# Splody's Riparium Adventure: It's Not Easy Being Green



## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

I keep posting questions in the Planted Tanks forum, but I feel like I'm spamming them with this one project, so I figured I'd just put it all here instead. I'm going to warn you now: this first post is gonna be long.

So, you're probably asking: what's a riparium? It's basically a semi-aquatic NPT--or, at least that's a good enough description for my purposes. I've no idea how far the definition extends, since it's not nearly so common a hobby as fully-aquatic NPT keeping. I'm pretty sure the word can be used to describe what I'm doing, so I'm using it.

I'm including a badly-drawn sketch of what I'm planning, since that's easier than describing everything.

Basically, I stupidly bought a semi-aquatic plant (a peacock fern) for Felix's tank, and this whole plan is a result of trying to figure out what to do with it. Currently, the cuttings are sitting in a little vase of old tank water and they seem pretty happy.

I have a 5-gallon off-brand Kritter Keeper on the way. It's coming on Wednesday.

Oh, and speaking of which! Something that made my day was reading the reviews on the different Kritter Keeper-like tanks and seeing that there are several people who rescued bettas and put them in 3+ gallon KKs. ^u^

I myself am not going to put fish in this thing for a while... once it's established, I'll try putting Felix in it for a week and see if it's okay. That way, I have his other tank on hand so that if it doesn't work out, he has somewhere safe to be put back.

In order to cycle the thing, I'm probably going to put his nerite snail in there. The snail's a bit of an overload on his little 1.5g even with my conservative water changes anyway...

I have a feeling that Felix is not going to be terribly thrilled about a tank without a filter. He loves his filter. In fact, he's kind of obsessed with it. But I think he could stand to test drive this riparium for a while... he loves plants. 

So, as of right now:

1. Tank: check.

2. Organic potting soil/topsoil: probably check. I'll have to see what kind we have.

3. Plants: got the first few... the peacock ferns, a lucky bamboo cutting, and the crazy number of extra java ferns in Felix's tank. I also have some spearmint rooting in a glass of water that I could probably put in the semiaquatic part.

4. Light: a west window. But I can put a CFL in one of my octopus lamp's light sockets and aim it at the tank if I need extra light. (Which I probably will.)

5. Livestock: got 'em. I may put one of Chard's lovely yellow bettas in the new one--they're really tempting. It depends on how Felix takes the riparium, I guess.

6. Sand: I'll probably steal some from Felix's tank. It's nice white sand. Might not be enough though, so I may have to go back to PetSmart and get more.

7. Cycling: Felix's tank is probably cycled, so I'll just bring over a couple rocks or something from that tank.

8. Testing: Don't have a test kit. Gotta fix that. Are koi pond test kits the same thing? Are they cheaper? I'm gonna have to do some research.

9. Lid: I'm going to get rid of the Kritter Keeper lid once I can replace it with one I'm making. I'm going to use clear plastic "fabric" from Jo-Ann's and see if I can't stitch something together. I'm thinking maybe a triangular sort of top to go over it, and I'll have to figure out a way to hook it down securely so my snail doesn't go for a walk.

10. Heating: Felix's tank stays at 80F unheated, at least in the warm months. It's because of the temperature of my room and the small size of his tank. The 5gal Kritter Keeper is bigger, but it'll be in the sun. I'll have to see if that's enough. If it's not, I have two small-tank heaters ready to go, and I have black rocks that can help to hold in some heat.

I have some trial and error to go through, but I think this'll be fun.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Nice! It seems like you are actually making more of a Paludarium which is land/water. Riparium more has floating docks which houses semi-aquatic plants. It's a super blurred line and Paludariums tend to have more regular terrestrial plants rather than semi-aquatic so you're combining them lol.

Are you going to have something under the soil to build it up? You can't have more than 3 inches of substrate if you're going NPT because it will become anerobic and possibly gas your fish; killing them >.< but you can use rocks, slate, bags of gravel to prop up the hill. It will be difficult to hold the hill there so I suggest you look into false bottoms, a little more work but it will hold for much longer without much issue! ^_^


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Ahhhh... all these words! XD That's interesting, though. 

I was thinking I'd probably need to dump some rocks in there or something, yeah. I don't know what I'll use... those false bottoms, are they just craft mesh or something? That's what I'm seeing on Google Images, I think. Or is it eggcrate?

Could you just hot glue down a Glad container or two (food safe plastic) and fill in the spaces with gravel?

Also, would burrowing trumpet snails help? I don't know much about that kind of snail, but I've heard they're a common feature in NPTs. Would just one be enough? I read they reproduce like mad.

A ton of questions, sorry


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Oh, and also:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMlGoPp8FDQ


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Generally they are made form egg crate and something to support them like PVC piping or I saw one guy do air filled water bottles but he obviously covered them up. You could as well if you wanted, you could use craft mesh or steel mesh to make a slope and put a bunch of mosses on it to grow, make sure nothing can get through it and get stuck though!

So say you went with the egg crate method, you'd support with something and if you wanted to you could cover the egg crate and supports with Great Stuff expanding foam, it's safe for the aquarium. Then you can carve it into things like tree roots or something natural looking, then you can paint them with Drylok cement paint and tint it with cement tint to make naturalistic colors. OR you can go with the mesh slope thingy, although it might still be good to cover the supports since you can see through the mesh for a while.

