Aquarium Update: We Can Haz Fishiz!

I just realized yesterday that I have been remiss in updating you all on our aquarium progress: we got actual fish, more than two weeks ago! If you're following me on Instagram, you probably already saw the pictures & video I posted.

Since we'd done a fishless cycle & set up the biological filter to handle 5mL of ammonia a day, we were able to get quite a lot of fish all at once. We got ten neon tetras, ten black phantom tetras, & four bronze corydoras catfish. Here they are just when we got them home:

We can haz fishiz!

A photo posted by Lisa Corriveau (@spokesmama) on May 16, 2015 at 5:45pm PDT

The fish seemed to settle in pretty quickly, & have even become friendly (for fish). When you stand or sit near the aquarium, most of them swim over to you. They're probably just hoping I'll feed them, but it's funny nonetheless to see them swimming over to whatever part of the tank is nearest your face.

Sadly, tragedy struck last weekend, after I did a water change & cleaned up the tank a little. One of the cories was missing. I searched the tank & hoped in vain it'd just swum into the little rock cave decoration, then I spotted a tiny corpse, floating in the plants in an eddy in the top corner of the tank.

I couldn't see anything obvious wrong with him (I assumed it was male, as it was a smaller one; the females of this species are usually larger) so he went to the compost bin. I was a little concerned that the other cories might be at risk, & the next day I discovered that another of the little catfish had a patch of white fuzzy fungus on its side. Argh! 

After much googling & a question posted in the aquariums subreddit, I decided to treat the whole tank with Pimafix, a natural remedy that's supposed to help with fungus. If we don't see any improvement, I may try setting up a quarantine tank & isolating this poor fishy to treat him with something stronger. The other treatments out there are toxic to live plants. These meds also affect invertebrates, though I wouldn't be too concerned if all our 'hitchhiker snails' had a mass die-off. They're going to be a problem eventually.

That brings us up to the present. Down one fish, another sick. 22 seem healthy. I've lost count of all the tiny snails...

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Aquarium Update: Water Chemistry Mystery

It's been about a month now since we set up our aquarium. During Bronte's naps, I've been testing the water parameters in our aquarium--ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, & pH--with the little test tubes & drops from various bottles of chemicals that I compare to colour charts to assess levels. I've been adding ammonia, fish food, Seachem Stability (bacteria in a bottle), as well as treating the tap water with API Tap Water Conditioner when I filled the tank. I also put in a handful of gravel from a friend's established aquarium as 'seed material' to get our little colony of nitrifying bacteria going.

If you're wondering why I've suddenly taken up chemistry & haven't put any fish in the tank yet, it's because we're trying to get the water quality just right & grow our biological filter (a colony of bacteria that help improve the water quality) before adding fish. You can do this with fish in the water, but the level of ammonia & nitrites that can build up in the water while the process happens can be harmful & even deadly to the fish.

Basically, fish produce ammonia in their waste products, which is toxic to them. Fortunately, there are nitrosomonas bacteria that will convert that ammonia to nitrites. Unfortunately, nitrites are still toxic for fish. Fortunately, there's nitrospiros bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates, which are less toxic to the fish. Nitrates can be removed by doing water changes regularly, but will also be used by the live plants we'll have in the tank. (if you're setting up an aquarium, I highly recommend this fishless cycling article, which also has a calculator to help you figure out how much ammonia to dose your tank with during a fishless cycle)

Our fishless cycle is well on its way--the tests are showing that the nitrosomonas can convert about 6mL of ammonia in 24 hours. However, we're still waiting for the population of nitrospiros to increase, who will convert those nitrites produced by the nitrosomonas to nitrates. Basically, once I start to see the ammonia & nitrite levels both dropping to zero within 24 hours of adding a dose of ammonia, the cycle is complete & we are ready for fish!

Though the cycling has been going fairly well since getting the bacterial boost from the other aquarium, there was a mystery. I tested the pH of our tap water & discovered that it had a relatively low pH of 6.6 or 6.8. I knew Vancouver had soft water, so I wasn't surprised. I started thinking of all the Amazonian species that would thrive in a lower pH, like neon tetras. Then I tested my aquarium after setting it up. The pH was consistently 7.6-8.

