ATD of the day: Ich

Yuck!  I have contracted an aquatically transmitted disease!

3/4ths of an inch long... too small for a single-celled parasite to hide.

I received an order of a dozen chili rasboras 2 days ago, but was lucky and got 15!  I would have stuck them in the quarantine tank if it wasn't already full of other fish... but I figured, hey... practically everything in that tank (plants, fish, shrimp) came from the same store, so it won't be a problem. 

This appears to be ich, which looks like salt or sugar crystals attached to the fish's skin.  Rasboras are so tiny that yes, the white spots on the back are actually salt crystal size.  I saw a few fish that had 1 or 2 spots on them like this yesterday and thought it was weird, and the population of the protozoan just exploded by this afternoon!  I hope that their small size doesn't mean that they are less able to live through the infection, and that I caught it early enough.

I'm treating the whole tank with Seachem's Paragard which anecdotally is the safest treatment for invertebrates, in the hopes that my shrimp and ramshorn snails make it through the medication.  And I'm also hoping that the quarantine tank doesn't come down with anything, since I may have shared equipment between the two aquariums for a water change.  >.<

Wish me luck.  The shrimp and fish and I need it!

Update on the 20-gallon aquarium

I've finally narrowed down the ideal inhabitants for the 20-gal tank.

I played around with AqAdvisor to help figure out the exact stats.  The tank has 40 gallons worth of filtration on it, which is why the fish load could be so high.

• Chili rasboras:  17 (have 5, 12 are coming tomorrow, each one takes up 0.6 gallons)
• Otocinclus vittatus:  4 (if any rasboras don't make it, I'll replace with another oto or two, because 4 is the minimum for a shoal but 6 is better.  Each one takes 1.2 gallons at adulthood, and the general "rule" is 1 per 5 gallons to be able to live off of tank algae)
• Ramshorn snails:  5 (each one takes up 0.12 gallons, and any extras will be put into the turtle tank)
• Sakura fire red cherry shrimp:  ~30... can breed up to 77 total (extras will go to other tanks, and according to AqAdvisor, with my filtration I can have up to 1 shrimp per cup!)

Otos!

Today we picked up the 4 otos... our local mom 'n' pop aquarium store kept trying to order them for a month, but today said that orders for some reason were not shipping to both the east and west coasts, so they didn't have an estimate on when they'd get more.  So, since I had seen some otos at petsmart 2 days before, we went to pick them up there.  They are literally the only fish that is 100% safe with newborn shrimp.

Delicious algae-covered bridge.

One of them looks yellow compared to the others, and is missing a wee bit o' tail fin.  They all look pretty skinny... which is supposedly common because they only eat algae and aufwuchs and get starved of it while they are in transport and then living at the fish store.  I have them in the 10-gal tank right now, as an informal quarantine.  This has the added benefit of letting them glut on 10 gallons worth o' aufwuchs before even starting to work on the 20-gal... I have been letting both tanks mature with algae and diatoms for 6 weeks specifically to rapidly get some good nutrition into some new otos.  The otos are less than an inch long, but will get to about 1.3 inches when mature. 


Rasboras are next.

Tomorrow, the dozen rasboras come, in addition to 3 free shrimp that are replacements from the same company that sent me the sakura fire reds (3 plus the 4 extras died due to an unfortunate burst bag in transport a week ago).  They are technically a batch of chili and strawberry rasboras, heavy on the chili.  They shoal together perfectly, and my tank pH isn't low enough for breeding, so I'm not concerned that the species are mixed. 

I am darn excited!  Once the otos can come out of quarantine, the 20-gallon tank will be complete. 

Fire from the roof

There's been a bit o' drama going on about 1/3rd of a mile from our house. 


Ryan took this photo from the roof:

Just after dropping a load of fire-retardant.

As a former firefighter, he says there is no chance that it'll get to our house.  Keeping fingers crossed, anyway.  There are a heck of a lot of planes, helicopters, and fire engines making a crazy racket in our neighborhood.

Instagram

Since I got a new phone with a pretty good camera on it and lots of space for photos, I have been introduced to the world of Instagram. 

If you'd like to follow my blog-related one, it's... *drum roll*... leavesinmycup. 

It will just contain extra photos that don't make it onto the blog or facebook (plus the ones that do).  For example, this was today's post:

A shrimp and a ramshorn snail bask in the new aquarium light.

That new plant light looks good!

I received a Finnex Stingray aquarium light today, which is good for growing low-medium light plants.  The extra shallow depth of my tank plus the bit of sunlight from the window (most of which is blocked, due to the heat) mean that I should be able to grow medium light plants pretty easily.  I'm not going to get into high-light plants at this time, because I don't want to deal with injecting CO2.

The light has mostly white LEDs, but also a few that are red (for optimal plant growth) and blue (for picking up fish sparkles and magic??).  It definitely gives the tank a more natural feel than the worn-out fluorescent I had been using. 

Trello... the latest list-making adventure

Yes, I realize that my compulsion to make lists gets a little crazy at times... the crazier the times, the crazier the lists.

My husband ran across the Trello website/app, and thought it'd be right up my alley. 

It's based on a Japanese "Kanban" board style of organization/productivity:
- left column:  To Do List
- middle column:  In Progress
- right column:  Completed

The point is to create a flow of work from left to right, and to minimize what's in the "In Progress" columns. 

Normally my lists are kind of a hybrid calendar/chart form, where I can see all tasks for all days, and everything is divided by priority... I'm going to try using Trello to ONLY see what is relevant for the current day, and to automate all the recurring tasks.  Very simplified, kind of a pinterest-ish feel (you can add photos too). 


Here's how I set up mine: 

The first quick attempt at Trello* (click to enlarge)

- far left column:  the 1-time tasks To Do list
- left column:  Daily (recurring... this is the same list every day)
- middle column:  Weekly (tasks that recur once a week, plus anything that must be done on a specific day)
- right column:  Done (drag and drop finished items here, and the list will be archived at end of month)
- far right column:  Skipped (will be compared to the Done list, then archived at the end of the month.  This is my "list of shame," hahaha.)

Daily and Weekly are basically my "In Progress" columns, and I tried to keep them as minimal as possible... it doesn't necessarily list the things I already do automatically (aka, all Torin-related things), it lists the things that are the most tempting for me to slack on when I'm tired or rushed.  It also spreads the biggest housekeeping tasks throughout the week in an attempt to reduce binge-cleaning. 

And lest you fear that I don't floss at the end of the day, it's just that I end up doing my flossing and such at 1am... my nighttime routine needs to be moved much earlier!

Trello doesn't let you set up recurring lists, but IFTTT (IF This Then That) does!  It seems complicated at first, but it's super instinctual and fast to set up.  You can set it up so that, for example, if it's 4am on a Sunday, it adds "Take trash and recycling out" to your Weekly to-do list.



But wait, there's more!

The photo above is one "board."  Each column is a "list" and each item is a "card."  You can open up the card (or "look at the back" of it) to see any pertinent notes about the task, or drag and drop them.

I'm also using Trello to set up other boards...
- Recipes and meal planning
- Vacation planning
- Garden planting schedule and ideas
- Big house projects
- Life goals (kind of a bucket list)

Anyway... I'd highly recommend checking it out, there's a lot that can be done with the website, and it makes organizing pretty fun once you get used to the layout. 


*If you read the Trello list... yes, my crock pot died.  So sad!!  Send me your best 6+ quart slow cooker recommendation.