For the top part, you cover the egg crate with usually a weed mesh to keep the soil up top, then cap off with sand or whatever, or just leave it open if not much water will be up there. You can use the expanding foam to make a barrier so the soil doesn't come out and then you can have mosses or other plants like Dwarf Baby Tears growing up there if you keep it moist!

OR you can just keep going with your idea to keep partially aquatic plants up top there and keep the false bottom submerged a bit, just make sure you have a cap over the soil or it will go everywhere!!

MTS are great for aeration, they mass produce if you overfeed but if you don't overfeed they usually don't take over your tank terribly. But again, 3 inches is the maximum depth you can go with most substrates that are more compact like sand and soil. Gravel bundles underneath the hill will work for a time but if you don't have anything to really keep the hill there like a false bottom would, it will eventually fall over time with the movement of water, fish, and of course you ^_^ The plants will help hold it but they need to establish their roots first which of course does take time.

Or you can go take a look at http://ripariumsupply.com/products-page/ and they have a bunch of floater things you can float plants on in the back of the tank.

As far as I understand it:
Aquarium: full water
Riparium: full water with land feature or floating docks with land/bog plants
Paludarium: any combination of land and water, can support animals that need both.
Vivarium: More land than water, usually a small water feature.
Terrarium: land based

I could be a little off with that but that's how I understand it at least, makes sense in my head lol.


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

Welcome! I have a paludarium. I call it a terrarium, it's just easier to convey what I'm talking about.

I made a false bottom and covered it with landscape fabric. Do NOT do that, the fabric wicks too much water. Use fiberglass screen instead.

I also used great stuff to make a background. It was a lot of fun and turned out well.

You can look at my journal to see what I did and the results.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

This sounds very interesting! Good luck! I'm very interested in seeing your final result!


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## cmwong27 (Jun 4, 2014)

The tank arrives today, right? Excited to see how this project progresses! 

Keep us posted! (Lots of photos :-D)


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Yep, it showed up! And in one piece! (Whew. I was a little concerned, what with the reviews on it.)

Guess what showed up today? OPPORTUNITY.

Normally, my mom doesn't like to go across town to PetSmart. (Which is probably a good thing; otherwise, I'd never have money.) Since we were grocery shopping at several stores, one of which had a garden center and one of which was right by PetSmart, I managed to get:

1. Topsoil
2. Aquarium gravel
3. Aquarium sand
4. Water wisteria
5. Aquarium ferts--by Seachem, no less, so they're probably good ones

*!!!*

Of course, I had to solve the slipping problem. For now, I have some larger rocks kind of jammed into the gravel near the bottom... hopefully they'll keep things stable. If not? Maybe later I'll need to get more of them. I had to keep some for the hardscape, but I think this'll be pretty decent for now.

Despite my liking to get things right, I think if I tried to do a major project with false bottoms, my mom would be like 

ಠ_ಠ wat

She isn't very much into fish. This may be in part because I always have been. XD When you raise a kid who tries to keep paper goldfish in your Tupperware and gets upset when they fall apart fifteen minutes later, I can see how you'd end up with kind of a grudge against aquariums.

I'll attach pics next--I have to get them off my phone first. You'll see the water is kind of cloudy because of the sand; I'll probably steal Felix's filter for 15 minutes and make him mad.

Questions...

1. I have spearmint cuttings rooting in a glass of water. They seems pretty happy... can I put that in? They've got great roots.

2. This plant fertilizer. Do I just use a dropper? It's strong stuff. 5mL for 60 gallons? Yikes. I need, like, .5mL, and even that's more than it recommends.

Pics in the next post...


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Sure, the cuttings should be fine as long as it stays upright and doesn't fall into water 

Is it Excel or Flourish? But for the most part, yes, follow the instructions. You can use a pipette to dose if you like.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

It's Flourish. Is there much of a difference?

Pics!

1. My materials... those black rocks are there to try and hold stuff in place. I have my doubts as to whether they'll be enough, but it should be okay for now.

2. Got the dirt in. I used a trash bag to take it up to my room... I just eyeballed how much I needed, and it was pretty accurate. Could've gotten more but that's okay.

3. I rinsed off the majority of the sand I used in this Glad container with filtered water from our tap. (No, it's not hard, and there aren't any fish going in today. I'll put in water conditioner when I put in the livestock.)

4. Got my sand.

5. So you can see how deep it is...

6. Some of the water in. Oops. Could've been worse.

7. Fixed.

8. Okay, that's full enough...

9. Plant time!

10. There are plants in there. Really.

11. Mint roots! We ended up with these on accident. My mint plant sucks water like nobody's business, so when we went away for four days, I gave it a trim before we left and stuck the cut stems in a glass of water. We come back? They've got a bunch of roots. You can't see how many there are in the crummy phone pic, though.


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

Subscribing.  This looks like a fun project. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Oh, and I asked about burrowing trumpet snails at PetSmart, but they said they didn't have any. Maybe I'll just have to ask someone with MTS to overfeed their tanks a bit and send me some next time I get babysitting money. 

