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I wanted to update this tank journal as I reset the thing last night. This tank did very well until spring (October to April 2009) when I got some BBA. I was worried about it because I once had BBA take over an entire tank- covering every plant in my old 10 g. So when this tank faced that problem, I cut the plants back a lot and then dosed it with glutaraldehyde. If that's all I did I think it would have been fine, but this was on top of a previous trim. Then I did another drastic trip a month later before a plant swap. Of course I came home from the swap with new plants, so then I proceeded to yank out lots of foreground dwarf sag so I could put in new plants. Now I know this was just too much, but keep in mind that NPTs have always been resilient for me. Now I see the limit... The tank never fully recovered. I got anaerobic pockets where I pulled out dwarf sag, and it spread. The old plants weren't able to come back in fast enough and the new plants never did root. Since all the fish, shrimp and snails were fine (still breeding in fact), I watched and waited. Recently my older established plants roots burned out too and I saw them floating. All the creatures were still ok, but I didn't want my house to smell like a swamp. And I knew the Hydrogen Sulfide would be harmful eventually. I could see bubbling now and the aerobic areas were continuing to get bigger.
I ripped it out yesterday and spent the day resetting it. (I never want to do that again!) Today all the inhabitants are back in and happy. As I pulled out plants I was afraid I wouldn't have enough to replant it, because more than half my stock had their roots burned black. But I did. [B][I]The fact that the tank limped along for so long and I didn't loose the fauna is a testament to the NPT setup[/I][/B]. I still believe. :biggrin: But I will be more careful going forward. So back to the basics!
I cut my chunk of driftwood in half with my mitre saw so each piece would sit flat to the glass, but didn't use any other rocks this time. I can't see them anyway after about a month. But I knew my Bushy-nose cats would need it with the glass spotlessly free of algae. Next I used about 3/4-1 inch of plain topsoil, same batch as last year, so I didn't bother airing it out this time, just broke it up enough to spread around. Over that I used plain black aquarium gravel, but just enough to cover the dirt. It's a bit bigger than recommended, but it's worked for me before when spread thin like this. Then I planted back in the:
Sagtaria subulata
Hygro Compacta
Rotalla
big Amazon Sword cut back
baby sword-lets
one Sagitaria platyphila (sp?)
Marimo 'moss' ball
Java Moss
Water Sprite, floating
I used 30 gallons of rainwater this time, instead of buying distilled. I have extremely hard alkaline water. (19 gallons of distilled water added the first time didn't put a dent in the pH or hardness. ) I only used about 10-12 gallons of old tank water, which went in last, with the fish. The rest was dechlorinated tap water. I do add conditioner. It was pretty clear even though I didn't rinse the gravel, but I still waited overnight to put the fish back. Now they all seem happy. Lots of spawning activity. The shrimp are doing their usual; now I can see them more clearly because there is space between the plants and more light reaching the bottom.
My Animals are:
'Western' Rainbow girls
'Turquoise' Rainbow male
about 30 Mollies, silver, dalamtion, black and marbled three generations of them
a couple of Swordtails
a male Beta
2 albino Ancistrus
a brown Ancistrus
2 Amano shrimp males
many cherry shrimp
many Malasian Trumpet (Livebearing, burrowing) snails
I'm sure I lost some shrimp fry and small MTS, maybe even fish fry in the move. I believe I got all the adults though. It took forever. I do plan on getting some more fish when the soil settles in, as well as some blackworms. I can't find them in the store and will have to order them. I hope they will be added protection.
For my Mobsters playing friends on facebook:
I got this in my email today and wanted to pass it on. I removed the names and town, and the picture of his friend. He is a friend of our friend and needs all your prayers and good thoughts.
'Hi to all my friends and family,
I felt compelled to spread this story about son's best friend, S who is 8. He is in MAJOR need of Prayer. The following story is what his mother (we are in MOPS together) wrote today.
Background Story
Our son S is a wonderful young man who is 8 years old. He will be 9 in January. He is going into the 3rd grade. S had been having some pain in his right knee most of this summer (2009). As the pain increased we realized that something might be wrong and we made an appointment for him to see an Orthopedist on 8/10/09. At this doctors appointment an X-ray was done of S's leg/knee and it showed that there was a mass that the doctor believed to be cancerous. S went into the hospital just a few days later for a series of tests. He received a cat scan, MRI, and also a full body scan. Our family met with the pediatric oncologist the following day and S was diagnosed with a type of cancer called Osteosarcoma (stage 4). The cancer is in his right knee and it has also spread to both of his lungs. This is an agressive type of cancer and it will be treated with agressive forms of chemo. We are asking everyone to please lift up our litle boy in prayer. We pray for healing!! We serve a mighty God and we know that HE can heal S if that is his will. Please be prayer warriors along with our family as S starts this very difficult journey in his young life.
