little boys home. They braved the long train ride with us, and now they're safely in my living room.

As yet, we don't have enough equipment for proper housing for them, as we had no idea we were being given pets for Christmas. It was a beautiful surprise, and very kind of his family to have been so thoughtful of our interest in and love for fishy friends (they'd heard all about Falkor each time we called them). Unfortunately, I have only a 2 gallon, which Falkor occupies, and a tank of similar capacity but different dimensions that my first ever betta, Commander Worf, occupied over two years ago. Luckily, I have a spare heater, so one of the boys will be able to be nice and warm until I stores open tomorrow, but I'm kind of despairing for the other one. I hope he'll be okay until I can get some supplies for him.

So now our fishy family has grown from one to three, with the new veiltail and crowntail from today. Being an inexperienced fishkeeper, I'm quite daunted at the prospect of caring for three at once, and also healing two with chomped fins (the crowntail took a chunk out of his caudal fin, so I'll need to treat him along with Falkor for their injuries). My work is definitely cut out for me, but I'm still pretty ecstatic, despite the nervousness and disappointment in myself at letting Falkor get to a point where he mutilated himself. Eeep!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Last night I set up the old tank I had with the spare heater and a plant from Falkor's tank, and put the crowntail in there. I figured since he looked the most unhappy and was the least active that he would benefit most from a nice, big, space (the tank is 20% bigger than Falkor's) and some heat. My grandmother had prepared it for me before I'd got back from the country once she heard we'd been given bettas, and she also cleaned a large fishbowl type thing she had some ornaments in for the veiltail. It's not the best, but it's only temporary until we buy another tank today, and it's a vast improvement on the tiny vase he was in.

So far so good with the veiltail. Once he was set free in the larger body of water following acclimation, he immediately perked up and began exploring. He was eager to eat, and seems to be doing just fine, all things considered. We decided to name him Feyd, after the Baron Harkonnen's nephew in Dune, hehe. He's red and has a lot of personality shining through despite being put through a lot of stress, so I could imagine him as the cocky villain.

The crowntail however is not doing so well. He will not budge from the bottom of the tank, and just sits there moping most of the time, unless he needs to come up for air, or something is placed in front of the area he's sitting in that he doesn't particularly like. I'm very worried about him, and although I decided on a name for him, I'm scared of using it in case he doesn't make it.

I'll probably update again after making the trip to fetch all the equipment I need for these guys today.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm pretty ecstatic right now. Yesterday's shop was a success, the boys are safely in their new, heated, clean homes, and Weehawk has made a dramatic improvement! He's zipping about the tank with no problems now, and I've been able to raise the water level by 1/4 without any fuss whatsoever.

The only thing bringing down my mood right now is the idiot at the local pet shop, the only one that was open yesterday (boxing day). I went to get a heater for each of the new boys, and the "aquarium expert" there asked me what size tanks I had, and what fish I had. Upon hearing that I had two bettas, he tried selling me a heater suitable for a maximum of 7L, when these tanks are 10L and 15L. I'm an extremely timid person, and quietly spoke with my partner about the need for a more powerful heater, while this guy just looked at me like I was an idiot. Then again, I shouldn't have been surprised. It was the same guy who sold me and an ex a 10L tank with my first betta (Commander Worf) and 5 neon tetras and two snails. Trusting this moron, figuring that the people who work at pet shops know what they're talking about, I sent those poor things to an untimely death two and a half years ago. I guess since learning the correct way to do things I've always been quietly seething at this pet shop guy, but yesterday's debacle, though minor, sent me into a rage. Not to mention the two bettas they had in stock looked desperately in need of someone who'd actually take care of them, and having my hands full already, I couldn't do anything about it...

Aside from the rage-making experience, I also ordered NLS pellets online, so all of my boys will be eating awesome food as soon as it gets here. Speaking of food... I might get some live brine shrimp when I make the trip to one of the only two fish stores I actually trust, since I want to buy some floating plants for the new boys anyway. Falkor loved stalking and eating his live treats, I'd like to give the same experience to Feyd and Weehawk, since I think they've had nothing but mistreatment for most of their lives. 

So yeah. Definitely beyond excited and happy that Weehawk is recovering rapidly, and Feyd is getting used to his new surroundings too. I can't wait to have the funds to make all three of my boys' lives even better, and have plans for getting Falkor a bigger tank once I make sure the shelf he's situated on can support the weight of a tank the size of Feyd's.

Despite having my bank account pretty much cleared out, I am so happy that these two new guys get a good shot at a decent life. Though how I'm going to get those movie tickets for my partner and my anniversary this Saturday, I do not know. Perhaps I'll appeal to my grandma for help, haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ohh man, my wallet, it hurts so much! Just bought a bunch of silk plants to give Weehawk and Feyd more cover, and for Falkor when I upgrade his tank hopefully next weekend to a 15L like Feyd's.

Though I'm now well and truly broke, I can safely say that the money pain will be forgotten when I see my cute little boys happier with more stimulating surroundings when those silk plants arrive next week...


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

What two stores do you visit? I live in Melbourne too and have been to a couple of good, many not so good and a few absolutely appalling stores both in price and the quality of product they sell. 

Subscape in Richmond is one of the good ones for general fish nonsense (staff are really knowledgeable as one of the staff who works there actually breeds bettas and shows them) and Exotic Aquatic in Carnegie is good if you want something a little out of the ordinary in regards to plants and livestock. The owner is also super friendly and always gives us a very competitive price. 

Just saw in the other thread that you'd spent $300 on a tank and some equipment, and I think my eyes dropped out of my head haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

My stomach just about fell through the floor when I realised how much we'd spent, haha!

I love Exotic Aquatic! That's where I got Falkor, when I was just starting to know more about betta care, and they were fantastic with giving me information I hadn't yet read here. Also Aqueus in St Kilda, they're fantastic too. 

The place I spoke of with the ridiculous prices was the pet shop on Chapel Street, the one that used to have a separate aquarium store but merged into the one shop a couple of years back... The guy there, well I'd use a couple of expletives to describe him, but yeah... That was the only place readily accessible to us on Boxing Day, when we had to do the emergency shop, which really sucked. 

I plan to only visit Exotic Aquatic and Aqueus from now on, now that emergency shops shouldn't be necessary, but I'll check out Subscape too, since Richmond is close by.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Adrian and his wife are really nice people. Me and my mum just go in and sit there and talk for a couple of hours about dogs and fish. Always willing to try and get in what you need and he always has some unusual plant and fish stock in. 

Subscape is also great. Justin (the owner) still remembers my name even though I come in pretty sporadically. Got a custom betta barracks made up by them a while back, and staff are all very knowledgeable. One of the employees breeds and shows bettas and they get some very nice stock in (they also have one of the most humane betta set-ups I have seen in a store). 

I used to go to Coburg Aquarium but the staff there are horrible. One time I went in as the only customer in the fish room on a day I know it wouldn't have been busy and I had to approach a staff member and then asking him to get some blackworms was like asking him to walk across a bed of hot coals.

Never been to Aqueus as it is quite a drive for us. However, I have been wanting to go as the website is pretty flash and as a collector of slightly oddball fish I love having a poke around in new stores to see what they have in stock.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Subscape sounds great! I was planning to go there a while back but never got around to it. I'll definitely have to check them out... When I'm allowed to do fishy shopping again, haha. 

Hmm, the Coburg place sounds terrible.

I don't often go shopping for supplies or fish, only having the one betta before getting these latest two, and not planning to grow the family any time soon, but it's good to know where the good places are anyway.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh yeah, since this is a journal, I guess I'll update the situation with my boys.

Falkor is healing up from his tail-biting episode, and I haven't caught him doing it again since last Sunday and Monday. To say it terrified me would be an understatement. I'm extremely new to proper fish-keeping, and having a problem child on my hands already is extremely daunting. I've just been concentrating on keeping his water clean, changing up his decor, just trying to keep him occupied in good conditions. He's got a tank upgrade in the works, so I'll be able to provide him with more stimulation in the next week or fortnight, but I'm the most concerned about preventing infection/rot. Hopefully I can be a good fish parent and succeed in that. 

He seems to have some clear regrowth so far, but only a small amount. At first, I was concerned that it may be grey, and an indication of rot, but the poor thing had to put up with a flashlight until I got a good enough look at him to see that the brightness and iridescence of his fins made the clear appear that way. I did have a minor heart attack before seeing this though...

Weehawk also seems to have fin damage from before he was in our care. I'm not sure whether this is due to biting or ridiculously rough treatment (my partner's family told us about how the pet shop employee basically bashed both him and Feyd around while getting them prepared for transport). I haven't caught him chasing his tail, but he has been glass-surfing. I can't say I'm surprised, until the new silk plants arrive his and Feyd's tanks are very bare in comparison to what I'd prefer. He doesn't show any signs at all of any kind of illness, knock on wood.

Since both Feyd and Weehawk seem to be doing just fine now that they're in decent homes, I can turn my full attention back to my little luck-dragon, Falkor, and hope that those glorious fins will get back to their original state without issue. I hope that having more room to play with when he gets that tank upgrade will make him less inclined to chomp himself.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just finished clearing most of the bookshelf Falkor is on in preparation for his tank upgrade, yay! Sometimes I think I own far too many books. Only a fraction of the ones I own are on the bookcase in our room, and I've just relocated half from Falkor's shelf onto a couple of others, though I've had to keep the taller books on his shelf. So I've ordered some compact, lightweight bookends from eBay, and now all that has to be done is wait for the LED lighting, silk plants and the bookends to arrive, then purchase the new tank and heater, get it all set up, and BAM! Falkor will have double the space to live his fishy life in. Booyah!

After that's all done I think I'm going to go on another quest for live plants. Having to do water changes slightly less often would really make a difference with my spinal arthritis. Can't say I complain though, it's a labor of love, and I really don't mind doing it. It's kind of cathartic really. Having these boys in my life has helped significantly with my depression. They bring me so much joy, though sometimes a lot of stress as well (I'm looking at you, Falkor, and your tail-nomming!) and the fact that I have three beautiful creatures who depend on me gives me purpose. So the extra pain of carrying heavy buckets of water kind of doesn't matter to me, if that makes sense.

In other news, there's more regrowth on Falkor's tail, hooray! I can clearly see 2mm or so now. I'm just hoping once he has more room and a change of scenery he'll feel less inclined to nom it again once he grows back. Else I'll have a full set of odd kids on my hands: the problem child self-harmer, the hyperactive little one and the nonchalant, aloof guy, haha!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hmm, I don't know how appropriate ranting about personal stuff is here, but... Over the last few months I've gained quite a lot of weight. Well, more accurately, since I stopped taking dance classes (I used to do Broadway Jazz, Swing and Ballroom once upon a time) I've slowly stacked on the kilos. I did buy some skates to get some exercise while simultaneously learning something (I simply cannot stick to a regime where I don't learn anything, it drives me nuts!) but my back's been way too bad to risk injuring myself further lately. I've resolved to start playing silly Kinect games, and possibly enlisting my partner's help in some other exercise, even though he says he prefers my butt being big, haha. I know I've brought the weight gain on myself, but it's still depressing not fitting into my nice clothes... Even if those clothes were only worn when I went clubbing, which doesn't happen anymore.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Le boy and I finally got the bottom of the bookcase sorted so that the shelf above it will have plenty of support. All systems go for Falkor's tank upgrade, woot! Unfortunately can't do it tonight as it's 11:10pm now, and the neighbours would have a fit if we did any more noisy stuff tonight, but tomorrow our boy will have double the space he has now! Hooray!

Side-note: I don't scare easy with horror of the gore variety, and am an avid "video nasty" fan. But paranormal/creepy/psychological horror really gets me when it's actually done well. Especially written, it affects me much more than film does... And it's just like me to become obsessed with reading well-written horror, so much so that I'm still reading it at almost midnight... Oh well, my partner always wants more affection, he's gonna have a hard time peeling me off him once I'm done reading, I'll be scared silly! Haha!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Sigh, another day of hard work, still not complete. It's stinking hot here, with the forecast being even worse for tomorrow. The boyfriend had to go shopping in this heat today, and after his return had to fix our washing machine. We also finally did the tank upgrade for Falkor. Finally! It had been in the works for over a week, and now it's done. 

I can't help but think I should have put a background on it though... With all the extra space, it looks so bare. Doesn't help that when Feyd and Weehawk were given to us, I had to populate their tanks with some stuff from Falkor's. I was hoping the big order of silk plants I'd done would arrive today, along with LED lighting for all three tanks, but unfortunately it looks like they won't be here till tomorrow at the earliest, and hopefully early next week at the latest. 

Falkor seems to be a lot more calm than he was in the 8L. He's still active and playful, but a lot less hyperactive. Still attacking food with a vengeance, so no change aside from being less frenzied. I'm taking this as a good sign that the move was a success. Hopefully the extra space will be the end of the tail-biting, touch wood!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hmph. So I tried putting the lovely background that came with the new tank up for him, and he doesn't like it. Not one bit. Wouldn't stop flaring at it. Such a sooky-la-la. I'll have to work something out, or he'll have to get used to the big mean nature scene, one or the other. *eyeroll*


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Excited about everyone finally having a decent tank, I decided to order more stuff to make them all less bare. Four more live plants have just been ordered, and I'll pick up some water sprite to float when I next go to Aqueus for some tasty tasty brine shrimp for my little guys to nom on. ^.^

I do have water sprite floating in everyone's tanks at the moment, just not much. I stupidly split Falkor's bunch into three to try and give everyone an equal share but it's not doing so well now. Not having a great light supply until that package arrives isn't doing it any favours either. Oh well, once it's all done I can rest easy.

It's always a good thing to have things going to plan... And to have a clean and organised looking bedroom!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

The LED lighting for all three tanks arrived today! Unfortunately only one had an AU plug, so I need to get converters for the others, but at least Falkor has light in his brand new 15L tank, and the others can deal with their desk lamp until it's not so hot outside and we can go shopping for the converters. The new lights are pretty awesome though. At first I was concerned that they were too bright for the small tanks, but then I noticed that they're dimmable. Awesomeness! 

Falkor absolutely hates his new background. It's not all black, it's just got a bunch of foliage on it, and I think it looks rather pretty, but apparently it's unacceptable. He has had issues like this with backgrounds before that have calmed down in a few days, so I'm just watching and waiting for now. He's not doing the darting flare that he does when a mirror is held up to him (he's afraid of himself) so I'm just watching to see if he seems stressed... I do need a background on the tank though, because I need to store spare fishy equipment on the shelf behind him... Perhaps I'll be able to work something out that he actually approves of...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Another day of 100% water changes... Did the other two boys today, as we just didn't have the energy last night after doing Falkor's tank upgrade. I'm very much looking forward to getting some more live plants and decreasing the water change workload a little, my back will love me for it! Especially since if I follow OFL's water change guide, with more plants I shouldn't be doing 100% changes with plants. Unfortunately due to what seems to be a mold outbreak (from the threads I found that had people with the same problem) in Feyd and Weehawk's tanks, I'll need to keep doing those 100% changes until it's completely gone, and probably won't want to introduce new plants to them until then. Looks like Falkor's old tank is going to get another round of use sooner than expected! Its new role: housing new plants. Hehe. I know I should QT them anyway, so now I have a container for doing so!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

UGH! My arthritis is really giving me hell today (and yesterday). Sudden changes in temperature, or extremes in temperature, make even the simplest of tasks almost impossible... If you'd asked me five years ago, I'd never have guessed that I'd be almost crippled in hot or cold weather before I hit 25, or that it would have started at 20. Ah well, all I can do is continue my stretches, and do the best I can.

It did make yesterday's water changes hellish for me though. Normally I can carry the buckets of water in and out of my room without too much issue, only a manageable amount of pain, but yesterday it was like asking me to carry another person... I could barely do it. It was frustrating more than anything, because as it's got worse, I feel more and more determined to just get things done, because I'm not ready to stop doing things myself.

Anyway, the cool change has come, and despite it wreaking more havoc with my back pain, it is blissful to not feel like I'm even sweating from the eyeballs. I'm sure my boys are happy too. After yesterday I have resolved to keep a bottle of pre-treated water in the fridge in case of stupid-hot days like yesterday, to keep the boys at a good temperature. They're all doing fine, as their temperature never reached the upper limit of what is considered safe, but I was very worried for a time.

I think I'll take some photos of Falkor today. I haven't taken any of him since his tail-biting incident and I feel a little bad for it. Part of it may have been that I felt so bad for him, and felt guilty for some stupid reason. I know I couldn't have foreseen it, because I'm still not sure of the cause, but I still feel at fault that my baby has mutilated himself, y'know?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Wooooo!! *happydance* The boyfriend brought home adaptors for the LED lights with the incorrect plugs, and now all three of our tanks have awesome lighting that won't heat the water! Awwww yeahhhh!! They look pretty brilliant too.

Now I'm really looking forward to surprising my father when he visits tomorrow. I haven't told him that the boy's family gave us two fish for Christmas, because I know he'll go all gooey over them when he sees them. It's hilarious, he's a bit of a prick normally, but as soon as animals are in the picture he's the biggest softie ever, haha. When my cat Nala was still alive, he could be angry as hell, but if she walked up to him he'd start cooing at her and grinning. And when he met Falkor, it was hilarious, this big old fat guy standing over a tiny tank with a tinier fish, all goo-goo. XD

He also wants to start a community tank once his bird cages are finished and populated, so I'll take the opportunity to tell him about what he needs to consider when he actually shuts up -- looking at my fish ought to make him shush for a good few minutes, heh.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh man! I once considered myself tech-savvy, but not so much anymore. Just when I'm losing touch completely with most things (aside from gaming specs, but that doesn't count, all PC gamers know that stuff) the boyfriend brings home a new router. Everything works except our ISP's website, and Facebook. Many hours of headaches and cigarettes later, while accessing FB from my phone to ask opinions, a friend gives me a magical number to change from the default. BAM! Everything's working. Man, I must be getting old to not understand the first bit about this stuff...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Trying to explain what I know about fishkeeping to someone who wants to start a community tank... Would help if I could get a word in! It's frustrating when the person clearly doesn't have enough knowledge to maintain a tank, but won't listen, especially when I only have limited knowledge and still have plenty to say... *headdesk* Perhaps I'll just compile and print a bunch of information for them to read instead of talking to a brick wall.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Phew, today was fairly hellish. My grandmother and my father don't get along, never have, and today was no exception. 

There was a silver lining to all the quarrels and unease though: buying three pieces of driftwood, one for each of my boys, and getting a tank for Weehawk to match Feyd's and Falkor's. Come next water change, everyone will have uniform tanks, with the only differences being the contents! I do like having a uniform appearance when I have more than one of an item, and tanks are no exception, it just feels wrong having an odd one out. 

A bonus to this OCD-type compulsion to match tanks is that if I ever require one for QT and a hospital tank at the same time, there'll be no issue as I now have two spares! Yayyyy!

At the moment, I'm eyeing off some shrimp and plants online... But I can't have them until I complete my current mission of making the trip to Aqueus to fetch some water sprite and live brine shrimp. Must keep priorities in order.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Wheeee, another Wednesday, another 50% water change for everybody... I bought a piece of driftwood for each of the boys' tanks to give them a little something more. It's been soaking for quite a few days now, and the water hasn't been tinted with tannins anymore for the last day, so I'm putting them in. 

My goal is to eventually do a complete re-model of everyone's tanks, with loads of plants, moss and driftwood and perhaps some shrimp if the boys don't eat them, now they've got big enough homes to house them. I know it's a bit of a gamble, but it'd be lovely if they played nice together.

But yeah, the big goal in my mind when it comes to my fish, now that they're all safe, healthy and in good-sized tanks, and Falkor's tail is healing more and more every day, is to get some lovely plants and make their homes all pretty. Because I wouldn't want to spend all my time in an ugly room without being able to rearrange it. Of course, it also means pretty things for me to look at while I'm gaming as well, but y'know...

So yahh. Just really glad everyone seems happy and healthy, the two new boys are settled in, and the tail-biter's letting himself heal up. Woohoo!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hmph. Well, no more Miss Nice Fish-Mum. After posting a question about it here, I've been trying to find some nice, non-shiny patterned paper for Falkor's tank background, because he hated his fairly muted foliage background that came with the new tank. 

I finally bought a calendar featuring some lovely photographs from around the world, and chose a pretty spectacular waterfall scene for him. There are small patches of black and dark colours, but it's by no means solid. He _still_ hates it. I tried it upside-down, so there are almost no dark colours visible (the plants hide it when it's upside down). No change in behaviour.

I'm sorry Falkor, but you've been such a sook about this background business, and I've spent a fair bit of money trying to give you one you'd actually like, and I'm done. You will get used to this one. You can flare for the rest of the day if you want to, but for once I'm not gonna back down to your temper tantrum. I need a background on your tank, because storing the stuff that helps me take care of you is unsightly without a background to hide it. You really are going to just have to get over the fact that you have a background.

Now to try and see if Feyd chucks a hissy fit over his background too... So sick of looking at power cords right behind his lovely tank!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Okay, so I ended up caving and changing Falkor's background to a snowy scene with a castle. Pretty much no dark colours, anywhere, except the outlines of things but there's absolutely no way he could be flaring at himself. There's trees, a mountain, basically there's no solid patches of anything, except for a small area of sky, which is a light blue. No white, no black. He's still flaring. That's it, I give up! At least he's flaring less with this one. He's really going to have to get over it this time.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm currently watching/listening to my boyfriend play League of Legends with a mate of ours. The reason I'm not playing too is because this friend is so bad that I just can't handle having to play a match with him on our team. It sounds terrible, and I do like him because he's our mate and a decent guy, but he's just not a team player, which loses us matches.

Anyway, I'm itching to buy more stuff for my boys' tanks. Now I really know what people mean about getting "the bug". Not only does it mean you constantly wish you had more room/time for more tanks, but also constantly wanting to improve the tanks you do have. I've done two tank upgrades in the last month, not to mention the setup of the surprise boys we got for Christmas, and I still desperately want to get more live plants and more driftwood to create a really interesting environment for the boys and perhaps some shrimp, provided they play nice together.

The boyfriend's mum is already talking about getting us more fish, to which my partner was all like, "Ohhh no you don't! While we'd absolutely love more, we just can't afford new tanks, don't have enough space for any more, and certainly don't have the time or money for the setup and upkeep of them!" She wants to get girls for us. It makes me want to start a sorority, but I know that my back just couldn't handle the large/frequent water changes required during cycling on top of taking care of the boys I've already got. Not to mention the fact that there's nowhere I could put a tank large enough for that, unless I got rid of stuff my grandma really doesn't want me to. There's only so much one can do with three people and three fish already living in a small two-bedroom apartment filled with clutter!

That said, if I ever do get the chance to throw out all the stuff that's unnecessary in here, I'd definitely get more fish, upgrade the tanks I've already got, put in the hard yards for cycling them all and have a pretty rewarding life to come home to when I finally get started in my career. ^.^ I can think of nothing better for the conclusion of a five-year-plan than having a career in body modification established, coming home after each day's work to my boyfriend (who may be more by that point, who knows? can't plan that stuff though) and many beautiful fish and chilling out, spending time with everyone... Happy times.

Which brings me to something else a lot of people think is odd. I really enjoy water change time. I think I've touched on that in earlier posts... I enjoy WCs, rearranging the tanks, feeding my boys... Just everything about having these wonderful creatures I thoroughly enjoy. It's awesome!