I did get cuttlebone for my nerite, though. I need to grow his shell up a bit to make sure that he doesn't wander out of the tank. He just barely doesn't fit through the feed gap... but if he finds the right angle to slide out, I know he's gonna be G-O-N-E unless I strengthen his shell.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Yes there is a difference, Flourish is a liquid fert and Excel is a co2 supplement. So flourish is the one you want so you're good ^_^


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Good... I actually read the label this time before buying! 

Flourish is a pretty word. 

In other news, Adagio the snail now has... probably two gallons of swimming space all to himself right now. I added the water conditioner so I could put him in and start the thing cycling. He's even got a piece of cuttlebone in with him. Snail heaven!

I deliberated for quite a while on that snail's name until Adagio struck me a few days ago. The little dude is quite fast for a snail at nighttime, so it fits pretty well. And I just like how it sounds. 

More pictures!

1 and 2: Stole Felix's filter for 20 minutes to clear up the water a bit. Boosting 3M a bit here. My duct tape has grown legs and walked out with my father, so it's Scotch tape this time. Can you tell I'm fond of paperclip and bubblegum fixes? (And Red Green. But I live in Iowa, so you probably knew that.)

3. That's my octopus lamp. The light aimed at my new tank has a CFL in it. So my plants won't suffer when the sky's overcast or it's wintertime. Nifty, huh?

4. That's Adagio, going to town. There's not much for him to eat in there, but I set him in Felix's filter cartridge for a little while, so he should be pretty well fed for the time being. If I need, I'll just pull some algae from Felix's filter or give him some lettuce.

5. Ahhhhhh... everything's neat and clean again. Sprayed down the desktop plastic with Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface (pretty gentle stuff as long as you don't get it in the water) as usual after working with my fish, so everything's all shiny.  The plants on my desk aren't even half of all the plants in my room.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Aaaaaand there's light!

It looks better. You can see inside.

I took an unused toothbrush and scrubbed up the sand dust off the waterline. I also added some of the low-grade fish food that came with Felix's tank for an ammonia boost. Adagio probably isn't producing a ton of ammonia with not so much food in there.

Snails are awesome, you know? You don't have to worry about them being poisoned quite so much when it's a snail-in cycle.

This is going to be a beautiful place for a fish to live when it's done...

Also, a picture of my cat Jake. He wanted to be photographed too, he gets jealous of the fish sometimes.


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## cmwong27 (Jun 4, 2014)

myexplodingcat said:


> 5. Ahhhhhh... everything's neat and clean again. Sprayed down the desktop plastic with Clorox Anywhere Hard Surface (pretty gentle stuff as long as you don't get it in the water) as usual after working with my fish, so everything's all shiny.  The plants on my desk aren't even half of all the plants in my room.


I haven't done this myself, but I've heard of people using screen wipes for computer/television screens, 'cause you're not spraying anything. Therefore no risk whatsoever for possibly getting it in the tank water.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Your tank looks pretty good so far! Jake is just too adorable!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Okay, so, guys? I didn't post yesterday, but I put Felix in the new tank and he seems to be pretty cool with it. Haven't noticed any adverse effects--actually, he seems to be enjoying himself.

I came home after church and walked up to his tank wearing a turquoise shirt, and he gave me a HUGE flare and proceeded to swim around with his fins all fluffed out, flaring at some other stuff. Possibly to tell me he wanted his afternoon snack, which he devoured immediately.

He likes resting at the top of the slope, where there's enough water for him to swim back and forth but enough space for him to sit and rest. Like a betta hammock! I wonder if a tank set up like this would be helpful for a fish with SBD--enough room for them to hide and have fun, but with a nice big safe place that's easy to get to as well.

I think he actually doesn't miss his filter! That surprises me. I was really expecting to hear it from him about that, in the form of flaring at the surface and fins with specks of blood on the tips. But he hasn't nibbled at all and seems to flare more at his rocks and plants than at the water line.

I'm more comfortable keeping him and his snail buddy in the 5gal, even though there's only 2 gallons or so of swimming space. It's just that the ammonia levels seem safer.

Oh! And he seems to be in the starting stages of a bubble nest. In his old tank, if I didn't top it up for a few days and it was hot, the water level would dip enough for the filter not to disturb the surface and he'd make nice little nests that I'd have to destroy. I put a little extra water conditioner in to help him out. He seems to be kind of abstract in his bubble nest making, though. Like... oh, this spot could use a bubble. Now I'll blow a few over here. Hmmm... I don't feel like going back there to build, maybe I'll just stick a few here. It looks more like abstract art than a single nest.

Basically, I'm thinking he might like to stay there permanently.

His old tank is a perfectly good tank, though, and I'm thinking about converting it to a basic low-light NPT with and rescuing a fish from PetSmart or PetCo to put in there. While I love Chard's bettas to death, I'd feel bad about putting such a big, healthy fish in the little 1.5g when he would otherwise be adopted by someone with a nicer place for him. (Most people, I think, won't pay $25 incl. shipping for a fish but not pay attention to its care. ...Most people. I hope.)

