I'm gonna do it!

[bazil323]

So over 1-1/2 years ago I made the leap into brackish after doing all the research I could, and I started with 2 F8 puffers. Sadly, one was rather poorly and did not eat or explore like it should. I found it one morning laying outside of the tank. I'm pretty sure that it had been suffering from IPs, which I had not paid attention to in my research. Soon after, I upgraded to a 44g tank for my remaining F8 and got 8 bumblebee gobies. I stopped into the LFS and couldn't resist getting another F8. Sadly, this one too had IPs, and treatment did not succeed. After this, I decided not to try any more F8s. After a couple more months, I decided the tank needed more color and got 4 mollies. I got 1 male and 3 females. A month later, I had several babies, and I thought that was cool. The bbgs liked the fry, but some survived. After another few months, I was sick of molly fry and traded in the male. Finally, it seems I'm done with fry as I have not seen any more for about 3 months (that was about 6 months after getting rid of the male!). Instead of adding fish to the 44g, I decided to get a 20g long for cherry shrimp and snails for feeding, then a 75g community, and a 10g for my mom. At work, I also have a 2.5g planted only.

So, then a few days ago, I finally got the stuff to make a DIY water changer. I had been struggling to maintain my 4 tanks at home with my new fulltime schedule. Plus, my father-in-law "fixed" our leaky bathtub faucet which I used to fill buckets. Since then, the cold water is very, very hard to turn on, and it's a pain to get the right temp. So, I had to leave the water running while dumping the bucket into the tank. What a waste!! I was sick of it, and didn't want to spend the money on a Python or other brand of water changer. I got the stuff, and it ended up being $25.16 for a 50-foot DIY water changer. Nice, huh? I tried it out, and unfortunately, I could not get it to drain, but filling went awesome! I can live with doing regular gravel vacs with buckets as long as I can fill the tanks with the water changer. I don't mind buckets for draining, but filling was another thing. I've gotten some tips on how I might be able to get it to drain from Aquaria Central, but I have yet to try them. So, I might be able to do it all with the water changer.

Anyway, the real reason for my post is that with the convenience of the water changer, I think I'm going to go ahead and get another F8 for my 44g! Yay! I'm so excited. Maybe the new one won't be as shy as Grun. Hopefully, anyway. Grun always was pretty shy and hides whenever I come near. It didn't help that I was taking pictures constantly and blinding him and then to top it off, hubby would try to scare him into puffing when I wasn't looking. So, he probably doesn't trust me, and with good reason, I think. If the LFS get some more bbgs, I think I'll get a couple more of them too. I'm so excited, and I just had to share.

[pufferfreak]

Very long post. But can't wait to see how it goes.

[bazil323]

I know, I'm windy. Haven't got him yet, still looking for a good one that isn't a whole lot smaller than my current F8. Mine is pretty laid back, but I don't want to risk him bullying one that is 1/3 his size.

[Lil' Swimz$]

Are you wondering how to start it? You suck one end until the water goes over the hump.

[Lil' Swimz$]

Oh, and livebearers can carry sperm inside their bodies and use it over. In other words, they can 3 to 4 batches without a male.

[bazil323]

Oh, I know how livebearers carry sperm. At the time, I just didn't think so many fry would survive. I thought the molly adults and bbgs would pick them off well enough and that they wouldn't find enough food anyway since I wasn't gonna get any fry food for them. Survival of the fittest, y'know. Well, I guess there were plenty of the "fittest."

Update: I found a good F8. He's not quite as big as Grun, but he was the biggest they've had in a while. I kept checking at the LFS to see him, and he seemed to be eating the best and seemed the most interactive. They had the same 3 for a few weeks, and they all seemed pretty healthy and eating okay. I brought this one home, and he seems to be doing well. He acclimated just fine to my water, and I'm hoping to add him soon. He's been eating great. I haven't decided on a name yet, but I'm thinking about keeping the German theme (Grun means green in German), and I might just recycle the name of the other original that died. Still thinking about it. I'll post pics when he's in the main tank as the QT is in a spare room with awful lighting. Can't get a decent pic in there without scaring the bejeezus out of him with the flash. I think that's partly why Grun is so leery of me because when I first got him I was constantly taking pics with flash. Can't blame him for being scared of getting blinded.

[Bluntokian]

Gotta go with grun on that one. Been lurking for awhile man. Cant wait for pics getting a couple F8s soon myself