This is more a story than useful information, but hey.. I'm excited, and I need to put this all somewhere.
I had set up a tank for my friend (her first.. ok, I'm not an expert, but better I help than she get her advice from the average PetCo employee), and she had grown more and more excited as time went on, wanting to feed the fish more than she should ("I couldn't help it, I gave them a little extra snack.."), wanting more plants, even wanting to do a water change (!).
I'm taking in three fish from a friend of my mother's tomorrow - two Cory Cats and one adult Angelfish. She's moving, and doesn't want to take them with her. I was all excited about introducing them to their new home, and getting them out of the ten gallon (!) they were in, where they were recieving chemicals instead of water changes, and cycling was an unfamiliar word. I knew they would be so happy to get into a nice roomy 55 gallon, with stable levels, and the friend (who did not purchase the fish, they were a gift), would know they were safe and not in some LFS she didn't know (she really does care about her fish, even though they weren't intentional additions).
I walk in on Wednesday, and I see one very very very empty tank. Apparently, my friend changed her mind, and didn't want the responsibility.
I asked what had happened to easily $60 worth of plants. She had put them in the compost heap.
I asked what had happened to the gravel. She said it was drying, but not very well.. because it was outside, and it was raining.
I asked what had happened to the filter. It was upside down, entirely dry, media missing, in the water change bucket.
I almost cried.
I took the tank home, and set it up. I couldn't get to the LFS in time (no car), but my roommate was kind enough to stop by one on his way home from work. He picked out driftwood, plants, Bio-Spira, and gravel for me.
I was so nervous that it wouldn't look good (he has different taste than me, and doesn't really do aquarium things), or would be the wrong type, or that the LFS would be out of Bio-Spira..... but everything was fine.
The driftwood is beautiful, the gravel is perfectly good, the plants aren't real healthy - but they will easily recover.
It almost seems a shame that it's an empty tank, but thanks to bacteria-in-a-bag, it won't be that way for long.
This is possibly my most beautiful tank (at least to me.. my roommate isn't as excited) and I'm so excited about it. I'll take pictures as soon as the fish and the rest of the plants are in (only vals & hornwort right now).
It's probably best this way - both friends can still come over and look at the fish any time they like - they're going to name them too.
But wow am I excited.. I can't wait to get the pictures up.
I had set up a tank for my friend (her first.. ok, I'm not an expert, but better I help than she get her advice from the average PetCo employee), and she had grown more and more excited as time went on, wanting to feed the fish more than she should ("I couldn't help it, I gave them a little extra snack.."), wanting more plants, even wanting to do a water change (!).
I'm taking in three fish from a friend of my mother's tomorrow - two Cory Cats and one adult Angelfish. She's moving, and doesn't want to take them with her. I was all excited about introducing them to their new home, and getting them out of the ten gallon (!) they were in, where they were recieving chemicals instead of water changes, and cycling was an unfamiliar word. I knew they would be so happy to get into a nice roomy 55 gallon, with stable levels, and the friend (who did not purchase the fish, they were a gift), would know they were safe and not in some LFS she didn't know (she really does care about her fish, even though they weren't intentional additions).
I walk in on Wednesday, and I see one very very very empty tank. Apparently, my friend changed her mind, and didn't want the responsibility.
I asked what had happened to easily $60 worth of plants. She had put them in the compost heap.
I asked what had happened to the gravel. She said it was drying, but not very well.. because it was outside, and it was raining.
I asked what had happened to the filter. It was upside down, entirely dry, media missing, in the water change bucket.
I almost cried.
I took the tank home, and set it up. I couldn't get to the LFS in time (no car), but my roommate was kind enough to stop by one on his way home from work. He picked out driftwood, plants, Bio-Spira, and gravel for me.
I was so nervous that it wouldn't look good (he has different taste than me, and doesn't really do aquarium things), or would be the wrong type, or that the LFS would be out of Bio-Spira..... but everything was fine.
The driftwood is beautiful, the gravel is perfectly good, the plants aren't real healthy - but they will easily recover.
It almost seems a shame that it's an empty tank, but thanks to bacteria-in-a-bag, it won't be that way for long.
This is possibly my most beautiful tank (at least to me.. my roommate isn't as excited) and I'm so excited about it. I'll take pictures as soon as the fish and the rest of the plants are in (only vals & hornwort right now).
It's probably best this way - both friends can still come over and look at the fish any time they like - they're going to name them too.
But wow am I excited.. I can't wait to get the pictures up.