So I'm basically counting down the days until after the Red Dwarf and Star Trek conventions, and the Kiss/Motley Crue concert and the Offspring show, because after all that's done, and my piercing course saved up for, I can start really making these tanks beautiful. YAYY!!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So I ended up caving to Falkor's demands to remove the tank background, but not before taking an idea from someone on this forum and purchasing some patterned fabric to use as backgrounds. There are three pieces of quilting fabric on the way, along with velcro dots to affix them to the back of the tank. Each piece is different both in colour and pattern, so hopefully he'll approve of at least one of them. If these ones fail too, I have my eye on some lovely damask fabrics on eBay. I might end up buying those too, but we'll start cheaply and work our way up, haha.

Every time I look at the boys' tanks, I'm itching more and more to order driftwood, plants and shrimp. It's driving me nuts! I just hope that once I get the tanks "perfect" that I won't come up with a new idea of what "perfection" would be for tanks such as mine!

One dilemma in planning these new tank setups in the making is that the current hidey-holes will definitely not match. We'll be going for a super-natural look, with loads of moss and plants attached to driftwood, hopefully with some goldvine accents just snaking in and out of the hardscape and plants. The idea is to have a really beautiful design that will work in low-light, low-tech conditions, provide cover for the shrimp we plan to introduce into the tanks, and also have plenty of ammonia absorption and oxygenation with the plants, reducing the demand for water changes and also creating a decent environment for the shimp. 

Obviously we're still in planning stages and I do plan to put a question to the forum about whether this idea would actually work, or if we'd simply be better off sticking to just plants and our bettas. Perhaps I've just got too excited with the upgrade to 3.9 gallons for everybody, and shrimp aren't such a good idea, considering I do not want to filter the tanks, mostly for financial and energy consumption reasons (which I guess ties into financial, heh).


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Woohoo! Just got a text from the site I ordered some plants from informing me they've finally been shipped! I had a feeling it'd take a while with the Christmas holiday backlog, so I'm glad they're finally on their way. Two potted crypts and two potted anubias will be joining my boys in their tanks in a couple of days, happy times. It was all I could afford after the huge spending spree that came with two surprise fish, but bigger and better things are on the horizon which is super-exciting.

Something that's been bothering me a little is that Weehawk tends to stick to one corner of his tank. Occasionally he'll explore everything, but he seems to have found a favourite spot and won't budge from there unless I coax him towards the front of the tank. I'm fairly sure he's not scared of anything so I'm not too worried, and he's an active little guy so that's fine too. I just wish he'd have chosen a favourite spot on the side I can view him on from my bed, haha. 

Falkor is the same cuteypie derpy thing as usual. His tail's growing back nicely and no signs of him chasing it again, so fingers crossed! Parts of it are already grown back to their original length, though they're still clear so I'm hoping that's a good sign. He seems to be super happy with the piece of driftwood I got him for his tank, swimming under and over it, and occasionally just resting on top of it. Actually, since getting that for him, he's barely taken notice of his hidey-hole pot! I wonder if that thing will become kinda obsolete for him, and if it does, if there's any way I can remove the anubias from it to attach to driftwood when we do the tank overhaul... Hmm. Perhaps yet another question to pose to the forum when the time comes...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So my order of plants arrived today, which would have been a "yayyy!" moment if it weren't for two out of four terracotta pots being broken. Not broken as in cracked, I mean completely shattered. Thankfully I had ordered two anubias and two crypts, so I could simply move an anubias out of one pot and attach it to driftwod, remove my other anubias from the pot it was tied to (my mini baby one, not the one already rooted onto a hidey-hole) and the crypts had something to be planted in, so all is well. What's not well is that I did not get what I paid for, which was four potted plants, intact. If I'd wanted bare-root plants, I'd have got them, and for much cheaper. 

The silver lining in all this is that Falkor was so flippin' adorable when I put his driftwood back in his tank, with added plant. He looked like he wanted to say, "Is this my driftwood? The one I like to swim over, under and rest on? Hang on, I'll just test the tunnel function. Okay, it's definitely my piece. I approve, carry on human minion."

Sometimes I wonder if that little dude is a cat trapped in a fish's body. He certainly behaves that way! It's so cute.

If we take the kitty analogy and apply it to all my fish, Weehawk is definitely the little kitten, overly curious and wanting to play with everything and everybody. Feyd would be an old man cat, just lording over everything and supervising.

I love my boys. They're my pride and joy, and sometimes the only thing keeping me sane!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Haha, my boyfriend plays League of Legends too, obsessively. I play with him sometimes but he gets moody when he loses and I am absolutely horrible at that game (or any game, really, lol). 

Do you think it'd be easier to just buy some terracotta pots and put the plants in them? I want to get live plants as well for my sorority tank... I was at Michael's the other day and saw a whole bunch of different sized terracotta pots for less than a dollar.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Haha, I doubt anyone could be as bad as this dude. He seems to think he's an expert, but he's not. If he's in a role where he has the opportunity to roam and basically do what he likes, he does fine, but he insists on playing supports and just feeds both himself and the carry to the enemy team (I always play a carry). So whenever he's online, I say to my boyfriend, "Nope, I'm out, have fun with him. I'll just put my headphones on so I can't hear you berating him over Skype."

Hmm, I could get some little pots, but I haven't been able to find this particular kind anywhere but online (I know, ridiculously fussy). It's not necessarily a bad thing that I actually had to attach them to the driftwood already, considering it's what I was going to do when it came time for the overhaul anyway, I just wasn't planning to do it so soon. To be honest, it looks better than it would have with all of the little pots, I'm just being grumpy about not getting my money's worth. That's not like me, I usually like buying _ALL OF THE THINGS!_ and making everything pretty at whatever cost... I think my stingy partner's rubbing off on me too much, haha.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I'm stingy with my money but it doesn't mean my fishies can't be spoiled.

And I know what you mean. League is totally plagued with those types of idiots, lol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I've stopped spending on pretty much everything so I can spoil my fishies. I don't have a lot of money, but what I do have doesn't last long when it comes to them, once the bills are paid of course. >.<

You said you play League sometimes. If by some chance we're on at the same time and you'd, my summoner name is Sparröwhawk, feel free to add me if you like. Or my smurf account is Frank N Hurter, hehe. ^.^


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm really excited! The new thermometer for Weehawk's tank arrived today. It's teeny-tiny and blue, no hints of red. He cannot stand the colour red, so I've had to take the temperature of the tank several times a day, while distracting him from the evil thermometer. When I put the new little blue one in, he flared for a bit, then seemed to realise it was not the usual big bad red one, and spent a little time checking it out, investigating it, and then paid it no further attention. Woohoo! That's one problem solved.

Another package came today. Aquarium salt, and no fish food... I'm a bit confused, I'd have thought the whole order would be in the package. I have a bad feeling that they just didn't include the pellets, and don't intend to send another package with the rest of my order. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for one more day, then send the company an email. The only reason I haven't been running around to different stores trying to find NLS pellets in the last couple of weeks was because they were meant to be coming in the mail with the salt... Lame.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Hmm, that is lame! When I ordered my stuff off Petco, there were like 3 separate orders that shipped in three separated packages each. So I had like 9 different packages for 3 orders... But I don't know why they would do that unless the food was estimated to take longer to ship...
You didn't get any tracking information?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm really excited! The new thermometer for Weehawk's tank arrived today. It's teeny-tiny and blue, no hints of red. He cannot stand the colour red, so I've had to take the temperature of the tank several times a day, while distracting him from the evil thermometer. When I put the new little blue one in, he flared for a bit, then seemed to realise it was not the usual big bad red one, and spent a little time checking it out, investigating it, and then paid it no further attention. Woohoo! That's one problem solved.

Another package came today. Aquarium salt, and no fish food... I'm a bit confused, I'd have thought the whole order would be in the package. I have a bad feeling that they just didn't include the pellets, and don't intend to send another package with the rest of my order. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt for one more day, then send the company an email. The only reason I haven't been running around to different stores trying to find NLS pellets in the last couple of weeks was because they were meant to be coming in the mail with the salt... Lame.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ooh. A life-related thing I'd forgotten to add before. I'm starting to get the itch for some more tattoos. I already have my shoulders done, my left thigh, right calf, right forearm and my Trekkie badge on my chest, but I really want that Dune quote I've been dying for for ages... And the backpiece I've had planned since primary school. That one will probably be done last though, due to both cost, and not being able to draw a design I'm happy with. I want dragon wings, but with a biomechanical spine on top of my own. All of my tattoos and the ones I have planned have something to do with something significant in my life, or things I have adored since childhood. Just because I can, I'll list 'em:

Offspring logo: I've been a fan of this band since early primary school, and their show in 2004 was the only one my mum and I got to go to (of a big band, not a small pub gig) before she died in 2006, so they'll always hold an extra-special place in my heart. I got their logo on my left shoulder on December 29, 2011.

AURYN: I've loved the Neverending Story since I can remember, and decided to get AURYN on my right shoulder because it symbolises protection, making "good" choices and general anti-badness, hehe. It also co-ordinates with the logo on my left shoulder.

Star Trek Commbadge: Again, something I've loved since I can remember. Also love the values presented by Star Trek in general (not including Original Series, mainly TNG, VOY and DS9) with respecting people regardless of origin or background, investigating before passing judgement among other things.

Owl: I wanted to get a tattoo in memory of my mum, but not the usual heart with a date of birth and date of death. I decided to instead get an owl, because she collected many owl figurines and it reminded me of her. I plan to get a frog as well when I decide on the right one because she also loved froggies.

"Don't Dream It, Be It": The Rocky Horror Picture Show is probably my favourite thing in the world, ever. I'm fairly sure I was introduced to it at too young an age (I first saw it when I was 4, but was only allowed to watch the songs, none of the blatantly suggestive scenes, and none of the violence until I was older) and it has been one of the things that has had a massive impact on who I am today, my interests and tastes. I thought "don't dream it, be it" was the best quote to have permanently on my body, as not only is it from my all-time favourite film and musical, it's also pretty darn inspirational.

I cannot include my latest tattoo, as it does not comply with forum rules, but it isn't what you're probably envisioning. It's simply a symbol that represents an alternative lifestyle, nothing lewd or offensive, but an explanation isn't appropriate here.

I really want to get my Dune quote next: "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer." I feel it's something I would do well to remember every time my anxiety gets the better of me, or when I'm simply apprehensive about approaching a task I want to do, so I can just keep my mind on task and basically shoot for the stars.

All very lame and sappy I know, but it's my skin, so nerrrr.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ranty post for this morning! Ouchie, my back hurts an awful lot today, and I've got to do what feels like a ridiculous amount today. Running errands for my grandma, shopping for some "nice" clothes that fit in preparation to go clubbing tonight, and paying the insurance for my apartment at the bank. It's not really that much when you think about it objectively, just while I'm sitting here, pondering whether or not to take a double dose of painkillers (I prefer not to medicate, as I don't want to build a tolerance and make my liver suffer as well as my spine, one body part doing badly is quite enough!) it feels like I'm being asked to perform an impossible task.

All the whining aside, I'm going to go ahead and do it, everything will get done and I'll have time to spare, like I always do. I have no idea what I'm going to do for "nice clothes" though. I'm inexperienced with plus-size shopping these days. I had a couple of years where I could shop anywhere I liked, and now that I've put weight back on I'm a bit lost! It seems nothing is made for hourglass figures anymore, as everything I find that does kinda fit, is far too baggy in the waist, or far too tight in the hips. I've been blessed/cursed with a classic hourglass shape and it's stupidly hard shopping for it. When I was thinner I could just throw some shorts on with a tank top and be done with it, and if I was going clubbing, an accent shirt or accessories and some nice boots, done! Now I'm a bit lost. I don't feel very girly, and most shorts look ridiculous on me at the moment. I could go with some black pants and combat boots, if I find some pants that fit.

Blah! Not even sure if I want to go clubbing. I'd rather just hang out with the friend who invited us, but she's going out. She's not having a very good time of late so I'd like to spend time with her, I just don't feel like doing the clubbing routine of primping and pampering myself, wearing things I'm not comfortable in and peacocking around the CBD. Not really my thing anymore. I had my time where I looked fabulous every time I set foot out of the house and it ended quite some time ago, when I realised I looked just fine in more regular clothes and makeup (if I felt like it) and the discomfort really wasn't worth it!

Ah well. Woe is me. Blah blah blah.

Really happy that the weather didn't feel as bad as was forecast yesterday! I didn't have to break out the chilled water I'd conditioned to cool the boys down, which is good. Being an inexperienced fishkeeper I'm still nervous that I'll fluff it somehow and cause more harm than good trying to stabilise the temperature.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Ha, I understand the clothes thing (nothing fits!). Shirts are always too loose and too short, pants/jeans are too tight around my thighs and huge around my waist. They just do not make clothes that fit me, ha. Plus I don't like wearing shorts ever (plus you're in Australia... I was about confused because it is freezing here, lol). I'm pretty thin... Probably too thin. But shorts make me feel uncomfortable. I can't even wear short sleeves if its cooler than 80 degrees because I get cold easily D:

I don't know what to say about the fish because it never gets warmer than 75 degrees in the house, even in summer..


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Feelin' some pretty intense jealousy at the top temperature in your house! Here, during summer it's not uncommon to have days over 100ºF and we don't have air conditioning in my apartment, just double brick walls that absorb heat and cold very well and retain it. >.< I'm most often found hibernating in front of a fan, periodically spraying myself with water, haha. I've often thought about moving to somewhere in the northern hemisphere for the much cooler weather. I'm just not built for the heat, heh. 

I find it somewhat odd that clothing companies don't make a variety of cuts of each item. I've found one store that does, and it's brilliant. They have jeans for short legs, long legs, hourglass figures, pear shape and the list goes on. If more than this one plus-size shop did it, I'd imagine there'd be profit to be made, because their products would fit a wider variety of people without alterations. Hmm.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Heavy entry ahead! >.<

Last night we went out to a nightclub with some friends. The guy I guess you could call my nemesis if you wanted to use melodramatic terms was there. An ex-partner I wasted 2.5 years of my life on, who was a psychological and physical abuser (and then some) who I had to get a restraining order against once it was all over and I started actually talking to people about what had happened (my therapist actually wouldn't stop bugging me until I made sure I got the order done). Like most people in a situation like that, I didn't know or didn't want to realise the kind of crap I was being put through, and once it was all over it hit me like a truck and I had to painstakingly work through all of the things that had happened. There was one thing I hadn't allowed myself to acknowledge in the 2.5 years since that relationship ended, and when I finally had the realisation of that last thing that he'd done, that I hadn't let myself think about, it hit me like a truck all over again. I'm in the process of finding a suitable therapist, and just trying to deal with the new feelings as best I can.

So it was a nasty shock to see him at this event last night. I'd left the goth scene because I didn't want to be around him those years ago (plus he'd started a chain of gossip about me that would make a sailor blush, and dealing with that as well was not something I needed) and moved to a different alternative subculture. In the last year, he's slowly made his way into it. I don't feel I can go to an event with the nagging question of "Will this sorry excuse for a human being be there?" There's not a thing I can do about it, as the restraining order has now expired, and anyone I try to talk to about the issue goes for the usual victim-blaming spiel, not acknowledging that there is a real sense of danger about this person, i.e. I do not feel safe around this guy, period.

I think it's rather unfair that the people who do these things to others aren't looked upon with the disgust their actions deserve, and instead the people they leave damaged in their wake are told they're overreacting, that it was their own fault, that the person isn't really so bad, why are you saying such horrible things about them? Because, y'know, they couldn't possibly do these things behind closed doors, like most manipulators and abusers do, so they can get away with what they do.

I'm not an outgoing person by nature, and going out every weekend really isn't my thing, but I would like to be able to just once in a while go out with my friends without fear that I'll be confronted with the fact that I was violated in every possible way, that the person that did this can stand next to me at the bar and smirk, and I can't do a thing about it except walk away. There is no way to keep this person away from me, aside from me never going out again.

There are countless women (and men) who this has happened to, whose spouses have done unspeakable things to them, and they can't get closure, can't keep running from the person who abused them. And our culture shelters the abusers rather than vilifying them. It's outrageous. I have thought it's outrageous before I'd ever experienced it, and now that I have, it enrages me more than anyone could imagine. Anyone who hasn't been through it, that is. The unfortunate ones who have know exactly what I'm talking about.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I have been abused before, when I was very young (kindergarten aged). It's not something I hide anymore, but it is something I'd rather never go into details with. The thing is, though... is I was young and very resilient at the time, and the abuser has also been through treatment... I think this helped a lot, because he is a family member... Both of us, at the end, came out as different people, and it's not something that bothers me anymore, although I still don't want to share the details... But I also don't want him to be portrayed as a bad guy because of it, because I know he's changed. Knowing that he hasn't (in your case) probably doesn't help.

It must be different there, or something. I don't know anyone who takes any kind of domestic abuse lightly, be it emotional, verbal, or physical. I know it's difficult to take the advice, but I wouldn't be too worried about him doing anything in a public place. I know there's probably a place in the back of your mind that haunts you, and is driven by your past... Anxiety, of sorts. Worry about something that you cannot put your finger on.

It sucks, because, what it left you is something intangible that you have to deal with. It's not a concrete object, like a restraining order... You can hold those papers in your hand, and see them, and know they exist for a fact... but the emotional scars left behind from such an experience are not concrete, you cannot see them or touch them, and sometimes, you wonder if you're just crazy. You're not.

And what you see in him, although others do not see it... That's real, too. Intangible, but real, nonetheless. And it's not easily ignored.


I can't say I know EXACTLY how you feel, but I can say I've seen, and felt, a glimpse of it. I did many, many years of therapy and was hospitalized twice, interrogated by officers, countless psychiatrists, put on medications, nothing really helped until I figured it out on my own. This happened over 13 years ago.
I remember thinking, _why am I the one they are trying to fix?_ They ask a ton of questions, but they are always asking the _wrong_ ones, always going the opposite direction. And eventually, a few years after all the therapy and meds and psychiatrists ended, I figured it out on my own.

I don't know if that makes sense and I'm really not sure how to explain it...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh my. I'm sorry you had bad things happen to you when you were young. That's so awful... But I'm glad you came out the other side and aren't bothered by it anymore.

Time really does heal all wounds, I suppose. Time to sort through everything, right?

What you say about that "something intangible" is so spot-on. Wondering about sanity, about whether what happened really happened, if I am just making it all up like some people have thought, if it's all some elaborate construct I've concocted to paint myself as a victim and garner attention... But then I remember that a couple of friends who were around for a couple of his outbursts have told me what they saw, and realise those thoughts are just the brainwashing from that time talking to me. 

I guess I'm not yet at the point of having worked through everything, and am still at a point of indignant disbelief at it all. But with time I'll work it all out.

I don't think abuse is as widely ignored as I think I've made it seem in my last entry. People pay attention if they're outsiders, if they don't know the person, for the most part. But mutual friends or acquaintances seem to opt for the more pleasant option of "She's just making a big deal out of nothing" because it's not confronting to them. The one bit I don't get is the judicial system. The restraining order I ended up getting wasn't really that effective - he just wasn't allowed to talk about me to anyone (that is, he could hint but not mention my name, and he managed to talk about me just fine using that rule) and he wasn't to come within 5 meters of my person. So he could sit at the opposite side of an average-sized room to me, and not be violating the order. It was pretty ineffective, but at least he couldn't talk to me for 16 months. I had friends and family tell me I was being unreasonable by even pushing for that much, that I should just ignore him, but the problem with this particular person is that he revels in screwing with people, and had told me and a couple of other people just that in the past (I don't know why I didn't run screaming at that point, though it was quite late in the relationship when I learned those things) so it's not as though he was remorseful, or looking to turn over a new leaf. I'm unsure as to whether that's changed, but judging by last night, it's the same smug attitude of "I can do what I want, you just watch me."

People react to bruises, to seeing things first-hand. They don't take it lightly when they see things with their own eyes, or hear it with their own ears. But most seem to react to someone coming to them saying, "I need your support, because this has happened to me. Can I have a shoulder to cry on, or a hug?" with thinking that person is just seeking attention, that what's happened isn't actually as severe as what they're being told. 

There's TV campaigns run by the government against domestic violence and abuse to try and educate people, open their eyes to what goes on, but what I see in people's attitudes, not just about myself, but women who are assaulted by their partners, friends, strangers, whoever - often the first questions asked are "Well, what was she doing that provoked it? What was she wearing? Was she frigid? Was she stuck-up? What was she doing to make him angry?" because it would seem that the general consensus is that if a woman is assaulted, abused or raped, she must have had it coming in some way. I don't have the words to describe how angry that attitude has always made me.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

On a brighter note, found out I have actually lost weight. Pretty chuffed with that. Only a couple more dress sizes to go, and I'm done. 

On an even brighter note than that, just spent big online and bought up everything I need for the tank makeovers! Including sponge filters so I can cycle them, and yayyyy! Retail therapy for the win!


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

I know this is random, but you both have really pretty sigs xD


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

twolovers101 said:


> I know this is random, but you both have really pretty sigs xD


Yay! ^.^

Hokay, le journal for today...

Just finished sewing hems on pieces of fabric and attaching velcro to them and the tanks so everyone can have lovely interchangeable fabric backgrounds... And Falkor's at it again with the flaring now that we've finished his 100% WC and added the background. I did try putting all the different fabrics up against his tank to see which he'd be the least upset about, and chose the one he flared the least at (took him a while to flare at all) but apparently when it's actually attached it's no longer satisfactory.

This time, I'm going to have to stick to my guns and just not remove it, and allow him to become used to it. I've gone to an awful lot of trouble to find something to his liking, and I think this is as far as I'm willing to go. I spent hours trawling through eBay, trying to find some highly patterned, good fabrics to make backgrounds out of, and ordered quite a few different ones, not knowing which he'd accept, and spent all day sewing today (I haven't used the sewing machine in a while, heh) and got all frustrated because I kept stuffing up.

After making all that effort with this round of trying, plus all the previous attempts at finding something he'd accept, I'm going to have to just let him flare his little heart out until he basically accepts the background. I've read of a lot of people just waiting it out with things like decor, backgrounds, positioning, and their bettas getting used to them eventually, so I'm going to have to count on him getting used to the background, because it's beyond ridiculous now. I need to have the back of the tank covered so I can store my tank maintenance stuff behind it without it being an eyesore, and he's going to have to learn to deal with it.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So Falkor doesn't flare constantly at the background, only when he makes his way to the back and realises that the big ugly thing is still there. It's not actually ugly, I can only assume that he thinks it is uglier than the hideous backing for my shelves... He's not getting as upset with it as he was yesterday, so perhaps there's hope!

Now that I've ordered everything I need to do the tank makeovers, I just need to sit back and wait for it all to arrive, then the ridiculous amount of work can commence! I'll need to set my spare tanks up to store the plants in until the driftwood soaks most of its tannins out, and until the sponge filters get here... But that's okay. My grandmother has kindly said that one of the tanks can go on the kitchen windowsill to get natural light while it's all happening, and I can make some room on my bedroom windowsill to do the same thing there. So it's all good, it'll just be a bit of a pain. It'll be nice and rewarding once it's all done though!

I think I'm really way too fussy about the way I deal with our fishies. My partner got upset last night because he doesn't feel like the fish are an "us" thing anymore, just a "me" thing, because it all has to be done my way, and I'm always insisting on the long way around everything and getting really angry and irritable when it isn't done my way. I can see his point very well now that I'm not annoyed, but my view is still the same though I can see it from his perspective. I sit on here during all of my free time, and I learn and research constantly. I'm still very inexperienced, so I absorb all the information I can, and think that slow and steady will win the race, because I want the best for the fish I keep, even though my experience level is low. I admit I get aggressive when I think they're not getting the very best treatment, and perhaps that's a fault of mine I'm going to have to work on.

