Shouldn't Have Gotten Out of Bed this Morning

[IDzine01]

I keep my small quarantine tank in my kitchen below a shelf of plants.
Currently I have one male crowntail betta in this 2.5 gal QT tank. It
occurs to me today that I can't recall the last time I watered my
house plants so mix up some Micracle-Gro plant fertilizer and watered
each plant including the spider plant above the tank. As I'm
finishing I realize that a bit of plant-food ridden water got onto one
of the spider plant leaves, which of course acts like a tiny water
slide. At supersonic speeds I see this droplet cruise down the leaf and
plop into the tank before I could do anything to stop it.

DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**

Ok don't panic, its just one drop of fertilizer.
No, wait... Panic PANIC

I scoop out the fishy and quickly check the temperature, dump the tank,
rinse well and refill. To reacclimatize the fish I add a couple of
scoops of the new water to his cup.

WAIT, did I dechlorinate the water first?

DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**

Wait don't panic some water treatment facilities don't use that
much chlorine anyway. Oh, but just yesterday I read the water report,
which showed my area, uses 3.8 ppm out of an allowable 4.0 ppm. Ok,
proceed to panic.

Crap, how much amquel/novaqua goes into partially filled betta cup?
Doah, **smack head**

I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.

[Mister Gardener]

On 6 May 2006 16:14:58 -0700, "IDzine01" >
wrote:

>I keep my small quarantine tank in my kitchen below a shelf of plants.
>Currently I have one male crowntail betta in this 2.5 gal QT tank. It
>occurs to me today that I can't recall the last time I watered my
>house plants so mix up some Micracle-Gro plant fertilizer and watered
>each plant including the spider plant above the tank. As I'm
>finishing I realize that a bit of plant-food ridden water got onto one
>of the spider plant leaves, which of course acts like a tiny water
>slide. At supersonic speeds I see this droplet cruise down the leaf and
>plop into the tank before I could do anything to stop it.
>
>DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**
>
>Ok don't panic, its just one drop of fertilizer.
>No, wait... Panic PANIC
>
>I scoop out the fishy and quickly check the temperature, dump the tank,
>rinse well and refill. To reacclimatize the fish I add a couple of
>scoops of the new water to his cup.
>
>WAIT, did I dechlorinate the water first?
>
>DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**
>
>Wait don't panic some water treatment facilities don't use that
>much chlorine anyway. Oh, but just yesterday I read the water report,
>which showed my area, uses 3.8 ppm out of an allowable 4.0 ppm. Ok,
>proceed to panic.
>
>Crap, how much amquel/novaqua goes into partially filled betta cup?
>Doah, **smack head**
>
>I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.

If your QT tank is only 2.5 gallons, a daily water change wouldn't be
a bad idea. You just did what needed to be done, but added a few extra
steps to an otherwise simple task. I've seen several messages about
reasons not to keep aquariums in the kitchen, I'll add this one to the
list.

Even better, get rid of the Miracle Gro and use an organic plant food.
Kelp and or fish emulsion are better, and NO they don't have to smell
bad.
-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Gill Passman]

IDzine01 wrote:
> I keep my small quarantine tank in my kitchen below a shelf of plants.
> Currently I have one male crowntail betta in this 2.5 gal QT tank. It
> occurs to me today that I can't recall the last time I watered my
> house plants so mix up some Micracle-Gro plant fertilizer and watered
> each plant including the spider plant above the tank. As I'm
> finishing I realize that a bit of plant-food ridden water got onto one
> of the spider plant leaves, which of course acts like a tiny water
> slide. At supersonic speeds I see this droplet cruise down the leaf and
> plop into the tank before I could do anything to stop it.
>
> DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**
>
> Ok don't panic, its just one drop of fertilizer.
> No, wait... Panic PANIC
>
> I scoop out the fishy and quickly check the temperature, dump the tank,
> rinse well and refill. To reacclimatize the fish I add a couple of
> scoops of the new water to his cup.
>
> WAIT, did I dechlorinate the water first?
>
> DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**
>
> Wait don't panic some water treatment facilities don't use that
> much chlorine anyway. Oh, but just yesterday I read the water report,
> which showed my area, uses 3.8 ppm out of an allowable 4.0 ppm. Ok,
> proceed to panic.
>
> Crap, how much amquel/novaqua goes into partially filled betta cup?
> Doah, **smack head**
>
> I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.
>

