Bucket/planter veggie filter... FINISHED! :banana: Weather permitting this weekend, I'll be resealing my waterfall and then hooking up the outflow from the veggie filter to it. *excited* Until then?... Still stuck with the waterbell, which... is serving its purpose, but after handbuilding the tiniest waterfall in St. Louis... I'd kinda like for it to be up and running (without leaking, LOL). 
I'm finally well (over)stocked and happy as a clam! (btw... Has anyone ever actually SEEN the scientific data proving how happy clams really are? Me neither. :dunno Since cycling and FINALLY being able to add all the fish I'd had my eye on FOR MONTHS (even though I'd been told repeatedly that the bioload would be far too much for my tiny setup), it's amazingly awesome to know that the checking of the water parameters every 12 hours and the insane amounts of ammonia I was pouring in this thing x 2+ months wasn't all for naught. Not saying that I could house like... Shamu, but I apparently DID manage to build up one helluva beneficial bacterial colony! I'd add fish, then check the water the next day, and to even my surprise my biofilter merely hiccuped and just kept trucking. SO... I've been overstocked for right at a week now and still have zeros across the board for ammonia, trites, and trates. Actually... trates started at 10, but dropped to zero and stayed there.
It took 'em a few days to get used to their new home, but since then, these fishies are SO FUN!!! :claphands: This whole pond/fish thing has already repaid me tenfold in the joy it brings. There's a rock walkway beside the pond, and the moment they hear me step onto the rocks en route to the pond, they all come a runnin'... er... swimmin! And now... for your viewing pleasure... I'd like to invite you all to watch a lil video of my new babies:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninja-von-incognito/5914924447/
Which brings me to a tiny problem I noticed last week... I'll be headed over to the classifieds forum soon to see if there anyone in the St. Louis area who has room for, and would like a free, handicapped, 6" koi named Fred Johnson. :lol: Cause if you were paying attention while watching that video, the long/thin guy with the orange head (and only one pectoral fin) is a koi, NOT a goldfish. He/she was apparently in the goldfish tank at the aquarium store I frequent, a tank which was so overstocked with swiftly swimming fish, that it was difficult to see who was who in there. I got everyone home, and noticed the next day that he only had one pectoral fin. He/she swims so well that unless you actually LOOK, you'd never notice. Feedin' time at the Lu Ranch came around the next evening, and while watching them eat... I noticed that not only is good ol' Fred's mouth on the bottom of his face, not the end, he also has barbells/whiskers. "Uh oh." SO... I could take him back to the aquarium store, cause I know the guy there and he would definitely take him back, BUT... he's been so happy outside, I don't wanna. I DO know that he can't stay here tho; he's gonna outgrow my puddle. Fred's already down one fin... and he's SKINNY (I've been trying to fatten him up a bit)... he deserves a forever home in a big pond.
Oh... and why "Fred Johnson"? It was the name of the one-armed man in the movie the Fugitive.
I'm finally well (over)stocked and happy as a clam! (btw... Has anyone ever actually SEEN the scientific data proving how happy clams really are? Me neither. :dunno
Since cycling and FINALLY being able to add all the fish I'd had my eye on FOR MONTHS (even though I'd been told repeatedly that the bioload would be far too much for my tiny setup), it's amazingly awesome to know that the checking of the water parameters every 12 hours and the insane amounts of ammonia I was pouring in this thing x 2+ months wasn't all for naught. Not saying that I could house like... Shamu, but I apparently DID manage to build up one helluva beneficial bacterial colony! I'd add fish, then check the water the next day, and to even my surprise my biofilter merely hiccuped and just kept trucking. SO... I've been overstocked for right at a week now and still have zeros across the board for ammonia, trites, and trates. Actually... trates started at 10, but dropped to zero and stayed there. It took 'em a few days to get used to their new home, but since then, these fishies are SO FUN!!! :claphands: This whole pond/fish thing has already repaid me tenfold in the joy it brings. There's a rock walkway beside the pond, and the moment they hear me step onto the rocks en route to the pond, they all come a runnin'... er... swimmin! And now... for your viewing pleasure... I'd like to invite you all to watch a lil video of my new babies:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninja-von-incognito/5914924447/
Which brings me to a tiny problem I noticed last week... I'll be headed over to the classifieds forum soon to see if there anyone in the St. Louis area who has room for, and would like a free, handicapped, 6" koi named Fred Johnson.
:lol: Cause if you were paying attention while watching that video, the long/thin guy with the orange head (and only one pectoral fin) is a koi, NOT a goldfish. He/she was apparently in the goldfish tank at the aquarium store I frequent, a tank which was so overstocked with swiftly swimming fish, that it was difficult to see who was who in there. I got everyone home, and noticed the next day that he only had one pectoral fin. He/she swims so well that unless you actually LOOK, you'd never notice. Feedin' time at the Lu Ranch came around the next evening, and while watching them eat... I noticed that not only is good ol' Fred's mouth on the bottom of his face, not the end, he also has barbells/whiskers. "Uh oh." SO... I could take him back to the aquarium store, cause I know the guy there and he would definitely take him back, BUT... he's been so happy outside, I don't wanna. I DO know that he can't stay here tho; he's gonna outgrow my puddle. Fred's already down one fin... and he's SKINNY (I've been trying to fatten him up a bit)... he deserves a forever home in a big pond. Oh... and why "Fred Johnson"? It was the name of the one-armed man in the movie the Fugitive.