Aside from all that, I've been eyeing off shrimp online, because I'd like to see if they can live peacefully with my bettas once the tanks are cycled. I realise this is months away, and I can only look wistfully at them until then, but it's still nice to look. It's unfortunate that Weehawk just cannot deal with the colour red, because I'd have loved some cherry shrimp. As it is, we'll have to get glass shrimp. Probably better considering they're cheaper, just in case they end up as a meal for the bettas. I feel terrible knowingly wanting to introduce them to the bettas' tanks when they may end up as food, but the tank layouts I have planned would provide more than ample cover for them, so I think I'd be giving them the best chance of survival I can.

It's a pity you can't get Amano shrimp here in Australia. I've heard whispers on other forums about a native species that is relatively similar, but have heard nothing on where I can acquire some.

Ugh, I'm so tired after the weekend I've just had. Two nights of clubbing in a row, one with a stressful bit, the other just great catching up with mates, but I think I'm getting too old for that kind of thing, haha! That and dealing with crowds isn't something I like to do on a regular basis. Then yesterday a full day of sewing backgrounds and 100% water changes, I'm pooped!

Come to think of it, since getting the beautiful fishies, I've become so active, more active than any time before having them. Sure, I used to be fitter doing dance and stuff, but when I got home I'd just plop down on the couch and not budge. With these little guys I'm constantly pottering around, checking on them, planning things, it's awesome!


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

It's good to know that Falkor is getting used to having a background, I've tried that with Shosta, and it just worries me how much he flares at it. Thankfully the wall behind the tank is white and I don't have anything to store back there, so he can get along without for now, I just personally would like having a background of sorts to give the tank a fuller/professional look *sigh*


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

The flaring worries me too! It's kinda nerve-wracking, sitting here and watching him do it when he decides to. But after nearly a month of searching for something he'll be okay with, I've finally found something he doesn't flare _constantly_ at, so I'm going to leave it for a bit to see if he gets used to it. Just now, I watched him swim right past the back of the tank without flaring at the background, so maybe it just takes fiddling around for a while and finding something that they can eventually tolerate. So there's hope for the problem children we have! Haha.


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## twolovers101 (Sep 17, 2012)

Haha, Shosta's problem is with the color black, anything black he flares at... no matter what... Dark room? = flare, me wearing a black dress = flare, me wearing black pjs = flare, black pen? = flare, black computer? = flare. It stinks because black is one of my favorite colors xD

So I tried a white background... No luck with that either, it was almost worse than the black one, and the green/jungle one was no good either... 

I'll get up the nerve to try something else eventually, but I'll just leave him be for now xD


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Haha, Weehawk is the same with red! He just can't handle it.

Yeah, Falkor was the same with being fussy, tried about 7 different pictures, a background that came with a tank (both sides of it, different images), some plain paper of different colours, patterned paper, and finally fabric, which I'm going to stick with and he seems to be getting used to... If it wasn't necessary I'd have just left it, but having a storage area for a background = uuuuuugleh.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh my god... I could scream right now. Falkor's bitten his tail again. It's taken him an entire month to grow it back to almost normality, and when it was finally looking nice again, he's chomped it right off. I've done every bloody thing in the book to try and get him to stop, and entertain him, de-stress him, but it seems he wants to have a shorter tail and nothing will stop him. I did think of blaming myself about the background issue, but I do think if that was what caused it he'd have trimmed it right down during the search for an appropriate pattern, because that saga had an awful lot of trial and error involved. I'm just going to go have a cigarette and breathe and try and calm down now...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

He might just get territorial with new things around the tank. My CT flared at anything and everything when I first got him in his new tank. He's my aggressive male, lol. I guess I don't have to worry now about the background or anything since he's gone blind, but I really miss him flaring at everything  its part of their personality and being able to see has a lot to do with it obviously, haha.
My VT is pretty laid back. He flares at my CT when I move the cardboard from between the tanks and he used to flare at his reflection in his old tank when the light was on, so I left it off most of the time and used the room lights instead. He never flares at anything else. My girls also flare at each other occasionally and my red dragon, Okami, tries to attack the light I use when trying to take pictures as well as the camera.

Btw, I love the Velcro idea! I think I will use it to cover the tanks at night because my boyfriend always stays up with the lights on long after my fish have gone to sleep, but I don't want to cover the top of the tanks because they get warmer that way, and I don't want all those temp fluctuations.

Also, I saw some decorative fishing net at Michaels a few weeks ago and thought it would make a neat background!  wish I would have bought it when I was there because its an hour away (its also across the street from my dads favorite store - Scheels - lol. So I go there and look around when my dad goes to Scheels)



Edit: oh, no! Silly Falkor :/ I know Syriven had a chronic tail biter (that she loved so much even though he was a PITA). He's probably decided his tail is too heavy for him and he wants to be a Plakat, lol. I know its stressful but there isn't a whole lot you can do besides keep the water extra clean to prevent infection :/ what a booger! Also, I think its quite normal for tail biters to let their tails grow out almost completely then chew them off again. Every Single Time. What a naughty boy, haha (I know its not funny but I always think that the flarers and tail biters are cute because they've got so much personality and enjoy being a pain). Hmm... What have you been doing to help his tail?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yeah, I think he's just being a sook rather than being really distressed about the background - he's not upset at it all the time, but after the tail-biting I took it down anyway. 

I've upgraded his tank to double what he had before, changed decor, added some, removed some, moved it around occasionally, moved his tank so there was more traffic around him (he seems to love the attention since I did that) left everything alone for a while in case moving stuff stressed him, decreased the light he got, had the light off entirely, nothing was different in his behaviour no matter what I did... I think he's just a biter and there's nothing I can do about it, it still feels pretty bad though...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah, he sounds like a chronic tail biter. I can tell by the way he's always the one causing issues  Syriven was my very first friend on here and her little Phy was a chronic tail biter and he had the most personality and always gave her the most grief. (Its funny how you get attached to the members and their fish on this site. I remember DragonFish was the very first person to help me out with the first thread I posted when I joined.) off topic...

Anyways, I was more thinking along the lines of helping him heal. Do you add stress coat or anything?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hehe, yeah, I've only been on here a short while and I feel the same way. XD

Yup, since the biting started, I've added API Stress Coat+ with every water change to help him heal. I've got a big bottle of SeaChem's equivalent coming in the mail since I'm running out of the stuff, assuming it'll do the same job. Eeeeep!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Lol, we both joined last November and I have over 1000 posts already. I must have no life, haha.

Have you ever thought about Indian Almond Leaves? The stress coat would promote healing and the IAL acts as a preventative to keep away infections while they heal. It's not super easy to get but I am thinking about getting some for my sorority... As there will likely be some fin nipping and one sick girl usually equals sick everyone in the tank :/


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh yeah! Forgot to say that everyone gets IAL in their tanks. Completely forgot to say that. The shop I got Falkor from sells them and recommended them when I got him, so I bought a bunch. They actually know their stuff about bettas (and have so much amazing aquascaping stuff, but that's off-topic) so it's good.

Haha, I have no life, I'm always on here, just don't talk much 'cause I'm afraid of sounding like a doofus. XP


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I wish I could find a place around here that sells IAL. As far as I know the only place I can get it is like, online from AquaBid or Amazon. >:/ And I get off topic often, lol.

I've read soo many threads and learned so much from this forum in the couple months that I've been here that I actually reply to new members questions quite often, and now that I have a blind betta and I've dealt with internal parasites, I have a lot of personal experience I can put into answering some questions and concerns. It's really fun, because I remember the first person who helped me when I first joined and I remember my first friend on the site, and now I am the person helping new members when they first join and becoming their very first friend on here and stuff. It's pretty neat, because I never really thought about it until I had a member message me and tell me how much I helped them and ask if they could add me to their friends list, haha (I've actually had a couple of those, now). I also remember thinking how much of a nuisance I must have been to some members when I first joined because I had so many questions, but I really don't find all the new members abundance of questions annoying at all (and pretty much everyone thinks they are being annoying when they have a lot of questions, I've noticed). There I go, being off-topic again, ha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I don't really feel qualified to reply to much, as I haven't dealt with infections yet, only fairly easy stuff.

Though I have had a bit of a heart attack just now. I'm not sure if I'm just seeing things or if the other two boys are missing bits of their fins. Water is crystal clear, just did a 100% change yesterday, and I test the water most days because I'm paranoid like that... Water quality is far from poor, and their is zero discolouration on their fins, so it can't be fin rot... If I'm just seeing things because of Falkor, which I hope I am, I shan't mention this again... But I cannot fathom how on earth I could have three mutilating themselves.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just checked, and yes, Feyd is missing some of his tail. The only thing that has changed with him and Weehawk is that they could no longer see each other, after spending almost a month being able to see one another. I have since removed Weehawk's background, in case Feyd was getting stressed at "losing" his neighbour.

I feel like throwing the towel in, like I've completely ruined my fish's lives, and that I'm the cause of their self-mutilation. I had honestly thought I was doing well at betta-keeping, and that my boys were happy. It's obvious that that's not the case, except maybe for Falkor, because I've done everything possible for him. I just feel like I've failed all of them, completely.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm going to have to assume that in Feyd and Weehawk's case, it's the separation that's caused any self-harm, because it's the _only_ thing that changed between yesterday and today. I have since allowed them to see one another, and am observing them closely.

It confuses me though... You'd think that letting them see each other would cause stress, not the other way around. In any case, I've changed back the only thing that was different, and am monitoring everyone. Falkor's just going to be Falkor I suppose, but the other two I cannot let fall into the same habit...

I love them so much, but feel so bad. I spend all my days researching on here and elsewhere for ways to make their lives better, spend all my money on them trying to enrich their lives, spend heaps of time interacting with them daily, and still this happens. It's so discouraging to feel that despite all my best efforts, I'm still failing at giving them the best.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

[sigh] Woke up feeling guilty about my boys. Perhaps I shouldn't be so much on my high horse about wanting the best for them if my efforts result in them biting their fins. I know in theory I couldn't have known what would set them off until it was done, but there's still that overwhelming feeling that I failed them.

Now I'm fairly worried about when I do my piercing course, and possibly an apprenticeship, how are they going to be when I'm away most days? Will they be shocked by the sudden lack of company, and bite their fins because of that? I'm hoping by then I can have some tank mates for them, but they still won't have the same form of interaction until I get home... Hmmm...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh man, things just keep getting better... Our hot water unit is busted apparently. So no showers for a while, until it gets fixed. Yuck. Washing myself painstakingly, basically giving myself sponge baths is not an idea that appeals to me, but you gotta get clean somehow! Ugh...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

As distressing as it is having a tail-biter such as Falkor, I've had to force myself to just deal with it and not worry so much, after having done everything I possibly can to try and find the cause and put a stop to it. I think this morning I'm finally starting to come to terms with it and not stress so much because I caught him chasing his tail just then, and thought "You idiot boy, what are you doing, checking if you missed a bit or something?!"

I can only hope that when he gets a couple of shrimp in his tank that he'll have something to occupy himself with instead of his tail and he might break the habit, because nothing else has worked. Though that's a fair few months away, as I've got to cycle his tank before even thinking about little shrimplets (with him in a different one of course... if he's still biting I can't have him in a cycling tank, don't want to deal with fin rot as well).

Still lamenting the loss of his beautiful fins, obviously a lot more than he is. He used to have some of the most beautiful fins I'd ever seen, but now he's just my derpy little buddy. Still love him to death though. >.<


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I feel like a heartless so-and-so for starting to lose sympathy for Falkor... I mean, I still love the little guy, but I used to have mini heart attacks every time I saw his ragged fins, and feel so, so awful about his tail-biting. As time has worn on I'm starting to feel less sympathetic, now that I've tried absolutely everything except getting him tankmates, which just isn't possible at the moment. I'm not going to neglect him, of course I'll keep his water squeaky clean, and keep adding Stress Coat and IAL to try and help him heal, and play with him like normal, but this feeling that I've failed is bringing me down way too much to let myself continue with it. It sounds heartless to me when I say it like that, but if I think rationally about the last couple of months and the measures I've taken to try and ensure that he's happy and healthy, and all of the many, many things I've changed in an attempt to stop him biting, I suppose this is the point where I go, "Fine. Rip the whole bloody thing off if you want to. I'll keep your water clean, and keep you as healthy as I possibly can, but you're on your own with the tail issue, buddy."


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I don't think you're being unsympathetic. Really. He's just a booger who wishes he was a Plakat, and in all seriousness, its not YOUR fault they are purposely bred to have long, pretty, HEAVY fins. I have seen some tail biters. Some of them start because of stress from something like shipping, and once they realize its easier to get around without it, they decide to keep it short. Kind of like some girls keep their hair short because its easier to manage 

The point is, you tried and you do your best to keep his water clean. I'm assuming that if he had been purchased by a careless owner who never bothers to keep the water clean, he would have got an infection by now and would be a lot worse off. He's lucky 

I have seen a ton of people who had chronic tail biters despite all efforts to get them to stop. It's stressful at first, but you come to terms with it. I feel the same about my blind boy Bahari. He had pretty fins that marbled and he's lost his blue  he's not quite as pretty to look at now but he's still gorgeous and I still love him to death, and do all I can to help him with his blindness. I thought it was my fault, I really did. He wasn't blind when I got him but he went blind within the first month I had him. I'm thinking it was genetics, now, but I thought maybe my water parameters caused it or something (I have a high pH and am doing a fishless cycle...) but in any case, I can't do anything but interact with him and help him cope. I also thought my VTs internal parasites were my fault... It happened shortly after I moved him to his 5 gallon and added a heater. Maybe I didn't acclimate him properly or something? Idk, but most people would be too unconcerned to go out and get meds to treat it. He gives me the sad eyes when he's sick but I know he knows I'm doing all I can to help him! That's all we can do..... And they appreciate it in their cute fishy ways


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Thanks for the vote of confidence. And yeah, maybe he is like his mum, wanting to not have unnecessary stuff weighing him down, hehe.

This whole ordeal got me thinking, though. If by some catastrophe he does get fin rot, which he really shouldn't given how pedantic I am about water changes... But if he did (I'm one of those "best prepare for the worst, just in case!" people) I'd need to move him over to his old tank for treatment because I can't have aquarium salt in with live plants. I was going to move him over to it anyway, given that I'm going to be cycling his current tank in a bit, but perhaps it might be a good idea to keep him over there just in case? Or even in Weehawk's old tank, which is slightly bigger. If I do that, and keep only silk plants with him, it frees up a whole bigger tank once it's cycled... Room for another fishlet?! OMG!!

I wouldn't have considered having him in 2.5 gallons again, but considering his behaviour is exactly the same in either situation, and the biting hasn't improved despite having more room, perhaps I'd best keep him in something I can easily perform 100% changes with, rather than a cycled tank with loads of live plants...

Just a thought, as it's not happening yet, but it's certainly something for me to think about...

Your blind boy is lucky to have you as his owner! A lot of people (i.e. people who tend to think "it's just a fish..." when push comes to shove even if they do care about them) would have just given up on a blind betta. It's really nice to be able to log on here and see people who actually give a toss about their pets and care for them as they would for their cats or dogs. Gives you the warm and fuzzies, y'know? Hehe. (And it makes me feel less crazy about the way I feel about mine - which is weird, you'd think that animal lovers would love all animals, not just the furry ones...)


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah I think some people just haven't yet realized the joys of healthy fish. They are the sick and dying ones in the stores but not the active, INTERactive healthy ones. That's how we get into it, right? Start with one, and up with an entire roomful soon after  they are much more fun in a bigger tank than in a little one gallon! And most people realize how much HAPPIER they are and really get into it!

I think since he's already a tail biter, a current would bother him. I mean, most people here seem to think that the ones with super heavy fins do better in smaller tanks, so moving him back and getting a new one for the cycled tank is a good plan, IMO.

Maybe you could try a female. I used to think they were boring but now I just LOVE them. I want females from now on, haha! They are very spunky and more energetic because of their short fins  my Okami literally jumped all the way across her one gallon temporary tank the other day at feeding time! My males have jumped but NEVER like that!!

Haha, but in all seriousness, you should do whatever you think is best for him. I'd love to see any new addition to the family you might get!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yahh, I was going to go for a short-finned one if I did get another, either PK or HMPK. Unsure as to whether I'd get a male or female, but I've decided I definitely want a dumbo. It'd be a cuteness overload in my room with my three current boys and an EE, hehe. XD


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I love them! Two of my girls are EEs (wasn't planned really but they are SOO cute!) I think its a great idea! I've really taken a liking to PKs, females, EEs and dragons lolololol  if I get another male I would like a PK or HM (or HMPK lol) since I have a VT and a CT


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yay! You should totally do it.  I think regardless of male or female, I'm definitely only getting PKs or HMPKs now, after dealing with one tail-biter, I'm terrified of having another. (I'm fairly sure the incident with Weehawk and Feyd taking a small chunk out of their tails was due to being suddenly unable to see one another after a couple of months of being peaceful neighbours, and nothing's happened since) I'd much rather have short-finned types who are less likely to turn around, see a thing they can grab a hold of and go for it. >.<


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Also... I now can't stop staring wistfully at a couple of Aquabid beauties (all EEHMPK, 3 male, one female). I WANT THEM ALL! Hehe.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Package after package keeps arriving at my house! It makes me feel giddy with excitement that my big tank upgrade will be underway a couple of months earlier than I'd imagined!

Yesterday a 10kg bag of gravel arrived (looks pretty amazing too, all sparkly and quartz and black, oooooh!) and today the three pieces of mopani driftwood arrived, and I also received a text message informing me that my giant order of driftwood (regular and gold vine), plants, moss and SeaChem's equivalent of Stress Coat was shipped today!

I'm doing this derpy little dance on my butt, sitting here all excited. Wheeeeee! ^.^


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

The giant order of plants and driftwood arrived today, which is great, it means I can start soaking the driftwood and getting ready for the upgrade. I'm only waiting on the air pumps and sponge filters now, and we can get started once the tannins have been soaked out of the driftwood.

Last night I had to move Falkor over to the little tank I used to keep him in. I noticed some discolouration on his fins where he'd bitten them off, and I'm both confused and upset by it. I'm baffled as to how he could've got ill, I've kept his water pristine, and unless there's been something in the water that my test kit hasn't picked up, I just don't know how he could have got ill... 

As it is, I've started AQ salt treatment, and he's none too happy to be in a reasonably barren tank in comparison to what he was just evicted from. He's only got a few silk plants and IAL in there with him, poor thing. I just don't want to risk anything else but the expendable silk plants, y'know? The little guy didn't like the bookend he can see on one side of the smaller tank, so I've angled it all weird so it's harder for him to see, hopefully it'll appease him. 

As for the other two, they're doing fine. I'm doing their 50% changes today. Feyd's is done, and I'm just waiting for the bucket of Weehawk's water to warm up. I couldn't put any hot water into the bucket unless I boiled it, as our hot water system isn't working...

Which brings me to annoyances. I want to be able to have a shower. That's what's driving me up the wall the most today. Not the back pain, not the lifting heavy things for water changes, no. I just want to have a bloody shower, not an awkward sponge bath, or spending hours boiling water to warm a bathtub full of cold water up so I can wash quickly before it cools down again. I just want my shower back. WAHHH!

An electrician is coming tomorrow, as we're not sure if it's the fuse box that's stuffed or the hot water unit itself. Here's hoping it can be fixed tomorrow, and I will never have been so thankful for a shower as I will when it's fixed and I can have one again, haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Woooo, the air pumps arrived today as well! And since I was spoiling the fishies so much I decided to get myself a cheap little something from eBay as well, and that came today as well. A pair of nice flowy wide black pants. I'm always thinking to myself that I don't have any flattering black trousers to wear aside from skinny jeans, which aren't that awesome in summer, now I've got some, yay! Loving the smocking on the waistline as well, since I'm losing weight it'll still fit later down the track. Happy times! Now if only I could shower... LOL!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yay new clothes! And air pumps! And the electrician coming tomorrow, lol!

I can't wait to see your tanks all fixed up and maybe a new boy in the future  too exciting!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hehe, yeah, lots of yay! Even my anti-pet grandma loves the EEPK boys I've been eyeing off on AB so it may very well happen in a few months' time. She's only anti-pet because in her words, "It's too upsetting when they die to just keep going through it" (we lost our Nala kitty back in 2010, and she's had a fair few cats and dogs in her past) so I can see where she's coming from, but in my opinion the joy they bring far outweighs the sadness and work that comes with caring for and ultimately losing them.

I'm estimating only about a fortnight until everything we need for the tanks is here, so exciting things will be happening soon! Squeeeee!!

Little Weehawk is busy building a bubble nest, and so is Falkor in his hospital tank. I'm glad he's found something to do that isn't biting his fins, though I think he just ran out of fin to bite and is now just occupying himself with his nest... :-/

Feyd's the only one not busily building a nest, instead he's investigating the spare tank full of driftwood that is soaking next to his tank, hehe.

It's getting to that point in this big tank project where I'm waiting more anxiously than ever for the last couple of items to arrive so I can get cracking, hehe. I know I need to be patient and wait for the driftwood to soak more, but I reckon by the time the rest of the stuff gets here it'll be fine. I'll actually be absent from here for a day while I get it all done! A day without forum time? It seems unthinkable, lololol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Found out something interesting an hour or so ago... Apparently the sponge filters I bought are stackable/modular, so you can create as much surface area for BB to colonise as your water depth allows, theoretically... Interesting! I may have to consider that when the time comes, surely more BB would be more beneficial, especially if I want to introduce shrimpy tankmates someday. I'd even like to have shrimpy tankmates in the currently empty, formerly Falkor's tank before another betta is housed in it, to hopefully minimise their chances of being nommed.

I also found some awesome-looking LED fixtures I'd love to get my hands on, depending on the answer to the thread I posted about them. If they really would be as good for my plants as they seem to be, I'm going to have to be greedy and get those too, eventually.

Falkor's still busy building that bubble nest of his. I'm glad he's decided to keep himself busy with something. The nest is gigantic! It's covering the entirety of the underside of the IAL I've put in there with him... 

Back on the topic of shrimp, though... I'd love to be able to have fancier-looking shrimp. I guess I'll use glass shrimp as canaries in the mine, so to speak, and if they work out get some bright coloured ones somewhere down the track. Cherry shrimp, and some lovely looking gold shrimp would be fantastic. Unfortunately Weehawk can never have cherry shrimp in his tank, as he can't stand red, but Feyd would be fine with them, and we'd have to wait and see what Mr/Ms Newbie, if I get one, thinks of different colours before being adventurous. 

So much good stuff! Thank goodness for the nice stuff that's happening, with all the stressful stuff that's going on (hot water being nonexistant, $400 water bill etc.) I don't know what I'd do without the fun things.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

A little random, slightly snide tidbit before I go to bed: Why do events (mainly nightclubs) and the people that work for them use phrases like "The only reason not to be there is [insert ridiculous impossible catastrophe]"? It doesn't entice me to scrape the bottom of my wallet and force myself out of the house, all it does is make me smirk and make a few sarcastic remarks about the establishment. 

Sure, this may have something to do with me having worked at a lot of the alternative nightclubs that run/have run in Melbourne, and my knowledge of how dodgy things are in the industry and thus not wanting to participate in the gossip, cliques and other crap that goes with being a part of alternative nightlife... 

