Tag Archives: cleaning the aquarium

May 16, 2021 · 3:49 pm

Thing One

I’ve been trying to get to cleaning my aquarium for the past week. I TALK a good game sometimes, but am not always terrific about actually following through. I just finished finally DOING it as one of my two projects for the day.

Everything is squeeky clean for them now. They didn’t SAY anything, or do back flips, but they HAVE been checking out the huge shell in the tank, swimming the length of the opening over and over. They are too big to actually get inside, so they can look to their heart’s content.

I only have two fish, but they are goldfish – notorious for needing a lot of care to keep their tank clean. I have found a combination that works really well, after a lot of trial and error. I’m using a filtering system called AquaClear. It has a three-part filter consisting of foam, a layer called, BioMax that filters out bio ‘stuff,’ and finally a carbon filter. This worked pretty well, but I was still getting a lot of algae pretty quickly. I found a product call No More Algae. It’s a tablet you put into the tank after you clean it. It says not to use a carbon filter with it, so I paid attention. Now I can go a month or more before even thinking about having to change the water.

Now I finally have happy, clean fish who are pleased with the addition of the shell to explore.

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January 3, 2021 · 11:04 am

Thoughts on a Sunday 1-3-2021

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Actually, the past week was a mixed bag.

THING ONE: FOOD-DIET-EXERCISE – I raked myself over the coals about stuffing too much food into my face and not exercising enough. My sister-in-law kindly told me to give myself a break and make little changes on a regular basis to get back to my better habits. My husband is determined wait to go back on our diet on the 6th – or maybe 7th – we haven’t completely hashed that out yet. I don’t know why we’re waiting. I guess it’s because we still have some wonderfully delicious bad stuff to eat our way through, though I am determined not to buy any MORE of it for myself. I got the makings of beef stew in the slow cooker this morning. We’ll have a bowl of that with a roll this evening. I will do my yoga stretches this afternoon.

THING TWO: WEATHER – Arkansas ran the gamut on weather this past week. We had sunshine and spring-like weather, as we’re having today, with sunshine and low 50’s. We had sleet and rain and gusty wind. We had drizzles and gloomy gray days. We had a PERFECT snow – with HUGE fluffy flakes coming down while we fixed lunch, making us feel we were in the middle of our own, private snow globe. (This was perfect because that gorgeous snow, though heavy, melted as it hit the ground and caused no trouble. :0) )

THING THREE: PLAYING IN MY ART ROOM – I discovered an art form that is new to me – bleeding tissue paper art. The effect is watercolor. The sky is the limit on what you can do with it. I found it on YouTube and watched some demonstrations, drooling. I found some people who do mouth-watering art with it, giving me some really high goals to try to reach as I practice. My sister-in-law sent me a package of large sheets of the special tissue paper to get me started. I ordered some pre-cut shapes in different sizes today that will be delivered in the coming week so I can concentrate on playing, saving the sheets for larger, more complicated shapes. I’m having a BLAST experimenting. :0)

Another thing for which I am setting up is painting some wooden fridge magnets. I can play with my Unicorn Spit paint for these. I can also see what happens with my alcohol inks, my new bleeding tissue paper, and more. I have the magnets, and my wooden circles should be delivered sometime next week.

THING FOUR: SUNDAY CHORES – I don’t have a lot to do today (translated to mean that I CHOOSE to do), but I WILL spend some time cleaning my aquarium so my fish can start the new year with sparkling clean water and some different decorations, just for giggles. I wish I knew what they THOUGHT about the decorations they have. I really wouldn’t mind it if the two of them held their noses when I started to put something in the aquarium they really don’t care for. They don’t say anything one way or the other. The only thing they DO that shows me they are really interested is both of them get into the corner of the tank, wriggling their bodies and opening and closing their mouths to HINT that they would like to be fed yet again. (Seems like they, too, are on a SPLURGE eating push until the 6th or 7th…. )

Have a happy Sunday!