Today's date is August 16th, 2009 and all this has happened in 6 days. His first appointment was on Monday the 10th and by Friday the 14th he was in the hospital getting his Chemo-port put in his chest and a biopsy done.
I figured if an animated woman walking around the world for cancer can get passed to millions, then so can this story.
PLEASE KEEP THIS GOING TO YOUR CONTACTS IN YOUR ADDRESS BOOK!
S CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH PRAYERS.
WE PRAY FOR HEALING AND PEACE FOR HIS FAMILY. . .There are also 2 younger sisters.'
I was in the mood for Chili but didn't have all the ingredients. What I had was a fridge full of produce that needed to be used. So I threw a bunch of stuff into the pot and it was good. DH gave it a thumbs up.
He's what I put in the stew:
One large onion, diced
Two cloves of garlic, diced
1/4 tsp canola oil (or spray)
One sweet bell pepper (red, yellow) diced
Two large tomatoes, diced
One, 1 lb package of mushrooms, chopped
One can of black olives
3/4 cup of frozen corn
1 can of Mexican Chili Beans in sauce
I can Kidney beans, rinsed
1/4 c of water
Season Salt
Salt and Pepper
Italian seasoning
1/2 lb polish sausage, chopped
10 oz bag of fresh Spinach, chopped
I sauteed the onion and garlic with the bit of oil and then threw everything in the pot in this order. Once it was bubbling, I added the sausage. As soon as the sausage had heated through, I added the spinach. As soon as the spinach wilts it's ready to serve (about a minute). It was fast and good.
I love one pot meals. I try to fill them with veggies and up the nutrition. We just don't do them as often because my five-year old doesn't like stuff mixed together. He likes most of the ingredients but picked them out, still. I don't cater to his fussiness because I want him to outgrow it. I do require that he tries new things. But I don't make him eat more than a bite or two anything he doesn't like. He can always have Cheerios and soy milk for a meal if he doesn't want what we are having. He very rarely takes that option.
We got my son a chalkboard for his room and my dear husband put it up today. Little Boy Blue and I spent nearly an hour on it spelling out simple words. It's magnetic so we used his magnetic letters, too. We got it at IKEA. LBB loves to go there because he can play in their playroom and eat dinner there, too. Mommy and Daddy wanted to get a few more storage cubes so we went last night. I've been thinking about getting him an easel there, but didn't really want him to have crayons or markers in his room. And we usually go outside for painting. But chalk is totally cool. I doubt he would use it on the walls, because when a neighbor did that (and got him to do it) it was a big deal. He remembers it; he actually brought it up last week, I think because he was processing this little life lesson. If he does he'll have a stiff punishment. But theoretically, it should be easier to clean up. We had to paint over the last incident, and the paint the previous owners left wasn't a perfect match. We have paint to redo all the walls and need to get moving on that again. But the point is that he loved it. He can sound out the letters and read short words. And he wanted to today, which is the important thing. I know he's been ready to for a long time, he's known all the letters and their sounds for a year and a half. But he never wants to work on it. I try, gently, all the time. I have to be careful not to force it on him because my boy is very stubborn. (Gets tit frm his dad, I'm sure :) I don't want it to be a contest of wills where he won't just because I want him to... but today he was excited. And successful. We spelled F-A-R-T. He had a blast. So to speak.
Today or tomorrow I am going to attempt to change out the bathroom faucet, handle and shower head. I may change the oil today on the mommy van and wait on the faucet. I'll have to do the drain another day, anyway, because we haven't bought one yet. Our very hard, very alkaline water strikes again. Since the builders used the cheapest parts possible, we are replacing them instead of trying to just do the gaskets and hope nothing else breaks down. The tub drain has always leaked, but slowly. If I can't do it, well, we would have had to call a plumber anyway. The risk is that we can't turn the water back on until it's fixed. I've seen it done, at our last house, and it looked so simple that I told myself I wouldn't pay someone else to do that again. Wish me luck. Tonight DH and I are going out for a date. So we have time constraints, too. I'm actually considering about putting it off until tomorrow morning, becaus we have a better chance of getting a plumber out the same day. (or so I'm telling myself). Plan B scenario. We have so much work to do around the house. I really want to have topsoil delivered because our lawn looks terrible. We grow weeds better than grass, becaus eI don't want to put chemicals down all the time. We don't have dirt, as in decomposing organic matter, we have clay and rock. But we still need to repair a piece of facia torn off by high winds before we worry about the yard.
