The Great Aquarium Escape

Life has given me an awful lot to think about over the past month.  

There is a ton of impending change hanging in the air, and I will be the first to admit that I don't do very well with the ambiguities of change until after said change has occurred. 

As a result, a sudden hyper-focus on aquariums has hit!  One of my biggest interests since childhood has been reptile/amphibian/bug pets (really, any non-traditional-pets) and their habitats.  Aquariums fit that mold perfectly, with the added benefit of the science of perfectly balancing the bio-load of the tank.  This is the first time that I've indulged in a hobby purely for myself ever since Torin came into the picture.

The 20-gallon long shrimp tank.

Wait, what?  I have a hobby now?!


In the last 2 weeks, I've added the following:

• A 55-gallon aquarium with a long-lost turtle pet.  
• The 10-gallon planted shrimp tank has been transferred to a 20-gallon long aquarium, and some chili rasbora have been added, and the temperature has been brought up to encourage shrimp breeding.
• The empty (except for snails) 6.6-gallon has been revamped and is now being used to produce guppy fry for turtle snacks.
• A10-gallon bucket holds a huge clump of java moss as I try an anti-algae experiment.
• A fish bowl is growing 2 types of duckweed which I collected from a pond today.
• Some manzanita driftwood is being water-logged in a trash can.
• A second bucket is soaking some mopani driftwood that's having a serious outbreak of saprolegnia fungus. 
• An infusoria experiment is in progress.  

If I totally focus on aquariums, then I don't have to think about anything else, right? 


So... just a warning...

The blog is going to be very heavy on aquatic life over the next month or two.

Oh, and I have completely fallen off the weight-loss wagon and dropped the 3-month plan.  Should probably get back on that.  :/

The 55-gallon pond turtle habitat is nearing completion.

The thing fits awesomely in the "kitchen window."  

The previous owners of the house added a solarium, which is why there is this weird (or cool?) open window in between  the kitchen sink and sun room.  It's also a big reason why we picked this house, it makes the layout a little unique and is a nice place for a long dining table. 

It's the perfect viewing place!  It gets very bright yet indirect sunlight, so plants should thrive but the water stays cool and won't bake the inhabitants.  It's high enough to be way out of toddler reach, but Torin has discovered that it is great fun to watch when standing on a chair on the other side... this is already a favorite activity, and it doesn't even have a turtle yet. 

It's also a practical spot... since it's right above the kitchen sink, water changes (and handling water that potentially has salmonella in it) will be super easy, since it can go straight down the drain using a siphon.  There's just enough room at the side edges to fit a second filter on the left and scoot the turtle topper over on the right, and keep the cords out of the way.






What does it take to make a turtley paradise? 

Luckily the items in italics are the only ones I had to get, because the rest were leftovers from previous pets or aquariums.


The Essentials:

• 55 gallon tank (the "rule" is 10 gallons per inch of turtle, ours is 5" x 6" with a max growth to 8"), yay for the yearly Petco sale! 
• Turtle topper for a dry area for basking plus a ramp and underwater platform for easy breathing whilst submerged... the goldfish really like the platform.
• Heat lamp for basking
• Thermostat for heat lamp
• Thermometer for accuracy of the thermostat (needs to be ~95 degrees F, so they can regulate their body temp to 82.4F)
• Thermometer for water (adults prefer temps of 50-63F but can go up to 80F)
• UVB lamp (not pictured, since the fixture is still in the mail) above turtle topper
• Filter for 70 gallon tank
• Dechlorinating water treatment
• An inoculation of healthy bacteria from another tank that's about 5 years old 
• Aquarium test kit
• Reptile vitamins/calcium 
• Turtle food:  raw beef, cooked chicken, veggies, fruit, leafy greens (basically stuff from our regular dinners)... and especially bugs I find in the garden.  As an adult, he is supposed to eat 2-4 times per week, in an amount equal to the size of his head plus neck. 