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December 20, 2020 · 11:14 am

Thoughts on a Sunday 12-20-2020

Bengal Tiger – Jagdeep Rajput – Comedy Wildlife – Forbes

I love this. It shows a great sense of humor. I’m still smiling. Thanks to the creator of it. :0)

Welcome Wildlife

When we started up our driveway yesterday, there were two white-tailed deer! We stopped and watched as they looked at us briefly and then crossed the driveway to disappear into the trees to the west of our property. Beautiful sight.

We had a really special Lunch Bunch on Friday with our friends. Since Christmas is next Friday, we exchanged gifts. We have been meeting at The Pizza Barn every Friday for over 17 years now, and this is more of a family gathering than simply really good friends. The two waitresses, Susan and Mikey, are a definite part of our family and we exchange gifts with them, too. My husband kept us all entertained by opening all of his food goodies, sampling each one (while waiting for his lunch order to be delivered) and then stashing them in a humongous gift bag, being quite territorial about his presents. The way the holidays fall this year, we won’t meet NEXT Friday or the NEXT – and will have to wait until Jan. 8th to meet again.

Otherwise, that is our Christmas this year. Our son is in Thailand, and I’m hoping that we can arrange a video chat either on Christmas day or that weekend sometime. There is 12 hours time difference, so it’s a bit of a challenge to find a time we’re all up and functional, but we’ll manage. I am grateful that we are all pretty healthy right now. I am thankful for a quiet holiday.

Today’s project is cleaning the aquarium. I will see if I can find something festive to put in their tank for the holidays.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

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September 13, 2020 · 9:44 am

Swim in Your Own Direction

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I am in awe of people who think outside the box, creating something new and wonderful, making us laugh, touching our emotions with things we probably will never make or do ourselves. I’m grateful to live on the same planet, and hope they continue to thrive – appreciated for their uniqueness and talent.

In a more literal sense this morning, my fish – and their aquarium – have a clean bill of health, all being squeaky, sparkling clean at the moment.

 

They didn’t SAY anything when I scooped them up and put them back in their tank, but they were busily checking everything out when I left.

Do you know any fish who do tricks? I don’t, but I’m trying to get them to do things like swim along with my finger when I come up to the tank and talk to them. I start on one end of the tank and move my finger to the other, trying to get them to follow me. No luck so far. I don’t even know what one would CALL a trick like that, in the off chance they might actually DO it…

 

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June 15, 2020 · 11:46 am

Happy Fish

I just finished cleaning out the aquarium, scrubbing the fish, and putting it all back together again. (Okay – I don’t scrub the fish, but I THINK about it each time.)

 

You can see the large gold fish well, but you can’t see the WHITE gold fish.  He IS in there, just crowded out of the picture.

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June 1, 2020 · 1:47 pm

Flatulent Fish?

These fish may LOOK innocent, but the two of them are having a contest to see which of them can mess up their water more.  Their water looks pretty good until the week mark arrives and then they redouble their efforts, causing the water to go from merely murky to downright yellow-green overnight.

I have just finished emptying everything out, scrubbing everything, and putting things back together with different decorations.

Maybe they are trying to tell me they want their decorations changed?

If so, it would be MUCH nicer to blow bubbles at me in a pattern, or do body language, rather than making their wants known in such a blatant bid for attention.

 

Their water is now sparkling. The glass beads are squeaky clean and sparkling in the aquarium light. The filter is fresh and all is right with their world, although I DID ignore them just now as they collected in the corner, wriggled their little bodies and blew bubbles at me, clearly indicated they wanted to be fed THREE times today, rather than just morning and evening…

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May 23, 2020 · 11:54 am

Flourishing Fish

My husband and I cleaned out the aquarium this morning, putting in a new decoration after taking everything out, cleaning, replacing the filter, putting in freshly treated water, etc. I didn’t actually scrub the fish, themselves, but I have a feeling they would not look kindly on that.