I made a new Fuhrman style dish tonight. I have eaten outside the diet (meat, dairy, anything processed) about four times now, but I am still loosing weight slowly. I have never lost weight quickly in my life, so I really didn't expect to. If I loose 2 lbs a week thats really good for me. I fully inderstand that plant foods are the healthiest and most nutritious, and I like his books, BUT... I need to chew and enjoy my food. I can't live this 'deprived' (remember I am addicted to all things that taste good: fat, salt, sugar and also caffeine) and not like what I am eating all day long. So no mor epureed soups for me. Blah. It doesn't help me because I go nuts and fall off the wagon. But I did like this.
Zucchini de la Reyes
Chop 1 lb of mushrooms and put them in a 5 Qt pot with a spray of Pam (trademarked) on Medium-High heat
Add 1 lb frozen corn
2 cans of beans, rinsed and drained (kidney or black)
3 cloves of garlic
32oz can of diced tomatoes
4oz can of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp balsamic vinager
1/2 to one bunch of green onions chopped
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 to 1 tsp ground red pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
4 (cucumber sized) zucchini peeled and chopped
If you add things in this order, you can throw them in as you go. The mushrooms need to soften, but the zucchini only needs to comeup to temperature. You could leave the peel on and cook longer, as you wish. You may break the acidity with a tsp or two of honey, but I think Dr. Fuhrman would prefer you didn't. :) You could certainly add salt and meat to this. I'm thinking sausage would be fabulous, but again, not what I'm going for, here.
I served it with frozen burritos which I microwaved for my husband and son. My little boy got some plain corn, too. I put out whole grain, no-fat tortillas, hommus and Toffutti Better Than Sour Cream to go with it. I ate some in a wrap, but the rest as a bowl of veggie stew. It would also be good over a plate of salad greens with crunchy tortillas.
Time is;
Too slow for those who wait,
Too swift for those who fear,
Too long for those who grieve,
Too short for those who rejoice,
But for those who love, time is not”
-Henry Van Dyke
I love my man. It's Father's Day, and yet he took Little Boy Blue out on the town to shoot pictures. Daddy got LBB his own kiddie digital camera a while back. I took advantage of this time to work out and shower again, in peace. Aaahhhh. My sense of harmony is restored. Thank you honey. You are the best!
I have been trying to get in better shape. We broke down and got the Wii, and I've been doing the Wii Fit. I want a healthy heart. I want to watch my boy grow up. I want to be active in my senior years. As it stands, my body has 'aged' from the injuries. My heart probably didn't appreciate those years of addrenalin at work either. So it's important that I do this. I have always struggled with my weight. I believe a lot of it is hereditary. And some comes from lifelong eating habits. My body type has become more German with every year :) I feel like a stocky little old lady on the outside, but I'm still a beautiful young girl inside. Hmmm. And it gets harder every year, to loose the pounds.
I found Dr. Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live, at the library and I've been skirting his plan all week. He preaches Leafy Greens (at least a pound a day), mostly green veggies (at least a pound a day), beans (at least a cup a day) and fresh fruits (at least four a day), mostly as God made them. No sugar, bread, animal, meat, dairy, salt and only a teaspoon of a healthier oil each day. This is somewhat similar to Adele Puhn's diabetic diet, but she lists a serving of grain twice a day (e.g. one piece of bread) and an ounce or two of meat twice a day. I have heard about the China Project for years, and I know that Vegan is healthy. But I love meat and dairy. Dr Fuhrman would prefer that one not ingest animal products and processed food, but if you must have something, make it a tiny amount once a week. And people who still want meat use it as a "condiment".
I really want to loose weight. I need to. So I am going to try to go full Veggie Foods for 6 weeks. If I can do it that long, I think I can make healthy eating a habit and hopefully keep progressing. After that I'll decide if I want meat or dairy once in a while. I really hope I can do this. When I was 26 I got my body in shape with Adele Puhn's diet and Marshal Arts. I was still a size 12: a Junior's 12 with great muscle tone but still not small. I don't think my natural shape will ever be small. But I don't care. I like me at size 12 and healthy. I hope I have the will power. I think this will work for me because it doesn't restrict fruits or veggies. I can have a sweet fruit or a starchy potato if I crave one. And it's a freaking lot of food with high fiber to keep you feeling fuller longer. I was scared that my family wouldn't go for it. But so far so good. I figure they will be eating my 'dinner' as their sides and I'll try to add stuff in just for them. I know the first week will be hard.
I am finally following the direction of many hairdressers over the years. It was hard for me,at first. I have to admit I was addicted to shampooing. Finally, after reading this book,
I am a clean freak. And while I have plenty of it, I have straight, finely textured hair. So it feels oily in the morning, or it did. Like most Americans, I thought you were supposed to shampoo and condition every day. Well that's what the product makers want you to do. The more stuff you buy, the more money they make, right? Well, I'm still doing something to 'clean' my hair every day, but I'm not shampooing it. I'll rinse it in plain water, or scrub my scalp/roots with conditioner, or even add a little cornstarch at the hairline. I tried dry spray shampoo but the cornstarch works better, costs less, and is better for the environment. The waterless shampoo liquid was awful, and didn't work.