I tend to use water that has come out of my fish tanks to water my house
(and garden) plants - the plants thrive on it with no need for
additional plant food....get great tomatoes using tank water as a
fertilizer :-)

Gill

[Mister Gardener]

On Sun, 07 May 2006 09:14:03 +0100, Gill Passman
> wrote:

>IDzine01 wrote:
>> I keep my small quarantine tank in my kitchen below a shelf of plants.
>> Currently I have one male crowntail betta in this 2.5 gal QT tank. It
>> occurs to me today that I can't recall the last time I watered my
>> house plants so mix up some Micracle-Gro plant fertilizer and watered
>> each plant including the spider plant above the tank. As I'm
>> finishing I realize that a bit of plant-food ridden water got onto one
>> of the spider plant leaves, which of course acts like a tiny water
>> slide. At supersonic speeds I see this droplet cruise down the leaf and
>> plop into the tank before I could do anything to stop it.
>>
>> DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**
>>
>> Ok don't panic, its just one drop of fertilizer.
>> No, wait... Panic PANIC
>>
>> I scoop out the fishy and quickly check the temperature, dump the tank,
>> rinse well and refill. To reacclimatize the fish I add a couple of
>> scoops of the new water to his cup.
>>
>> WAIT, did I dechlorinate the water first?
>>
>> DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**
>>
>> Wait don't panic some water treatment facilities don't use that
>> much chlorine anyway. Oh, but just yesterday I read the water report,
>> which showed my area, uses 3.8 ppm out of an allowable 4.0 ppm. Ok,
>> proceed to panic.
>>
>> Crap, how much amquel/novaqua goes into partially filled betta cup?
>> Doah, **smack head**
>>
>> I shouldn't have gotten out of bed this morning.
>>
>
>I tend to use water that has come out of my fish tanks to water my house
>(and garden) plants - the plants thrive on it with no need for
>additional plant food....get great tomatoes using tank water as a
>fertilizer :-)
>
>Gill
Yes. The houseplants get watered from the aquariums year round, and
when I have spring seedlings under lights and in windows throughout
the house, like I do right now, they all get it too. Priceless
fertilizer. As a true organic freak, I know I should check the sources
of the fertilizing agents in Flourish products, but I am fearful they
are not derived from organic sources. Some questions are better
unasked.

-- Mister Gardener
-- Pull the WEED to email me

[Dr Engelbert Buxbaum]

IDzine01 wrote:

> and watered
> each plant including the spider plant above the tank. As I'm
> finishing I realize that a bit of plant-food ridden water got onto one
> of the spider plant leaves, which of course acts like a tiny water
> slide. At supersonic speeds I see this droplet cruise down the leaf and
> plop into the tank before I could do anything to stop it.
>
> DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**

No need to panic. The worst that plant food for inhouse use may contain
is some ammonium, which in a well established and/or well planted tank
won't last very long, at least unless you drop an entire bottle into
your tank. Fertilisers for field use are a different matter, there are
some that produce traces of prussic acid in a side reaction.

>
> Ok don't panic, its just one drop of fertilizer.
> No, wait... Panic PANIC
>
> I scoop out the fishy and quickly check the temperature, dump the tank,
> rinse well and refill. To reacclimatize the fish I add a couple of
> scoops of the new water to his cup.

With all that fuzz you probably did more harm than with the fertiliser.

>
> WAIT, did I dechlorinate the water first?
>
> DOAH! **SMACK HEAD**

Again, if the fish get into contact once with chlorine-containing water,
especially if diluted with tank water, damage will be ery limited. One
just shouldn't make a habit of it.

So don't panic, use a warm heart but a cool head (never the other way
round).