But instead of that silly stuff that doesn't fool anyone, why not lure people in by having fun little activities on the night, an incentive for people to make an effort with their outfits, or even simply "This is going to be a great night!" rather than the overused cliches clubs tend to spew forth in an effort to get people through the door.

Well, that was a random rant, hehe.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Sigh... Poor little Falkor obviously isn't happy in his little tank, it's a bit bare. Unfortunately I'm going to have to keep it like that until I can get a hidey-hole without live plants on it for him (this weekend should be able to, a shop down the road has the nifty little tunnels I've got in Feyd and Weehawk's tanks for $5, it's awesome) so he's going to have to wait a day or two... He seems to be occupying himself fairly well though, that bubble nest he's been busily building for the last couple of days is covering about half the water surface! 

I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of the last couple of items for the tank overhaul. The sponge filters and the valve thingies for them are the last things that need to show up before I can begin working on the tanks. Boy, that's going to be a big job! 

Going to have to wait until the second weekend in February, as it's the Red Dwarf/Trekkie convention weekend next week. Hopefully the organisers have actually seen my email about wanting to pay cash for our tickets. We haven't got a response yet, and I emailed them last week... I'm just hoping they haven't re-allocated our tickets to someone else. That would suck royally. I have paid in cash on the day before for a different OzTrek weekend of theirs, so it should be fine... Key word: should. They might not recognise me this time, I'm not dressing in my full Borg costume again, haha. It'll be nice having depth perception for once - the other two Star Trek conventions I went to, I had a black lycra catsuit with PVC accents and computer parts I'd spray-painted black sewn on, an eyepiece made of computer parts that covered that eye, a corset, six-inch platform boots and a white contact lens that obscured most of my vision along with tonnes of makeup. Pretty awesome Seven of Nine (full Borg era, not big-chested w/Starfleet uniform, haha) outfit for a homemade effort, if I do say so myself, haha. I was perpetually afraid of falling over the whole time I was in that gear, haha. It'll be nice to be comfy for once, even if that outfit did earn me a hug from Brent Spiner. (still totally SQUEEEEE about that... >.<)

Gah! So excited after that convention blabber I just had. ALL OF THE EXCITEMENT!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

...I just realised that with Falkor's hospital tank and the other tank with driftwood soaking in it, I've got 5 full tanks in my room... If I didn't have live plants and the need for lights for each of them, I could really have 5 fish. As it is, I adore my plants as well as my fish, so the 4 it'll end up being will have to do, as I don't have enough power outlets for lights and heat for 5. I don't even have lights going in Falkor's tank, and the outlets are full with heaters for 4 and lights for 3. And with the modem, home phone, mobile charger, laptop, fan and god knows what else plugged in (this is just my bedroom we're talkin') I think my room is enough of a fire hazard without adding more! Wow... It's really pretty bad when I think about it.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Ha, I have I think 3 extension cords hooked up to my tanks. I have a light timer with two outlets, an extension cord in one that has two tank lights hooked up to it, and the other outlet has a thing that makes that one outlet into three, with two tank lights hooked up... That's on an power cord that is connected to an outlet in the wall and one of the filters is plugged into that... Then another outlet on the ceiling that has another filter hooked up to it and the overhead light on the ceiling, and the power cord has the heaters and the TV connected to it... The other two tanks connected to the light timer by an extension cord aren't near an outlet so the filters and heaters are connected to two extension cords that are connected to another extension cord that the space heater is also plugged into, LOL. I'm not sure how safe that is, but the heaters and lights are low wattage and I think there is a super high wattage capacity on the power cord and also the light timer... It seems like a whole bunch of cords but I don't think it exceeds the capacity.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

As long as you're only running several things from each outlet thingie you should be fine... All the power in my room comes from the one outlet, with power boards connected to one another. All have surge protectors, so theoretically it should be okay and they'll just switch themselves off if things get too much, but it's worrying nonetheless...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah, if I ever get rich and build my own fish room (harhar) remind me to get a bajillion outlets in it. I have technically three things for each tank (lights, heater, and filter) and everything is hooked up to three different outlets, but I also have the TV, room lights, computer, PS3, all the other junk that goes with them, and a space heater plugged in. The room is also huge, so really, the computer, TV and tanks are well spread out but the outlets aren't. My sorority tank and backup tank are like ten feet away from either outlet so I wouldn't have any way to run them without a million extension cords.

And btw I really hate the outlet on the ceiling, lol. The cords hanging down are such a nuisance... Not sure who's bright idea it was to put it there.

Edit: I also can't judge distance worth crap so those two tanks might even be more like 20 feet away from the outlets LOL.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

That'd be really odd, having an outlet on the ceiling... 

Hehe, yeah, my partner and I have discussed how when we do some renovating at my place, more outlets will be installed in most rooms. He's even conceded that we're going to need a bunch more than planned because it's unlikely I'll stop with "the fish thing", haha. (He reckons I don't notice him going all gooey over the boys when I'm paying attention to something else, LOL!)


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I've been going nuts with eBay recently! Sponge filters, some clothes for myself, some floating plants (the site I usually get my plants from didn't have what I was looking for, so I figured I'd go ahead and buy from eBay and just QT for longer than usual) and in the last couple of days I decided to purchase one of those "cycle boosters". I'm aware it won't speed up the cycle at all, but anything that can make the process easier on the two fish that will still be in their tanks during cycling can't hurt. It may end up being a waste of money, but I'd rather waste the money than not give something a go if it could possibly benefit my little buddies.

I also bought a product called CO2 Booster, so hopefully with that and the Flourish I already add to the tanks during water changes my plants can do extra-well. I don't have the money for fancy CO2 injection systems for all three planted tanks, so if there's a liquid product I can just add daily, that's fantastic. I imagine that once that arrives, and I finally get my hands on those spiffy LED lights that actually have the correct spectrum for plants, my tanks will look awesome and everyone will be happy - me, fishies, plants, everyone! Hahaha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

GAH! I WANT THIS FISH! 










But I was going to cycle the free tank... What to do?! Do I just get him, and do a fish-in cycle? Do I pass up the opportunity for such an unusual beauty? HAAAAAALP!! (Pondering posting this to another thread to get answers, because it's a bit of a dilemma! Heh)


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

LOL well I already replied to the other thread but I probably wasn't much help 

I'd weigh the pros and cons... Cons being the tank isn't cycled yet and a fish-in cycled could be stressful on him and it would require a lot more work... But if he is exactly what you are looking for and you don't think you will find one later that you will like even better than why not? hahaha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yeah, I don't particularly like the idea of stressing him, especially after the ordeal of shipping... On the other hand, it's not often I see a fish and the little guy "speaks to me". Y'know what I mean, right? Hehe. Sure, I go ooh pretty, I'd like to have that one, but the only other fish that's done that "speaks to me" thing was Falkor.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ugh, I have no idea what's going on with my body today, but I'm in an awful lot of pain for no apparent reason. Random joints getting stabbing pains, weird headaches, it hasn't been fun. Blah! Here's hoping that tomorrow is less painful, because this is just stupid!

Good news is that I have le boyfriend's full support for getting another fishie, as long as it's a solid, bright colour so he can see it well with his colourblindness, heh. After seeing the lovely DTPK, I've decided that my ideal fourth fish would be something like that white one, but in a perfect world would be an EE too, however I know it's fairly unlikely. Something about the DTPK shape appeals to me so much, I think it's the symmetry. I like symmetry. But EEs are beyond adorable. So it's a hard one. Just trying to work things out in case the stunning white boy above is sold before I'm able to purchase, which is a pretty big possibility. I guess I'll just use the time between now and purchase time to think hard about all of it!

And also since fish won't be shipped till mid-late February, I've got enough time to get my cycle started! Yay! Poor Feyd and Weehawk will have to endure their fish-in cycle, unfortunately, but at least I'll be able to start a fishless cycle before a new boy comes and at least get it past the ammonia spike business...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Good news! Falkor seems to be out of the woods with his possible fin rot. Still have no idea how that happened though... How on earth does it happen when water quality is great? Ugh. Either way, no more discolouration, and I can see some re-growth. The idiot's still probably going to nom down on that tail of his, so he's chosen the teeny tank for himself. I moved the tank to my desk today as I don't trust my bookshelf with the weight of two tanks, and might look into getting some nice things for him after the AQ salt treatment is finished. But yay, no more badness for my little boy!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Callistra suggested that I get Vita Chem for fin rot... It's like a vitamin supplement and it can be used indefinitely. It's kind of expensive... $7 for 4 ounces, though and its only two drops per gallon. I looked up the average number of drops per ounce, though and water is like 500-600 drops per ounce so the 4 ounce should last awhile. It has a shelf life of about a year if its kept in a cool place.

I am treating Okami in AQ salt now for fin rot that's no doubt from her biting her fins during shipping, I just started treating DaBaDee AGAIN for internal parasites and Bahari is in Epsoms for constipation. Ugh. 3 of my 5 fish are being treated for something now. What fun! -_-


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ahh, I'll definitely look into getting that product then, sounds pretty amazing. $7 for anything is ridiculously cheap over here, I doubt I'll find it at that price. But that's fine, I don't mind spending money on my fishies if I have the cash.

It sucks that you have to treat 3 at once! That's a lot of work... I hope they get better soon, both for their sake and yours!

(Just a wee bit of an exciting thing: I messaged the seller of the white boy I wanted asking if it's likely he'll have any similar fish available at the time of the export to Australia, and he offered to hold the fish for me, which I totally wasn't expecting. Super excited about it, and so's the boyfriend. He doesn't get as excited about fish stuff as I do but since planning the aquascaping he's been getting more enthusiastic, and just about flipped his lid with excitement when I told him the news, haha!)


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yay!!!! 
Yeah, I keep forgetting you are in Australia. It's from the site drsfostersmith.com (I think lol) and they also have that one and only live nitrifying bacteria that Callistra also successfully used, but that's a little more expensive and it can't be in super hot/cold temps so it would not work for either of us to ship it right now, LOL.

She did offer to send me some different meds for DaBaDees internal parasites that are more effective and less harsh than what I have which is SOOOOOOO incredibly nice of her <3 <3 !!!! I really hope he makes it, I've had him longer than any other fish and I'd hate to lose him, he just looks so miserable :/


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

He'll make it with a doting fish-parent like you looking after him!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I hope so! He's definitely a trooper - he's survived a lot. I'd say he's one of the hardier fish around. After all, he did survive both Walmart and myself when I was a clueless fish owner... And also my boyfriends uncle who felt the need to over feed him tropical flakes all the time (I never fed him those and finally threw them out after that). His uncle moved in unexpectedly for a few weeks and took over the room where I keep my fish. I'm so glad he's gone, LOL.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh man... I'm with you on the clueless feeding thing being annoying and not wanting that person near your fish ever again! 

A few years ago, when I was completely clueless and blindly trusted the pet shop guy, I had five tetras in a small tank (I know, I know, but back then I didn't know and thought I was being told correct information) and it's a long story as to why I didn't want them in my room anymore, but in short that nutzoid ex I wrote about earlier had bought them for me right before leaving and doing some more screwed up stuff, so while I didn't want them to just die, I didn't want them in my face all the time, so I relocated them to the living room. My grandmother was put in charge of feeding and I only had to do water changes because truthfully, although it wasn't their fault (and I didn't want them to suffer for what some moron had done) I didn't want to spend an awful lot of time with them. 

She overfed them so much that she ran out of the food that should've lasted for a very long time... In a couple of weeks. And I hadn't noticed because it'd sink to the bottom, and I'd vac it out and being clueless thought the rotting food was their poop. *the most epic of facepalms* Needless to say the poor things didn't last that long... Always felt guilty about it since...

Of course she's not allowed near my bettas now! >.< I did tell her to NEVER turn the tank lights on when it's dark in my room, because the boys will see their reflections and get stressed, and said that if I happen to be home late one day if I've gone on an outing, to turn the tank lights off for me please. So I come home late one night, and the room lights are off, the tank lights are on. I'd left the tank lights off because while I'd explained all that to her, I didn't think she'd remember to turn the tank lights off, but she'd turned them on when it got dark. I flipped my lid, because I'd spent about 10 minutes explaining exactly why that was a no-no. Since then I've been reluctant to go out past sundown, despite all the nagging that I don't see my friends often enough, and that I really need to get out more. I'd rather not expose my fish to that stuff...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Lol that's why I got a light timer. I take care of everything including the lights when I'm not even here, and I just tell everybody DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING. Or bad things shall come. I have so many different kinds of food that they wouldn't know WHAT to feed them, anyways, lol.
My mom doesn't understand why I have to take them with me to college. One of my biggest issues here is Bahari being blind... He's hard to feed and its also hard not to let the pellets sink by accident and I know no one in my family has the patience to feed him or clean up all the sunken food.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yeah, a lot of people don't have an awful lot of patience when it comes to pets that aren't theirs, even when they do mean to help.

Since my room gets a fair bit of natural light, now I've opted to just leave the blinds open when I'm out, and the tank lights off. That way they still get their day/night business, but won't be terrorised by clueless grannies. LOL! That sounded awful, but kind of funny... I do love my grandma, promise. Hehe.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Success! I have persuaded le grandmother to not be upset about yet another fish. The concept of "wasting money" got her, because she doesn't see the point in keeping a planted tank up and running without a fish in it, and when I told her how much I'd invested into the materials for aquascaping the three 15L tanks, she did a quick about-face and said to purchase the fish (it's beside the point that I already had, I guess... >.<).

Then we had a long conversation about the work involved with keeping fish. She was surprised when she realised that the amount of time taken to care for a few healthy fish when compared to the accumulated time of caring for a fluffball was pretty minimal. I'd rather be doing water changes than scrubbing vomit/hairballs off the carpet any day... O_O I do love cats though (and dogs, though I'm more of a cat person) and would like to have another at some point in my life, that point isn't right now.

Some people wonder why I generally look to my grandmother for approval when I'm 24 years old. I like peace in my household, and an "I do what I want!!" attitude from anyone in a household towards each other (whether it's the younger or older person) doesn't make for happy people when you have a huge generation gap. Asking for things rather than telling an elder will always make for a more harmonious living arrangement. And that is why I defer to my grandma rather than shove things in her face. That is, unless it is about my body and what I choose to do with it, that's something I hold sacred.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Something I've been thinking about for a while and worrying about is when I do this awesome tank overhaul I have planned, how do I go about vacuuming the gravel effectively enough if over 50% of it is covered by hardscape and plants, with little tunnels and such for the fish to swim through? Won't poop and plant debris be caught in the little nooks and crannies that I just can't reach with the gravel vac? I don't want aesthetics and the playgrounds I'll be building for my little guys be their demise, y'know?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Quick, narky note: In the realm of nightmare ex-partners, there is seldom anything more satisfying than to see the likes of what they've downgraded to, though I do feel pity for those poor souls. The bit that really makes me laugh is that this ex is now "polyamorous". I respect those who actually do "love many", and have genuine, caring and loving relationships with more than one person though that life is most definitely _not_ for me, but this guy is clearly just a case of "sleep with many under the guise of something more". Wonder when was the last time someone told him "quality over quantity!"

I'm showing somewhat of a nasty streak here in looking down upon people, but it is truly hard to feel kindness towards people who have metaphorically spat in your face, and a little schadenfreude never hurt anyone... Well... Yeah, that doesn't work. Either way, I'll be waiting with popcorn when the drama inevitably gets aired on the internet for the world to see (why do people argue online publicly about private matters once they're out of high school? I don't get it) and I'm still just chugging along in my fantastic, chilled, monogamous relationship. ^.^


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

The plants use the poo for fertilizer. In planted tanks you aren't supposed to vacuum more than 50% of the gravel at a time. With a filter and live plants, ammonia shouldn't ever be a problem, and nitrates build up slower since a lot of the ammonia is used by the plants instead of the filter.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Phew! That's a relief. Though I am wondering if that changes with plants that aren't great nutrient sponges... I am only putting a couple of varieties of anubias on hardscape, and planting a crypt or two, and the only decent nutrient sponge will be duckweed, unless my water sprite manages to survive (it's not doing so well).


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

By the way, hope your fishies are doing a little better today!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I know duckweed literally grows like a weed and it should handle ammonia very well. A high amount of DOCs can be harmful, but if you don't have a bunch of planted plants (just stems and floaters) they can be moved around to get the gravel cleaned easier. Anubias is attached to driftwood and rocks often because its easier to move around that way... So it'd be easier to get to the gravel around them.

Edit: DaBaDee isn't looking good but Okami's tail is healing nicely and Bahari has been more active. I can't wait to get my new meds for DaBaDee... He's very lethargic, clamped and still has color loss but he's hanging on.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hm. Should probably be able to manage it all then. Thanks!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah, as long as its not clouding the water and super nasty, I wouldn't worry too much about the DOCs and ammonia will pretty much never occur (unless plants start dying). It's hard to siphon around planted plants because you don't want to disturb the roots but stems and floaters will be fine.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Schweeeet. Bit less nervous now. This is one situation where being overly pedantic and perfectionistic is NOT advantageous. >.<


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Lol well I've never had live plants but I've posted a lot around the forum learning about them... I know that established NPTs only need 1-2 water changes a month. Plants do wonders for water quality - and it sounds like your plants are all easy beginner/hardy plants so there shouldn't be too much worry about them dying off. In surprised about the water sprite though - its very popular with members who are new to live plants.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I know, that's why I got it! I've had great luck with my crypts, anubias and java fern (though that last one will have to go in the overhaul - they've just got too big for the tanks if there's going to be plenty of smaller ones involved) but for some reason my water sprite doesn't like me. I think everyone has that one plant that just won't work for them, judging by what I've read on here, maybe water sprite is mine, haha!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Because I'm a chicken and didn't have the cojones to do it before and had to wait until someone else did it before I would... (Sorry Ayala) PHOTOSPAM! Cross-posted. >.<

'Cause I've got a Star Trek convention coming up this weekend, I'm gonna share the most uncomfortable costume I have ever created and worn to one, haha. Zero depth perception, laughable balance and comfort? What's that?









With one of the stars of the Aussie production of Rocky Horror back in 2008, taken at the World's Biggest Time Warp record attempt:









Fighting the zombie horde (lol) at the Melbourne Zombie Shuffle back in 2011:









Found a photo of me with hair! OMG! (But it's a wig... Still counts)









One of my favourite photos of my partner and I because it reflects how silly and childish we usually are, hehe:









And just to prove that sometimes I get behind the lens, not just in front of it...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Ahh! I wish I had the balls to do something crazy with my hair, lol.
You look amazing with and without it!

Sorry I accidentally hit post before I was done typing


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Thank you!! I used to be scared of doing stuff with it, but once you get that "Let's just do it" feeling and just go for it, there's no turning back, haha. It's definitely addictive, especially shaving it all off. Or parts of it. I used to have an undercut with a bob, so if my hair was down I'd look "normal" but if I spiked it up I'd look like this:










(It's just a really silly photo but shows the hair a bit, had to dig a lot for that one, haha!) But it shows you can have crazy hair without the full-time commitment, lol.

This is what I call crazy hair... About 5mm long and dyed neon green, glowed under blacklights at a nightclub, hehe.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm terrified. I have made the decision to finally quit smoking after seven years of being a pack-a-day girl, and with my stress levels, it's more than daunting, it's scary as all heck.


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## Hershey (Sep 28, 2012)

Just keep yourself busy. Working out and punching a pillow is a great stress reliever.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Or try spending more time in places where smoking either isn't allowed or you are just not used to doing it. I think it's great that you decided to quit!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Thanks for the support! I've cut down only slightly so far, going cold turkey isn't likely to work for me so I'm trying to take it slow and just extend the gaps, with my e-cig as a helper. So far so good! Last night (when things weren't so busy and stressful) I managed almost 3 hours without a smoke! Record breaking for me at least, although it doesn't sound like much at all to a non-smoker or a light smoker. But still, progress! Progress is good, and doesn't make ultimately quitting completely seem like such an impossible task.

This week has been so busy. I'm basically a shut-in, so seeing two people on Sunday with my partner, then seeing three people on my own and entertaining them at my place on Wednesday was really draining for me. 

Then yesterday, we had to take everything out of our too-full wardrobe, rearrange it all and somehow find space for a gigantic suitcase my hoarder grandmother decided she didn't want taking up space in her room, but didn't want to get rid of. Blah! Then today, my partner and I installed two sets of blinds in the living room, and did a huge amount of shopping, made the trek home, and now it's water change time, because we won't be able to during the Big Convention Weekend. Haha.

Also getting some new piercings tomorrow! Yayyy! We're going to a private "piercing party" hosted by some of the people who belong to one of the groups we're a member of, who run one of the best piercing studios in Melbourne. Hooray! Half price piercings with top-notch professionals and people we like! 

Dang, my chest and belly button are going to be sore for the next (insert however many months they'll take to heal here). Hopefully everything heals up nicely this time, last time I had them done, I had to remove them after a year of meticulously caring for the piercings, because they just weren't healing, and I didn't feel comfortable wearing latex clothing with unhealed piercings, and really wanted to get a good night's sleep where I didn't wake myself up by rolling over onto them, haha. Hopefully getting them pierced at a larger gauge will help the healing, as I've heard that can be something that drastically changes healing of those piercings for women.

But yes, YAYYYYY!! Also, duckweed and sponge filters have arrived, so it's all systems go for next weekend (the next available few days that are completely free) for the tank remodel! Wooooo!!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just had a massive scare. Weehawk jumped out of his tank while the lid was up. Started having a panic attack, boyfriend picked him up and put him back right away. Still finding it difficult to breathe, and I don't have any of my panic meds anymore. 

Boyfriend blames himself for enticing him to jump and is barely holding back tears because of all the "what ifs" - what if my knee squished him (he fell onto the bed where I was sitting), what if I knocked him into the wall in a panic, what if I knocked him the other way in a panic and boyfriend squished him, all of the horrible things that could have happened, he's thinking of them, listing them, and getting more and more upset, and it's not exactly making it any easier for me to start breathing properly again, but I understand why he's doing it.

I know Weehawk will be fine, his fins are clamped but he's swimming around as normal and ate like a champ. Just gotta try and calm all of us after that awfulness.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Phew, he still comes right over to Mummy when she waves at him, and still loves Daddy. He doesn't hate us! I thought he would lose all trust in us after that debacle. My poor baby!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

...And the NLS pellets still haven't arrived. This is ridiculous. I'm sick and tired of feeling guilty for feeding Hikari pellets to them, when the package was meant to get here weeks ago.

Weehawk has perked up, and is almost back to his normal self after the awful fright we all had last night. Boyfriend is still apologising, and I'm still fussing over Weehawk like the protective mum I apparently am.

On the bright side, only one more sleep to go until tank overhauls start. We're doing the empty one first, so there's not so much pressure to get it done quickly while we figure out the quickest and easiest way to do things, then the next day we'll do Feyd's, and leave Weehawk for last so he can have some quiet time to recover from last night before the poor thing gets uprooted again for his tank to be redone.

EDIT: Oh! I almost forgot... Since Falkor can't have any live plants in his tank due to his tail-biting and thus his heightened risk of needing to be medicated, and I don't particularly like the silk plants that attempt (and fail) to look natural, we're going to go for a silly, bright look for his tank. Maybe get some gravel in crazy colours, some outlandish looking plants, and a silly decoration. This isn't going to happen until his tail grows back, and we find out if he has bitten it because he just prefers next to nothing in his tank. I thought of this yesterday when I finally realised that he didn't bite until I gave him his jungle. And here I was thinking I was doing him good! We'll find out if that's the case likely late this month, and then plans can get underway for making his home prettier as well.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Haha I used to panic when my fish leapt out of their tanks. Now it is just annoying. Especially when they flop somewhere that I can't see and I have to go poking around under shelves with my torch. 

