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I wouldn't; cats are very very smart. We had one cat that used to love to fish and if something was in his way - he would find a way to remove it - usually making a massive mess in the process. He was one very clever cat that also had a bit of an attitude. His only problem was that while he learned how to open the sliding door he just wasn't quite strong enough to open it by himself when he wanted to go outside.Cat yeeter version X lol
In this case, he's a big boy and likes laying with his back in the filter outflow getting wet lol He jumps up there with force. Cardboard is to see if it deters him. I'll be moving the goldfish babies outside in a couple months and taking that ten down to put a terrarium with a raised greenhouse section on top. Height wise I think it should work as a deterrent without additional blocking. But cats are cats lol I'm also looking at wall mounted cat hammocks etc... to put over the existing tank and just give him the space he wants. But he's a big cat lol So many cheap things on the market I'll probably just DIY.I wouldn't; cats are very very smart. We had one cat that used to love to fish and if something was in his way - he would find a way to remove it - usually making a massive mess in the process. He was one very clever cat that also had a bit of an attitude. His only problem was that while he learned how to open the sliding door he just wasn't quite strong enough to open it by himself when he wanted to go outside.
One of my feline trio weighs 16 pounds and when he lands on something the impact is impressive.In this case, he's a big boy and likes laying with his back in the filter outflow getting wet lol He jumps up there with force. Cardboard is to see if it deters him. I'll be moving the goldfish babies outside in a couple months and taking that ten down to put a terrarium with a raised greenhouse section on top. Height wise I think it should work as a deterrent without additional blocking. But cats are cats lol I'm also looking at wall mounted cat hammocks etc... to put over the existing tank and just give him the space he wants. But he's a big cat lol So many cheap things on the market I'll probably just DIY.
Well the aquarium has mostly cleared:Kind of ugly but here is what it looks like - remember all the current plants came from the 29 which is approx 1/4 the area of the new aquarium:
Still cloudy. I added some purigen and will add some charcoal saturday - will leave it like that for 2 weeks then remove them and add a punch of leaves and peat. Hopefully by then the water will clear.
In march i'll pick up two or three echinodorus - one big bear for the back left corner. maybe a hadi red pearl or echinodorus reni and couple of parviflorus.



The aponogetons are frustrating in that way aren’t they? I try to acquire new ones as often as possible in hope that at least some will be actively growing at any given time.Did the usual water changes - this is that little plant from just a couple of days ago:
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At this point we all should know that it is an aponogeton ulvaceus and will soon fill up the aquarium with green. As i noted it is not a new plant but one that has been in there for at least 4 years - i have a love hate with this plant - i like how it looks but it frequently goes dormant for long period of time only to magically re-appear. Anyway i moved it further back given how large it can get. Still not 100% sure what the plant is to the left (seen in earlier pictures).
Actually the plant next to it looks like it might be a. cripus; the only thing is that a. cripus is not suppose to hibernate. Hum... a bulb that never sprouted after all these years?The aponogetons are frustrating in that way aren’t they? I try to acquire new ones as often as possible in hope that at least some will be actively growing at any given time.
He's now taken to getting on top of the 20 long to eat my sweet potato vines in revengeCat yeeter version X lol
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A feline will always find a way. Good thing the vines aren’t poisonousHe's now taken to getting on top of the 20 long to eat my sweet potato vines in revenge
Topped off the tanks in the classroom, having it by the heater was smart and stupid. No heaters needed except the male Bettas, but baseboard heaters create a lot of evaporation. Otherwise scraping the sorority and baby goldfish tanks since they have a lot of green lol
it’s interesting that the leaves are edible - I hadn’t realized they were. I guess it’s only the seeds of some ipomeas that are hallucinogenic but I had the idea it made the entire plant inedible except for the tuber.Yeah, but I want to eat them too! lol