The Fun Stuff:  

• 50 pounds of Aqua Quartz HTH pool filter sand, which was about 2 inches on the bottom...  I'm VERY happy with how it looks (so much better and more natural-looking than play sand or aquarium gravel!), but did have to wash this well before putting it in. 
• Baby malasian trumpet snails, to dig in the sand and mix it up for the health of the good bacteria
• 1 ramshorn snail... will he be eaten, or just be part of the clean-up crew?
• 2 feeder goldfish, to see whether the turtle will be friendly with fish or eat them
• Bubbler and small air pump, for interest and extra oxygen for the fish
• Broken pottery for fish to hide in, so they have a chance to not be eaten
• 2 fake plants... not sure where they came from or why I have them
• A tiny sprig of anacharis, the only one that didn't have a significant amount of algae growing on it from the other tank.
• A small pane of glass on top (a custom one that had been on the hermit crab tank to keep humidity in) to keep water in from the bubbler
• A small potted plant on top of the glass pane since I am sad that I don't have aquatic plants yet

Things to come

• The mopani wood, once I am done boiling out the tannins
• Red cherry shrimp, if the turtle won't eat them and if the water gets stable enough
• Water hyacinths and other aquatic plants if I can find them
• Water heater for winter, if necessary... though probably not!
• Food dish
• Basking rock or some cover for the turtle topper
• Branches, rocks, shells, etc for decoration
• Moss or some sort of substrate for in the turtle topper, if I can find something that he doesn't drag into the water
• Another filter for a 45 gallon tank (a second 70-gal wouldn't fit), since turtles are dirty and it's recommended to have at least twice the filtering that a regular tank would need

Mopani Tea

I have this lovely piece of mopani wood, all knotted and twisty, tan striped with near-black.  It used to be the geckos' climbing branch, but I hear that it works well in aquariums.  It's a super hard, dense wood, so it doesn't need the months of soaking to get it to sink that many woods require.


Let the tannin leaching begin!

The problem with wood in an aquarium is that it leaches tannins, which change the pH and darken the water.  This isn't actually a problem if you want a black water tank that looks like a real pond full of leaf litter, and lots of people do this intentionally. 

Since our turtle tank is going to be in a very prominent spot and lit from behind, the tannins will just make the water look dirty.  And I want the pH to stay as close to our tap water's pH as possible so that I can do large water changes when needed without shocking the inhabitants.  So the tannins need to go!

I stuck the wood in my largest stock pot (actually the pressure cooker, with its metal plate to keep the wood from touching the bottom) and started boiling on Tuesday. 

Mmmm, wood soup.

How exactly do you get the tannins out?  

Some say to boil the wood for a few hours, and it'll be done.  Some say to leave it outside in a bucket of water for 1-6 months.  Some say it takes a full year or two for it to stop releasing tannins in the tank even after boiling, and you just have to do lots of water changes to keep the water clear.  Some say it is impossible to get all the tannins out of mopani wood, and you are doomed.

So it appears that I have my work cut out for me.  I really want this specific piece of wood, because it is thick enough to be a good resting spot for a 6-inch turtle.  I boiled for about an hour, then put on the lid and let it sit until the water was cool enough that it was safe to move... this took 6 hours.

The photo above is actually from the 2nd boiling, which was left to cool overnight.  The water was completely opaque the first time, but this time it just looks like a very strong tea. 

By the 4th boiling it looked like regular black tea, and I just started the 5th boil.  Here's hoping that there are enough tannins leached out by the weekend, 'cause that turtle is going to need at least something in his tank to add some interest.


And now, I sit back and wait.

I must wait for the tannins to boil out, for the tank accessories to arrive in the mail (the filter comes today!), for the turtle to arrive.

In the meantime, Torin can now easily point out turtles in his animal and first-words books.  I am 99% sure that he understands what is happening. 

Torin makes a new friend.

This weekend my parents came to visit, and they had a surprise...

'Sup.

Grandpa used to bring me random reptiles (and a few amphibians) that he found in the wild to keep as pets.  This is one of the 2 turtles that were lost about 20 years ago after hibernation outdoors!

It was either mine or my sister's (my brother's... well, it was a different species and we found those bones under the shed the next year).  My sister's turtle was named Hickory Dickory Dock (so she could call it hickie Dickie), but I don't remember the name of mine.  I'm considering letting Torin name it. 

Hesitantly checking each other out.

It was just hanging out in the leaf litter, not too far from the house.  After a little research, it is a (male?) western pond turtle, probably at least 28 years old.  Hey, maybe we're the same age. 


Wait, a POND turtle?! 

There aren't any ponds on my parents' property... there's a pool (how did it never end up in the pool?), plus a tiny stream that only exists for a short part of the year.  I am currently in the process of putting together a pond turtle paradise in the form of a 55-gallon aquarium, since he will come live with us this weekend.