Brushing well with a natural bristle brush is a must. This distributes any oil at your scalp, down the hair shaft. Now I'm shampooing a few times a week instead of every day. My hair has finally adjusted to this. I have to say it was hard for me to even try it. I had a real bias. But my hair looks better now, clearly. I can suppose the cuticle (scale-like surface of the hair shafts) is laying down on my hair because it's so shiny looking. The natural oils in your hair help with that, but they also lift each hair away from the head at the roots, making your hair look fuller, too. I don't heat style my hair much, so I don't condition it often either. And I've found that brands aren't as important as the companies will have you believe. I shampooed with baby wash yesterday and my hair looked just as good as when I use the 'protein' and 'volumizing' shampoo I usually get- Without conditioner. This is a good news for me, because I want to spend the least time possible on my hair and have it look good. And healthy, to me, is the best look. I'm happy with it.
On a side note, the laundry detergent works really well. My son was sick the last few days and we really put it to the test. Poor kid had a tummy bug and was getting hit above and below. Any laundry soiled with, let's just say, " bodily substances" goes immediately into to the washer at my house. Well, after the sick one is cleaned and made comfortable. The home-made laundry soap worked on the toughest (nastiest) stuff. Leaves me wondering if there's a way to do it without phosphates. I believe they are inherent, though.
We kept my nephew this week. My sister and BIL planned a trip and school ended up going longer than usual because we had so many snow days this year. So I got him off to school and back. We didn't get to do the fun stuff like go to the amusement park or pool, because he was in school in the day and DH works nights this quarter. He was kinda bummed. Such a good kid. I love him so much. Little Boy Blue feels like he's his brother. Blue kept telling me how sad he was that nephew was going to spend the last day with the grandparents. So sweet.
Today was Little Boy Blue's last soccer game. His preschool teacher lives in the neighboring town. She had emailed me and when I mentioned what we'd bee up to, she said she'd like to see him play. She brought her two kids and we went to a playground after. LBB is good and tired. He's playing in the tub now just outside my door. He was so happy to see his teacher. He just loves her. I'll say it again- I wish she could be his teacher forever.
Little Boy Blue and I made laundry soap this week while nephew was in school. I saw the recipe on the internet and it seemed like a good idea. It works, too. It didn't get a coffee stain completely out, but I wash in cold water. I've only ever been able to get stains out with Tide. We've used Tide Free since LBB was a baby. He's still sensitive to perfumes and so forth, but seems like he's not been as bad this year. The homemade laundry soap hasn't bothered him. So the good thing is it's very cheap to make many batches, approximately 2 gallons each . It cost me about $12 dollars to get the first items. And I'd spend about $3 more to get enough soap to mix with my remaining washing soda and borax. There's no plastic bottle to discard. We do recycle, and I buy large containers to use less packaging. But with this we are using our old laundry detergent bottle and not buying more so that's a plus. It works as well as any cheap laundry detergent. While reading about making laundry soap, I learned a few things about how to make less soap do a better job. Basically you fill the washer and agitate it before adding clothes, then let them soak. This is how my grandmother did it when she finally got a washing machine. I've been doing this with good results, I just have to watch the water level. For example, I fill it to "medium" with cool water and switch to "super" once the clothes are in and let it finish filling. Then I run it on the soak cycle. Because our washer has a water level sensor. The negative is that it does contain phosphates. Tide does not. Many commercial brands do not. I'll use the stuff I bought until it's gone. After all, if I throw it away it goes into the environment undiluted and with no purpose. But I'll go back to Tide Free and use even less. So I learned something.
Lastly, the guy I went through Fire School and Paramedic training with died this week. I went to his viewing yesterday and it sucked. His wife remembered me and I didn't think she would. We did help them move way back then, and I was the only woman in the class, so maybe that was it. She was sweet and strong and I admire that. She and their kids are in my thoughts a lot lately. Rookie school was crappy, and meant to be. It's like boot camp with accelerated college courses thrown in: Not a lot of happy memories. You just get through it. But I remember him as being a good guy all around. He'd worked his way up to Batalion Chief for a smaller town and went back through Rookie school in his 30's for our larger city, because our city paid well and had good benefits. He never mentioned this though, unlike a few guys who liked to brag about their previous fire experience. It eventually came out because firefighters tend to know each other, through the grapevine, as we were about to graduate. He kept his head down and got through the crap, because that's just how he was. Not a braggart, not a goof. Quiet and kind, but with a sense of humor, too. That's how I remember him.
