Epic fail! And I'm *still* not sure how/why

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#61
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#61
Bummer...that was a wicked good deal.

I still think pH crash. I know you are saying it was recently fine but that how it is with those crashes. They hit hard and FAST. I dealt with this more when I had a pool. I had to, at the beginning of every season, load the pool with stuff to hold the pH. Then I could just maintain it by simply adding chlorine as needed.

It was here that I learned about the pH crash thing. Why they happen, don;t know. But they can and they all sound like you event. You could begin to measure for this and avoid it but it gets really tricky. Stocking it up to avoid the crashes - effects the pH and you get into this seesaw balancing act. Most people do nothing about it with no issues. But every once in a while BAM....pH falls like a rock and BOOM CRASH leaving you with a cloud and some dead fish - if not all. You were actually lucky.

When I come out to Albequerque next year, you can have me over for dinner and we can discuss further. :)
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#64
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#64
It's not AZ...it's not sunny...it's not hot...it's not AZ...teachers get paid better there. lol

Honestly, I can make minimum $35K as a base starting teacher (that's the absolutely minimum I can make...pay depends on what you teach and where you teach) and housing prices are better than AZ. In AZ, teachers get paid hardly anything (I have a friend who is a third-year teacher this year and she's making under $25K) and housing prices are not-so-great.

I also love rain, forests, mountains, the cold, snow, and the ocean...all things that AZ doesn't have (or doesn't have very much of). I lived in Tucson for six years. I'm tired of the sun and heat and wind.
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#65
Sep 7, 2008
588
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0
#65
bassbonediva said:
It's not AZ...it's not sunny...it's not hot...it's not AZ...teachers get paid better there. lol

Honestly, I can make minimum $35K as a base starting teacher (that's the absolutely minimum I can make...pay depends on what you teach and where you teach) and housing prices are better than AZ. In AZ, teachers get paid hardly anything (I have a friend who is a third-year teacher this year and she's making under $25K) and housing prices are not-so-great.

I also love rain, forests, mountains, the cold, snow, and the ocean...all things that AZ doesn't have (or doesn't have very much of). I lived in Tucson for six years. I'm tired of the sun and heat and wind.
Click to expand...
Connecitcut is very nice. The northeast part has affordable housing, with rain and forests and a really great guy who likes to keep fish...And I heat Teachers make good coin too!
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#66
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#66
lol...My parents already have one child who lives on the other side of the country (Georgia). They don't need TWO that far away.

ANYWAY...back to my tank! Just picked up the PFS!! Wheeee! 100# of sand sure doesn't look like much. :p I also went by the LFS and they still had their horseface loaches, so I got one. So, gonna get started stripping the old substrate out of the 55gal (hopefully won't take too long) and then rinse the sand for the 55gal (which shouldn't take too long either).
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#67
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#67
Okay, I have REALLY outdone myself with this tank! Looking at this tank right now almost makes me glad that the other incarnation of this tank died. :eek: Can't wait to transfer the fish over tomorrow (I had a piece of filter floss stuffed into the Penguin 170 filter on my 46gal coldwater tank to keep it cycled so I wouldn't have to re-cycle the 55gal when I got it redone)! I'm going to let it run through the night, mainly because I want everything to be completely settled when I move the fishes over. I will post pics tonight 'cuz right now I have to go to work (after I get the instructions for the Cascade filter downloaded so I can start it running again...it's been almost seven months since I started it up last and I don't want to burn out ANOTHER motor lol).
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#68
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#68
And here it is! I am LOVING this tank!

Day:

Night:


Went to the other LFS in town today and looked at their angels. They have really good-looking, decent-sized (about the size of a half dollar?) smokey veils and gold marble veils. I'm thinking either a gold marble or a black marble (that's what they have at the first LFS I went to).
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#70
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#70
The stocking is looking something like this...

1x angelfish (either a gold marble or a black marble)
2x female bettas
2x female platies
1x female swordtail
1x male swordtail
1x male featherfin catfish
1x horseface loach
3x angelicus botia
4x kuhli loaches
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#72
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#72
I think I'm going to have to do "eeney-meeney" between the two types of angels available. I'm not a HUGE fan of either, but they are what they are.

If you only had a choice between the gold marble and the regular marble, which would you choose?
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#73
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#73
I'm not a huge fan of marbles either, but I prefer ones that have less markings - i.e., they aren't quite as 'busy' looking. Usually that would mean the gold marbles, but it can really depend on the lfs selection at the time. It's really a matter of personal preference . . . .
And sometimes you can get gold marbles whose white/gold coloration turns almost orange! They look like calico cats!
 

bassbonediva

bassbonediva

Superstar Fish
#76
Oct 15, 2009
2,010
0
0
Northern Arizona
#76
Yeah, the angel is definitely the last thing i'm going to add. Today, the livebearers, female bettas, Alistair and horseface loach are going into the tank.

If I could find some on AquaBid, even multiples, for cheap enough, I would buy them and then sell the extras to the LFS or on CL.
 

breebrry

breebrry

Small Fish
#77
Jul 3, 2009
43
0
0
a town in PA
www.facebook.com
#77
I have been following your story here since the first post.. i am devastated for your loss.. I actually had a weird loss this morning :( (a serpae tetra Spike whom i've had for a year was sucked to the filter tube with a chunk missing from his belly) i cried.. so i can imagine how you felt losing alistair..

Your new setup is absolutely gorgeous and your stock sounds wonderful. I hope you get your other tanks straightened out and goodluck with everything

if you ever figure out why it went all chernoybl on you let us know.. i'm definately curious..
 

TAL

TAL

Large Fish
#78
Sep 7, 2008
588
0
0
#78
It was a pH crash...

Almost no one tests their water for kH and it leaves us all open to the surprise pH swing/attack on our little buddies.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#79
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#79
TAL said:
It was a pH crash...

Almost no one tests their water for kH and it leaves us all open to the surprise pH swing/attack on our little buddies.
Click to expand...
I agree it was likely a pH crash also, but if 30% of the water is being changed weekly, I'd think it would have replenished the minerals.
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#80
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#80
If indeed it was a pH crash - does "crash" mean higher or lower? Also if it is so sudden, what causes it and what could you do about it? Is the nitrogen cycle affecting the pH so that if one is testing the water regularly it wouldn't or shouldn't come as a surprise?
 

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