But PetSmart bettas can't often hope for more than a big bowl on a kitchen counter, weekly water changes, and a plastic plant. You know? That and PetSmart's cheaper, and I'm a teenager. Not that Chard's fish aren't worth it--because come on, they are--but it's kinda hard for me to string the cash together when I get paid maybe $10 a week.

So I'll put converting the 1.5g on the agenda. Then, next time I'm at PetSmart, I'll pick up a dull, stress-striped fish and take him in and find out what color he turns in nice warm water.

I'm keeping the cycle (if there is one?) going in the 1.5g with the crummy Aqueon food. (Other thing on the agenda: get a test kit.) Between the filter and the plants, I think there's probably a cycle going, but I can't be sure. Fish food won't hurt an empty tank, either way--I'll just change most of the water once I get the new fish.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

cmwong27 said:


> I haven't done this myself, but I've heard of people using screen wipes for computer/television screens, 'cause you're not spraying anything. Therefore no risk whatsoever for possibly getting it in the tank water.


I'm cleaning more because I want to sanitize stuff--I mean, I am removing waste with water changes--than because I want it to be shiny. I just spray away from the tank so it's not a problem.

Nice idea, though. Oh, and welcome to the forum (even if that's a little late, all I can see is that you joined this month).


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

I'm uploading a short video of him flaring at a peacock feather in his new tank. He's got the widest, fluffiest ventral fins--at full spread they're just about as wide as his body.

I propped the phone up in a tissue box to take this because shaky homemade camera work annoys me. Sorry it's kinda small and really bad quality.

It's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST4_ibg9G6I&feature=youtu.be


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

lol that's really adorable! His ventrals remind me a lot of my boy's ventrals too! Super wide and very luscious! :-D

The tank looks good too ^_^


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Thanks, Lil!

So, Felix's old 1.5g is an NPT now! I switched out the substrate an hour ago and put the java ferns back in.

It got all the water changed, but I put fish food in to feed the BB.

All I need is a fish. I think I'll take in a rescue, one that wouldn't normally be adopted but doesn't need special medication (I just have AQ and Epsom salt).

I was at Wal-Mart today, but they didn't have bettas--they were all sold out! Our Wal-Mart seems to have someone who actually takes care of the bettas, though. It's really weird... the dirtiest, sickest bettas in my town are at PetCo, which is the opposite of what most people here say. PetSmart is usually well-kept betta-wise, Walmart is surprisingly pretty clean, and PetCo stinks--literally.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Oh, man, Felix eating food in a tank where the water surface is undisturbed is hilarious.

_Oh, man! A bloodworm! She's giving me treats! I'm gonna carry it around like a trophy before I eat it._ Snapped it off the water immediately.

_Wait... is that--another one?!_ It takes him a minute to notice. _So... it's just... sitting there? Do I just... take it?_

Normally he likes chasing his food, but I think he's coming around to the idea of just being served. Spoiled fish.

And if I can catch this stupid gnat, he'll have more. >:/


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

A lovely home ready for a new betta pictured below!

I did steal the thermometer from this tank for the new one. The new tank is awfully cold, maybe 70F, so I'm gonna put in one of my little heaters tomorrow and see what it does. I don't want to do it tonight because the little heaters are unreliable and I'd rather Felix be a little chilly than have the tank be too hot--or worse, fluctuate badly. I want to be able to keep an eye on it.

Of course, I'm visiting a college tomorrow and then I have to babysit... but I should find a few spare hours to sit at my desk.

PS: Sorry I'm not very organized when it comes to blogging. I'm too scatterbrained to put everything in one post at the end of the day--or, by then, to remember to post at all. This is why my personal blog has been sitting stagnant for so long. So I just update in real time and hope you guys will put up with it.  It's a testament to how much time I spend on my computer, though. (A life? What life? There are fish who have more friends than I do.)

The fact that I love to write, and to write a lot, probably doesn't help. But it does mean that I've finished several very bad fantasy novels, which is comparatively better than not finishing several very bad fantasy novels. Hopefully I'm entertaining enough to read. 

_Here._ As a reward for your patience, have a link to an entertainingly awful, awfully entertaining web site. But not if you have epilepsy.

SEIZURE WARNING
http://heaven.internetarchaeology.org/heaven.html#bottom

I'm Christian and I still think this is entertaining. It's like a B-movie.

Yes, you did see a Neopet, a glitter Jesus, and a cross made of angels with lightsabers. And a dancing baby with an electric guitar. Actually, a lot of babies... some naked, many with wings and/or haloes, and surprisingly, some with anime hair.

I don't pretend to understand, but I like to think this is somewhat philosophical in some oblique way. It answers--not the question "Why are we here?"--but the question "Why are we NOT here?"

Wait. How did I get here from fish? Crud, I think I figured out the other reason why I stopped blogging.


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## MameJenny (Jun 11, 2012)

myexplodingcat said:


> The fact that I love to write, and to write a lot, probably doesn't help. But it does mean that I've finished several very bad fantasy novels, which is comparatively better than not finishing several very bad fantasy novels. Hopefully I'm entertaining enough to read.
> 
> _Here._ As a reward for your patience, have a link to an entertainingly awful, awfully entertaining web site. But not if you have epilepsy.
> 
> ...


