purplestarfish
Aquarium Advice Activist
. . . and thing were pretty much in shambles. My room was a mess (never leave for vacation with a dirty room, you won't want to enter it upon your return) and my tank wasn't in the best condition. I had my family members caring for it, so it got attention daily. My sister followed my instructions as best she could, but some things were undesirable. I had a full planted tank and came back to find two species completely eliminated and one in shabby condition. The remaining three were doing well; my cabomba in particular was thriving (some strands up to at least two feet long!). I'll be cutting and replanting that . . . in order to try to make the rest of the plants happy I'll be buying different lighting and trying out a fertilizer. One gourami was a pain in the butt in chasing all the other fish away from one side of the tank. My six tiger barbs were running my 7" long bala shark absolutely ragged. I plan on selling at least the gourami and the tiger barbs if not other fish as well. I've caught one tiger barb (they're beastly fast) and the gourami . . . but I'm not sure as to when I can go to the petstore. Algae was also coated on the glass and my log decoration; it's slimy and brown and is not hairy, so if anyone knows how to get rid of it for good, I'll be glad to know! I scrubbed it off the glass as best I could, but the decoration proved to be difficult. (I can't remove it from the tank without taking off the light and top; also, clown loaches, kuhli loaches, and a striped raphael catfish make their home in it.) My java fern had long, hairy, light brown algae growing on it which seems to be pretty securely seated; I didn't attempt ripping it off for fear of ripping the leaf. Any ideas? On top of that, one filter was not running and from the other only the barest trickle remained. I cleaned them absolutely thoroughly and they're now running steadily. In the meantime, it seems the only thing that was really really good about it all was that my water was perfectly clear. But still, it wasn't the happiest of occasions. I can't fault my family members, though, as they have lives too and aren't half as animal crazy as I am. In the meantime, I'll get to the point; does anyone have any suggestions about it all (the algae, how to better prepare the sibling for any vacation that may turn up, what to do about my insane fish, etc)? I was also curious if anyone knew if you can choose where to work in a petstore. I want to work at PetSmart, but I'd rather work with the fish than the birds or the reptiles or anything else, for that matter. If they make me work with the small animals, I could handle that easily (being an owner myself), but I'd feel much better if I knew I could select the fish department. At least with all this chaos, I'm a little closer to determining my career; I noticed (during my "vacation," I was really only taking an art class, but still during my break) that I was going for a lot of marine things . . . like I realized I wanted to set up a mini saltwater tank and that I'm dying to take SCUBA lessons (I know SixFootDaisy is certified; is anyone else? What is it like? Where can you find courses? How much are they and how long do they last?). I'd also love to get an internship at the Baltimore Aquarium next summer, regardless of whether or not they pay . . . hopefully they OFFER that much! But that's enough of my rambling. Thanks in advance for any answers to my multitude of questions.
but even just swimming in Waikiki beach, you see swarms of fish, including boxfish and butterfly fish. I saw what was either Moorish Idols (probably not) or Bannerfish there, too; unfortunately, I was naive enough to think they were angelfish 
in a place called House of Tropicals by Marley Station Mall, don't know if you (catalina) have been there, but it's awesome. I'd love to get a few of those . . . or maybe more than a few . . . but it'll be great. (House of Tropicals is also the place that will usually buy fish from ppl, but I wouldn't mind the store credit thing in the least; their selection is ENORMOUS!) And as for the algae, I was thinking about getting a rubber-lipped pleco, I love the armoured look of them. And if that doesn't solve it . . . well, I'll find a way. I feel so much better now that I've decided on this much! I feel sort of badly about writing the email; it was pretty much griping. 
! If I ever find those freshwater flounders (supposed to do even better in brackish water; grow to a diameter of 2-3" across) I'll definitely post it. Now the only real problem is seeing if my mother is okay with all my plans; she likes ALL my fish! 
Ciao for now . . .
) Then, from there, I'm going to see about CO2 injections (if anyone knows anything about them, I'd be happy to listen) and get the other lighting for the tank. Then add many more plants, gradually. And then move on to the best part - fish! yay! 