I did some reading online & decided not to mess with it, as that pH, while not ideal for the fish I had in mind, wouldn't harm the bacteria during the fishless cycle. Still, it's weird to see such a change when there's virtually nothing in the tank. Gravel, a rock, the filter media--none of these should have changed the pH.

Red, yellow, blue, & purple mean progress!

After some googling & conversations in the Aquariums subreddit (thanks anonymous fishy internet peeps!), I tried testing the tap water after sitting out for a while, then after dosing it with the API Tap Water Conditioner. I put in what I think was the proper dose of water conditioner & tested the pH. Little to no change. Then I added a bit more, realizing that I may have gotten my math wrong & overdosed the tank when I set it up. Yup. pH skyrocketed (see the blue vial in the picture over there?) with just a bit more of the water conditioner. Mystery solved.

Next step is either waiting til the cycle is complete, or getting our live plants. I can't decide which. I think I may get the plants sooner, rather than later, since I'm getting tired of staring at an empty tank.

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Aquarium Setup: Part I

No fish yet but we've got water in it!

We FINALLY (yes I'm using all-caps because that's exactly how I feel about this) got around to rearranging our kitchen furniture to accommodate the aquarium yesterday. This only happened right before dinner, so that's as far as we got: moving a LARGE & HEAVY shelf unit, then the tank & stand into its new home away from the window.

This morning, as soon as I got back from biking Linnaeus to preschool, I started on the work of setting up the aquarium. I needed to rinse the gravel we bought, then wipe out the tank & test it for watertightness by filling it slowly. After a few minutes of trying to convince myself that it must be incredibly rare for these things to leak, or crack, then explode water & glass shards at me, I relaxed. No drips.

Then I transported the 50 pounds (I'm not using metric here because imperial sounds more impressive) of gravel from the bin in the bathtub where I'd rinsed it to the kitchen. Bronte was keen to "help", tossing bits of gravel all over the bathroom & probably eating some. I finally gave up convincing her otherwise & just penned her in the living room, as usual. This meant I had to put up with carrying loads of gravel as I opened & closed the first baby gate, then stepped over the second one.

Then on to the filter. More rinsing & assembling parts, then I hooked it over the back of the tank, levelled it, filled it with water & plugged it in. After some gurgling, it was primed & functioning. Yay!

I attached the thermometer--sprung for a digital one rather than just one of those fever strip style that stick on the glass--with the sticky velcro bits & suctioned the probe onto the inside of the tank. I decided to put the tank lid on, which meant figuring out which of the tabs to pop out to accommodate the filter & heater. Looked at the clock & realized I needed to go get Linnaeus already. How did this stuff take two hours?!?

Me & Bronte zipped down to the preschool on our cargo bike & picked up Linnaeus. After I fed the kids lunch, I popped the heater in to adjust to the water temperature, then turned it on after I put Bronte down for her nap.

Now the mechanical bits are all functioning with plain old tap water. I need to get to the chemistry & biology parts of the process: water conditioner to eliminate chlorines & chloramines (not even sure if the latter is in Vancouver tap water) plus some bacteria supplement to hopefully kickstart the process of growing our own bacterial colony.

If you're wondering why the heck I want more bacteria in my life, it's all about the nitrogen cycle. (Attention: Biology lesson ahead!) Fish produce waste products, obvs, which contain ammonia. This is toxic to the fish--again, obvs--so we want to cultivate bacteria that eat ammonia. Those bacteria then produce nitrites, which is slightly better, but still toxic. So we need another kind of bacteria that eat nitrites, turning them into nitrates, which are less toxic still & not hard to remove with water changes. Live plants will also be part of the equation, eating up more of the nitrates.

The process to get the nitrogen cycle going (cycling my tank) will hopefully take a week or two. Then we'll get some fish!

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Our Secret Pet

For the last six months, we've been harbouring an animal, a secret pet of sorts, in our house. It's a pretty unusual one, to say the least. I've known people who had similar pets, but they kept theirs contained behind glass. Ours is allowed to roam free, although she tends to stay in one spot most of the time.