I got the new decoration at the exclusive emporium of Walmart. The fish seem to like it. They immediately checked it out, swimming around and around it, hoping it was edible.

I don’t really know much about fish, but I have never had any fish grow like these two have. Each was about an inch-and-a-half at most when I bought them. The whiter looking gold fish is about 3 inches long now, or twice as large as it was. The gold fish is at least 4 inches long now, maybe more. I had to get a larger mesh fish scooper because the gold fish would no longer fit in the smaller one.

I have talked to them about the possibility of them learning a trick or two, but so far, all they express interest in is feeding time…

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April 26, 2020 · 10:51 am

Fresh Fish

I love watching my fish check out the different decorations I put in their home each time I clean the aquarium.  They don’t say much about the changes, but they wriggle harder and blow lots of bubbles, so I know they are interested.  You can only see the white gold fish in this pic, unless you know that the orange curved ‘stripe’ on the right side of the tank is the orange one. He is about 4 inches long now.  I like seeing the brightly lit tank, the sparkling clean water, the bubbles of the aerator, and the fish chasing each other. I talk to them – making bright conversation – but they don’t engage in spritely repartee.  It’s a nice, quiet, appreciative relationship.

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April 14, 2020 · 10:27 am

Thoughts on A Tuesday 4-14-2020

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  • I seem to be UNABLE to stop touching my face!  I’ve tried several things without success. As much as I pull on my nose, I should look like Pinocchio!
  • I am using every excuse in the book (and even inventing some new ones!) to cheat on my diet and exercise.

Fat Animals-Rollin Wild by BMC-Nasim Biswas-2018

Each day I ‘start over’ in my mind, looking forward to exercising and eating right. Maybe TODAY I’ll get going again!

  • My sweet veggie plants and new tomato plants made it through another freeze. As far as I can tell, this is the last time I’ll need to cover everything. I have the first load of sheets in the washer to get all clean and dry for when they are needed again. If the weather warms up (it’s 40 now) I’ll try to get a good start on getting the TEENY, TINY weeds out of my veggie garden today.
  • My goldfish have done their trick of dirtying up their aquarium again, so cleaning that is on the agenda for this morning. Happily, I am able to get everything out, clean the aquarium and put all new stuff in it in about 35 minutes now.
  • I have an idea for a painting rattling around in my head. I’ll try to get up to my art room today to get a start on it.
  • Bacon-wrapped keto chicken is on the menu for tonight. I’ll fix a nice salad – with spinach and lettuce from our garden – to go with it.

I hope you are finding good ways to spend your days as we all hope that we can put the threat of the virus, as well as financial worries from the economy being shut down, in the rear view mirror.

Stay safe and well.

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April 5, 2020 · 12:09 pm

Dancing Fish?

 

My fish don’t say much. They don’t do tricks, or make people say, “Awwww!” They are pretty, though, and they are very appreciative when I feed them twice a day. They get in the corner together, blowing bubbles at me and wiggling their sweet little bodies in anticipation.

I wish that gold fish weren’t quite so industrious about making it necessary for me to clean the aquarium. I have now added an ammonia filter to each of the filters in the tank, hoping that that will add to the time between cleanings.

I have to do it – changing out everything in the tank, rinsing the stones, changing the greenery and the decorations, filters, etc. before putting the fish back in – once  week, but it was almost a day later this time. Maybe I can stretch it to 9 days… I do like the water clean and sparkling, though, and though nothing is said, I think the fish enjoy it, too.

 

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February 18, 2020 · 9:37 am

Daffodils, Veggies and Fish – Oh, My!

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Yesterday was a productive day for us.

Greenwood Collision called us in the morning, saying that the part we needed for the Vette had FINALLY arrived (it was ordered in November) – so we took both vehicles there to leave the Vette to be fixed (after my husband insisted we stop at the car wash to give it a bath before we left it with them.)