So today was a bit of a long day as i did the follow aquarium related stuff:
a) water change on the 120 krobia/angelfishes
b) water change on the 29 a. wolli
c) water change on the 29 a. nijjensi
d) water change on the 20 long a. sp Blutkehl
e) water change on the 20 long green neon tetra/c. hastatus
f) water change on the 65 a. sp Ipiranga
g) water change on the 65 i. b.
h) water change on the 29 a. d39
i) water change on the 40b a. l.
j) water change on the 10 with blue rams and some m. e.
k) water change on the 29 with more a. l.
l) tore down the 10 with pangio sheffordi and m.e. (since most of the pangio buried themselves in the 1/8 inch substrate i found it easier to just poor the entire thing into their new home after wasting an hour trying to get them all out of the substrate.
m) took many of the m.e. to the petstore
n) put the new D39 in their new home .
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It wasn't so bad 'cept for catching critters in the 10. But i had to remove it so i can upgrade the 20 long next to it on friday. No one wanted to leave the 10That was a lot of work! Yesterday I did water changes and general maintenance on all my tanks (220, 150, 85, 47 and 10 gallons) as well as my son's axolotls (he is away) . That was enough for me in one day! Along with household stuff, the dogs etc. as well...
Fish are like that - uncooperative.It wasn't so bad 'cept for catching critters in the 10. But i had to remove it so i can upgrade the 20 long next to it on friday. No one wanted to leave the 10![]()
I know what you mean - the more tanks you have the more you need for all the fry they produce!I think i need another aquarium but i have no clue where i would put it. You know something like a 400 to grow out frys.
I shall never complain about water change days again. Yowsers.So today was a bit of a long day as i did the follow aquarium related stuff:
a) water change on the 120 krobia/angelfishes
b) water change on the 29 a. wolli
c) water change on the 29 a. nijjensi
d) water change on the 20 long a. sp Blutkehl
e) water change on the 20 long green neon tetra/c. hastatus
f) water change on the 65 a. sp Ipiranga
g) water change on the 65 i. b.
h) water change on the 29 a. d39
i) water change on the 40b a. l.
j) water change on the 10 with blue rams and some m. e.
k) water change on the 29 with more a. l.
l) tore down the 10 with pangio sheffordi and m.e. (since most of the pangio buried themselves in the 1/8 inch substrate i found it easier to just poor the entire thing into their new home after wasting an hour trying to get them all out of the substrate.
m) took many of the m.e. to the petstore
n) put the new D39 in their new home .
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That's a lot of growth! Is that val mostly?So spent a couple of hours preparing to tear the 20 long down tomorrow morning which involves putting everything in a pail then removing it and putting a new aquarium in its place and setting the new aquarium up. Basically the old aquarium was over run with plants and they need more room
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(front and back) - hopefully i'll remember to take new pictures after they have been moved.



Oh, I see. But your val did grow a lot! I was curious because it looks like the bottom wasn't getting a lot of light. I'm guessing it's good as long as the top does? I'm just starting to grow val, so I'm trying to learn. I mean it wasn't getting a lot once it was all densely grown.No - here is an earlier post - it actually took the vals a while to go wild.
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That’s a mighty severe case of fishaddiction you have there. You may be in need of an interventionI'm so worried. I'm picking up some honey gouramis today. BUT I saw a CT Betta there that stole my heart. Very young, small and adorable. I believe if I don't get him I will cease to exist. As I only have one running tank for qt I fear I will need to set up another tank, however, I am incapable of setting up temporary tanks. They all must be scaped and stocked no matter how hard I try. Part of me is even considering no qt for the honey's I'm so desperate for that little boy..





A lot of work! Looks good so far.So i did the tear down mentioned above and this is the results:
start:
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some plants i pulled note the large root structure:
big bear:
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a really nice buce that was growing along the substrate:
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new tank with plants
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(I still have a pail full of nana vals i need to do something with; these things grow extremely well - maybe too well in blackwater as this tank had an ec of 18 and ph in low 5)
end:
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took around 5 hours - will post another picture later when the tank clears.
I fear you may be correctThat’s a mighty severe case of fishaddiction you have there. You may be in need of an intervention.


Love your vals. What a forest!So spent a couple of hours preparing to tear the 20 long down tomorrow morning which involves putting everything in a pail then removing it and putting a new aquarium in its place and setting the new aquarium up. Basically the old aquarium was over run with plants and they need more room
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(front and back) - hopefully i'll remember to take new pictures after they have been moved.



A lot better this morning. I can see some muck I missed, but it's getting there. Sorry for the glare.I've been focused on my two newer 20 gallon tanks and have kind of neglected my 29 gallon. I lost a lot of fish from that tank about 2 or 3 months ago in spite of my best efforts. I ended up treating with copper. After I was done with that, I put some media in there that absorbs copper. For some reason at that point, the tank turned into a blackwater aquarium. I also got a huge algae bloom. Plants stopped doing so well. I could also be running out of nutrients as I built the tank in October 2023. I have fluval stratum under the sand and perhaps it has been depleted.
Anyway, I decided to tackle it today. This before picture is embarrassing.
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I pulled plants that were just too coated in algae to save. I was able to save pretty much all the anubius. All of the leaves were brown with diatom? Algae I think. I had to scrub each leaf with a toothbrush. I didn't get them all spotless, but they are much better. While scrubbing the largest piece of driftwood, it broke away from a rock I had it glued to to hold it down. It floated right up to the top, very buoyant. This is after being underwater since October 2023. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it.
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I took that as a hint to remove it. I didn't feel like pulling the rocks out and re-gluing. So, the tank got a bit of a very haphazard overhaul. When it clears up, I'm gonna need a load of new stem plants for the background. I removed my pre-filter from the intake, turned up the flow to max, and I added a little internal pump with filter floss. I tried to stir up everything to get it filtered. After that, I did a 10 gallon water change, cleaned out the filter, and added activated carbon to hopefully remove a lot of the color from the water. Here it is after getting the filter restarted. Hopefully, it will look better tomorrow. That was a lot of work.
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