A day ago, I noticed that our pet was missing. She'd been showing signs of age lately--she fell recently & I had to help her up--so I thought that perhaps she'd decided to spare us the grief of finding her lifeless body & crawled away somewhere to hide for her last moments. This afternoon, when I was in the room where she usually hung out, I decided I'd write about her, finally: an obituary of sorts, here on the blog.

Then I turned around & discovered that she was still here! She'd set up camp in a new corner of the room. I admit, it made me happy to see her & know that she hadn't died.

Photo Credit: Arenamontanus via Compfight cc

Yes, our secret pet is a spider. A female orb weaver, Araneus Diadematus, to be exact. She just appeared one day in the bathroom window & after I noticed how many bugs she was eating (we had a fruit fly population explosion at one point last summer), I decided to let her stay.

We weren't on great terms initially, as she kept building her web across the bathroom window. This is the only method of venting damp air out, so we have to open it every time we shower. I lost count of how many times I got sticky web tangled on my fingers when I blindly--I mean that fairly literally, given how myopic I am--reached for the window to open it, forgetting that there was a spider web across it.

Eventually--I forget how long it took--the spider & I reached a compromise. She built her web across the unmoving side of the window, attaching it to a rubber ducky sitting there on the sill, rather than the frame of the sliding pane. I, in turn, held off on cleaning that side of the window.

Through the summer, our spider grew bigger & bigger, from her original size smaller than a kernel of corn, to her current size, her body about as big as a cooked chickpea. The distinctive cross markings developed & became clearly visible on her abdomen.

I did see another smaller spider in the windowsill area, who I thought might be a male orb weaver. If he was a suitor, no egg sac ever popped up after his disappearance, so I assume he just became dinner. However, a quick Google search tells me that the females typically leave their silk-wrapped clutch of eggs all winter, to hatch in spring when the weather warms up. So maybe she's just hidden it really well & we'll have a population explosion of orb-weavers in a few months.

Perhaps if she sticks around all winter, I'll be able to get a decent photo of her. (the above image is not mine) I avoided it previously, despite fairly good lighting, because I didn't really want all the mildew behind her web to be on public display. Heh. Now that she's moved, her perch is in one of the darkest corners of the bathroom, so I'm not that hopeful I'll get a decent photo, given the lighting conditions.

So, what do you think: is this the weirdest pet you've heard of, or do you want one or your own? She's very low-maintenance, I have to admit, & helps take care of nuisance insects. Would you leave a spider in your house, or would you chase it outside?

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Help the BCSPCA Find Homes for 743 Cats: Adoption Fees Are Currently 50% Off

Have you been thinking about getting a cat (or another cat--they honestly are often happier in pairs & it's really no more work) lately? In an effort to find homes for the hundreds of cats waiting in shelters right now, the SPCA is reducing adoption fees right now. Details from their website:

List #51: 10 LIES ABOUT ME

Pinocchio, from Wikimedia Commons.

Wooo... did you notice that? List #51? I've been at this list thing for almost a year now! Might have to do something ridiculous for next week's...

This week's Listicles topic is a fun one, sort of a quiz for you. Anja came up with the idea & I love it: writing a list of ten facts about ourselves... but only one of them is true. I used to play a game like this with my ESL students, to get them practicing yes/no questions, so I have to admit, it was pretty easy to write. (That's my excuse & I'm sticking with it. Not a compulsive liar or anything. Really.)

Your mission--should you choose to accept it--is to read through my list, identify which statement is the true one, then report the number in your comment below. Just to make it harder, I mixed truth & lies in some of the statements, so you actually have to find which one is entirely true, not just partly true. Good luck!

1. I love our neighbourhood, but I'd love to live a block or two north of where we do.
2. I'm 5'6 &1/2" tall, though I always say I'm 5'7".
3. I love California Rolls, but only when made with fake crab meat, as I hate real crab.
4. I didn't dye my hair any unnatural colours when I was in art school, but I had very short purple hair later on when I was in university.
5. I've had a lot of pets over the years & most of them have been mammals.
6. I started sewing with a machine when I was 11 years old.
7. I've biked in every country that I've travelled to: Germany, France, Belgium, England & the US. 
8. My favourite novel is Les Misérables. I read it in English first then en français when I studied French Literature in university.
9. We considered naming our son after his two grandfathers.
10. I can't tolerate caffeine & haven't had a caffeinated beverage for several years now.