You sound like a very dedicated betta mother. Who did you order the NLS food from? Hopefully not Aquarium Products Wholesale as they always take forever.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ordered from Fish World... And wow, just thought to check the delivery status of the order, and apparently they delivered it to a completely different location. WOW. Gonna have to order again and make a complaint... YAY.

And thank you! I do the best I can for my little buddies. XD I guess with fish that are likely to jump after a while you get used to it, and I'm still brand new-ish!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Age of Aquariums sells NLS food and it is a flat rate of $7.50 for nearly all of their products no matter what you order. Tech Den is also a good site and has excellent customer service. Guy sent me the wrong product once, sent me a new one completely free of charge and was in contact within hours of me notifying him. This was for only an $8 product as well. 

Tech Den sells New Era food which is also supposed to be good. 

I once ordered some fish from Fish World and it took about a week or so before they said that my fish weren't actually in stock and my money was refunded. I think they were still advertising the fish on their site and there was nothing to say they weren't in stock.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh, sweeet. Might order from Age of Aquariums! I'm just on The Aquarium Shop at the moment having a squiz, but I might go with one of your recommendations instead. Sounds like Fish World isn't that great... Took 'em long enough to just notify me that the product wasn't in stock and it'd be sent within two weeks, and then to have it sent to the wrong location... Yeah, nah.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I think I've used nearly every online store and Age of Aquariums and Tech Den for things like equipment, food etc. are probably the best price and service wise. Guppy's Aquarium Products is pretty good with prices and range but the service can sometimes be a bit iffy (I know people have had problems from another forum). Aquarium Supermarket is also another good site. They used to give me free food and stuff with my orders when I used them.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Awesome, thanks for the recommendations! Saves me a load of hassle in the future!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

No problems. Us Melbournians have to stick together haha.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Wow, if they sent your package to the wrong place, I'd definitely look for a refund. That would make me mad! I remember one time Petco gave me the wrong tracking information and I thought my package was being sent to a different state.

I can't wait to see the new tank set ups  do you know if any of those sites sell VitaChem? It could help with Falkors tail.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Looks like Age of Aquariums does

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=5885&catID=99


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Woo! Clearly, your searching abilities are superior to mine! I know what some of my next paycheck's going on!
:-D


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So we were going to overhaul one tank at a time, with one on each day of this weekend (boyfriend has a three day weekend this week, yay!) but we ended up getting them all done! I'm not too happy about Weehawk's tank - I'd forgotten that one piece of driftwood that I'd bought just wouldn't sink, despite being weighed down under water for a few weeks. Having made plans to use it, I was a little upset when the plans fell to pieces (I'd built the whole tank around this piece). But I somehow managed to salvage everything else, though I might tear it down and rescape after a while. I'll just wait and see if I warm up to it or not.

Not sure what the boys think of their sponge filters, but I sure think they're noisy! Well, the air pumps anyway. But it's nothing I can't get used to, might just have a couple of restless nights.

Picspam, definitely, when the water clears more, haha!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Aaaand I just realised how small a fraction of the money I've spent on these little guys was actually on them and the essentials for them. The rest has been on fancying everything up, plants, lights, and additives for the plants. Haha! Crazy. And to think, the same day as spending almost 12 hours on my first ever go at aquascaping, I'm already thinking of what I could add to make things look nicer when I get better lighting. CRAZY TALK! Haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Today I've been mostly just sitting in my room, enjoying the products of yesterday's work. 

I've also been planning Falkor's new tank look for when we find out whether he's bitten his tail just 'cause he's a biter, or because he wants his open space. I'm an idiot and thought that he absolutely must have a hidey-hole and leaves to rest on, so I hadn't considered just leaving his home mostly bare. He hadn't bitten until I made his little jungle for him, so perhaps he just wants everything gone. We'll see what happens when his fins grow back. They're coming along nicely, and I can only hope that after so much derping I've got to the root of the problem. 

If not, I've still got a tank in an easily-accessible area for me to do super-frequent WCs with, so either way, I've got him looked after. Also either way, I've got some stuff planned to make his tank look a little better than it does at the moment.

So far, what I want to do is a purple and blue theme. I have an intense dislike (for my own tanks at least) of fake plants that attempt to look natural. I do however like the ones in crazy colours. So I've got silk plants in purple and blue on the way, and will be covering the floor of the tank in purple and blue glass beads. Figured if he's gotta have artificial stuff, might as well make it really unnatural! Everyone else has beautiful planted tanks with all natural stuff inside them, and the special petal can have bright stuff, hahaha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I may have just ordered some subwassertang from eBay... I know, I'm terrible. It just looks so awesome. And I could really use a filler plant of sorts for Feyd's tank. Despite having the same amount of plants as everyone else, it just looks... I dunno, a bit barren? I guess the driftwood structure my partner made and was really proud of gives it an ominous feel. Which is appropriate, considering Feyd's named after a villain, but still, an awesome new plant never goes astray!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Did you get it from Australia? If not cancel your order for sure as it can be seized by customs as plants can't come in from overseas without special permits etc. The seller will assure you it can but then they send it something like an incorrectly marked envelope (they declare it as something else other than plants). 

If it is from an Australian seller or you already knew the above that's okay. I just know a couple of people have been stung by online sellers before. 

I wasted a ridiculous amount of money on buying things for my betta tanks. It become almost addictive changing their tanks around and adding a plant here or trialing a substrate there haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yepyep, it's from Melbourne, so no worries about customs. ^.^

It is SO addictive! Like, all the "just one more over here..." ALL OF THE DARN TIME! Haha. Even contemplating setting up a long, narrow tank on the windowsill just for plants. I'm absolutely loving dealing with aquatic plants. I always hated gardening, but apparently when it's under water I'm all for it, weird.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I am hoping to convert one corner of my shelf into a jungle plant corner and have ferns and peace lilies growing emersed or in emersed style set-ups, maybe with some spanish moss draped somewhere. Then have a big planted tank as the main centrepiece. 

I love having plants everywhere. I think this set-up is absolutely the most awesome thing ever. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=161273&highlight=bamboo

I also think my cat may be of the same opinion haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh wow. That's _amazing_!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So the two boys in their planted tanks are settled right in to their new environments. 

Weehawk is always busy exploring the many things he can now swim through, or resting on leaves or moss. It's adorable! He also seems somewhat confused by the sponge filter and the bubbles shooting up through it. I put it in his favourite corner (how horrible of me!) in the hopes it'd coax him to utilise the rest of the space available to him, and while he's certainly doing that, he's also investigating the filter from time to time, swimming around the lift tube, and sometimes just stopping nearby until the current pulls him closer, then he'll swim away a couple of inches, rinse and repeat. I'm not too sure what that means, whether he's enjoying the new strange thing, or if he hates it! Eep!

Feyd's the same, really enjoying how much more stuff he's got to explore and hide in, but his favourite spot is now the filter. He's been all weird, just hanging around it, letting himself get pulled onto the sponge, then pulling himself off it and repeating. At first I worried that he couldn't help but get pulled onto it, but when I realised that there was absolutely nothing stopping him from doing anything else he wanted to do (sometimes he'll feel like going and doing other stuff, and has no difficulty doing just that) I figured it's just a new interesting thing he couldn't do before?

I wonder, are my assumptions correct? That they're thoroughly enjoying themselves? They don't seem distressed in any way, and have most of the rest of the tank where there is no current... There is slight surface agitation, but no current, so to speak...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Yeah, they usually get curious about new surroundings. Nothing to worry about. It sounds like they are having some fun  my boys always swim around the siphon when I clean and check it out, even my blind boy. He seems to have fun checking out the filter outflow where there is a tiny bit of surface movement, and DaBaDee explores new things but it seems like he takes longer to warm up to them. As long as they are swimming around and checking it all out, I think its fine and 100% normal. They are such curious creatures


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Well that's good. XD

Feyd's gone all perky since the overhaul. I think he was a bit glum before it happened, there wasn't nearly as much excitement. He did have a tunnel/hidey-hole, a few floating plants, a couple of potted plants, silk plants and stuff, but I think this filter has really got him excited, haha! Possibly the densely planted area right behind the big wood structure is doing him wonders as well, he seems to like that a lot too.

Weehawk's just his usual happy-go-lucky self, but with new stuff, hehe. He's always been pretty "Yeah, whatever, I'm cool -- SHINEY!!" with everything but red things, heh.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So angry right now. I don't take well to people using the b-word in relation to me, _especially_ when I definitely don't deserve it. Didn't want to play another LoL match with the guys, so one of them decides it's appropriate to call me that... Because I don't want to play a freakin' game?! Even if the moron was high like he was last night, still doesn't excuse that kind of language to someone who you call a friend, though getting high kinda does make him a complete idiot. 

I honestly don't understand how smoking that crap and annoying your friends while they're trying to have a laugh and have some fun on a game is okay.

The fact that my boyfriend didn't even come to my defense and tell the guy off for using the b-word in relation to me just makes me even more PO'd. It's just sending the message that using that kind of language is just fine, because, y'know, the guys are going to use him as an example for what to treat me like, because I'm _female_. As if that makes a difference when it comes to my gameplay, my value as a friend or a person.

Just... UGH.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I think the whole of the LoL community is like that. Ignorant and completely unaware that anything else but the game even exists. There are way too many trolls and idiots there with way too little brain cells.

Edit: well not EVERYONE is like that but, I'm sure you know what I mean


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Touche. The LoL community really is overpopulated with idiots. Not everyone's like that, but a vast majority is. It's a pity that almost every single MOBA game ever has an awful community (apparently LoL's one of the nicer ones!) because the games themselves are pretty awesome.

I guess you just expect different behaviour when you're gaming with people you know IRL, and didn't meet through the game. I went to high school with half the guys I play with, and the other half are friends of theirs, or went to the same school but were in different year levels, so having known them from way back, I did expect better. But I gotta say, stoner gamers are the worst trolls, no matter where I know them from... Grr.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I think that's just what competition does to a lot of people. They don't want to play if they don't win because, you know, winning is everything and its always someone else's fault if you lose. Har har. I don't doubt that every game gets like that when you put it online. Some are more competitive than others, so some communities suck more than others. I can rarely stand to play without muting half the other players. They are downright rude and have their heads way too far up their you-know-whats. I could never play a game solely to win because I just suck too much at video games, lolololol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Mmm. I do admit I rage a little sometimes, but it's mostly when people are being rude, or plain stupid that I get upset. I mean, there's a difference between having a bad game, feeding a bit and sucking simply because you're having a bad game, and walking directly into turret fire and an entire team saying "don't worry, I got this". Two toooootally different things. 

Awesome thing just happened though: Bought VitaChem! And some fancy purple gravel for Falkor's tank, and a quieter air pump, and air control valves... Okay, so I went a little nuts. But the retail therapy-oriented section of my brain has been made happy. Muahahaha!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Well, I think by showing him how much fun it is and how well they turned out, I've converted my boyfriend to a planted tank lover. He is now so enthusiastic that he says he'd like to get a new tank when we have the space and money. We've decided on a rather ambitious project for that time: we're going to attempt to create something that looks like a forest, and create little bridges between trees, like on Endor in Star Wars, and have only a shrimp colony in it, and they can be our Ewoks, hehe! How exciting! Of course it'll be quite some time until we can afford it, much less find the space for it, but it's still very exciting. XD


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/426679_339613672746322_425987802_n.jpg

You mean like this? Hahah

This was a scape from the store I go to. It grew in really nice and was sad when the owner tore it down. But the scape he replaced it with is awesome (paludarium with splashing tetra).


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Exotic Aquatic mayyyy have jump-started the idea! Haha! We'd be doing it a LOT smaller though.

They do absolutely amazing stuff over there! Kinda what sparked my interest in aquascaping. When we went there to get Falkor, I was just like "wowwww..." but thought I couldn't possibly achieve anything pretty with plants as I have a brown thumb out of water, but since apparently not killing anything in the last four months, am getting my hopes up. XP


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Don't worry. I am a fellow killer of plants. I find the tanks where my plants do best is the ones where I don't touch the plants and don't do anything but put the light over them for a few hours a day. 

Adrian has some really top-notch scapes in his store. I love going in there and having a poke around. Only downside is that I just wish his store was bigger so there was more fish to look at!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I haven't dared venture back since our last visit... I'm afraid that if we go there, we'll leave with empty wallets and arms full of awesome stuff, because I'll find it too hard to resist!
:-D


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Haha I banned myself from there until I get another job. 

My mum picked herself up a pair of Betta macrostoma and I think I bought him out of his whole supply of glass hang-on thermometers last time we were in there. 

I love his little dog Chewie. We get him out of his cage and I rev him up and around the store he goes with his ears back. 

I like stores where you can go in and have a chat with the owner and feel like you aren't just another sale. Subscape in Richmond is another aquarium that has a lot of knowledgeable and friendly staff working there.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Chewie is adorable!! ^.^

I like shops like that too, though I have to admit I always get really nervous, although it's a nice feeling to not feel like just another sale, as you said. I'm really bad with my anxiety in person with people I don't know well so I find it hard to conduct a proper conversation without it sounding forced. >.<


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

Oh don't worry me too. I have bad anxiety (I just went to the doctors the other week and got a referral to someone who can help) and that is why I don't actually have a job at the moment. 

Working as manager of a busy Subway store was probably not a good career choice for someone like me haha. 

We sit and chat with Adrian for hours (my mum is into German Shepherds and he used to really like our puppy when we took her in so that is where it all started) and so I am comfortable in his store as opposed to somewhere like Coburg where you have to nearly be dead to be served and the service has gone really downhill. 

At Subscape I know one of the girls that works there so it's not so bad and the owner is awesome so I don't get freaked out about going in. 

I hate small talk. Unless I am talking about my fish. I always worry I am going to sound stupid as I can never pronounce any scientfic names properly. Although I've come to see that not many people actually can.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Me too! Well, the main reason I don't have a job at the moment is 'cause I'm a carer for my grandma, but I feel a bit stupid calling myself a carer when she refuses to let me do anything... Hmph. But I haven't been feeling up to doing anything that involves too much interpersonal stuff for a long while. 

Working at a goth clothing shop didn't help matters, haha! Was good while it lasted and suited my aesthetic at the time, but man, some of the people that came in were really really - sometimes creepily - weird, and I've seen a lot of weird in my time, being a part of the community I'm a part of now! XP

I just can't do the small talk thing. It always ends up being "So... Stuff and things?" I don't often get to talk about fish except on this forum, or if I corner my grandmother and blab at her for a while (muahaha!).

With scientific names, I reckon all anyone can reasonably ask for is an attempt at pronunciation. XP


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ugh. Apparently I don't have any luck with crypts. All of mine have melted in the several days since scaping the tanks. Which is fine, now I have more room to plant stems, so whatever, haha! I opted to simply remove them rather than leave them alone and hope they adapted for that reason. It's just a pain in the butt, that's all.

Quite annoyed with myself that I didn't manage to get all the melted bits out of Weehawk's tank though during the water changes today. Hopefully no harm will come of it during the next couple of days until I next get a chance to change the water.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I think I'm going to spontaneously combust from excitement. My piercing training has been booked, and 12 weeks from March 23, I'll be qualified to perform basic piercings on people! After that, I can enter advanced training and perhaps specialise in something a little out of the ordinary so I can offer people something different as a selling point. WOOHOO!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Okay, so I'm still on cloud nine about finally being able to do the piercing course, and not only that, I've found some lighting to die for! For my budget, power consumption needs and aesthetic, they're perfect. Absolutely perfect. We might be buying them today, but if not, we'll purchase them another time.

I can't put into words how excited I am for the way life seems to be heading. Usually, whenever something goes right, something of equal magnitude goes wrong. Like a balance thing. So I'm a bit scared that something absolutely devastating is going to happen - things tend to go that way in my life as I said - but the fact I'm finally going to study what has been my dream for many, many years (my dream of dreams was to do piercing as a day job, and do amateur musical theatre on the side, guess I'll get to theatre later) is just exhilarating.

My fish tanks are also going well. I'm having some trouble getting over the first hurdles of cycling the uninhabited tank, as I'm trying to keep ammonia at the recommended level, but dosing such a small tank accurately can be hard at times, so sometimes I'll have too little, sometimes I'll accidentally dose too much and need to do a PWC, but aside from that, so far so good. I've got two tailbiters on my hands, which is a massive pain in the butt, but Falkor has perked up so much since being moved to the small tank, and Feyd... Well, he seems fairly perky now that his tail doesn't smack him in the face during his elaborate routes through his tank, with all the sharp turns, haha.

So there's some speed bumps, and some concerning things with the tailbiters doing what they do (I'm starting to join the masses cursing the breeding of heavy fins as a result of having two out of three take up the habit despite meticulous care) but as a whole, things are going swimmingly with the boys. And as for real life, also some hurdles, my anxiety has been playing up again, as it is wont to do when there's been far too many social engagements crammed into a short period, and as a result of that tensions are high, but stuff is going so well I'm finding it hard to think of anything as a bad thing, really. Dream course, hopefully leading to dream job, beautiful pets, wonderful partner, the only thing missing is oodles of money and a less cluttered/neater house.

I don't mean to gloat, but I'm fairly sure after the downward spiral I've been in since my early teens, that I deserve this period of happiness.

:-D


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So I posted about this on the rant thread as well, but I've been feeling especially ranty about it for the last few days and don't have to keep it as short and sweet here...

On Friday night, an acquaintance posted a picture of her new betta on Facebook. I liked it, naturally, because it's a photo of a betta and naawwww, cute! She tagged me in a comment asking questions about why he might not be active, why he was hiding so much, so I helped her to the best of my knowledge and asked if she had a heater, which she did not, but said she was planning on buying one when finances allowed. Fine. Not ideal, but at least she's going to get one, right? We then just chatted for a bit about all the cute decor available, how it's dangerous to be on eBay because of all the cute stuff available., and it was nice..

Until a friend of mine posted. This guy is at best abrasive when he disagrees with someone about a topic. Apparently he has some sort of disorder that prevents him from empathising with people, but that doesn't excuse outright rudeness and derisive comments, right? So he starts talking about how I'm full of it, I don't know anything about betta care, and they don't need heaters and that it's stupid that people keep saying they do.

Okay, so he has an opinion. Rudely stated, but whatever. I'll just ignore the rudeness and carry on my nice conversation with this girl. I politely point out that we're in a different climate to where they don't need heaters, and it is a bit cold here in Melbourne to not be using heaters, and just link to here with the comment: "Look, rather than arguing, I'll simply leave a link to where I learned almost everything I know about these awesome fish and leave it at that."

I thought that'd be the end of the argument, because there was no way to agree on the topic, and I'd politely closed that particular conversation and listed my references before stopping that line of talk. But no. This guy then went on a tirade at me about how I neglect my pets by heating their tanks, that I shouldn't be spouting this nonsense at people because I'll be leading people to also be neglectful and that this had been a long time coming because he's sick of me recommending that people heat their tanks, because that's ultimately shortening their lifespan due to sped up metabolism.

So. I kept civil, attempted to close the argument, but he insisted on raging at me hardcore. After this "neglectful" comment, I did get a bit sarcastic and said "Wow, sorry for taking an interest in something I care about. The rudeness definitely wasn't necessary though." And that earned me more ranting about how I'm an awful fishkeeper.

My partner really took offense to this online abuse after reading the thread, because all the way through it I'd been non-confrontational, and obviously agreeing to disagree on a topic, though I knew his opinion was wrong a flame war wasn't the way to go, but he took it there. The result was me being pretty darn passive, with rage flying at me no matter what I said. So my partner decided to text this guy, because y'know, that's the smart thing to do rather than plaster it all over a public forum for all their friends to see.

Then came the text war. After my partner said to this guy, "You had no right to be ridiculing my girlfriend on a public forum, your rudeness was unacceptable, you do this on a regular basis whenever you disagree with her and enough is enough." but with more colourful language unfortunately, the guy replied with surprising indignation. "How dare you speak to me like this? Blah blah blah. Why are you acting like a guard dog? This has nothing to do with you!" When in fact it had everything to do with him, just like if someone were attacking my partner, I'd rush to his defense, though I know he's perfectly capable of handling it himself, you just don't mess with the people I love. Same with dear friends. But the difference is that I tend to shrink when attacked, especially on a public forum. It's so humiliating being attacked on a place like Facebook. Also, I was not going to stoop to his level, ranting and raving like a lunatic, and participating in a conversation that was going nowhere. My partner messaged this guy of his own accord, not because I told him to, so these arguments were invalid really.

It got to the point where both this guy and his girlfriend (who we'd previously thought an intelligent, headstrong young woman) had basically told us we're horrible people, that they want nothing to do with us anymore, and that I had to sort it all out. Wait... what? I just exited the conversation when it was clear nothing was going to happen except me being raged at, and my partner took offense to how I was being treated and had a go at the offending party. How is it my mess to sort out?

In the end, I got my partner to apologise for his unsavoury language, because taking the high road out of a futile situation is always better than stooping to their level, but I'm still refusing to speak to them, because all that's going to happen is me being told I'm in the wrong, when it is not the case.

The worst part of it was being repeatedly called a neglectful pet owner. I often treat me fish better than myself, because sometimes ALL of my available funds go to them if it's a not-so-great pay week. Sure, eventually I won't need to spend so much money on them once all the plants have grown in, and once Falkor's tank is all decked out nicely, but I'll still be putting in just as much work, and making their lives the best I possibly can. I REALLY take offense to being called neglectful.

I suppose it's lucky that we were already in the process of shifting from the younger crowd to the older crowd. We had been looking for a group of people to befriend who had good values, a strong code of ethics, and not so much politics, and moving from the under 30s to the older people was definitely the right move, even if we're the babies of the group at least we know that people live by their word, and hold themselves accountable for their actions.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

It's always interesting when people show their true colours. You want crazy up the wazoo, you should see how crazy a dog club committee can be. 

I believe the speeding up the metabolism/shortening lifespan only occurs when temperate fish are kept at tropical temperatures. Examples that come to mind are certain species of killifish and golden medaka. 

I don't even understand his argument against heaters because the bettas in the wild live in quite warm water. Look, here is a link to a profile description of a wild splendens and right at the bottom it says their temperature range is 24-30 degrees celsius. Even some days here in summer you would be struggling to maintain a consistent temperature. I mean we have been having 30 degree days and 13 degree nights!

http://www.ibcbettas.org/smp/species/splendens.html


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> It's always interesting when people show their true colours. You want crazy up the wazoo, you should see how crazy a dog club committee can be.
> 
> I believe the speeding up the metabolism/shortening lifespan only occurs when temperate fish are kept at tropical temperatures. Examples that come to mind are certain species of killifish and golden medaka.
> 
> ...


The comment about dog club committees being crazier is SCARY! How would one manage a situation like that? O_O

I really don't doubt the information given here, and that in the wild they do live in high temperatures all of the time. During the argument, I was merely trying to diffuse the situation and avoid the one that ended up happening despite that. Everything I have read here has been backed up by sources whenever sources have been requested, so I have no reason to doubt information that is accepted as fact on this forum.

It really was an exercise in futility. For a moment during it though, I was worried he'd pull out a line like, "So how come one of your fish is a chronic tail-biter if you treat him so well, huh?" because I knew that no matter what I said about what I'd been told by people who have many years of expertise under their belt, it'd still be shot down.

