Help! J-P's Set up

[PolishPuff]

I LOVE your tank(s) J-P

Great job !!!!!

[DarkStorm]

wicked job man so glad to see its paid off for you

[Lil' Swimz$]

Beatiful ocean!!

I have NO idea why I said 'oceans.'

Beautiful tanks, J-P!

[J-P]

Thanks Swimz

If you remember I found a damsel fly nymph in my tank not too long ago. Today I found another one! The previous one ended up growing to adulthood and buzzed around the living room for a while.

This one is soon going to be puffer food (if it lasts the week)!

[Flutter]

That would be quite interesting to see. I have a video or two of them, if you send me your email I'll pass them along.

[J-P]

A funny vid. My calico Ryukin was so busy it didn't even pay attention to its food! LOL!!

"Who's a sexy fish?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT-jUS13QzQ

[doraemon]

J-p your tanks look really niceeeeee i like the way you have made them so natural looking, how ur going to vacuum those tanks without disrupting the way you have styled them? lol
ive always wondered how ppl who have heavily planted tanks how they vac the substrate every day and even if they see the poop

[J-P]

I just do a light surface vac with my weekly water changes.

I should scrub the sides (the diatom / brown algae) but I leave it for 2 reasons : 1) I am lazy, and 2) it helps oxygenate the water where there is little plant growth (the darker corners)

It is unsightly, but for the moment I can live with that.

That tank is is just strange .. those are the only plants the GF won't eat ... so I might transplant more into there later... thanks for the KUDOS


EDIT:

I added home made breeding grass made out of a cotton basting brush to help if they actually do breed

[J-P]

Wow!! with the rash of puffer deaths this week I am nervous about picking up mine from Flutter tomorrow!!

[Flutter]

They're healthy, no worries

[Flutter]

JP picked up the puffers today. They were fine when they left my hands He had a nice big setup for them, 2 coolers full of water and an air stone. I'm sure they'll be fine, he put a lot of thought into this After recent events I'm glad we didn't post them. He said he'd take a video when he let them loose in the tank.

I'm so nervous/excited, I'll be stalking this place all night until he posts (minus an ice cream trip that is)! I wasn't 100% sure about letting them go but now that they're gone I'm so happy for them! It was the right decision

My tank now houses 4 cories which may or may not still exist. They LOVE the new plants, the tank is so dense now you can't see them anymore! Now I have to wait patiently to put more cories in which will probably disappear too

ETA: They made it home safe!

[J-P]

So there is the day in summary:
I woke up at 8:00 am this morning and started prepping for the long trip. While the wife was taking her shower and getting ready I got my equipment ready:]
1 Cooler with fresh warmed tap water (27C), and 1 cooler with tank water.
2 airstones, 2 pumps, extra hose line, a digital thermometer, towels and scissors.

By 9:30 we on the road. The first thing we noticed was the coolers were too full and kept splashing all over the back of the truck (this was before I got out of the drive way). So I reduced the water level and we were on our way. I had 1 air stone plugged into cigarette lighter and decided not to use the other pump and air stone.

By 11:15 we had hit the main highway when I called KyleD and let them know we would be arriving in about an hour.

12:20~12:30 My wife and I met up with Flutter and KyleD. I was surprised they looked so young (If I didn't know better I would say high school). They were kind and pleasant and we made the exchange. Both parties were under a strict time line so we didn't get a chance to hang out or do anything.

1:30 back on the road off to Pacific mall. Did some shopping and after getting cross a few times about being late.
3:30 We went to a gas station, filled up and I did an 80% water change and back on the road.
6:30 We arrived home, unloaded the groceries, and I puts the little guys in a bucket and let it sit in the tank water for a bit with a thermometer. Once it was within 2 degrees off they went into the tank. (got a VERY poor vid of that!)

First notice, 2 started exploring the tank and promptly started to decimate the shrimp colony and the snails. The 3rd just wanted to sit in the current. 2 were actually hunting together.

It was VERY difficult to get a vid because every time they saw me they would hide. About 20 mins later the 2 returned to the 3rd and all 3 (at the time of this writing are just hanging out). On occasion one larger one would go a 100 miles an hour trying to push its way through the glass, then suddenly stop, grab a shrimp and go relax. I saw this pattern a few times.

Things I could have done better. Drilled a hole in the lid of the cooler to allow the air line in without it getting pinched. Because I didn't want it pinched, the lid was slightly ajar and slopped water all over the truck!


I will post pics and vids ASAP but at the moment they are staying to the back of the tank so it is impossible.

[Flutter]

ETA: High school I did 5 years of high school and am 1 week away from finishing 4 years of university You and your wife were very nice. She was more excited about the fish than I thought she would be, she was quite happy! That made me smile a lot. Your voice was also deeper than I expected. As was probably quite visible I am horribly shy, takes me a while to become comfortable with people. It was easier because I kind of "know" you

Also, Kyle wants me to say thank you for the reactor link. We just got it set up and it's working beautifully.

Darn, I forgot something else I wanted to say...

[doraemon]

Woo hoo congrats to both! have i missed something because i cant see where it says what puffers they are?

[J-P]

sorry SAPs; 3 silly Saps