Now you've read through them, can you find the needle in the haystack? Let me know which one you think is completely true in the comments below...


Why Monday lists? Reading the lovely Chloe's blog, Tea Swamp Park, I found an idea I had to 'steal': a list of all her Halloween costumes, with quite a few photos. She got the idea from Hula Seventy's List Project. I've decided to do the weekly lists for a year that Hula Seventy is doing. 

Tea Swamp Park & Hula Seventy are not the only ones doing lists, however. Click on the Listicles badge to the left to check out NorthWestMommy's list & 'assignment' for next week.




Nothing says “best gift ever” like a gray fox!
 

Starting at just $40, Gifts of Canadian Nature help protect habitat for Canada’s native wildlife. A Gift of Canadian Nature lasts for years to come and is a gift that gives thrice! Once to the recipient with a personalized certificate and a beautiful calendar, once to the giver with a charitable tax receipt, and once to Canadian wildlife. This year we are featuring the snowy owl, the grizzly bear, the caribou, the gray fox and the Canada lynx. Click the image or follow this link for more information.

What I've been reading lately

Here's a random collection of things I've come across in the blogosphere that made me think.

Photo by voteprime on Flickr.

Kids & the News
Annie at PhD in Parenting always nails it & I'd repost everything she writes, but well, that's a bit excessive, isn't it? Couldn't resist this one, though, as I've been thinking lately about Sprout's exposure to things like the recent mailed-body-parts saga. Her recent post on how much DEATH! DESTRUCTION! MAYHEM! in the news that she exposes her kids to is thought-provoking. I think she's got a good point that sheltering children from what's going on in the world isn't necessarily a good idea. Has this come up for you? What news sources do you let your children watch/hear/read?

Are Drivers an Endangered Species?
A really interesting look into the possible reasons behind the decline in young drivers on MacLeans Magazine.

Dog Body Language
As the mother of a very friendly & dog-loving toddler, I am constantly worried he's going to get bitten. I'm hoping what I learned from this illustrated primer on when NOT to pet a dog will help avoid a potential injury. Thanks to Shihtzustaff for posting it on Twitter.

Etymology is Fun!
Focussing on words that came into the English language from books, this article goes over the origins of neologisms like galumphing, chortle & nerd as well as more established words like bump. Have you ever wondered where the word yahoo came from? Read the article to find out. :)

Behind the Time Cover
A bit late, I know, but if you haven't seen it yet, here's the great interview on Kellymom with the mothers in the sensationalistic Time Magazine article on Attachment Parenting. Unsurprisingly, they were mislead about the focus of the article & photo shoots. The media's exploitation of people for stories really irritates me: in my few dealings with the news media (TV & newspaper), I've found the same thing to happen. You're told that the article will focus on one thing & when published, the result is not at all what you agreed to participate in.

Night owl or early bird?

I remember someone asking me if I was a night person or a morning person & I wasn't entirely sure. If I get  into a routine like I did with my last full-time job, I can get up at 7am without an alarm every day, no problem. But really, why is that question hard for me to answer? Sure I can get up in the morning if I have to, but when I don't have to my natural sleep rhythm shifts later & later.

I'm at my most creative around midnight, typically. In fact, it's 1:45 am right now, as I'm typing this blog post. Writing seems to come easiest to me at night, but it's not limited to that. I used to do tons of drawing & painting into the wee hours, way back when I used to do a lot of those. I tend to want to bake things in the evening too. Tonight I made a double batch of gingersnaps at 9:30pm.

Also, if I think back to the days when we had two healthy kitties, I didn't exactly spring out of bed to feed them when they demanded it at dawn every morning. I love cats, but they are definitely better for early risers.

I'm very happy that I have a child & husband who seem to have similar proclivities when it comes to sleeping. Oli hates mornings a bit more than I do, I think. Sprout has never been an early riser either. He usually goes to bed between 9 & 10pm, getting up for the day at 8 or 9am. He generally wakes up earlier than that, but goes right back to sleep when brought into our bed for another hour or three. I really enjoy the morning family cuddle that's become the routine now.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? What about your family or pets? Have you had to compromise for work?