We then drove to Fort Smith to leave our tax stuff with our CPA, Mike Schluterman, at Lawrence, Schluterman & Schwartz LTD. They will call us when the returns are ready to sign and send. I LOVE it when we can dump the stuff on Mike and we can be sure all will be handled competently.

On the way back we stopped for groceries, gas, and a couple of other things. I fixed lunch when we got home. We got a text from our friends, saying they wouldn’t be able to bowl last night, so I decided that, since it was a GORGEOUS day, I wanted to go back to town and buy spinach and head lettuce plants.

I spent a happy couple of hours getting the weeds out and then planting the spinach and head lettuce. I spread things out more this time (though my hat stays off to Mel Bartholomew of Square Foot Gardening.  In MY garden, things tend to grow too closely together, cutting off oxygen and resulting in spoilage. So this year, I’m planting one plant in each square and will see what happens.  (I went out this morning to take pictures. When I was out walking Molly earlier, there was just a very quiet sprinkle from the sky. When I went out to take the pictures, it was a steady rain, so I was glad I took my umbrella.)

To the early spring garden, I will add sweet onion sets. Then I’ll watch those until it’s time to plant tomatoes and yellow squash, and whatever my husband would like me to try.

On the way back from taking pics of the garden, I got a couple of pictures of my daffodils, stubbornly blooming even though it will probably freeze twice this week. I can and will cover the plants in the garden, but I can’t cover the yard, so I hope they can ‘weather-the-weather.’

 

 

The last thing I did yesterday was clean the aquarium.  The fish seem happy and healthy, although they don’t say much.

Running the TWO filters has lengthened the amount of time before I need to change the water again. The new, stick-shaped aerator we’re using now makes ME happier, and the change to the glass beads instead of gravel is much nicer.

So there you have my yesterday. Today is an inside day. All will depend on when the rain stops, or if this is an all day thing.

I hope that YOU are staying warm and dry and happy.

 

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December 9, 2019 · 11:41 am

Stubborn

My husband has been after me for a long time, probably several months, to ‘dump’ the gravel in the bottom of the aquarium when I clean the tank. I have a nice aquarium vacuum that works really nicely, so I’ve been putting him off. I didn’t want any problems with a leaking tank. I also had visions of his dropping the tank mid procedure, and our having to rush out and buy another while the fish waited impatiently in the small bowl of water.  I admit I’m really stubborn about accepting his suggestions many times.

Dumped the gravel into the largest colander I have. My husband rinsed it in the sink, using our spray attachment, while I cleaned the glass inside and out. We carefully put the gravel back, then added the treated water, then the decorations, lights, filters, oxygen thingie, and finally, the fish.

For awhile, the water didn’t look any better than it does when I clean it the regular way. But then things settled down.

And though I cleaned up water everywhere and keep finding small pieces of gravel, I have to admit my husband was right. It DOES look better, and DID make a difference, and the tank and water ARE cleaner than they were.

 

As usual, the fish aren’t saying anything much. They are happily swimming around, bunching up in the corner every time I pass the tank, dreaming about feeding time.

My husband DID admit it was a lot of work – even though the only part he participated in was the gravel cleaning. He said I should order more gravel so that we can ‘start with a clean batch’ next time.

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December 6, 2019 · 12:41 pm

Clean Digs

 

Goldfish are not the most affectionate pets. In fact, they don’t say much at all – happy or sad. The best thing MINE do is they bunch up in the corner, wriggle their bodies and open and close their mouths at me. They don’t do it until they see I have stopped at the aquarium and MIGHT be considering giving them food. This lovely interaction happens twice a day. I speak to them, but they don’t answer.

Because my priorities were elsewhere lately, I’ve been lax in cleaning their tank. I kept noticing that their water was cloudy when I passed, but just didn’t take the time to DO anything about it.

