have an awesome aquarium.

Today, I called the pet store to ensure that they would take back my 6 inch polka dotted pim catfish and give me store credit. Which they did, so the catfish has a chance to reside in someone else’s tank. So, I carefully cornered it and caught it in two nets before placing it in an Igloo cooler for its journey to the pet shop. The owner gave me $6 (1/4 of the sale price) in store credit, which I used to buy new heater clip mounts. I then went to Pet Smart and got 6 gold sailfins and 6 red mickey platys and 2 foreground plants. I also reattached the CO2 canisters and verified all food feeders were filled.

So, the tank restoration has begun! Next up adding more plants to this flooded North American riverbed stream 55 gallon tank.

I’m going to start over with my tank since my poka dot pim cat has grown to be HUGE and keeps eating my smaller fish and tearing up my plants. I found a local aquarium that will take him back and give me store credit.

So, I’m just trying to get the water levels under control now so I can get rid of the catfish and start a new “flooded North American Riverbed Stream” tank.

ugh…

so the water should be basically cycled…i just need to test it for a bit longer to make sure…i need to replace the filter…the blue one…i don’t remember what it is called at the moment…but whatever it needs to be replaced…

more importantly…i bought a new fish…a little female betta…she is a pale pale pink (almost white) with daaarrrrk red fins…beautiful…but when i got her home i realized that she had a bloated swim bladder…i have tried fasting but she isnt getting better…so i soaked her in a epsom salt bath and used some antifungal/antibacterial drops…i sure hope she pulls through…

EDIT.. So my new little fishie jumped out of her bowl and dried up while I was out. Geez.

I got some pretty little gemstones to mix in with the gravel last week…yay!!

Okay so this paycheck I hope to buy the other tests that I need and a heater…Then the next paycheck I can buy the divider and some decorations…The water should be completely cycled by then and safe for my aquatic friends…I can always buy more decorations as time goes by as long as they have a couple of things to hide inside/under/behind…hopefully this goal will be completed within the next six weeks…hopefully…keep your fingers crossed!!

Okay so the water is clearing up…which means that the cloudiness was due to a growth in bacteria…which is GREAT…...this all means that the water is preparing for the bacteria that will come with the fish…and that the filter is doing a good job of removing that bacteria…so everything is going according to planned thus far…...pretty soon i will stop relying so much on the ammonia levels and start testing the nitrate and nitrite levels and the ph of the water…meaning that i need to buy more test strips!!...

ahh the spending of money never ceases…it never ceases!!

EDIT…i also stopped using pure ammonia as the key bacteria in the water supply…i have added gravel from each fish’s bowl so that the filter will be prepared for their specific bacteria rather than just pure ammonia…

Okay so i have decided to go with the pink theme…i am sure that everyone who knows me already knew that i would…oh well…i bought some pink gravel and a little pink plant the other day…i mixed the pink gravel with berry gravel so that it wouldnt be TOO pink…it is looking good so far…the water has gotten cloudy though…i do not know if i did not wash the gravel well enough or if there has been an outburst of bacteria…i guess i will wait and let the filter do its job and if it does not clear up then i will have to do a water change…guess we will see!

so i managed to accomplish step one today…i bought the aquarium and hood and filter…i also bought some spray paint to paint the aquarium stand that i found in my garage haha…i will start cycling the water…and then next paycheck i will hopefully be able to get the heater thermometer and decorations…it feels nice to accomplish something to better life for my pets…even if it is just a little something…yay…

okay so maybe it wont be “awesome” to anyone other than me and my aquatic friends…but hey…who cares?...all i really want to do is upgrade my two betta (male chip and female dale) and little apple snail (gary) from the tiny bowls that they have been living in to a ten gallon tank to share…complete with a filter and a divider and a bubbler for dale…i am going to try to buy some of the stuff this paycheck but it might get bumped to next paycheck so i can get groceries or pay bills or get a tattoo AHEM…you know…stuff we really need…...

my only problem right now is deciding what decor to go with…i have narrowed it down to three choices…my husband likes earthy colors and themes so i was thinking of something brown and green with mushrooms…our dining room (where it will be) is oriental themed so i was thinking buddhas and dragons…and i am a real girly girl whose favorite color is pink so of course i want a pink theme…we will see i guess…

Someday, I’ll have an octopus’s garden, or a bunch of happy sea horses. But I’m clearing out my 43 things for 2 types of goals – all important life-time goals and New Year’s resolutions. This thing doesn’t make the cut.

I finally planted my goldfish tank. I also moved it farther away from the window. I’m still fighting algae some, and I hope it helps. It looks so nice with plants though.

Unfortunately my black moor died a few months ago. I think I overfed him. My koi is doing well though. My next purchase will be a shubunken and a comet, I think. (as well as a tank background) Hopefully, I will get that done in January.