Getting Careless in my Days

[-ED]

I performed a water change this week.,,gave the gravel a good hand-wave to
stir the muck up..removed the decor..drained close to 30 gallons (that's
about all I felt like picking up=). As I carry the water to the bathroom
to empty it, I heard a snap..snap..GGGrrrrr..Crunch...then silence. I
looked and discovered that I had bumped the strainer off of the intake
tube. You can guess the rest. Fish Soup anyone?
No impeller damage and the filter is running better than before. The
impeller assembly must have had some tight tolerances. The crunch
loosened it up.

Lesson Learned- Check your strainer everytime your hands go into the
tank. Periodic filter maintenance is a must.

Moral- You can't be too careful.

The lighter side? I have a better filter because of a few fish.

[Dick]

On Fri, 02 Jun 2006 17:36:13 GMT, -ED > wrote:

>I performed a water change this week.,,gave the gravel a good hand-wave to
>stir the muck up..removed the decor..drained close to 30 gallons (that's
>about all I felt like picking up=). As I carry the water to the bathroom
>to empty it, I heard a snap..snap..GGGrrrrr..Crunch...then silence. I
>looked and discovered that I had bumped the strainer off of the intake
>tube. You can guess the rest. Fish Soup anyone?
>No impeller damage and the filter is running better than before. The
>impeller assembly must have had some tight tolerances. The crunch
>loosened it up.
>
>Lesson Learned- Check your strainer everytime your hands go into the
>tank. Periodic filter maintenance is a must.
>
>Moral- You can't be too careful.
>
>The lighter side? I have a better filter because of a few fish.


I had no idea filter impellers could be so lethal. Wow.

Why do you mix up the gravel? I try hard to avoid putting the solids
into motion? Do your fish still love you? I do stir the gravel when
weeding, but I try hard to keep it to a minimum. I never vacuum the
gravel. I have no idea what pulls the solids into the gravel, but I
do my best to not stir things upl

dick

[-ED]

On Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:15:41 -0500, Dick > wrote:

> On Fri, 02 Jun 2006 17:36:13 GMT, -ED > wrote:
>
>> I performed a water change this week.,,gave the gravel a good hand-wave
>> to
>> stir the muck up..removed the decor..drained close to 30 gallons (that's
>> about all I felt like picking up=). As I carry the water to the
>> bathroom
>> to empty it, I heard a snap..snap..GGGrrrrr..Crunch...then silence. I
>> looked and discovered that I had bumped the strainer off of the intake
>> tube. You can guess the rest. Fish Soup anyone?
>> No impeller damage and the filter is running better than before. The
>> impeller assembly must have had some tight tolerances. The crunch
>> loosened it up.
>>
>> Lesson Learned- Check your strainer everytime your hands go into the
>> tank. Periodic filter maintenance is a must.
>>
>> Moral- You can't be too careful.
>>
>> The lighter side? I have a better filter because of a few fish.
>
>
> I had no idea filter impellers could be so lethal. Wow.
>
> Why do you mix up the gravel? I try hard to avoid putting the solids
> into motion? Do your fish still love you? I do stir the gravel when
> weeding, but I try hard to keep it to a minimum. I never vacuum the
> gravel. I have no idea what pulls the solids into the gravel, but I
> do my best to not stir things upl
>
> dick
I was alittle surprised myself. I have never lost a fish that way before.

I don't have a gravel vacuum (I never could spell that word) so that's the
cheap way around it. Yeah , the fish are back to normal. The Z.Danios
went nuts for a day, but they've settled in again. I started out with a
really heavy planted layout. The more I looked at it, it ressembled a
shipping crate of plants. So I culled out this and that. That forced me
to sit back and redesign..I don't have the decorator touch. And the
rearranging made some of the fish bewildered. But its cool now.

I have a solid rule..the more I stay in the tank, the more trust the fish
give back to me. I've got this sexy female betta. Had her for 3 months
now..She nibbles on me all the time. I'm gonna put her in a dress and
strut her about the town.

So I'm making gumbo right now with crab meat, okra, onions,garlic, rotel
mild, pepper, filet, and...oh yeah.. the ground danios.