BUT! There is some good news. The NLS pellets arrived today, along with the quieter air pump, gravel for Falkor's tank, a new gravel vac and some other goodies. Hooray! Bad news is that one of my non-return valves broke, so I just hope a power outage doesn't happen!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

My dad always does that. My fish are very prone to jumping out and even with glad wrap and glass lids covering every hole I do lose a couple fish every now and then. So not only do I feel terrible about losing the fish I then feel like the world's worst fish murderer because he goes on about it. 

Don't worry too much about the check valve. I don't have any on my sponge filters and they haven't back-siphoned yet *touches wood*. 

Good to hear your NLS finally arrived though. What air pump did you end up going with? I am surprised you don't enjoy the ambiance that a noisy air pump creates in a room.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> My dad always does that. My fish are very prone to jumping out and even with glad wrap and glass lids covering every hole I do lose a couple fish every now and then. So not only do I feel terrible about losing the fish I then feel like the world's worst fish murderer because he goes on about it.
> 
> Don't worry too much about the check valve. I don't have any on my sponge filters and they haven't back-siphoned yet *touches wood*.
> 
> Good to hear your NLS finally arrived though. What air pump did you end up going with? I am surprised you don't enjoy the ambiance that a noisy air pump creates in a room.


That would be horrible.  

That's good to hear about no problems without valves though! *also touches wood* Hehe.

I went with the smallest Rena pump on the Age of Aquariums site. So much quieter! My partner had a lot of trouble sleeping with the noisier pump in our bedroom, I didn't mind too much, but he's from the country and used to _total_ silence when he's sleeping, even the cars passing by on the street bother him - we live pretty close to Chapel street, so if he's working weekends, music from the noisier nightclubs is a problem too. He's getting used to it though, heh. I've lived here my whole life though, so I'm used to noisy nightlife.

Forgot to say cheers for the link earlier, it'll definitely come in handy to link people to if they have a bone to pick with me again when it comes to heating tanks.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Chronic tail biter - these fish have been repeatedly bred to have long, unnaturally flowy, colorful fins. Most tail biters will bite their tails because of the weight, and the weight is unnatural - you won't find a betta like Falkor in the wild because they don't look that way in the wild. It happens because of humans - not necessarily greed, but it has a thing to do with it. They were likely originally bred to look like that because someone wanted to make money selling beautiful looking fish.

In any case, that is not the fish's fault that he/she was bred that way, and a fish should not be given up on because it was bred to have unnaturally long, heavy, colorful fins, but the tail biting is not your fault, nor the fish's. It is simply the fact that they were bred for a purpose of appealing looks.

I'm terribly sorry that some people are incredibly ignorant, but it happens. I would have used my rhetorical wit to make him feel/look like an idiot while still stating actual facts, using logic, and not attacking him, but some people just really don't get it. In that case, anyone who happens to be keeping an eye on the convo is going to think he's making an ass of himself even if they don't comment.

He will either continue to live on in his ignorance or eventually realize that he was wrong, but it probably won't change the fact that he's unwilling to admit it.



Side note: technically, he is correct that warmer temps speed up their metabolism and make them age faster, but it doesn't have that big of an impact on lifespan. Lifespan depends on the genetic strength of the fish and how well it is cared for. Colder temps might slow their metabolism, but it won't help them thrive and will make them more susceptible to disease.

And I do believe that Hallyx had a betta live for 7 years in a heated tank


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

AyalaCookiejar said:


> Chronic tail biter - these fish have been repeatedly bred to have long, unnaturally flowy, colorful fins. Most tail biters will bite their tails because of the weight, and the weight is unnatural - you won't find a betta like Falkor in the wild because they don't look that way in the wild. It happens because of humans - not necessarily greed, but it has a thing to do with it. They were likely originally bred to look like that because someone wanted to make money selling beautiful looking fish.
> 
> In any case, that is not the fish's fault that he/she was bred that way, and a fish should not be given up on because it was bred to have unnaturally long, heavy, colorful fins, but the tail biting is not your fault, nor the fish's. It is simply the fact that they were bred for a purpose of appealing looks.


Yeah, it's unfortunate. If I had come across all the information about tail biters, and the reasons for it, I probably wouldn't have got Falkor, or any long-finned bettas, and stuck to PKs and HMPKs. Sure, it would've meant getting bigger tanks, but it breaks my heart to see him do it, and it's not his fault. Still wouldn't have been able to avoid the situation with Feyd though, because he was given to us as a surprise (*headdesk* love him to bits, but pets as presents?) but yeah...



> I'm terribly sorry that some people are incredibly ignorant, but it happens. I would have used my rhetorical wit to make him feel/look like an idiot while still stating actual facts, using logic, and not attacking him, but some people just really don't get it. In that case, anyone who happens to be keeping an eye on the convo is going to think he's making an ass of himself even if they don't comment.
> 
> He will either continue to live on in his ignorance or eventually realize that he was wrong, but it probably won't change the fact that he's unwilling to admit it.


The reason I didn't attempt to outwit him, or deliberately make him look stupid was because I knew he'd fly into even more of a rage, and that whole thing would've been easily visible from an outside point of view. I preferred to go with a passive approach, and just cite my references and exit the conversation, because then to any intelligent onlooker it's just rage directed at someone passively attempting to have a discussion. *shrug*



> Side note: technically, he is correct that warmer temps speed up their metabolism and make them age faster, but it doesn't have that big of an impact on lifespan. Lifespan depends on the genetic strength of the fish and how well it is cared for. Colder temps might slow their metabolism, but it won't help them thrive and will make them more susceptible to disease.
> 
> And I do believe that Hallyx had a betta live for 7 years in a heated tank


Oh, I didn't doubt that heat speeds up their metabolism, it's been mentioned here more than a few times (and really, I'd take the forum's word over an angry dude any day) but as you've said, people on here have had them live for many years in properly heated tanks. That kinda negates the contention that I'm "killing them", doesn't it? Heh.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh, another good thing that's happened today... Tested Feyd and Weehawk's tanks, and 0 ammonia showing when usually, after doing a 50% change on Friday I'd have to do another today. Stem plants rock! Haha. Naturally I'll still have to do Falkor's, he's got no live plants, but changing a single tank's water is a _lot _easier than doing three in an evening!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I can't wait to get my live plants DDDDD woo!!

And as for trolls such as him - I would at least comment some facts to counteract his stupid arguments, like you did, just because I wouldn't want some outsider watching the conversation to think he was right.

I'd use facts and logic and would not be able to just leave the conversation just because I cannot stand when others try to spread myths about the proper care for these fish. I'd like to think I am very knowledgeable about their care and that I have many facts and credible resources. Hopefully, anyone who saw the whole thing decided that you were right and he was spewing crap he heard from the idiots in the walmart fish section.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

AyalaCookiejar said:


> I can't wait to get my live plants DDDDD woo!!
> 
> And as for trolls such as him - I would at least comment some facts to counteract his stupid arguments, like you did, just because I wouldn't want some outsider watching the conversation to think he was right.
> 
> I'd use facts and logic and would not be able to just leave the conversation just because I cannot stand when others try to spread myths about the proper care for these fish. I'd like to think I am very knowledgeable about their care and that I have many facts and credible resources. Hopefully, anyone who saw the whole thing decided that you were right and he was spewing crap he heard from the idiots in the walmart fish section.


According to him, he did a class on fish as a minor (with a major in entomology) so a university degree trumps my internet research. If it were simply "the pet store told me so" it'd be a lot easier to counter his argument, as I would appear more educated than he. As it is, the converse is apparent: I am uneducated, due to only doing internet research, no matter how extensive (I spend at _least _a few hours on here, each and every day when I have computer access, even if I don't post, I'm reading) because uni education is always right. Or so goes his argument at least.

Personally, I don't really trust anyone that refers to the animals they studied as "test subjects" as he did, but hopefully anyone viewing the conversation will look over the information provided by both parties, note that one cited sources and maintained a level head, while one cited no sources other than "I learned this stuff at uni _x_ number of years ago! BLAHHHH!". The person who asked for my help is actually a veterinary student at university, and in her own words, she has the ability to sift through information and discover whether or not it is bull. The two of them are closer friends than she and I, but for some reason she asked _me_ for information rather than him. Coincidence? She was well aware of his studies, yet sought me out for advice on bettas, presumably because my passion for them is plastered all over my profile and photo albums on there.

If it were someone with no background in animals, I would not have stopped there, and it would've turned very ugly, from his side at least. I would've remained civil, though I'd be uttering every expletive under the sun IRL, just not on FB.

The attack from the guy was, in his words, "a long time coming, due to your spreading misinformation whenever someone asks you about these fish" but I know I get my information from reputable sources and am confident in this forum's ability to guide me correctly in my fishkeeping ventures.

Ridding my life of toxic people, or as Hadoken Kitty said in the rant thread, Vortexes of Doom, is always good though drama-filled and sometimes painful while you're in the process of booting them out of your life.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

As a side note, I'm just going to sheepishly and shyly admit that I have an irrational fondness to my "friends" on here. Though you guys don't know me well, and I don't know you well, I'm very fond of you indeed, however weird that sounds.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

What a bizarre thing to get riled up about. I mean God I think I'm going to start equating putting a heater in with my bettas as being on the same level as beating puppies and kittens. 

Sounds like someone needs to get a life.

And nah it's okay. I made all these 'friends' on an Australian betta forum and I have met several of them now in real life and they were as nice in real life as they were online.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> What a bizarre thing to get riled up about. I mean God I think I'm going to start equating putting a heater in with my bettas as being on the same level as beating puppies and kittens.
> 
> Sounds like someone needs to get a life.
> 
> And nah it's okay. I made all these 'friends' on an Australian betta forum and I have met several of them now in real life and they were as nice in real life as they were online.


I know, right? It's funny, today I organised a "fish geek" day with a friend I met in a completely different setting, but she doesn't keep bettas, she has her entire lounge room filled with huge community tanks of tropical fish. She said she had to do the internet version of biting her tongue on that thread in the interests of not losing friends -- she works for the same nightclub I used to work for, so has to not burn bridges so as to keep these people turning up to the club and not lose money. I quit last year so I have no qualms about cutting contact with that dude, haha!

Well, I'm glad I don't seem as creepy as I thought I did. XD


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I am someone who thrives on personal connections with people. In other words, I would be more likely to save 1 acquaintance of mine from a car accident than 40,000 strangers in Peru from an earthquake (its a journal entry we had to do in English).

Before anyone jumps all over me for that comment, I'd like to point out that that is natural human emotion. It would probably be difficult for you to say you'd risk your partners life to save 40,000 strangers. Now, I know that seems completely irrelevant to the topic, but....

Yes, I do become fond of people, online or not. Although neither of our lives would end if one of us never got on this site again after today, we'd notice that the other was gone, but probably wouldn't notice other members who seem to just disappear (except, maybe, the ones that drive us nuts, and I've seen a few of them. Sorry, I can't stand constant atrocious spelling and repetitive comments that either don't have a thing to do with the thread topic or are short and completely unnecessary).

In a way, I think its easier to get to know someone online because you have to actually communicate with WORDS. Sitting beside someone playing video games doesn't really help you get to know each other. So no, I don't think its weird.

Also, I am having a hard time remembering what the relevance of that first paragraph was. I know I had a point to make but I think I lost it, lol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

AyalaCookiejar said:


> I am someone who thrives on personal connections with people. In other words, I would be more likely to save 1 acquaintance of mine from a car accident than 40,000 strangers in Peru from an earthquake (its a journal entry we had to do in English).
> 
> Before anyone jumps all over me for that comment, I'd like to point out that that is natural human emotion. It would probably be difficult for you to say you'd risk your partners life to save 40,000 strangers. Now, I know that seems completely irrelevant to the topic, but....
> 
> ...


Maybe the point will come back to you eventually, hehe.

I agree that communicating with words is a big factor, and why I feel closer to those I communicate with online than to those who I see in person. The reason for this is that I have a _lot_ of trouble dealing with people in person due to my anxiety, though I'm constantly working on that, and it is getting easier, but I find it much easier to really express myself through text, and find it a lot easier to really open up via text because for some reason when I'm writing rather than speaking, the right words come to mind more readily.

Another reason is the one you pointed out: the video game thing. It doesn't have to be video games though; most people I meet seem to not be happy hanging out with someone unless they're doing something, something that usually detracts from conversing and really getting to know the other person. 

(I'm with you on your third paragraph about people driving you nuts with irrelevant, short comments... Yep...)


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I guess my point was that I actually need to personally know someone to really connect to them or emphasize with them. I can tell a random member on here that I am sorry for their loss when they lose a fish, but if its a member I've really became aquainted with (and also familiar with their fish) its like I actually hurt for them or with them and am not just spewing sorries around (I guess I'm more saying that I'm sorry that the fish died because s/he deserved to live because they were a fish and never did any wrongs). Does that make sense? Lol.

Another reason why I like my boyfriend and don't have a ton of friends is because I CANNOT STAND when someone is constantly like, "I'm bored, lets do something, blah." I'd rather have no friends than a bunch of friends that I feel like I need to entertain all the time, and I don't feel like my boyfriend and I HAVE to entertain each other all the time, you know?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

AyalaCookiejar said:


> I guess my point was that I actually need to personally know someone to really connect to them or emphasize with them. I can tell a random member on here that I am sorry for their loss when they lose a fish, but if its a member I've really became aquainted with (and also familiar with their fish) its like I actually hurt for them or with them and am not just spewing sorries around (I guess I'm more saying that I'm sorry that the fish died because s/he deserved to live because they were a fish and never did any wrongs). Does that make sense? Lol.


Makes perfect sense. I'm the same, so made sense to me. ^.^



> Another reason why I like my boyfriend and don't have a ton of friends is because I CANNOT STAND when someone is constantly like, "I'm bored, lets do something, blah." I'd rather have no friends than a bunch of friends that I feel like I need to entertain all the time, and I don't feel like my boyfriend and I HAVE to entertain each other all the time, you know?


YES! This is exactly one of the reasons I've been culling my social circle for a while now, weeding out those who I have no real sense of friendship with, only a companion during activities if that makes sense. And to me, a "real" sense of friendship doesn't need constant hangouts. I can go months without seeing one of my best friends in person, sometimes a couple of weeks without a text, but we keep in contact from time to time, and the sense of attachment never wavers. For some, this is a problem, and I have lost friends due to not being around them in the flesh enough. But to me, friendship is an emotional/mental attachment, and doesn't require hanging out all the time.

I realise that was probably a bit repetitive, but I got a bit lost because my boyfriend was distracting me -- he's one of those can't sit still people, haha. Sending him off to play games usually works to take some of the edge off that, heh.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Today, I am in so much pain it's unbelievable. Definitely need to go back to physio, this is ridiculous. And on the bloody day where my father is here, and both him and my grandmother expect me to be their servant. Thank god it's only one day a fortnight that he's here...

On the bright side, beautiful new tank lights came today! Hello 6400K goodness, and hopefully, hellooooo plant growth! I've been pining for these things for ages. So pumped that I finally have them!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I just can't believe how much more alive the tanks look with their new lighting. I'm absolutely loving it. Everyone around me thinks I'm nuts for being so excited about some stupid tank lights, but whatever.

The frogbit I ordered arrived yesterday. There are now at least 8 different kinds of plant in each tank. The more I add, the less neat it looks, and the further away from my original plan it gets, but I'm sure the boys are loving it more and more. Eventually, during one water change, I might attempt to neaten things up and perhaps restore them to something resembling deliberate-looking, but I just have so much trouble planting stems it seems impossible to create a proper background with them until I get those long thin tweezer things. Perhaps then it'll be easier when they arrive...

Might change out the water in the uninhabited tank, adding ammonia to it only seems to be killing the plants, which is the exact opposite of what I want to happen. And according to test results of the other two planted tanks, since adding the stems water quality has improved an absolutely ridiculous amount, and a silent cycle might happen with all the nutrient sponges I've got in there now... But who knows? Guess I'll find out.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

A fish in cycle would be fine with live plants in your uninhabited tank. Ammonia kills everything in high amounts, including plants. The silent cycle happens because the plants usually use the ammonia up before the BB... That's all I know, lol. I'm not actually sure how cycling a planted tank works but I know it will happen with time, I think, lol. I should ask OFL about that.

I'd still like to have the cycled filter in my 10 gallon when I add the plants just in case the plants would die off, I would have a back up, lol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Yeah, I didn't put enough thought into everything when deciding to try and fishless cycle the uninhabited tank. In future, if I get another tank, I'll cycle it using ammonia before going on any grand aquascaping adventure, haha! Alternatively I'll use the bucket method. The tanks I've got with fish in them are doing fabulously, the plants are growing (though not much as I didn't have great lighting until yesterday) and after 5 days since the last water change ammonia is still at 0, and I've been testing daily! Those stems and extra floaters have put a HUGE dent in my WC workload! I almost can't believe it, with such small tanks I _may_ only have to do weekly changes (depending on tomorrow and Friday's test results).

Of course, this gets me thinking that y'know, I _could_ handle one more tank... No, brain, _stahp_! I don't have room for any more!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Room, schmoom, lol. Us Betta keepers are very creative and are able to make space that doesn't exist and spend money we don't have  lol. I call that talent. We're pretty good magicians.

I can't wait to get live plants, you're driving me crazy  its supposed to storm here Thursday and we're supposed to get 1-1 1/2 feet of snow (sorry if you don't know feet, I can't convert it ATM!) and its supposed to storm again Monday, and our spring break starts next Thursday. They're saying we could possibly have 5 consecutive snow days (at school). Anyways, lol, I don't think any plants or fish will be shipped to me for awhile


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hehe! Live plants are awesome. I do hope the weather improves soon so you can get yours, they're seriously addictive though, be warned!!

I heard some exciting news today - Jesus Christ Superstar is coming in June! That arena thingo with Tim Minchin as Judas. I do like the musical a lot, being an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan, but... I'm still not sold on this idea of arena musicals, though. When I saw Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds as an arena thing, it was awesome, because it was originally just an album and brought to life with a 30 foot tall Martian fighting machine it was absolutely amazing, but when it comes to proper musicals, I do like seeing them in their original theatre format. I'm also not sold on the clip of Gethsemane that's available on YouTube from this production... I'll probably see it anyway if I've got the cash, hehehe.

But what I really want is for Cats and/or Phantom to come back. After seeing Love Never Dies here in 2011, I'd love to see those same people in those roles again. SQUEE! Don't mind me, just getting all excited over musicals...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Phew, today was tiring! We helped some friends of ours move. We're only just really getting to know them, having only known them for the last five months or so, but they're of the older crowd in our scene, and seem to be really genuinely nice people, so we didn't mind lending a hand. Super early start, and we got home at almost 11pm. But a few truckloads of loading then unloading their whole house, and they're moved! Yay! I don't mind helping friends out when they need it, especially when I get that vibe about them that indicates that they're the kind of people who will have your back if you need help too. To me, that's what friends do, and I'm in the process of weeding out those who don't share that view from my life, so having people who share my views on friendship enter my life at the same time is great!

Oh, and getting to handle their pet snake was pretty awesome too. He's a big boy, that snake. I don't feel comfortable handling people's snakes until I've gotten to know that particular snake, but can always, always appreciate their beauty. ^.^

COMPLETELY non-fish-related post, but that's okay, 'cause it's my journal, haha. The boys are all doing fabulously, so there's nothing new to report on that front, heh. Well, apart from Falkor's stuff all having finally arrived for his revamped tank. That'll happen soon, and hopefully we'll get those new powerboards soon so he can actually have his light on rather than ambient light from my lamp and indirect sunlight. Squee!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hmph. I'm a bit confused about my plants. I have all three planted with the same plants, just in different designs. I've tried to arrange everything so that the plants with higher light requirements receive it, and the low-light plants get shaded, though mainly by the floaters. What I don't get is why, under the exact same conditions, some plants are thriving in one tank, while seeming to only just get by in another. For example, the wisteria in Weehawk's tank is just taking off, it's great. In Feyd's it looks like it's hanging on by a thread, though some lovely new growth is happening at the tops of those stems. What could be making that happen? I do everything the same for all three planted tanks, dose the same amount of ferts, root tabs and CO2 liquid, but they're reacting differently. Hmmmmm! I suppose I'll continue as I am and just watch for any change.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just re-scaped all three planted tanks... This time, I tried to allow for more stems to be planted when they arrive, rather than creating elaborate structures out of driftwood, haha. 

Things still look nice in all of them, it's just a lot more simple. Two of the tanks no longer have tunnel-like or cave structures in them, which some might criticise, but Feyd never used his cave, preferring to swim through leaves and stems, so the new setup will suit him perfectly! 

As for the uninhabited tank, I've basically just tried to work with what I have to create something that suits the plants. I'm sure Gandalf/Saruman (name will be chosen depending on personality, hehe) will love it regardless of the lack of cave when he arrives, as it'll be chockers full of stems and leaves for him to swim through! 

I couldn't let go of Weehawk's tunnel though. He adores it, so it stayed. I quite like it too, the two pieces of wood it's made out of just fit so well together, I'd likely have kept it whether or not he used it! I managed to make another little gap for him to swim through as well while I was at it. Double awesomeness for him!

Falkor's tail has almost grown back fully, so it's almost time for us to see whether he bites because he doesn't like a lot of decor (that is, almost nothing, we've tried with a fairly small amount, but kept his cave in, and he still bit) or if he just bites because he wants to and tends to have "I do what I want!" moments. After we see what he needs, it'll be time for us to pretty up his tank. I've felt so guilty while waiting for his tail to grow back, since his tank looks fairly dull with only two silk plants in it and nothing else, but I thought it best we see once and for all if that's what he needs. If not, he can have all of the pretty things!

The one downside to the new layouts of the planted tanks is that I'm not sure there will be enough cover for shrimp should I choose to get some. I suppose I can just wait until the subwassertang grows out a bit, and when I get my pearl grass, see if that grows leggy or bushy (though I suspect it'll be leggy in all likelihood) and assess the situation then. There's certainly not enough moss anymore to give them cover. I guess I'll have to play it by ear, keep a watch on the plants, see how they're growing, all that stuff. Which I'd do anyway, hahaha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just finished my workout, and I'm pooped. The boyfriend's brother is over for the weekend, so I've gotta somehow find the energy to put the exercise bike away, make the bed, clean up around here since the boyfriend apparently doesn't know how to clean anything unless he's being yelled at, and then see if my grandmother wants anything...

I'm feeling pretty discouraged with my tanks at the moment. I have a problem with diatoms, and it's driving me nuts. I've reduced the photoperiod, but I don't want to reduce it too far as that bacopa caroliniana has been so bloody difficult with me and seems to need every last bit of light it can get. Fairly sure all the rest will deal fine with a shorter PP, but yeah... Thinking about ripping the bacopa out and only having low-demand plants, but I really love the look of it. Perhaps it'll have to wait for when I have a better setup and more experience. Not sure what I'm going to do about the pearlgrass that's coming in the mail next week then, guess I'll give it a shot and if it makes it, great. If not, oh well. I'll just order some more of the faster growers and fill in the gaps with those. I'm kinda over caring about the perfect appearance now, and just want loads of healthy, fast growing stems. I'll create my perfect aquascape when the time is right, and finances allow, instead of stressing when I'm new to it all.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Isn't that algae?