Cleaning is quite laborious, having to take the sweet fish out, empty out all the water while vacuuming, taking all the decorations out, changing the filter, scrubbing everything that will go back in, then filling up the tank with pre-treated water, getting filters and bubblers going again, putting fresh decorations in, and finally adding the fish back.  Then I wash everything that was in the tank, fill up the water jugs and treat the water for next time, plus clean up. I consider the task well worth the effort because – hey – they wriggle at me…

They don’t say anything when their tank is clean. They don’t seem to take any particular interest in having different decorations to swim past. Maybe they check the things out more carefully when I’m not there gawking at them. I like to think they wriggle at the clean tank and different decorations, saying, “Hey, she isn’t so bad after all!”

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June 20, 2019 · 4:21 pm

Flourishing Fish

I don’t know when I bought these four gold fish. I had a large bowl I was using as a tank. It quickly became apparent that these fish were actually doing well and that they needed more room. We bought a 5 gallon aquarium, with filter, oxygenator, etc.

I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say they are now at least 3 times the size they were when I bought them.  I usually end up cleaning out the aquarium once a month, depending on how their water is looking. I scrub everything, vacuum the stones, put in new, treated water, change the decorations, hook everything back up and then carefully add the fish again.

The only ‘trick’ they do is that when they see me coming and hope I’m going to feed them, they all bunch into the same corner and wiggle their little bodies, looking right at me. For some unknown reason, this melts my heart.

They never say anything about the change in decor. I do see them checking things out each time I change things, so I hope this keeps them from getting bored.

Since I talk to my plants, I also talk to the fish. We don’t have any deep discussions about the state of the world or anything. I basically make noises, sounding like an idiot, while they wriggle and blow bubbles at me.

Works for us!

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February 27, 2019 · 4:47 pm

Happy Fish

I changed the water, cleaned the tank, and put in different decorations for the goldfish today. They have tripled in size since I got them, and goldfish are notorious for dirtying their water quickly. It’s a good thing I really like them because they’re a lot of work for pets that don’t show affection, do tricks, speak or anything. They DO, however, gather in the corner and wriggle their little bodies and blow bubbles at me when it’s feeding time twice a day.

 

Of course, I don’t give THEM affection, as such, other than to take care of them. I don’t do any tricks, though I DO speak to them. Maybe they hold me at arm’s length because I didn’t name them. (There are three regular-looking gold fish and one that is essentially white.)

“Very few of us have any idea whatsoever of what life is like living in a goldfish bowl, except, of course, for those of us who are goldfish.” ~ Graham Taylor

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April 19, 2018 · 12:11 pm

“What Do the Fishies Say?”

We talk to our animals. It’s a good thing none of our animals actually talk because I’m sure they would tell you how completely DUMB – although fairly nice – their people are.

One of the things we say to them from time to time is, “What does the dog say?” or “What does the kitty say?”

Today, while I was emptying and completely cleaning out the aquarium, I found myself asking, “What do the fishies say?” In truth, they’ve never said much. The best ‘trick’ they do is to crowd into the corner of the aquarium wriggling as fast as they can, while they wait for me to get a pinch of whatever is in the flakes of fish food I pinch and put into their aquarium twice a day. It shows they know who I am and anticipate the service I perform for them. Otherwise, they’re just nice to look at.

 

They are very active when I clean the aquarium, too. I change the filter twice a month, but every once in a while, the water looks cloudy even with a new one. That’s when I stop everything connected to the aquarium, put the fish into a bowl and cover it with a towel, and take everything out, siphon the water, add new, scrub all the stuff in there, hook everything back up, and add the fish.

 

I change the things in the aquarium from time to time. I have no clue if they enjoy me changing the furniture or decorations or hate it. Sometimes I wish they would hold up a sign saying, “We hate the neon thing with the holes in it,” or something similar.

So, even though they don’t say anything – not even blowing a bubble at me – I still ask, “What do the fishies say?” just in case they have something on their minds…

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