What...what did I just watch. :shock:

I know how you feel about blogging. Even as a preteen, I gave up on keeping a diary, because I would just forget to use it. I started a blog several years ago, and then literally forgot it existed until someone asked me about it 6 months later. Actually, I amaze myself by being able to actually update my fish journals on a regular basis. :lol:

I love your idea of getting a "rescue" betta! I'm always tempted to take home a sad, ill, grey looking betta from Petco/smart. But I'm afraid that I'll get in over my head, and he'll end up making my other fish sick somehow.

And I like writing what you type - I always find it interesting - and you seem a bit like me.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

lol, this is quite amusing to read!

As for the old tank, wait a while to get fish because your soil is going to be leaching ammonia for a while so you don't want that to hurt a rescue if you can help it! Wait until the plants have been actively growing for a while and you test no ammonia, keep feeding the plants and BB of course though with liquid plant ferts (still needed for a NPT) and that should be enough for the BB as well, they will feed off the rotting plant material so don't "clean" it too often!

I'm in agreeance, I find my old diary that has like...maybe seven entries in it XD I've had it for like fifteen years too! lol I do find my fish journal much more entertaining to write about though because people comment back whereas in a diary or even some blogs, they don't! So that's mostly what keeps me updating, the fact that others want to see how my fish are doing as well!!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Loved the video with Felix! I can understand wanting to take in a betta that doesn't have as good of conditions as others. That's how I ended up with my female, Molly. Even though I didn't want to support Wal-Mart and their treatment of bettas (near me anyway) she just spoke to me and I wanted her to have a better life. Now she's happily living in a split 10 gallon with my male VT Merlin.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> lol, this is quite amusing to read!
> 
> As for the old tank, wait a while to get fish because your soil is going to be leaching ammonia for a while so you don't want that to hurt a rescue if you can help it! Wait until the plants have been actively growing for a while and you test no ammonia, keep feeding the plants and BB of course though with liquid plant ferts (still needed for a NPT) and that should be enough for the BB as well, they will feed off the rotting plant material so don't "clean" it too often!
> 
> I'm in agreeance, I find my old diary that has like...maybe seven entries in it XD I've had it for like fifteen years too! lol I do find my fish journal much more entertaining to write about though because people comment back whereas in a diary or even some blogs, they don't! So that's mostly what keeps me updating, the fact that others want to see how my fish are doing as well!!


Oh, really? That's good to know. I was just going off the OFL thread, which says you can add fish on the same day you set up an NPT (making them unusual). But I can see why you wouldn't want to put an already sick fish in there--good thing I didn't get one last night. I'll wait before grabbing one.

Also explains why the new tank smells a bit more like fish than the old one ever did--it's not strong, but when I'm moving things around or checking that Adagio is still there and hasn't found an escape hatch, it's definitely there.

At least I was sensible enough to wait a few days to ensure Felix's health in the new tank. There's probably quite a bit more ammonia than he's used to--I kept the old tank pretty pristine--but he seems to be doing just fine and flaring and chilling with his snail just like always.

Also good to know I don't have to keep putting fish food in there. That gets messy after a while. I'm still not clear... do you add a little fertilizer every day?

Last night I put a little filter media from the old tank into the new one, in order to transfer some BB. Kickstarting the cycle is more important right now than crystal clear water, and Adagio will take care of the loose dead algae.

Temp is hanging steady at 70F. Not sure how my day's gonna go, and I still don't want to leave a heater unsupervised at this point. Do you think the rocks will hold an inordinate amount of heat and make the temp difficult to control? --Or will that be a good thing, as they're only 10 watts or so? Should I wrap a blanket around the sides that aren't against the window?

Anyway. Now for the off-topic rambling you've all been waiting for...

*@MameJenny:* Yeah, I tried keeping a diary once or twice. The one with the most entries is an old one sitting on my shelf that details the very bizarre happenings of a slumber party I threw for my twelfth birthday. Let's see...

woooow, these drawings are bad.

_My best friend is [um... Sheila Peterson.], who is very funny + a great friend._

(No, she wasn't.)

Oh, and there's an account of the lab partner who (in retrospect) probably had a crush on me, but was annoying as piss when I had to deal with him in person. Here's more bragging about test scores and being good at stuff. Some complaining about my Reading teacher, who even in retrospect was a twit, and the paper war between two of my classmates in one period (apparently, I caught and counted eight of their paper wads one period), and my singing, girl-obsessed classmate in Science. I don't remember my handwriting being this bad, though. Some of the stuff written in highlighter or gel pen is nearly unreadable.

Oh, here's the slumber party!

Truth or Dare involved making [April] eat a spoonful of weird spices I'd mixed up from the kitchen. I got dared to do the same thing with cornstarch. "Sheila" got dared to clamp 3 Now&Laters between her teeth, and then attempt to chew and swallow. None of those things ended well. Then we prank called a hotel. I asked if it was allowed for dogs to eat free and swim in the pool, and then "booked" a room for November 31.