[Dick]

On Fri, 02 Jun 2006 21:14:54 GMT, -ED > wrote:

>On Fri, 02 Jun 2006 15:15:41 -0500, Dick > wrote:
>
>> On Fri, 02 Jun 2006 17:36:13 GMT, -ED > wrote:
>>
>>> I performed a water change this week.,,gave the gravel a good hand-wave
>>> to
>>> stir the muck up..removed the decor..drained close to 30 gallons (that's
>>> about all I felt like picking up=). As I carry the water to the
>>> bathroom
>>> to empty it, I heard a snap..snap..GGGrrrrr..Crunch...then silence. I
>>> looked and discovered that I had bumped the strainer off of the intake
>>> tube. You can guess the rest. Fish Soup anyone?
>>> No impeller damage and the filter is running better than before. The
>>> impeller assembly must have had some tight tolerances. The crunch
>>> loosened it up.
>>>
>>> Lesson Learned- Check your strainer everytime your hands go into the
>>> tank. Periodic filter maintenance is a must.
>>>
>>> Moral- You can't be too careful.
>>>
>>> The lighter side? I have a better filter because of a few fish.
>>
>>
>> I had no idea filter impellers could be so lethal. Wow.
>>
>> Why do you mix up the gravel? I try hard to avoid putting the solids
>> into motion? Do your fish still love you? I do stir the gravel when
>> weeding, but I try hard to keep it to a minimum. I never vacuum the
>> gravel. I have no idea what pulls the solids into the gravel, but I
>> do my best to not stir things upl
>>
>> dick
>I was alittle surprised myself. I have never lost a fish that way before.
>
>I don't have a gravel vacuum (I never could spell that word) so that's the
>cheap way around it. Yeah , the fish are back to normal. The Z.Danios
>went nuts for a day, but they've settled in again. I started out with a
>really heavy planted layout. The more I looked at it, it ressembled a
>shipping crate of plants. So I culled out this and that. That forced me
>to sit back and redesign..I don't have the decorator touch. And the
>rearranging made some of the fish bewildered. But its cool now.
>
> I have a solid rule..the more I stay in the tank, the more trust the fish
>give back to me. I've got this sexy female betta. Had her for 3 months
>now..She nibbles on me all the time. I'm gonna put her in a dress and
>strut her about the town.
>
>So I'm making gumbo right now with crab meat, okra, onions,garlic, rotel
>mild, pepper, filet, and...oh yeah.. the ground danios.


Hmm, I read my fish just the opposite, the more I am in the tank, the
more they stay away. Mostly I am thinking of 6 Siamese Algae Eaters.
For over a year they would come over and nibble on my arm. I loved it
and felt they liked me. However, I decided to separate the boys from
the girls among my live bearers. Enough was enough! After chasing
first the boys and then the girls (I couldn't catch the boys), the
SAEs stayed away. I have 2 Clown Loaches in a 10 gallon tank with a
large ceramic mill house. I pull it out to clean the algae every few
months. The Clowns swim away and hide in the house when I approach,
even to feed the fish. One is a little more daring and stays around
most of the time, but the other doesn't come out until I leave.

Your recipe sounded great until the last ingredient, yuk!

dick

[Koi-Lo]

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
I never vacuum the
> gravel. I have no idea what pulls the solids into the gravel, but I
> do my best to not stir things upl
======================
Don't you eventually get a thick covering of black mulm over the gravel? I
not only vacuum the gravel but stir it as well - as the Diatom Filer is
running. I try and remove as much of this crud as possible at least twice a
month.
--
Koi-Lo....
Aquariums since 1952.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Aquarium FAQ are at: http://faq.thekrib.com/
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>

[Dick]

On Sat, 3 Jun 2006 15:27:08 -0500, "Koi-Lo" <None> wrote:

>
>"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> I never vacuum the
>> gravel. I have no idea what pulls the solids into the gravel, but I
>> do my best to not stir things upl
>======================
>Don't you eventually get a thick covering of black mulm over the gravel? I
>not only vacuum the gravel but stir it as well - as the Diatom Filer is
>running. I try and remove as much of this crud as possible at least twice a
>month.

Nope, the gravel is its natural color. I should say "gravels" as I
have different gravel in the tanks, 3 different gravels. Maybe your
tank is nutrient rich. I don't recall what additives you use. I use
no additives, just change 20% of the water twice weekly. The intake
never reaches to the bottom, so I am drawing water from the middle of
the tank.

The only time I stir the bottom is prunning and that is not on
purpose.

When I read of others problems, I am glad I am lazy and not too picky
about special plants or fish. I had problems the first year, but the
last 2 have been relatively easy going. I do have to clean the filter
media every month or 2. Getting rid of the bio wheels and charcoal
saved a lot of extra cleaning.

dick