Bahari's tank is growing algae... Probably because of all the excess food he lets fall causing excess nutrients for the algae to grow... Fast growing plants combat algae, but if you dose with a plant nutrient like Flourish, maybe cut back on that, too? It sounds like there are more nutrients than the plants are using up (if you are even talking about algae, lol).

I'll probably get shrimp once his tank cycles to clean up the fallen food and battle the algae.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

AyalaCookiejar said:


> Isn't that algae?
> 
> Bahari's tank is growing algae... Probably because of all the excess food he lets fall causing excess nutrients for the algae to grow... Fast growing plants combat algae, but if you dose with a plant nutrient like Flourish, maybe cut back on that, too? It sounds like there are more nutrients than the plants are using up (if you are even talking about algae, lol).
> 
> I'll probably get shrimp once his tank cycles to clean up the fallen food and battle the algae.


Yuppers, it's a type of algae. I'm just glad I don't have one of the harder to deal with algaes growing, don't know how I'd handle that if I'm having difficulty with this one!

I've cut back on the Flourish, but have upped the CO2 Booster dose slightly so the plants will hopefully be able to use more of the light they get, and thus grow more. I'm not sure if it'll work with liquid supplementation, but apparently if you have a pressurized system you can increase the amount to help fight algae, so I guess it's worth a shot? I do wish I could do pressurized but the budget definitely does not allow that, and I don't trust myself to get it right the first time, and I can't really afford to make a large mistake in such small tanks... 

Perhaps with the addition of more fast growers (which was happening next week anyway) the algae will die down a bit. I suppose we'll see. >.<


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So I got some little shrimpies today. They're soooo adorable! There's some cherries in the uninhabited tank, merrily swimming around and nibbling on algae, being adorable. 

And there's a few ghosties in each of the other planted tanks. They're kinda in hiding from Feyd and Weehawk. I kept the fish out of the tanks for quite some time to try and give the shrimp more of a chance, but yeah... It would seem that they can move fast enough when they need to though, like a flash, which is lucky. 

Y'know, I wouldn't have picked Weehawk for being the more gentle one though. But so far he's been far less aggressive towards the newcomers than Feyd has. 

Let's just hope the itty bitty shrimpies make it! I've tried to provide as much cover as I possibly can for them, and more plants are on the way, which means even more cover...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh, forgot to mention, I replaced the bacopa with anacharis in all tanks. I did like the bacopa a lot, but I really do need to maximise real estate for fast-growing stems rather than slower growing ones. I think it's still pretty, so ah well. Looking forward to the last of the plants arriving and hopefully the last planting day in quite some time!

Also looking forward to the Motley Crue/Kiss concert tomorrow night and the Offspring one the day after, hehehe. It's gonna be a blast!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just gonna chuck some pictures on here of the tanks in their current state to avoid cluttering up other threads because y'know, sometimes you're just itching to post photos, even if they're unlikely to be seen. XD


























And a couple of my new little buddies...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So because I'm a total *insert expletive here* moron, and did a water change that included hot water from the tap, I've been having to fish dead shrimp out of my tanks. Not only do I feel positively AWFUL for causing such a thing to happen, for my ignorance that contributed to these deaths, but I'm terribly afraid that I might miss one because the tanks are now so heavily planted I can't get underneath everything to search... And it'll be ammonia poisoned until I do a complete tear-down of all the tanks, and start from scratch... AGAIN.

After the last month, and with the ridiculously hot weather here again, I can't bear the thought of completely re-doing all the tanks for a third time... I just feel so very, very stupid for not knowing that using the hot water tap might introduce copper into the water. How did I not know this before? How, in my reading, did I miss something so important?! UGH!!

There's still a couple of survivors, little troopers that they are. I don't know if they'll keep on living, I really hope that they do. Some people would call me stupid for caring SO MUCH about the little guys I suppose, but yeah... The death of pets is always painful, whether they're big or small, new or old. And knowing it's directly MY FAULT is not a good feeling.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

You are definitely not stupid for caring so much! Honestly, I didn't know about hot tap water, either 0_0 how does that work? Does it have to be a certain temp to leech copper or whatever it does? I always use the same temp water straight from the tap... I guess I don't have shrimp either, though.

And also, I love seeing everyone's planted tanks! And I'm sure others do, too! Especially since I'm setting up my own... I don't think posting pictures on the planted tanks show and tell thread would be an issue because obviously everyone looking at that thread wants to see plenty of planted tank pictures  also, I love seeing everyone's fish/shrimp/snails/whatever else. Of course we all want our own pretty tanks and aquatic friends but its awesome when everyone else shares theirs, too


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

According to a few threads I read on the Planted Tank forum, yeah, it's the temperature of the water going through the pipes that can cause the metal to leech into the water. It would've been great to have that information on all the shrimp-keeping-101 type pages out there and not have to search for "Why are my RCS all dying?!" to get any answers though... Guess it's not that much of a stretch to expect people to research a little more than what's offered readily by info pages, but if you're stupid like me... *headdesk*

I love seeing everyone else's tanks too! Part of the reason I joined the Planted Tank forum was because I'd already gone through all the picture threads in our planted section over here, hahaha!

Hope you'll post loads of pictures when you set yours up! XD


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Trust me, pictures galore, lol  with a 2 week QT time on my girls (who will hopefully arrive next week) it will be awhile until I have the actual tank set up. However, I think I might see what I can do with the QT tank


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Woo! Can't wait to see!

Been thinking about this whole issue of maybe needing to tear all the tanks down if push comes to shove with the shrimp issue... Perhaps it's not such a bad thing. After finally visiting Subscape as LittleBettaFish suggested (it's soooo awesome there!! ^.^) I've been getting excited about their cheap 30cm cube tanks. They're only $10 more than I paid for my current tanks, and despite measuring up to only a slightly larger footprint, hold almost double the water! If a tear-down is necessary, though it'll be a sad and tedious process, I could be getting 7.13 gallon tanks! Which means... I could start NPTs!! 

It's a bit hard to try and contain my excitement about that prospect, much less express it via text, haha. I'd still be running the same lights though, which might bring me down from medium to medium-low light, but I'm sure I can work with that. Keep the wisteria, anacharis, water sprite and hygro as my stems and get some more to fill it out a little, keep the anubias and moss, perhaps get one or two other moss varieties, maybe make a carpet of moss (?) and eeeeep!! Way too exciting.

The drawback to this is that I couldn't justify spending over $100, and tearing down my already nice-looking tanks unless a very bad thing happened: the shrimp not making it and not being able to find them to remove them amidst all the plants. So while I would love to upgrade, I really don't want the only reason I can justify an upgrade to come to be, y'know?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So, it would seem there is a consensus in this house (this is a rare thing, everyone who lives here actually agreeing on something!) that we should re-do all the tanks into NPTs. I've been weighing up pros and cons, and the only drawback is the work initially, and that things won't look as "pretty" as they do at the moment. If less pretty means more livable for the inhabitants, I am so totally down with that!

And I feel as though there should be some dramatic music for this announcement, because it's totally unexpected: My grandmother is encouraging me to upgrade the size of the tanks. This is unheard of! She's loving the plants, and liking the idea of bigger tanks! Wheeeee!!

Now I just have to investigate options for lids for these cube tanks, figure out placement, like whether I'll ditch the one on the shelf and get a piece of wood to cover the extra 2cm I'd need to fit 3 cubes on my dresser (I wouldn't be able to get my hand in the gap for planting or acclimating anything if a cube were to go on the shelf) or what I'm going to do...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Gah, SADFACE. My anacharis is MELTING. Do not like! Whyyyyyy? I hope it'll recover.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

It could be that your plant is eldoea, which prefers cold to temperate conditions. 

What you want is hydrilla. Looks practically the same, grows like a weed and can tolerate warmer water. 

I would offer you some, but I've had to set-up so many tanks lately that I had to actually buy a couple more bunches the other day as I didn't have enough. 

If you aren't averse to shipping and want to give hydrilla a go, contact Dave at Aquagreen and see if he doesn't have some available. It's where I get mine from and he is great to deal with and very generous with his bunch sizes.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

LittleBettaFish said:


> It could be that your plant is eldoea, which prefers cold to temperate conditions.
> 
> What you want is hydrilla. Looks practically the same, grows like a weed and can tolerate warmer water.
> 
> ...


Ooh. Thanks for that info! Feel like a bit of a doofus now. >.< But I shall get my grubby hands on some hydrilla. ^.^

There's another question I wanted to ask you! Did you mention somewhere else that you've used Miracle Gro soil in your tanks? I've been checking it out on the Bunnings website in case I do give this NPT thing a go, but the photos of the packets pictured don't look like the photos I've seen of it here, and I'm a tad confused. >.<


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I used this one

http://www.bunnings.com.au/products...cle+gro&searchType=any&searchSubType=products

I mostly use it just for my plant tubs/tanks, but I have had a tank running with some wilds in it for a week or so and they never had any problems. Plants seem to really like it, especially my crypts.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Awesome, that was the one I was going to get, but wasn't sure because the one pictured here didn't have a pink packet, heh. Thanks for that. ^.^


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I accidentally got the compost mix the first time around. I think it must just be packaged differently here.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So I'm just a wee bit excited. Going to go to the Subscape relaunch party. Wheee! Pity the boything has been rostered on for that day, he was looking forward to it too. Luckily I managed to talk my best mate's girlfriend into coming with me, hehe. I'd just be too anxious to go alone to something with a lot of people, so it's good that I'll be able to go! Of course, this does mean I'll have to figure out how to manage my icky hair (growing out from the buzzcut, it's not pretty at the moment, haha) so I'm at least presentable... I'm really excited about learning more stuff, and seeing amazing things.

Some people think I'm strange for loving learning so much. So many people I know would rather get drunk than learn something new and interesting. I just don't understand that mentality. I went through my "party girl" stage and did the whole drinking and clubbing thing, and looking back on it, it seems like it was how I managed to get through the year after my mum's death, but I got over it fairly quickly. What I don't understand is the people who continue that phase well into their adult life. I've got a mate having his 27th birthday on Saturday night, and he's a prime example of this. Partying since underage, still going strong with the alcohol consumption. Whyyyyyy? There are so many better things to do with money than get drunk all the time! *facepalm*

Wow, I really went off topic there! Guess I had stronger feelings about that topic than I thought!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So it would seem that I have the whole household's support in upgrading tanks (again) and doing NPTs. Yay! 

I didn't want to do them before, because I do like the polished, deliberate look, but something about the wildness of NPTs is really calming to look at, and since starting my planted tank adventure, I've found that it's watching things grow and thrive that excites me, not seeing how pretty I can make things.

Also, in the months that I've been reading on here each and every day, I've been slowly edging towards doing this for a long time, now that I look back on it. I've been forever striving to make my boys' lives the best they possibly can be, and if I were one of them, I can't think of anything better than living in a jungle, with loads of plants to swim through, with clean water all of the time and as little artifice as possible.

I've got them pretty close to that as it is, they've always got clean water, they've got plants to swim through (except Falkor, 'cause he's a special petal and the fusspot gets what he wants) but I reckon NPT is the last stage of my super-low-tech planted tank journey, at least for a while. I like crazy growth, what can I say?

One bummer about all this is that I cannot for the life of me find any hydrilla available to buy. Can't find it on the Aquagreen catalogue, LiveFish.com.au has sold out, and any LFS I've been to hasn't had it. Wahhh! I'll keep checking on Aquagreen and LiveFish, but I'm not holding my breath.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

You have to email Dave and ask. He doesn't have it listed, but I believe it grows in most of his ponds and he can sell it to you in bunches. 

Grows super fast. I trimmed some of mine that grows with no artificial lights or fertilisers at all a few weeks back and it has already grown in again.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Ahh, that'd explain why I'm having a hard time finding any. >.<


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So today was one of the longest days I've had in a while, and it's not over yet! We woke up fairly early, I showered while le boy went to fetch the new T5HO light and sand, then off we went to Bunnings, came home half-dead with the soil, a big bit of thick MDF to put over the dresser to make up the extra 2cm so all three 30cm cubes will be supported adequately on the dresser and some bits and bobs we all needed for around the house. Then the three of us (the boyfing, my grandma and I) all hopped in a taxi and went for a long drive to Coburg Aquarium to get the new tanks. I was really glad to have an excuse to get my grandma out of the house, she doesn't go out often enough because of her knees and I was very happy to have her see something other than the kitchen or a TV screen. We pottered around there for a while so she could look at all the stuff, she got excited about axolotls and then we bought what we needed and made the trip home. But the work isn't done yet. We still need to tear down the tanks currently on the dresser, get the boys situated in the lounge room temporarily until their new homes are done tomorrow (I'm sure they'll be fine in empty tanks for 24 hours, haha) and get the soil sifted and put in the new tanks, just to get a head start on tomorrow's work. It's going to be a _long_ night, and another long day tomorrow. But I am 100% sure it will be _thoroughly_ rewarding.


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## Crowntails (Feb 12, 2013)

Sounds exciting!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hooooo boy yes it is! Tiring but terribly exciting! If I were sensible I'd have spread the activities out further, but silly me likes to completely immerse myself in something until it's done, so that's the way it went, haha! The easy bit (putting it all together) is today, and then I get to sit back and enjoy! Woo!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So I've finally got to the stage where I can begin planting. Yay! Now I just have to sort all the plants, and dismantle the tank on the shelf so I can pinch its heater... That's going to be an interesting job. Perhaps I won't dismantle it just yet, and just steal the heater from it for now. Probably a better idea. All the plants in that one will be used as well.

I haven't actually planned anything out yet, except that I will have a carpet of Lilaeopsis macloviana (at least I'm 90% sure that's what it is, haha) and that there will be an abundance of awesome stems in the back. Oh, and Weehawk's tunnel will continue to exist in his home, haha. He loves that thing. Aside from that, I'm just going to play it by ear. I've found that things end up looking best when I just go with my gut feeling rather than meticulous planning, so that's exactly what I'm going to do, hehe. 

But for now, it's smoke break time. I'm very tired and very sore from yesterday and this morning. It's going to feel so good when it's all done. It's going to feel even better when the tanks are matured, but for once, I'm going to have to have patience for that one, haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I feel like I'm going to pass out if I have to be on my feet for one more minute. Two full days of constant work is finally over, and the boys will be in their new homes as soon as the water heats up in them. I reckon I'll start a tank journal as soon as I can rest for a while, heh.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

So... Pictures tomorrow?? Lol


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hahaha yeah, definitely. I snapped a few today before flopping into bed, but definitely posting time tomorrow.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

So... Everything's done, now I just need to monitor parameters and make appropriate water changes until the tanks mature. I'm currently sitting on my butt appreciating the results of all the hard work, hehe. I'm worried that some of the plants won't make it, as I've been advised by aokashi and Bombalurina that one kind is a high-light only plant. Not too fussed about needing to replace it, as it wasn't planned - the boyfriend got it when the store didn't have any wisteria left in stock and I'd sent him on a mission for more stems, and had asked for any fast-growers that'd do well in the light we bought from them a couple of days previously. Perhaps it'll go okay, maybe not. Either way, it'll be fine if I have to replace it.

One thing I'm currently puzzling over is the tank on the bookshelf, and Falkor. Falkor is in this awfully drab-looking 2gal tank with only a couple of skinny silk plants in it, bare-bottom with no light, only indirect sunlight. He hasn't bitten his tail since being put in there (touch wood) and has seemed ridiculously happy. Initially, the reason he was put in there was because he developed fin rot after a particularly nasty fin-biting session, but was kept in there after he was in the clear when it seemed his behaviour had changed for the better. My own preference would be for him to be put in the tank on the bookshelf, which now has just minimal plants and no filter in it after the NPT set-up, but I have a feeling he'd go at himself again. I just feel bad for him having such a drab-looking home, y'know? As much as he seems heaps happier, I still feel bad, and get criticism from people who see the huge difference between the tanks on the dresser, and his tank. I think perhaps I'll give him a go in the tank on the bookshelf, to see if he likes it in there now that it's more bare than it once was - he seems to prefer less decor - and if it doesn't work out I'll at least get a nicer looking 2gal tank for him, if he must have a tiny, bare home. Weirdo.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Well the fin biting is often caused by heavy finnage and I know that many long, heavy finned males actually do better in a smaller tank, so maybe that's what it is with little Falkor. I think we can assume that its easier for him to get around in a smaller space and less decor possibly makes it easier for him to get around, too? Like, so he doesn't have to go around a lot of stuff to get to where he is going? There's probably some other factors that cause his fin biting but I do think that his heavy fins are probably the main reason.

I honestly would not worry about what other people say. I mean, they might think you're crazy if you tell them that he has a smaller, less fancy tank because he prefers it, but even so, you know you aren't crazy. I wouldn't get worked up about how his tank looks if he is doing better and not tail biting. Actually, with all the trouble its caused, I think it might be better to leave it be.

But obviously you can change it if you want. If a smaller less decorated tank works better for him, then I'd see what you can do with that. I've seen some very nice small lightly decorated tanks, and I think his tank would be the special one because he's the special fish, lol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hehe, he's definitely "special"!  Loves him all the same. Yup, those heavy fins do make life difficult with a lot of stuff in the tank. 

If he really prefers it I might just get a nicer-looking tank with the same capacity. Either a small cube or regular rectangular tank, rimless, with low iron glass. Yup, becoming a tank snob, all because this stuff is available for not too much money, haha. All I'd put in it would be the little skull with a twig with moss attached to it, which should be fine in just indirect sunlight, and would hide the heater a bit. XD


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I wish I had the money. My boyfriends mom has a dresser she would give me that would be perfect for a 20 gallon long and we tested it - it holds over 200 pounds. It also has large cabinets I could fit my buckets into. The problem is that the tank and accessories would still be roughly $150 and my parents don't want me to get another tank because I graduate in my and will be moving out in August. I can't say I'm particularly thrilled to take all of the tanks and fish I already have on a 1 hour car ride and re-set them up. I have a ford focus hatchback lol but it still won't fit a 20 gallon long plus my other 4 tanks and all my accessories. But I want a 20 long SOOOOOOO bad right now.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh man, moving all those tanks would suck! But by the time you can get it you'll be able to do heaps more awesome stuff with it with all the knowledge you'll acquire in the meantime I guess? There's gotta be a positive somewhere, hehe.

I honestly don't understand how we managed to get enough money together to finance this new setup we've got. I think the fact that the boyfing has been working weekends, which pay more, contributes to it, but wow we've spent a lot. It's brought me a whole lot more joy than a few nights of clubbing would have, which is the equivalent cost, I guess, heh. To be honest, I've spent way more than I had to on fish stuff, because I've been learning as I go and upgrading when able, but it's been a joy doing it so I don't regret spending the money on "lesser" setups while I was learning up until this point. Obviously I'm still learning, but I've gone as big with tank sizes as I can, so the upgrades must stop, haha. 

I'm also now able to give the old tanks to friends interested in using them. One friend loves fish but doesn't have the finances, so I'll be giving her one of the 4 gallon tanks, some gravel and possibly one of the tiny sponge filters I deemed too small for my purposes after they arrived (if she only keeps a betta it'll be fine, but I wanted shrimp too, hah, so needed more surface area for the bacteria to grow on) and another tank will be going to the brother of another friend. He's a problem kid and tends to get himself into a lot of trouble when his time isn't occupied, but he's got really into plants lately and I offered to teach him what little I know about aquascaping so he has another outlet for all his energy, and give him trimmings when my plants grow. ^.^

So I guess all the money spent isn't really going to waste. I figure, if I'm going to blow my money, may as well do something productive with it instead of drinking it all like so many others my age, haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Non-fish-related Entry:

Today was the first day of my piercing training. And man, was it a long day! Learned so much, even on day one. It feels great finally doing what I'm "meant" to be doing, if that makes sense.

It also feels great to be home, staring at my darling little boys, haha!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hmm... I've been thinking a lot about stocking. More specifically, what I could put in my 7 gallon tanks. 

I want RCS, that's for sure, in each tank. Preferably lots. I'd also like a snail in each tank. I wonder, since they're all so heavily planted it's difficult to see the substrate from the top (except in the middle one where the carpet in the front is more sparse due to me running out during planting) if they could support a betta, RCS and a mystery snail...

This is all a whole bunch of speculation for now, since the tanks are far from mature at this point, I'm just brainstorming so that when the time comes to add more things, I'll know exactly what I want. Today I'll be making my first water change on the NPTs. Been testing the water every day since setting them up, and I finally got an ammonia reading yesterday. It was barely up to 0.25ppm so I figured I could wait until today to do it... Feel kinda bad not doing it then and there, but I'm sure it'll be fine.

To be honest I was expecting an ammonia reading sooner, with the way people talk about the soil tanks having an overload of nutrients initially. Which was why I was testing the water religiously. Guess it's going to be once every 4 days until it calms down. Can't wait till the plants take off though, that's what I'm the most excited about. ^.^


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Hmph. Really over clothes shopping. Took me the better part of 2 hours to find a single plus-sized garment that I liked that meets the requirements for what I need to wear when piercing. They're not exactly hard requirements to meet, but to find anything nice in my size?! Here's what I need in a shirt:

* No exposed armpits, even when arms are lifted
* No extreme cleavage views when bending over a client
* Sleeves short enough so that they don't interfere with the use of gloves

THAT'S IT. And apparently that's just not okay in the world of affordable fashion. UGH. Finally managed to find a top that doesn't look like crap and meets those requirements, and is available in a size I won't have to squeeze into/peel off myself when I get home, and I'm going to have to wait until payday for it, and still wring my hands about spending the money.

I find it utterly ridiculous that more clothes aren't available in larger sizes for a better price. Grr.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Come to America lol. I have a naturally small body size (for real I eat all the time. I can't gain weight) and I wear extra small-small and I can almost never find my size. Everything is either too big or too short because I'm too tall.

But generally I see all types of clothes ranging from XXS-XXXL. 

I've heard that America is the only country that's easy to find bigger sized clothes in. But you aren't that big. I've seen people that I was amazed they fit through the doorway and they could still find clothes 0.o


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

It'd be awesome if clothes were offered in that range of sizes here. I don't know why they aren't. If I got any bigger, I'd be restricted to a tiny range of places to shop, that don't have that great a selection. I have a giant badonkadonk, so I already am restricted when it comes to trousers, lol, but my torso generally fits into a L-XL, so I'm good most of the time if I'm going for sleeveless clothes. My arms are big though, so if I need something with sleeves it's a little more difficult, which is why I had this debacle this time. Generally I like to wear either sleeveless tops, or tops with really long sleeves, otherwise I'd already have the clothes I needed and wouldn't have to go on this quest, haha!

With the length thing, that's something that's got me peeved so often! I've got a friend who's really short, and she can never find anything in a good length for her without taking it up herself, and I can't find anything long enough for me, so if we both wore clothes as they are usually, we'd both look pretty silly. Every so often I manage to find a maxi dress that's long enough, but it's a rare thing, and I'm not even skinny! I tend to stick to men's trousers for this reason, at least they're long enough...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

*Another non-fish entry:*

I feel this has been a very, very long time coming, but I'm finally going to do it. Even if it gets me kicked off our League team, I don't care. I'm sick to death of hearing sexist and homophobic terms thrown around with not a single hoot given about what those words mean, or the opinions and attitudes they're reinforcing by using them so flippantly. 

Every single bloody game, I hear some slur thrown. I'm sick of hearing the word "gay" used as an insult. I'm sick of any inherently female terms being used to describe something as weak or "less than" what is expected. These kids, and yes I say kids, as the maturity shown certainly isn't that of their age, by saying this stuff so often, are reinforcing stereotypes and fear of that which they mock. 