We're also pretty sure that "Sheila" ate eleven cupcakes over the course of the party. Mom was counting. "Sheila" was, for this party, the obligatory bratty girl you get at every pre-teen party. She was being rude... and she wanted to read the others her poems, which I wisely decided was not a good idea. I do remember what her writing was like, and it was actually even worse than mine at the time, plus sexual themes as much as an eleven-year-old would know about. That would have scarred sheltered "April." 

There's some more stuff about us getting wired on candy. Then that entry ends, there's a few more entries about not a whole lot, and it stops entirely. Frankly, I'm amazed I even wrote that much in the thing.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh...my...god! That is hilarious and I'm trying my best to not burst out laughing at work! lololol!!!! Gee, my journal entries weren't half as funny as yours are! Sounds like you had a pretty fantastic teen life! lol Although I never really wrote about my high school days, mostly it was from my mid-school days about my crushes or when my cats died :-/ not very fun I'd say! I'm glad my Fish journal has a little more pep than my diary ever did!! lol

And back to the first topic:

Technically with NPT's you are supposed to mineralize the soil which means soaking it, letting it dry, soaking it and letting it dry a few times to get rid of the ammonia build up to make it safer for fish. If you do that, you can pretty much safely add the fish right away. You can still add the fish to a new NPT set up but there will still be ammonia leeching if the plants do not start to grow right away, if you have plant melt then more than likely you will have ammonia at first before they start to grow and eat up the good stuff.

With Flourish I dose twice weekly, I never actually measure any more but rather put a small splash in my 3 gallon, a little more of a splash in my 20 and like half a cap or so in my 29. Don't do as I do though lol, it's better if you actually read the directions >.< but if you do the twice a week you should be fine. I say you don't have to use the fish food because if you plants are actively growing, some of the leaves should die out on the bottom which will create ammonia and food for the BB. You can still use a pinch of flakes or a few pellets each week to help along but otherwise, they should have plenty of ammonia to eat between the soil and the plants, just keep those plants fed and happy ^_^


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

lilnaugrim said:


> Oh...my...god! That is hilarious and I'm trying my best to not burst out laughing at work! lololol!!!! Gee, my journal entries weren't half as funny as yours are! Sounds like you had a pretty fantastic teen life! lol Although I never really wrote about my high school days, mostly it was from my mid-school days about my crushes or when my cats died :-/ not very fun I'd say! I'm glad my Fish journal has a little more pep than my diary ever did!! lol
> 
> And back to the first topic:
> 
> ...


Actually it wasn't great... not terrible, but not great. I was homeschooled through elementary, so I wasn't very adept with some important social skills, chief among them the ability to scan the sentence I was about to say for anything that could be construed as dirty to minds more perverse than mine was. When I wasn't being picked on or doing actual work (which never took me long), I was usually helping someone who didn't understand what was being taught--and I think that made people a little wary of me. I've never been good at making friends. Just difficult to relate.

But whenever I run into a difficult or stressful situation, thinking about how good of a story it'll all make later on helps me get through. I've always had a knack for retelling things accurately, but with all the ridiculous parts pointed out so it's funny. I rarely feel the need to exaggerate, just because part of the way I see the world is seeing the silliness that's already there.

For instance, I have a really funny, horrible story involving a wedding, Chicago, sleep deprivation, a hotel with bad security, a woman covered in blood, and a wooden coat hanger. I'll wait until you get off work--it's a longish story and you won't want to stop reading in the middle of it--but let's just say it turns out all right.

I did blog sporadically throughout high school, but mainly when I was either a) sick, bored, and not all there, or b) frustrated with something about my school. This made for a bizarre collection of entries. I do have a ton of stories about teachers that I could never forget... also pretty long.

But hey, if you want to hear about this stuff, I love telling stories and I don't care that this is a fish blog, I'll tell them anyway if you want to read.

Flourish is supposed to be dosed once or twice a week, apparently, and a few drops is enough for either of my tanks, roughly according to the directions. I do the same thing as you do with water conditioner--it's just too hard to measure in the little cup on the lid, it's not worth it. And if you leave any behind in the cup, it dries and... yeah. I use Top Fin water conditioner, and both tanks need, like, a mL or two. I rarely measure it, it's not like water conditioner's picky about overdosing.

_Just pour some out fo' yo homefish, man_

Yeah, no.

Can baby java ferns just float in a high-light tank? I found even more buried completely in the old tank's sand and now they're in the new one, unrooted. Felix doesn't try to eat them or anything weird, and they look okay so far. It's just too hard to keep them securely buried while leaving the rhizome aboveground when they're so tiny. Will the high light be not good for them, or is that okay? If they float in the filtered tank, they get stuck in the intake.

I'm glad to report that the water wisteria and the peacock ferns I got from PetSmart are doing fine! The peacocks really don't like their leaves underwater AT. ALL. But they're doing okay. Wisteria looks super healthy, can't see any die-off as of right now. The mint cuttings I put in seem pretty chill too.

The little 10W heater has pushed the temp just past 80*... it's like 82 in there now. Which is great, as long as it doesn't get any warmer. I'll still be keeping an eye on it.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Temp appears to be holding steady at 83F. It's better than 70F, at least, so I'm happy.

I could try the other heater, but this one's working well enough for me that I'm not going to fuss about it.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

I've got some good news and some bad news...

Bad news first. Felix bit his fins again! This time he went for his giant, lush anal fin and trimmed it really close to his body! The chunk of fin he cut loose is still attached to the rest of his fin, but I wonder if he'll trim it away. It seems sometimes like he wants to be a plakat or something instead of a HM!

I thought I'd broken him of his fin biting when I got him his snail. Maybe the new tank *is* stressing him out, and he needs to go back into the old one. It's not like he's bored and it's probably not the water quality, because he's acting pretty normal otherwise.

I'll probably do a partial water change just to be safe. I know that's probably not the best for the plants, but there is a sort of film of--algae? Tank debris?--forming at the surface, so I think it might be time to get rid of that. The plants are flourishing, though.

If I really need to, I can get a 1gal bowl to use as a safe spot for Felix. Or I can trim an empty distilled water gallon jug (fill it with ordinary water, though) and use that as a temporary hospital tank. Still don't have a test kit, but I read that the cycle's silent anyway and it wouldn't really give accurate readings.

I'm just concerned about the water parameters a bit because he hasn't bitten for a while, and I'm not sure why he is now.

And the good news!

He built a little bubble nest and it's adorable!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

I have this clear 1gal jug that used to hold apple cider. That's JUST apple juice, no preservatives or *anything.* Should I use that as a temp. tank? Right now I'm using it to help with water changes.

Unfortunately I had to wreck his bubble nest in the WC.

I'm just concerned... I know the cycle's started going because the tank water no longer smells at all. I know it sounds like I'm saying the cycle has started really early--but I have media from an established tank, plenty of plants, and a reliable source of ammonia. I'm pretty confident it's started--but ammonia levels may still be kind of high for a fish and causing Felix stress.

Anyway, I've got to finish this WC. It's difficult with half the water under rocks, and Felix is Not Happy with me.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Glad I did that water change, it seems nice and clean and Felix seems happy. Pretty quiet here!

Need to top up the old tank before the water current splashes through the cap. Can't right now because I have to leave soon; I have plans for today, and that's because it's my birthday! I'm 17 now.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

wooohooo! Happy birthday!!!! :-D


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## Sabina88 (Aug 24, 2013)

Happy Birthday!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Thanks, guys! It has been!

I have a ukulele I have to name now. 

It's this one.
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Mitchell-MU70-12-Fret-Concert-Ukulele-103815981-i1171408.gc

I name all my instruments and most of my electronics. (Technically I didn't name the piano I played when I was little, but I thought "Clavinova" was such a pretty name already.)

I almost named my guitar Ceridwen (which means "beautiful poetry") but ended up naming it Winaugusconey ("not afraid to travel"). Ceridwen is a little bit too heavy of a name for a uke, though. But I do think a feminine name for a ukulele is a little more fitting than a guy's name. So I'm going through my name book.

I used to like the name Millie until I started babysitting a couple of kids who are in love with the show Team UmiZoomi, and now it reminds me of an annoying, tiny, superpowered doll-like thing with a permanent insane smile and weird flat pigtails.

There are actually not that many names I haven't connected with something weird.

Ophelia sounds nice, but will always remind me of the crazy lovesick girl who gets a million "The Talk" conversations from her dad and brother in Hamlet... Nellie is nice but makes me think of punk rockers because of another book... Petra is a character in Ender's Game and she doesn't fit a ukulele (maybe a bass guitar though)... I think Penelope was a character in The Odyssey... I named one of my own characters Phoebe... Renee would have been nice except for that Twilight character with the weird long version of it (don't ask how I even know her name)...

I think I read too much.

Maybe Celia? Or Emily. I do like Emily. Stella? Faith? Faye? Gwen? Ida? Twila? Molly? Mabel? (Yes, a Gravity Falls reference.)

I think I'll sleep on it. Tell me what you think.


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## Sabina88 (Aug 24, 2013)

I kind of like Faye or maybe the other version of it Fae (my preference in spelling but I like both)
I also like faith as well

And you can never read to much


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Going out of town for four days to a wedding, so I did a smallish water change on the tank and filled it up more than usual. More swimming space, ammonia better diluted, less stress for Felix.

I'm finding that the songs I learned on guitar just don't sound right on a uke, even though I'm using uke tabs. The strumming pattern on Ground Control to Major Tom definitely doesn't work, either. It really isn't just a tiny guitar--which is kind of what I expected, although it is easy to pick up after a guitar.

Lol. I turn 17, what do I ask for? A piece of art we found while shopping, and a ukulele. We saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Godzilla, and we ate montaditos (little Spanish sandwiches) and, later, frozen yogurt at Jujube. I'm weird. 

Oh, and my mom had to make a quick statement beforehand that she wasn't buying me any more fish for my birthday.


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## Sabina88 (Aug 24, 2013)

Im glad you had a good birthday, it sounds like it was fun


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

It was, thank you!