Use as many expletives as you like if you're getting your butt kicked in-game, but do NOT put down the gender I was unfortunate enough to be born into, and do NOT perpetuate ridiculous homophobic attitudes. UGH.

So here's my plan: I'm just going to spam our team's Facebook group with links to anti-homophobia pages and feminist pages that highlight the impact of what they're doing by "harmlessly" using these terms day in, day out. It's going to keep popping up on their news feeds, in their notifications, and in the Skype call every single time they use those terms, until they get it into their thick skulls that the groups they're insulting have a great deal more balls, and brains, than they do if that's what they have to resort to to express their displeasure at the way a game is going.

Sorry, so angry, needed to get it out.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

League is kind of like that. I admit I don't play video games hardly ever, but league has like one of the worst communities ever. Like 90% trolls. Its a shame because the game is fun when others don't ruin it for you. I guess that's why they created the ignore feature, but then all your teammates report you for not communicating. -_-

Also, I don't get the whole clothes thing. There are very few places I know of that sell pants in regular, short, and long, but I guess I have a strange body type because most of my jeans are too short, too loose around my waist and too tight around my thighs. I can fit into a size 00 skirt because I don't have leg holes to attempt to shove my thighs into but I can only fit into size 3 jeans. Anything smaller will not go up past my thighs. -_-


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

If it were a team of randoms, I could just say, yeah it's just LoL, it's the community etc. But these are people I actually know IRL. One of them is my partner's brother. So it's not just in-game where I hear this stuff, but it's where it's heard most often. 

I have the same problem with pants, actually, only at a larger size. I just went to a size conversion site to convert from AU to US sizes, but according to that site... I have a size 10 waist, size 14 thighs and a size 12 bust. With long legs. So nothing fits right, hahaha. Which is why I was elated that my favourite plus size store here has different jeans for different shapes, I can actually get jeans that fit both my waist and thighs. XD


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

That crappy LoL mentality is contagious. My boyfriend can get so mad playing it I have to pry his fingers one by one away from the keyboard and convince him to do something else. It doesn't help that his Internet connection sucks and he lags every time he is actually doing good in a game..

I wish I could order special jeans. Or extra long pants. A lot of times I will wear really huge pants because they are the only things long enough. Skirts and dresses are the only things that I can find that fit me but I hate wearing both. Come to think of it, I even have the same issue with bras. I'm not too big around the chest and they like don't make bras that are tight enough around my torso -_- you'd think the fashion industry would catch up but I'm pretty sure that like wedding dresses and celebrity clothing lines (the outrageously expensive crud) are the only things that are generally made to fit each individual person. Shirts are also generally too short on me. I should just learn to make my own clothes, lol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Mmm. I get mad if I'm playing solo queue. I don't know how people do it without smashing their PCs after a few encounters with the trolls. So if I'm playing alone, I just play custom bot matches. No people, no hassle, no worries, haha. It's my favourite way to play LoL.  Though with custom games you can't change the difficulty of the bots, so it's too easy... Still better than trolls. XD

I just don't get why more companies don't offer a wider range of cuts. There are SO MANY people who don't fit the "standard" of what they're creating, surely they're shooting themselves in the foot business-wise if they don't offer stuff to fit people that don't fit the "norm"? I mean, they'd be sure to get a HEAP of return business, and make more sales...

OMG OMG OMG SARUMAN ARRIVED TODAY AND HE IS ADORABLE!! Okay, no more all caps. But it's super-exciting! My first experience receiving a pet in the mail... WOW. I'm a worrier so I stressed way more than I should've, which always happens with things that are new to me, but that's okay. Everything went smoothly, and all is well. Squee! He's currently acclimating. He gets the bookshelf tank until he's all settled in and ready for the bright lights of the NPTs. 

I've left the old LED lights on the bookshelf tank, but they're not going to be turned on until later, and only dimly. So glad that light is dimmable, love it! Over the next few days I'll work him up to those lights full-force, and provided he's doing well, I'll transfer him over to the NPT that was intended for him, or move Weehawk over one tank so I can observe the new boy in the initial stages.

Speaking of that possibility... I've been thinking of moving Weehawk over for a little while. He used to be very friendly and personable, but lately he's developed a bad attitude. Stern fishy-mum might take away his tunnel until he's ready to behave himself. There's still plenty of plants and things to swim through in the middle tank, so he's not going to be deprived of much, haha. 

I think perhaps the bad attitude has something to do with the fact that I haven't had as much time to spare lately, what with my course starting, re-doing the tanks, having more in the room and thus more to clean, more often... He hasn't got as much time with mum as he's used to. Unfortunately, that's just life, and he's going to have to learn to deal with the fact that I'm not always going to be here to play chase the finger with him. :-(


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Lol, I think DaBaDee and Weehawk are on the same page 

I'm looking forward to seeing picturess!! Mailing live fish isn't that bad. I thought it was a horrible idea at first but now I've gotten 7 fish and live plants in the mail with a snail on the way  they all dealt with shipping surprisingly well and none of them were really sickly. They actually all looked better than the fish I see in the pet stores! Probably because they get shipped to the pet stores, too, but are put in tiny cups right after when we have nice big warm places for them to stay, with room service! Lol.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Once you give them all of the attentions, they'll never be happy without it! 

Agreed about having fish shipped, now I've experienced it for myself. Saruman arrived much healthier than Feyd and Weehawk were when they were given to us. He's just a bit skittish and is hiding when we've been hanging around him too long, and I don't blame him. 

He's so beautiful! My boyfriend was really happy when we got him today, all squee-faced and stuff. In his words, "I'm so glad I said, 'yeah, definitely buy him'!" Hahaha.

I think he's finding it very strange having 4 gallons to swim around in. At first, he just made a beeline for a hiding spot, as was expected. Now he's zipping around the place when he thinks no one's looking. He's definitely going to love it when he's transferred to the 7 gallon NPT. XD

I think I'm going to send the boyfee on a mission for snails and shrimp before Saruman gets transferred over to his permanent tank, so hopefully he won't see them as invading his territory. I wasn't going to add shrimp until the tanks had matured properly, but I'm not too keen on keeping him in the bookshelf tank for the next three months while the shelf above bows under the weight of the books (About half of them will be brought down onto the tank shelf when a smaller tank is put there).

We just got back from going on a mission for board games, as Saturday is International TableTop Day (only makes sense if you watch TableTop on YouTube, heh) and we're hoping to have a few people round to play games with us. Failing that, we'll just play our awesome new games on our own, haha. Or play the LotR tabletop RPG we got with le boyfee's brothers over Skype, that works too. XD

Such exciting things are happening!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

All of mine reacted a bit differently after shipping but all were healthy and warmed up fairly quick. He might just be shy in general. I remember when I first transferred Bahari to his 5 gallon and he flared at EVERYTHING! Lol. He definitely would have killed any shrimp or snails if I added any.

I think it works best if you put the shrimp/snails in before the fish, but hiding spots are the key. They'll probably know to stay out of Sarumans way  but it doesn't sound like he's very aggressive.

I didn't know when I shipped my first fish that you're supposed to turn out the lights when unpacking them because sudden bright lights can shock them 0_0


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

He might be shy, I suppose we'll see. He did respond to our fingers a couple of times, but I'm not keen on pushing it on the first day. >.<

There's heaps of spots for shrimp to hide in all the NPTs. We've already got a couple of glass shrimp in Feyd and Weehawk's, and I hardly ever see them, once in a while they'll be on a leaf on a stem, and then they'll go back into hiding. And when the carpets grow in, there'll be long, dense grass for them to scuttle around in too. ^.^

I just turned the light on a teensy little bit in Saruman's tank, and he doesn't seem bothered, which is awesome. I might actually be able to get a shot of him soon, hehe. XD

We had a bit of a scare when unpacking him with the lights, heh. I'd brought the box to the darkest part of my room, then my grandma, all excited about the fish as well, comes along and turns on the big room light right when I'm about to open the box. My partner was all "NOOOOOOOO!! *slow-mo flail for light switch*" Hahaha. Once we explained to her that the lights needed to be off it was all good though, heh.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Kinda in squee-mode. Saruman is settling in just fine, which is awesome. And I just had a look over at the NPTs, and the hygro is just taking off! Took it a week to really get going, but boy is it going now! I already had to trim the pink rotala a few days ago, and replanted the trimmings along the sides that connect to other tanks to provide more cover so they're even less likely to see each other through the frosted film I've got on the glass. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures before the first trimming for comparison. Silly, silly me! No doubt they'll shoot straight back up though, if I had to trim within 5 days of planting. SQUEEE!!  Things are going well! This is new and exciting!!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Just finished trimming the hygro and replanting. I think I need to learn to be more aggressive when trimming, and trim lower on the stems in future, judging by the rotala, which is already making a comeback. So now I have roughly double the rotala and hygro stems planted than I did last week, when I first set up the tanks. I'm absolutely loving the thick jungle look. 

After a couple more trimmings though, I won't be able to replant the tops. Which is fine, because then I can take all the trimmings, some spare soil and sand/gravel and a tank to my friend's place and teach her brother what I know. 

The fish seem to love having a really dense jungle of stems, especially Feyd. He likes to lurk and hide, then play peek-a-boo in the stems in his tank. It's adorable.

One thing that I will say about the NPTs and the plants in them, is that I'm still undecided about the red plants. They look pretty and all, and none of them seem to be melting, they're all growing, especially the pink rotala, but I must say that I do prefer an all-green scape. I will however just leave it for a while, because they do look nice. I guess I'm just biased because my favourite colour is green. Perhaps my opinion will change when the carpet fills in a little more.

My partner suggested that we get some DHG to fill in the carpet, rather than using the same plant the whole way through, but I'm wary of attempting a mixed carpet with so little experience in this stuff. I don't doubt that it would look interesting, I just worry that it won't turn out as well as I hope, y'know?


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Random fact: Saruman is way too adorable when he's flaring to be taken seriously. Then again, the rest of the boys are too. Except Feyd. Feyd has this Samuel L. Jackson (a la Pulp Fiction) vibe going on, so it's a little intimidating. At least, that's what I imagine his voice would be like if he had one. XD

But Saruman is just too adorable. XD


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

*sigh* Saruman still won't eat. I wasn't worried on day one or two, but I'm starting to worry, as I tend to do. Knowing how my life usually goes, he won't eat until I really start to panic then act like I'm an idiot and munch away. >.< But I'm trying not to worry too much about it, I know he'll be fine for a while if he keeps refusing soon, and when he gets really hungry he'll nom down. Bit of a snob though, refusing NLS, haha.

Also, I hate hosting things at my place. I'll get everything clean, but my grandma will insist on dusting EVERYTHING, like people are going to be inspecting every surface. I keep telling her it's not necessary to attempt to make our home look like a display house (ha ha, fat chance of that happening with all the clutter) but she won't listen. Also, she gets upset with me asking my partner to help with the cleaning, because he's a man and therefore doesn't have to do the woman's job. WTF. No, he made half this mess, he's going to clean half of it thank you very much! 

Yesterday I spent the entire day doing water changes and tidying up the NPTs (poked the soil, relocated some of the microsword so that I'll be able to put a lawn of e. belem down the front of the tanks, as it's meant to be more newbie-friendly for carpeting or something) and four water changes later with a very sore back and arms, got into trouble for asking my partner to clean the lounge room in preparation for today, when all he was doing was gaming all day. Grrrrr.

My view is, you make the mess, you at least help clean it up. And if there's going to be heaps of guests, EVERYONE chips in to help with the cleaning. My grandma can take a hike if she thinks anyone gets off cleaning duty because they have an outie, not an innie.


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

If he won't eat pellets and you start to get worried, try live blackworms. Subscape and Coburg Aquarium both stock them and even the fussiest fish cannot usually resist. 

I think Jodi-Lea feeds her bettas blackworms, or at least the wilds as a couple of mine have arrived with blackworms in their shipping bags haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Okays, I'll look into getting some blackworms if he keeps this up. Cheers for the info. I love that Subscape is only a short tram ride away, makes life so much easier!


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## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

It's a 40 odd minute train ride I think for me, plus the bus I have to take to actually get to the train station if I don't feel up for the 2km walk. 

All the good fish stores are so far from me haha. It sucks.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Oh dear...

Um, trying to think of a bright side... Oh! You can't drain your bank account to hopelessness the way I do 'cause it's too much of a hike unless you really need something? Eep!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Today I feel so bleh. Last night we held a thing at our place for International TableTop Day, and had five people over for it. My lounge room is not made for seven people to fit into it, but somehow we managed, and also managed to not trash the place. I attribute this lack of trashing to only providing chips and other dry junk foods and soft drink, with dinner being pizza we ordered. Usually large gatherings mean nightmare cleanups the day after. I think the lack of mess also had something to do with only inviting polite and courteous people. Hooray for taking out the trash friends-wise! Yep, I'm not with it today. And I have to study, blerrrghhh... 

I think I might just zone out and watch the fish for a while. Might help me get my brain back. >.<


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I'm still very excited about the NPTs, even though I've been at home most of the time since they were set up and able to look at them all day. Haven't got sick of them, haha. Even with the water changes needed in the initial stages, still not sick of it, heh. I definitely won't be complaining when I can decrease water changes without sacrificing water quality though. Hopefully it won't be too long (like, more than a month or so) until I can go back down to once a week, as the intense WC schedule is doing my head in since life hit me like a truck, heh. The plants are really taking off though, and I'm getting some hairgrass (not normal hairgrass, e. belem) that will be planted during the next water change which is exciting. So many plants!! XD

Going to start a shrimp-only tank as well once life settles down, using plants propagated in the NPTs. Found a source for a cheap enough T5 light in the length needed for the tank I want, which is awesome. Since getting these NPTs set up I've developed a certain snobbishness regarding tanks and lights, since it's worked out so well, and stuff is available for an affordable enough price if I am willing to travel.

Just pretty excited about things in general. 

I should have studied more than I did today... I feel like my brain is melting, and that I have no chance at learning all 30 steps to a piercing. I can remember with no problems what to do once setup commences all the way through to after the piercing and explaining aftercare to the client, I'm just stuck on the first few steps. Which is a lot better than nothing I guess, but I'd really like to get all 30 steps down before next class. Then I will have a whole fortnight to study ONLY the piercing-specific things I need to learn before the first practical day. I'd rather have EVERYTHING I need to know in my head well before the time I go near someone with a needle. I realise not everyone is this anal-retentive, but my objective with this was to provide the best, cleanest body mods possible, and being slack in learning my stuff isn't a part of that.

Being a perfectionist gets good results, but bloody hell it's annoying and stressful, haha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Sigh. My life has gone from nothing to EVERYTHING in what feels like two seconds flat. Course, chores, tank maintenance... All piling up. Got an algae problem in the NPTs. Looks like it's mostly just green dust algae, which is annoying but doesn't scare me to death. Doing big water changes today (amidst the million other things that need to be done...) and then shortening the PP to hopefully combat this business. Blahhhh...


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Sigh, haven't been on here as much as usual 'cause I've been so busy.

After removing the sponge filters from the NPTs because of the ungodly noise coming from the air pump (it used to be manageable, I have no idea what happened to make it unbearable) I decided I definitely still wanted filtration. I know it's not really necessary in NPTs, but I would like my tanks to be able to handle a higher bioload so I can add more buddies, and I've developed this love of otos, which I've heard need a current. Weehawk and Feyd seem to have no issues with currents and Saruman is a plakat so he should also have no issues, so I'm keen. Ordered a Marina Slim S10 for each tank last night. They're rated for up to 60L, which is over double the capacity of my tanks, so I'm hoping they'll be good. I'll be cycling them in one of my spare tanks using ammonia, then once they're done cycling I'll move 'em to the NPTs.

I have awful luck with shrimp, and I'm just not going to try anymore. I love them to bits and am not going to put any more through whatever it is in my water that's causing them to drop like flies. I'm just done. It breaks my heart every time there's a death. Found one of the ghosties that were doing fantastically... dead. So I'm done with shrimp. All parameters were perfect, I just don't understand it. I don't have a way of testing TDS, I think that may have been the issue since I can't find any others. But yeah... No more shrimp for me. Perhaps snails, but no shrimp.

I'm really disappointed because I wanted a shrimp-only tank, but I'm not going to risk the lives of any more of the cute little things.

The boys are chuggin' along. Falkor's fins are almost completely grown back with no new nips. I'm crossing my fingers that I've finally found the solution, and all he needs is a small, bare tank. Once I manage to get Saruman onto pellets (he still refuses anything that isn't moving) I'll move him over to the NPT since I'm not getting any more shrimp, and start organising things for a more permanent arrangement.

Aside from being really upset about being an accidental shrimp killer, things are going well in my life. I'm doing well in my course, finances aren't too bad, can't complain about a whole lot except my stupid body and my stupid brain. But life in general is good!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Poor shrimpies  I still don't think my Nerite likes my parameters for some reason but she is still alive and moving around, right by the water surface.

Glad everything else is going good and yay for Falkor! I hope he doesn't turn around and decide his tail is too heavy, again!!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

I hope your snail keeps on doing okay!

I've lost track of how long it's been since Falkor nibbled himself, which is awesome, hehe.

I just wonder what I'm going to do about the lids of the tanks when the filters are cycled and ready to be put in... I may end up having to get a big, long piece of plexiglass to cover all three, since I don't know where or how I'd get the existing cover glass for each tank cut to accommodate a HOB. I have seen plenty of people do fine with no lids, especially when the waterline is lowered, so that may be an option too (the water is already 2" below the top of the tanks, perhaps that'll do since there's never been a jumping incident with Feyd, and Weehawk has calmed right down in the last month or two). I'd still rather have a lid to avoid any possible mishaps though...


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

A lid is probably a good idea to keep on there, lol.

I actually don't use HOBs. I mean, there's one in my brothers tank but the rest of mine are internal filters which aren't the best but I think they do OK especially when you take out the cartridges and shove them full of filter foam or sponge. The nice thing about those is that the hook that attaches them to the back of the tank can be removed and you can just use the suction cups so that all you really need is a space in the hood for a cord.

Two of mine make a very soft vibrating noise, the one in my sorority tank can't be heard at all, and the one in the four gallon only makes noise when the outflow is above the water line (its a weird fully submersible one). But since the BB grows best with gas exchange at the surface, I am probably going to pull it up over the water line and cover the outflow with filter foam/sponge. I think it causes a bit too much water movement, anyways.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

That's great that the internal filters are doing a good job. XD I do like how quiet most internal filters are, and was considering the Eheim corner one designed for nano tanks, but unfortunately couldn't make it work with the way my tanks are arranged (no place for the hook in the middle tank due to both sides of it being right up against the outer tanks, thus no corner available).

Only reason I chose HOB was because of recommendations on the planted tank forum, really. Most people on there swear by HOBs rather than internal filters. Also in a nano tank, real estate inside the tank is of great value when you want to keep it really heavily planted, hehe. So once I found one with great reviews for being silent, the choice was made, lol.

After my previous post I had a look-see online and discovered it shouldn't be too hard to just get a place that cuts glass to take a small portion of my existing cover glass out to accommodate the HOB. I'd just use cling wrap with holes poked in the meantime while I got that done, and all will be well! YAY!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Got a hair algae outbreak in the NPTs. It's true what they say about DHG being an algae magnet! It's cool though, ordered some Excel and will dose that in hopes of getting rid of that. Spent the last two days researching how to effectively dose to get rid of algae while keeping livestock safe, so I'm fairly confident it should be good. 

Despite the algae, plants are still growing (except the frogbit in the middle tank which seemed to bite the dust inexplicably and the microsword in Weehawk's tank...) so I'm not too worried. Filters should arrive next week, and after they're cycled and where they're supposed to be I'll start thinking seriously about some tankmates. 

I still would love Otos but I'm afraid of them as well, given their reputation for being extremely sensitive. I know I'll get snails, but I would like something more active too. If I can somehow be sure that my tanks are not a hazard to Otos I'll give them a shot, but if not, I don't know yet...

OH! And I managed to source some hydrilla. Very excited about that. If it takes off, which in all likelihood it will, I may think about replacing some other plants with it. My partner will probably disagree with what I think I'll remove in favour of the hydrilla once it starts taking over, but I've got a fair amount of time to convince him before that happens, hahaha.


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Eep! It's been SO LONG since I was on here! Been so busy I've barely had time to think. I've missed the forum! In the time I was gone I've got just over halfway through my course, got offered a traineeship at the studio the course is run at as a result of my performance on the first prac day (woohoo!) and made some changes to my tank setups. It's nice to be back, got a whole heap of forum-ing to catch up on, hehe.

Saruman is finally over in the NPT that was created for him. He seems to be absolutely loving it! He still refuses to eat pellets and will only accept live food, unfortunately. He's a bit of a pain in the bum, but I love him anyway. The other two boys were a bit like "WTF? Another dude between us?" but have settled down. Weehawk and Saruman seem to enjoy hanging together (on opposite sides of the glass, seems like a no-brainer to me but I thought I'd better say it anyway, heh) which is cute.

The rotala macranda didn't work out, as expected. That's totally cool, it was pretty while it lasted, and since it was an impulse buy from my partner I'm not too upset as it wasn't part of "the plan" to begin with, haha. I've filled in the gaps with hydrilla, yay! The DHG is sending runners, which, when I first noticed it, made me perhaps a little too excited. XD

I'm absolutely loving the Marina Slim filters. Almost no noise whatsoever, as long as I keep the water line high enough. I was planning to cycle them using the bucket method before putting them in the tanks, but having zero water movement was doing me NO favours. The plants are doing their job of keeping the water wonderfully clean, so I'm not worried about a fish-in cycle.

Speaking of the NPTs doing their job, I was amazed during the last couple of weeks of testing the water in them. I'm able to change the water fortnightly now. Holy crap! I initially thought I was doing something wrong when testing, but nope, I'm already down to that little water changes. Woo!

Anyway, I'll stop rambling now and get going on catching up on all the stuff I've missed!


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## Sparrowhawk (Nov 19, 2012)

Back again after ages of not being here. Finally, a chance to rest and do my own thing for a couple of days. I've been so flat-out, I've had absolutely no time to myself, and even less time to sit and watch my beautiful boys, only just keeping on WC schedule. ARGH.

I'm really upset at the moment. Weehawk is no longer with us. I have no idea what happened. I check each and every one of the boys every day for signs of illness. EVERY DAY. There was absolutely nothing wrong with him, and on Friday morning I woke up, and he was dead. I had a big cry, my partner buried him, and that's it really, not much else I could do... I'm really sad because he was a real mummy's boy, he loved me the most. The other boys kinda love both of us equally and get excited when either of us says hello to them, but Weehawk didn't care when my partner came up to the tank, and did a crazy wiggle dance when I'd show up. It was adorable. I miss him lots already...

I guess I've gotta keep with my resolution of trying to find a bright side in every situation, so... The NPTs are doing great. I only have to do a 40% WC every two weeks now, been testing the water and everything, it's great. I plan to add ember tetras to them, and now that unfortunately one NPT is vacant, I'll try seeing how the bioload goes with that tank first with 6, before adding any to the tanks that have a boy in them already. I'm fully prepared to go back to weekly WCs, which is why I was not going to add any more fish until I was well and truly settled into fortnightly WCs because I didn't want to push the bioload thing.

I may not be making much sense at the moment. Still really sad over Weehawk's death, and really exhausted.

I will make an effort to come back here though, now that the bulk of the super-busy couple of months is over (I hope!). I've missed the forum a lot, and wonder what has changed...


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