My cat isn't happy that we're leaving. He gets really mad when we start packing up to go out of town because he knows I won't be around to give him attention for a few days. He's yelling at me and keeps laying on my suitcases... and on me.

ohmanhe'sgivingmethatstareagain


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## DaytonBetta (Feb 4, 2014)

Happy birthday!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

I'm on my way home now. Can't wait to get back to my kitty and fish and instruments. We got little containers of bubbles from the wedding we went to. I'll have to post a vid of my kitty chasing some bubbles.. he goes nuts


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Got home safely! Felix wasn't eaten by our cats or anything, he's still happy. I found a uke tab for one of my favorite songs and I get to sleep in my own bed tonight. Yay!

On the way home, we ran into super stormy weather and the biggest lightning show I've ever seen. It was incredibly beautiful--starbursts and sideways lightning and sprites shooting upwards, so bright they were lavender-white... I wouldn't have wanted to drive in the blinding rain, and if I'd lived in the area we were in, I'd be terribly worried about tornadoes because there was a huge wall cloud. But being in the car and just watching it roll by was intense and enthralling and wonderful.

You know, I personally know the guy who invented lightning 

Ukulele is addicting. It's so easy to play with my little hands, and you don't need the finger strength required for guitar. My cat's still mad at me and isn't sleeping with me tonight, but he did spend some time frolicking in bubbles, so I think he's on his way to forgiving me for leaving him alone for a whole, like, three days.

Anyway, it's late (ahem... early) and I'd better get to bed.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Well, I'm glad to say that Felix has quite a nice bit of transparent regrowth in his fins, both on the anal fin and in his tail. Can't get a good look at his dorsal, but he has nibbled that too. He looks kind of rosetailish now because he just made little rips and didn't actually take out pieces of fin in his tail, and the new growth is "extra." It's funny looking. I'm just glad it's growing back.

It looks like he split one of his ventral fins somehow, and I've no idea how he could reach it. Unless he's talented enough to actually snag his fins on _plants and smooth rocks_, with a _sand bottom,_ I don't know how he managed to do that. Literally the only other things in there are his little heater (smooth) and his thermometer (also smooth). It does look like a little fishy nibble mark, though...

The water in his tank does look nice and clean, but I'm going to do a bit of a WC anyway because there's that film on the top again.

I'm being stared at again. I think I'm being expected to make up three days' worth of cuddling, pestering, and cat treats. Jake really missed me. XD


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

I'm at Parramatta right now. Really considering this active but gray and stress striped boy.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

*pet smart


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## Sabina88 (Aug 24, 2013)

You should definitely get him


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Getting him! He will turn bright red in my tank.


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## Sabina88 (Aug 24, 2013)

That's awesome  Cant wait to see pics of him


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Remember how I removed some filter media to free up the old tank's filter and to kickstart the cycle of the new one? Turns out I took too much. The old filter cartridge is useless now and has been spreading gunk all over the tank. I was at PetSmart in order to buy new filter cartridges, and I did... better get the tank cleaned up so New Fish can live there!

I haven't named him yet, we'll see what color he turns first. If he's blue and red it's definitely going to be Orion. All I can see of his color is the red on the ends of his fins--the rest is gray and stress stripes. He's pretty young too and kind of skinny. I fed him two OO pellets in his cup and he gobbled them straight up--yay!

Here are pictures of New Fish. I guess I'm doing some accidental advertising for a charity I volunteer for that helps refugees who are coming into America... kind of funny that it's under a rescue fish.  NF is looking more colorful and active already. I replaced half his water with bottled water in the car, and like I said, I fed him. He doesn't seem sick, just stressed. I think I can see some iridescence coming into his fins.

The last pic is of the grime in the tank. :/ It'll be clean after I do a really small WC and stir things up, and let the filter clean stuff out. Time to go do that.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Got a really nice shape to him, doesn't he? No spoon head, that's for sure. He's a VT, if it wasn't apparent.

I got the new filter cartridge running and it's cleared up the tank really nicely. New Fish has been acclimated, which didn't take much because my room's already that lovely temp that keeps everything toasty in tanks and cups. New Fish is busy exploring the tank now and all its plants and hidey-holes. It's super cute.


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

His color has already changed from the photos I posted. His red has spread into the rest of his fins, not just on the edge, and it's much brighter now. The stress stripes are still there, but much less so. There's extra water conditioner in the tank, and that's basically what Stress Guard is (minus the aloe), so I think it might help having extra in the water.

He's unclamped pretty well and is still hopefully nibbling at clumps of dirt. ...He'll figure it out. XD


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Found this a bit ago. Took me some time to get a decent picture. Is New Fish developing some fin rot? Or is that just his natural coloring?

I'm sticking this in the Diseases section too, don't worry. If it is finrot, I want to catch it early... but I don't want to stress him out with salt unless I have to. I think I will do a partial WC, though.


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Nah, looks natural to me.


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## Sabina88 (Aug 24, 2013)

Aww im glad hes doing better and is getting a lot of his color back


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

He's already looking better!


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## myexplodingcat (Apr 9, 2014)

Even his body is turning red now. It's pretty awesome. I think it's just natural coloring--made me wary, but his fins don't seem to be deteriorating, so all is well.

I'm switching to a new thread... the topic I used to start this on is kind of over and done with, but I think I will continue fish-blogging.

Here's the new thread.
http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?p=4706562


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